The issue of female genital modification (FGM) has been a controversial and complicated one, largely revolving around the construction of female sexual pleasure through the alteration of women’s genitalia to make them ostensibly more attractive to heteronormative society. In Braun and Khau’s scholarly work, the differences between Western and African approaches to FGM become clear. The ‘designer vaginas’ of Western America are treated as more of a high status symbol – an indicator of a woman’s genuine search for female pleasure and desirability, while African practices of labial elongation are more of a restrictive, patriarchal sexual practice disturbingly inflicted on young girls of pre-pubescent age. Both practices, in many ways, reinforce heteronormative ideas of ‘proper’ women being sexually attractive to men, to the point of sacrificing personal safety and undergoing procedures to shape themselves into the kind of woman a patriarchal society considers ideal.
According to Braun, the Western idea of FGM is a way to more ardently support the concepts of heteronormative society, which relates to heterosexual sex as the pinnacle of human happiness and solid relationships, and cements the orgasm as the ultimate purpose and goal of sexual activity (Braun 408). The chief reasons for women to choose to undergo female genital cosmetic surgery (FGCS) typically involve the desire for female sexual pleasure to be enhanced, especially in terms of strengthening the orgasm (Braun 408). FGCS, in particular, refers to a specific subset of cosmetic procedures that alter the genitals to achieve these goals, including augmenting the labia, performing liposuction, reducing the clitoral hood or repositioning the clitoris, and more (Braun 407). These procedures are arguably meant to improve the sexual pleasure of the woman receiving them, as well as making their vaginas ‘look better’ – both of these issues thereby improving the sex lives of these women. These psychological reasons were cited as the frameworks for undergoing FGCS by those who benefit from its practice, like cosmetic surgeons and many women (Braun 414).
FGCS’s acceptability and popularity can easily be traced back to the heteronormative ideas of sexuality and pleasure dictated by American culture (Braun 418). The dominant culture stresses the importance of sex as a major indicator of personhood, particularly for women; sex is the avenue by which women find and keep romantic partners, negotiate their place within American society, and are primarily viewed as being useful for that purpose above others. Given these pressures, the ideal female body is, ironically, one that serves the male body best. FGCS allows women to orgasm more readily during vaginal intercourse, which then serves the man’s ego and feelings of power and gratification (since they can then view themselves as virile and gain confidence from being able to sexually please a woman). FGCS is also tied to a consumer culture that constantly points out our deficiencies and suggests ways to correct them. The practice is a product just like any other personal care product, this time centering on women’s perceived ugliness or inability to please their man (which, again, is a central part of woman’s socialized roles in America). FGCS and ‘designer vaginas’ are designed to correct this socially-constructed deficiency.
Unlike the ‘designer vaginas’ of America, Khau covers a very specific homeopathic practice for FGM in African countries - inner labia elongation (ILE). In this practice, the inner labia are artificially elongated through a variety of procedures, from massaging and stretching the labia into becoming longer to using a combination of herbs and traditional remedies to aid the stretching process (Khau 764). While Braun’s FGCS practices are a relatively new innovation in cosmetic surgery, touted as a fad strategy to increase sexual pleasure, Khau’s ILE practices are traditional and generational, being passed down from woman to woman in African families. The reasons for ILE are varied, but many relate to the desire to be able to find a man – African women fear that, without that look, they will never get married since they are not attractive enough to please their men. Cultural practices in this country actively shame women who have smaller labia, connecting that to a lack of femininity and desirability (which then fits into ideas of heteronormativity being a central priority for the dominant culture of these nations).
The central concern related to both types of FGM is the way in which these practices reinforce heteronormative cultural standards in their respective cultures. While many women argue that they undergo these procedures for their own pleasure, there is also an element of cultural shame that comes with not having a vagina that conforms to heteronormative standards of beauty. To that end, what may seem like a freely made choice by a woman wanting to look better for herself may instead be a subconscious tactic to avoid said shame that would be levied upon her by these cultural standards. In that respect, FGM is much less about the woman’s sense of pleasure than it is the man’s desire for his woman to look exactly the way he wants her to.
In essence, the practice of FGM is a deeply regressive practice that enforces strict heteronormative standards of beauty on women and punishes those who do not conform to those standards. Whether in America or in Africa, women experience this degree of oppression in some form or fashion, feeling culturally pressured to have the exact characteristics required to enhance male sexual pleasure. If they do not, they are threatened with cultural shame, loneliness and ostracization by members of both sexes. In order to combat the unfair and uneven expectations of sexual pleasure and attractiveness that are placed on men and women alike, practices like FGM must be reconsidered and re-evaluated outside of the strict sphere of heteronormativity, to allow women to make their own conscious, independent decisions without the cultural pressures that move them to change one of the most fundamental parts of themselves.
Works Cited
Braun, Virginia. “In Search of (Better) Sexual Pleasure: Female Genital ‘Cosmetic’ Surgery.”
Sexualities 8.4 (2005): 407-424.
Khau, Mathabo. “Female Sexual Pleasure and Autonomy: What has inner labia elongation got to
do with it?” Sexualities 15 (2012): 763.
