Our society is fixated on maintaining youth, defying age along with the concept of being ‘perfect’. Thousands of Indians have promoted the crore plus business of anti-aging procedures and products. Over the past few years, cosmetic surgery almost tripled.
In the past, plastic surgery had been substantially more popular for older women or for individuals suffering from illness where plastic surgery is required ; however, now, the number of men and younger women exploring their options in the world of plastic surgery has significantly increased. Although, the media does play a large role in our obsession with youth, it is not entirely to blame. Much of society feels that if they looked younger or prettier, then they would be more competitive in the workplace. There are many perceptions that the younger or prettier employee will get the promotion regardless of the experience or capabilities, since many people make up their ideas about a person based solely on his or her appearance. And this fact stands mostly true with our most popular Bollywood industry.
Though the plastic surgery procedure I am gonna highlight here, is not that well-known in India, but I seriously wonder how long will it take to reach our very own metro cities or maybe they do happen here on regular basis but like many other incidents are restricted behind closed door, due to the very nature of our society.
“It’s the ultimate gift for the man who has everything.” This is what Ms. Yarborough, a 40 year old medical assistant felt about her recent 17th anniversary gift – a surgery to reattach her hymen, making her appear a virgin again – to her husband. This controversial medical procedure, hymenoplasty, originally intended to protect females in the Middle East and Latin America, is gaining popularity in the U.S. for cosmetic reasons.
The procedure, also known as “revirgination”, is being hawked in magazines, the Internet or on radio stations as a way for women to improve their sex life or enjoy a second honeymoon. [Link]
The booming popularity of this procedure seems to reflect a wider trend of cosmetic surgery’s increased visibility and the western society’s increased acceptance of it.
Troy Robbin Hailparn, an obstetrician and gynecologist, advertises vaginal cosmetic surgery on 23 billboards around San Antonio. EdwardJacobson, a Greenwich, Conn., OB-GYN, offers international patients vaginal-makeover packages that include airfare, limousine travel and hotel accommodation.
“Revirgination” can cost over $5,000, but at Ridgewood Health and Beauty Center, a spa and cosmetic-surgery center in the New York City borough of Queens it costs as little as $1,800. Gynecologists are marketing hymenoplasty in magazines, local newspapers and online. They report business is booming.
However, not everyone is excited by such prospects. Many religious groups that value abstinence until marriage say hymen repair is a deception. Devout Roman Catholics consider sex before marriage sinful and equate female virginity with near divinity. For many Muslims, sexual purity, especially for women, is a way of maintaining the family’s sanctity.
Other criticisms of hymenoplasty include questions of the procedures legitimacy and safety. The ethics committee of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, concerned about the marketing of revirgination, has not taken a formal position on the matter, but has expressed concern over the lack of information in the medical literature regarding the procedure, a fact that may mean performers of the procedure are improperly trained. Many Gynecologic Surgeons consider hymen repair to be a totally bogus procedure. According to them, surgery marketed to improve one’s sex life rarely works. As for hymen replacement, “most importantly, it doesn’t make you a virgin again.”
Despite this fact, women are enticed by the ability to tighten their vaginal walls and even redesign the look of their private parts; participating women often indicate that such measures were meant to boost their own confidence levels or please their partners. According to some women, the reason they opted for this sort of plastic surgery because their husband wanted to experience intercourse with a virgin, explaining that “if a woman isn’t a virgin when she gets married, a man can always put her down for that.”
Tommorrow when hymen replacement surgery becomes popular in India, I doubt the reason for it would on ethical grounds. Being aware of our societal norms and culture, hymen repair is mostly likely to be just another expression of bigger social pressures that keep women submissive to men, a thought which has been expressed by feminist groups in US also. It would possibly be an extention to female genital mutilation, a procedure that often forces women to endure genitalia alterations, that modern and educated women now pay for. The self-deceptive double standards would yet again be visible through practices such as hymenoplasty — of the ‘bad’ woman intending to become the ‘good’ one.
The ethics involved in the debates surrounding plastic surgery cause conflicts in how people view the profession, as well as how people obtain and undergo these procedures. Plastic surgery can be seen in a positive light with regards to the positive outcomes experienced by many. This is by far the way it is seen by most of the population today, based on the large increase in procedures performed in recent years. By creating and uplifting a patient’s self-image, the ethical issues of plastic surgery can be put aside to focus on the positive outcomes.
However, these ethical issues have the potential to push the limits, and should constantly be evaluated with regards to the imminent threat they pose to the legitimacy and sustainability of the profession.
*Source : U.S. women seek a second first time with hymen surgery, By Amy Chozick, The Wall Street Journal.
[...] Revirgination anyone? In case you lost your hymen to horseriding, swimming, sex or if your hymen just got bored of staying there and decided to go for a walk – not all is lost! Sakshi on a surgery referred to as hymenoplasty. Ugh! [...]
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