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Original poster

BBC 3 My unusual vagina

38 replies

junemami · 09/03/2017 11:36

I'm bored recovering from an operation so whilst flicking throuh iplayer watched this to see if it showed some insight into why there are more women deciding to have plastic surgery. Pretty disappointed, its 15 minutes of mostly monologue by a woman who wants her long labia minora reduced. She does complain of some discomfort and swelling with them, which I can sympathise with, but doesn'toffer any alternative options, reasons why she thinks a normal "vagina" should look like a neat bap on its side, with no "filling" spilling out like "big mac". She ends up having surgery privately and is pretty dissappointed with the result on one side, and might need to have further surgery. Couldn't help thinking during the operation footage that if her pubic hair wasn't removed her labia wouldn't be nearly so conspicuous (and of course maybe she had only removed it for the surgery...but I suspect not).

Feel saddened that this has been unilaterally presented as a normal thing to do. There was some footage of her mother saying she disagreed with cosmetic surgery but that was it. I have made a complaint to the bbc.

Anybody else see it?

OP posts:
BartholinsSister · 09/03/2017 15:51

You'd think with the popularity of porn these days, everyone would know vulvae come in all shapes and sizes.
I haven't seen the program but I know sometimes big labia can get sore or inflamed.

hideehigh · 09/03/2017 15:48

Having just had a lump of my vulva hacked off due to a suspicious growth I can agree with the PP who said it would've been a horrible surgery!!
Ouch Hmm why oh why oh why....?!

QueenLaBeefah · 09/03/2017 15:42

I can't imagine how painful this operation must be.

picklemepopcorn · 09/03/2017 15:27

Without wishing to sound like my grandma, 'I blame porn!' Most of us don't have sufficient experience of other people's vulvas to be able to develop a complex. Along with the 'whitening' thread... Sigh.

terrylene · 09/03/2017 14:42

I don't think much of the title either.

It was a usual vulva (and I am sure her vagina was ok too, but it wasn't about that) so misleading. Especially to girls and women who do not see other women's genitalia much.

It is like the Ch4 embarrassing bodies about the 'enlarged' labia which were not actually enlarged at all.

I think the fitting into the current knicker fashions is misleading too - they seem to be made for Barbie dolls. Anything down to knee level would have been normal in my Grandma's knickers Grin

CaoNiMartacus · 09/03/2017 14:31

I watched this on iPlayer too. I felt so sorry for Antonia. I actually got quite emotional about it. From the brief glimpses, there seemed to be nothing wrong with her labia.

I hope she's found some peace now, but I really wish I'd been able to somehow leapfrog into her life and tell her she was perfect as she was!

AssassinatedBeauty · 09/03/2017 14:12

Why did they pussyfoot around the title and use the word vagina? I presume her vagina was entirely typical, and it was just her labia that she had a problem with.

I really really dislike the comparison of a vulva to food items, I don't quite know why but it riles me.

ludog · 09/03/2017 12:33

@reallyanotherone 😂

fruitlovingmonkey · 09/03/2017 12:25

topdocumentaryfilms.com/perfect-vagina/

I watched this a few years ago, it's about why women are having surgery.

reallyanotherone · 09/03/2017 12:14

In the current climate I actually came on to see if this was about an "unusual vagina" looking suspiciously like a penis. Maybe all these women have unusual vagina's rather than usual penises, and that's where we're going wrong with gender identification...

But yes, people are getting increasingly weirder about a part of their body that nobody should be worried about other people seeing.

Original poster
junemami · 09/03/2017 12:04

Part of my complaint was that even the title was incorrect. Ffs who thought it was a good idea to put this out on a channel aimed at a younger audience. Good opportunity completely missed.

OP posts:
HeyRoly · 09/03/2017 12:02

I find it profoundly depressingly that women are so disgusted with their (perfectly normal) labia that they cut them off.

The programme was called "My Unusual Vagina"? And no one said at any point that protruding labia are totally normal and acceptable? FFS Hmm

Itwasthenandstillis · 09/03/2017 11:58

didn't see it, but ..... WHY..... Sad!????