Earlier this week, an anonymous 20-year-oldshared her story of why she had labiaplasty because she hated how her vagina looked on Reddit – and the post went viral. She recounted how her labia, which ‘dangled between my legs for 2/3cm,’ had made her feel insecure her whole life. The account of her surgery provoked a stream of debate from other women – and men – about just exactly what is ‘normal’ down there.
The idea that there’s an acceptable way for our vaginas to look has got one Australian woman so riled that she started a blog about it. The Large Labia Project asks women to submit photos of their bits, which are then posted online for all to see. The idea is to show that our vaginas come in all shapes and sizes – and reassure women who feel insecure about their own.
‘I created The Large Labia Projectto show just how varied and utterly normal our pussies are, and to fight the bullshit beauty ideals which tell perfectly normal people there’s something wrong with them,’ Emma, the woman behind the blog, told The Debrief.
So far thousands of women have shared their ‘vagina selfies’ on the site – which Emma started three years ago after seeing a documentary that linked a growing trend for labiaplasty to Australia’s porn-censorship laws. ‘The censorship classification for Playboy-style wank mags requires no detail in genital nudity, it’s considered too obscene,’ she says. ‘But that means photos of the models are Photoshopped to remove visible or protruding labia minora.’
In reality, an estimated 50% of people with a vagina have labia minora that poke out. ‘A whole generation of young people could grow up believing that to be beautiful and sexually desirable they have to look like the people in these soft-core magazines,’ says Emma. ‘What happens if they look between their legs and see something completely different?’
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When she realised her labia wouldn’t make the grade in a porn film, she started to get angry. ‘My own labia minora are uneven in size and shape, they’re a bit wrinkly, and they stick out from between my labia majora. So if I had been one of those models my labia would have been digitally censored,’ she says. ‘That really pissed me off, so I decided to do something about it. When I created the Large Labia Project I really had no idea where it was going. I was just in “angry bitch” mode.’
The first picture Emma posted was her own – a vagina she’s always been very proud of. ‘I’ve always been lucky in that I’ve had a healthy and positive relationship with my vulva, and am equally fascinated by it and in love with it. I’ve never had anyone say anything negative and frankly, if they did, it would be the last time they ever got to see it.’
Nonetheless, she was terrified of exposing herself so publically – part of the reason that she’s remained anonymous and allows contributors to do the same. ‘It was scary and made me feel incredibly vulnerable. So I’m even more in awe of the people who felt self-conscious and contribute photos,’ she says.
Even today, Emma – who has also started another blog about breasts – admits very few of her friends and family know about her blog. ‘I value and protect my own privacy as much as I do for the people who share their experiences and photos on my blogs.’
She says there isn’t a day when she isn’t upset by a story or comment someone submits. ‘I’ve heard incredibly sad stories of teens who have been so afraid they were abnormal that they tried to cut off their own labia with scissors,’ says Emma. ‘I’ve talked to married women who have never had sex with the lights on, who never let their husband see their vulva or give them oral sex because they’re terrified they’ll be disgusted and leave.’
Besides posting the photos she provides support and advice where she can. ‘I get messages from people who have visited the site telling me it’s changed their life, sometimes even saved their life.’
The blog also has a string of encouraging comments from men – although Emma admits some visit for darker reasons. ‘Sadly, whenever you have a website that includes nude photos there will always be people there for the wrong reason. It’s kind of pathetic really.’
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She only accepts photo submissions from over 18s, but says the site is important for younger teens. ‘Young people are particularly vulnerable as they have limited life and sexual experiences, and little experience in seeing their peers naked,’ she says. ‘Sex ed classes and parents let kids down, and don’t provide the info they need.’
Which is why Emma wasn’t surprised by the outpour of emotion that greeted the Reddit user’s thread about her labiaplasty surgery. ‘Ultimately it’s her body and she can do with it whatever she wants. I’m glad she’s happy with the result,’ she says carefully.
Still, she doesn’t think surgery is the answer – and is disturbed by recent stats from one UK plastic surgery clinic saying they’ve had 1,150 enquiries in the past year from 18 to 24 year olds alone.
‘It may make some women feel better about themselves, but the cause of their negative feelings was based on a big fat lie to begin with. People are being led to believe they have a physical problem when they actually have normal bodies,’ Emma maintains.
‘That’s why it’s always fantastic when someone comes along to say: “Hey, I love my pussy and my big normal lips.” Spreading pussy-pride is what I hope to achieve.’
*Emma is conducting a survey on women's labia size. You can take part (no picture required) here. *
Follow Clare on Twitter @thorpers
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.