Published October, 2008
A WOMAN WHO MADE A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT VAGINOPLASTY
INTERVIEW BY ANDY CAPPER, PORTRAIT BY ALEX STURROCK
Heather Leach is a filmmaker from Rochdale, in the north of England, which is most famous for being the birthplace of 80s “soul” singer Lisa Stansfield. Recently, Heather plunged herself headfirst into the murky world of vaginoplasty, or “voluntarily having a plastic surgeon chop off your labia.” We talked to her about what she found, and it was quite revealing, if not something you should read if you’re eating lunch right now (especially anything with roast beef or pastrami in it).
Vice: Hi Heather. Why did you make this movie?
Heather Leach: Well, Channel 4 asked me to. After that, I researched it and found out that, in the UK at least, the number of women getting surgery on their labia has doubled in five years. More shockingly, the number of women getting the procedure has gone up by 300 percent in the last two years. Even girls as young as 16 are having these labiaplasties.
Crikey.
I would hear girls complain of awful comments being made to them all the time. Things like “Your vagina is fucking disgusting” or “Going down on you is like going down on the Mersey Tunnel.” Then there was one girl who was bullied by her sister and she’d say stuff like, “It looks like hanging ham down there.”
That’s not a very nice thing to say.
There are different physical and psychological reasons for operating on vaginas and there are differing methods, but the majority of doctors reshape the vulva by amputating and trimming. They do this by slicing the inner labia off so they don’t hang below the outer labia.
I’m wincing.
Yeah, they slice it all off with a scalpel. But some surgeons cut open the labia and tie up the nerve endings so they will still have sensation. Then they fold it over in and restitch it all together. One thing people don’t realize is that the nerve endings in the labia are connected to the clitoris, so they stand a chance of permanently hampering their sex lives. But I guess teenage girls don’t think about this because they just want a “perfect fanny.”
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This sculpture/cast is called “Design a Vagina” and is by British artist James McCartney. Some of the girls in Heather’s film had their vaginas cast especially for this piece.
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We should say for our readers in the States that over here “fanny” means “cunt” and “bottom” means “ass.” “Fanny” doesn’t mean “ass” here like it does there.
Yeah, well, anyway, people used to think that if you had a tit job it meant having “perfect tits” back in, say, 1985. And now they think having a stranger hack away at your fanny is going to mean the same thing: perfect flaps. They’re also going in for things like vaginal liposuction.
Oh come on.
They suck fat out of the pubic bone area to make it flatter. They’re also doing a Botox injection that goes into where your G-spot is supposed to be. It’s a called “G-Shot.” You have to keep going back every three months to have it refilled with Botox. It’s about $1,600 a session and you have to get it through private cosmetic surgeons.
To what do you attribute this sudden increase in teenage girls getting their labia sliced?
There are the things like the big advertisements in women’s magazines from large cosmetic surgical corporations. Then you blend that with peer pressure from teenage peers, particularly boys.
How so?
It’s teenage boys who are watching pornography all the time. As far as I’ve seen, you don’t see any kind of modern pornographic imagery that contains what I would consider to be a normal vagina. People start to think that the perfect fanny should not have the inner labia protruding and that it should be completely hairless.
Right.
Bikini waxing has a role to play in all this. When Bill Clinton reduced the laws regarding porn, the porn producers pushed for total waxing so that viewers could see the whole vagina for the first time, close up. Now these images are everywhere and making young girls think that it’s some kind of natural ideal, to have a hair-free tiny-lipped fanny.
It’s becoming like, “I’m going to have somebody cut my fucking labia off. No biggie.”
Yeah, but what people don’t realize is how harrowing it can be to have the operation. The recovery period can take up to six months. I filmed a surgery and it was horrendous. Once they’re chopped off, the pieces are flung straight in the trash can and thrown away with the rubbish.
Click here to watch her documentary.
See all articles by this contributor Anonymous, on Jul 29, 2010 wrote:
wow.. a hundred anonymous woman favored comments when this is male driven article, i guess i have no option to my veiny dick | | Anonymous, on Jul 29, 2010 wrote:
i didnt read this, plus im a guy, thus i am smarter and plastic surgery.... wow, thats new... if a pretty whatever can fake it, yeah im done, all is well and looks better right? dont factor love | | Anonymous, on Jul 25, 2010 wrote:
let the lips hang where they may /the bigger the better | | Anonymous, on Jun 26, 2010 wrote:
i love Labias, An outie as they are known in aus! Innies suck. With an outie you can stretch em a little, lick them in and out, up an down, allsorts. With an innie you gotta spread em and hold em then they get slippery, nup no good not as much fun! | | Anonymous, on Jun 23, 2010 wrote:
itsallgood
| | Anonymous, on Jun 15, 2010 wrote:
No one wants piled roast beef when they go down there. When you can’t find the stage the curtains gotta go. | | Anonymous, on Apr 29, 2010 wrote:
i still hate mine do guys really like them ? | | Anonymous, on Apr 27, 2010 wrote:
Thanks for posting this! I have uneven labia, and was considering some surgery... not anymore. I’m going to love my body the way it was made. | | Anonymous, on Apr 24, 2010 wrote:
I use to worry about my fanny alot still do sum times, wanted to go to the doc n get an appointment for surgury, my ex said theres nothing wrong with it ive seen loadsa porn n i like urs, then on guy said wot a pretty vag i have, but still didnt stop me looking at it in the mirror n thinking its ugly, but fuck it u only live once n if that guy dny like it then he can do 1 coz i know plenty who, n fuck going thorgh that pain i would like to change a few things bout my self but jus have fun n lots of sex !!!!! | | Anonymous, on Apr 8, 2010 wrote:
this may be the first time i jerk off to an art installation!! | | Anonymous, on Apr 5, 2010 wrote:
I guess it goes the same with guys. The older they are, the more loose meat hanging at the top of the penis too. | |
| lovey, on Apr 4, 2010 wrote:
Wow am I the only user to post? Or the only one foolish enough to show a name...? | | |
| lovey, on Apr 4, 2010 wrote:
Goddamit. I’m never visiting the damn archives again.
Fuck my curiosity. | | Anonymous, on Apr 3, 2010 wrote:
I like the artwork but if James McCuntney had a sense humor he would have stuck a open can of tunafish somewhere in the lineup. Also, that’s a real easy way to do art. Like Warhol. | | Anonymous, on Apr 3, 2010 wrote:
girls are so dumb. guys like a fat monkey. i sure as shit don’t want to eat a pussy that looks like it belongs to a twelve year old. same goes for butts. chicks want flat butts. who but closet homos and squares wants a girl with an ass that looks like a guy’s? plus, the bones hurt to hit it from the back. | | Anonymous, on Apr 3, 2010 wrote:
girls are so dumb. guys like a fat monkey. i sure as shit don’t want to eat a pussy that looks like it belongs to a twelve year old. same goes for butts. chicks want flat butts. who but closet homos and squares wants a girl with an ass that looks like a guy’s? plus, the bones hurt to hit it from the back. | | Anonymous, on Apr 3, 2010 wrote:
girls are so dumb. guys like a fat monkey. i sure as shit don’t want to eat a pussy that looks like it belongs to a twelve year old. same goes for butts. chicks want flat butts. who but closet homos and squares wants a girl with an ass that looks like a guy’s? plus, the bones hurt to hit it from the back. | | Anonymous, on Apr 2, 2010 wrote:
This article is so harrowing, my penis is having second thoughts about ever coming out again. | | Anonymous, on Apr 2, 2010 wrote:
penises are ugly as sin. | | Anonymous, on Mar 14, 2010 wrote:
Bigger labia don’t mean more nerves, tiny labia have the same number of nerves tightly packed. It may turn out that small labia are easier to stimulate. | | Anonymous, on Mar 2, 2010 wrote:
I’m just really scared cause is it normal to have really long lips at 13???? I’m just really embarrased and I don’t know what to do so plaese help me!!!! :’’’’( | | Anonymous, on Feb 12, 2010 wrote:
For These Women who Undermines their Private Part should Understand of how Unique they are Down there, if all Women’s Vaginas were the samme, Oral sex would’ve been a Boring thing to do, if all of this is because of your Retarded Boyfriend harsh remarks then Dump him and get yourself a good "Straight" man who will apreciate your body better. ---- Dan | | Anonymous, on Jan 14, 2010 wrote:
I hate my vagina it is gross, vagina’s are usally ugly.I am fond of penis ,when I give kisses to my husband’s beautiful penis it get erected itself like a bloomed beautiful flower,yes The erected male penis is like is bloomed beautiful flower. | | Anonymous, on Jan 14, 2010 wrote:
VAGINA’S ABOUT ALL OF THEM ARE GROSS,MY LABIA AND VAGINA LOOKS EXTREMELY UGLY SIMILAR, LIKE OTHER GIRLS HAVE.I THINK VAGINA IS AN UGLY NAME OF AN UGLY THING. | | Anonymous, on Jan 2, 2010 wrote:
Mine are small before sex. When I have great sex they just bloom and are beautiful. Big lips means my vagina is happy :) | | Anonymous, on Dec 27, 2009 wrote:
what ever it looks like is fine with me. my wife wants a reduction, but I wont let her. I said if she does, it will void out marriage contract. (unlawful conversion) | | Anonymous, on Dec 9, 2009 wrote:
i thought i had a really weird vagina, my lips are about 1.5 cm, i thought it was weird and was scared to do anythin orally, but now i feel better about things ;) | | Anonymous, on Dec 6, 2009 wrote:
I pump my girlfriends vag and clit every chance I get. My dream is to make some labia that are about 3 inches long. right now they are almost an inch with tugging and pulling them. Pumping them swells them up like a balloon and I hope one day they stay nice and thick but creating large labia is very hard. Labiastretching dot com seems to think that you can do it but i’m losing hope. they keep going back to what they were, small :-( I wish I found a way to make them stay big but I don’t think it’s possible. For all you women out there that have labia hanging out....just know there is a TON of men out there just dying to go down on you! More nerves, harder orgasms! Spend your money on something to decorate them instead of castrating them...and if who is dealing with those long dangling lips thinks it’s gross,cut him out of your life! Not those wonderful, tasty treats between your legs! | | Anonymous, on Dec 4, 2009 wrote:
To the one who wrote before...Its so nice hearing you like real vaginas. Thanx ;-). | | Anonymous, on Dec 3, 2009 wrote:
The only mistake in this world of ours is when a doctor thinks they can solve a problem by cutting off the best thing on a womans body. When I was younger I sought after ladies blessed with long labia. One comment on here is absolutly right....they climax so much better! If you have these please consider keeping them. Most of my friends agree that oral on a very meaty vag is the greatest thing in the foreplay arena. If you let a doctor turn you into a hotdog bun all you do is take out the fun and there is nothing to play with and foreplay is over in like 5 minutes cause it’s boring. I hope one day labiaplasty surgens get treated like abortion doctors cause they are ruining my life! Keep them....too many guys out there love ’em and want them so bad! | | | Next 30 comments > |
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