The wonder down under
Forget outdated ideas about “designer vaginas” for male appeal. the rise of the vulva beauty movement is something for real women to celebrate
Few women genuinely love how they look “down there”. Depictions in porn, where lady bits have often been surgically altered for a standardised look, couldn’t be more different from the average real-life woman.
Whether we think we’re “too droopy”, “too dark” or even “too thin”, when asked to critique their own vagina (the canal) and vulva (the clitoris, inner and outer flaps) nearly half of women admitted to having concerns. Some 64% worried about their size, 60% about their shape and almost a third about the general appearance of their vulva.
But it’s not just insecurities about looks – women also worry about how it functions, with some vaginal births leading to incontinence and reduced sensitivity for sex.
The good news? You don’t have to suffer in silence any more. “Women are talking more openly about their genitalia and the taboo is shrinking,” says Dr Shirin Lakhani, a cosmetic doctor and intimate health specialist at Cranley Clinic, London. “This isn’t about women feeling pressured to change – it’s about having safe, effective treatments if they want to treat symptoms that bother them. There are options available to moisturise, tighten and lighten our intimate areas. Women are feeling empowered to make changes for themselves – to celebrate their bodies.”
Here, Dr Lakhani runs through some of the options available if you want some va-va-voom in your va-jay-jay…