PUSSY ON A PEDESTAL

Yesterday, activists pranced down Harley Street to save our muffs. Or rather to denote what we should and shouldn’t be doing TO, or WITH those muffs.

THE MUFF MARCH

Once again, a group of individuals take an over-arching stance with a loud blathering voice that assumes a shared, universal experience for women.

Really, are we here again?

The Archetypal

The so called Muff March was led by UK Feminista, whose website marks its intentions as speaking out against labiaplasty and the surgeon’s who are profiting from body hatred. The hairy muffs they sport are claimed to be directly challenging the ‘porn norm’ of women removing pubic hair. http://ukfeminista.org.uk/

This very precedent is informed by the basic assumptions of the dominant ideological discourses of sexuality in Western society; that the pornification of modern day culture is ‘bad, physical, shameful, dangerous, base, guilty until proven innocent, and redeemable only if it transcends its base nature.’ (Brenda Cossman,1997)

WAKE UP!

Pornography and erotica are the harbinger of broader social context, a reflection and forerunner for sexuality and a locus of power for self-exploration. This leads me to the foundation of the problem; the complexity of the current discourse on “pornification” lies in the question of definition.

What is pornography, and who defines what pornography is, or its effect on women?

Now forgive me for the old ‘women’s choice’ argument but seriously, isn’t it a personal choice – large labia, small labia, conspicuous clitoris, or hidden bean. Ask yourself this question: of all 30 below, which Vagina would you like to be?

WHICH VAGINA ARE YOU?

Now ask yourself this: which Vagina are you and why?

My point being, the importance lies in an individual’s confidence, happiness and comfort with their Vagina, whether it’s in relation to sex, personal sexual gratification, subjective beauty or being an asexual mascot. RAZZLE IT, DAZZLE IT, BEJAZZEL IT, TIGHTEN, CUT OR EXTEND It. Who I am I to say what’s acceptable in the name of cosmetic vaginas? No less, Feminista led activists, who are you to say?

There is definitely an argument for the auditing of this surgery and for the safety of women who opt to undergo it. This is not however, an argument to expel it. The reality is if you research into any form of cosmetic surgery you’ll hear the horror stories amongst the fairytales, but what about individual women? A 31 year old lady from Suffolk wanted smaller labia and a 41 year old mother wanted a vaginal tightening after having had four children. When she split up from her husband and found a new partner, she felt it was worth the effort.

The Individual Voice

To say a woman cannot or should not have cosmetic surgery is not only absurd, but ridiculous. Labiaplasty is just as acceptable as Rhinoplasty. To deny a woman the freedom of making a change to her body is an argument that takes women right back to where they originally started, to the locus of maintaining the false image of women’s sexuality as dormant and passive.

The most sense I’ve seen written on this topic was actually written by a man:

The Third State

Our sexualised culture is interlinked with the capitalist infrastructure of society. They are one of the same. Our bodies have become our commodities and with them we are performing, mirroring, rebelling and responding to one another. The idea that a woman’s body should be restricted to what is natural is a naive and regressive discourse.

The below activist holds up a poster which reads, ‘Mitts of my muff,’ arguably, it’s quite the contrary.

mitts of MY muff!

Part of this desire to control and define a woman stems from woman as keeper of the womb, which is the location of the beginning of existence. The Vagina is inevitably at risk of being a tool for humanity, the provider of children and a portal for male sexual gratification. But vaginal surgery is about ownership and decision.

In the words of Emily Goldman, “If I can’t dance I don’t want to be part of your revolution.”

PLEASE LADIES, QUIET DOWN, GO HOME AND THINK HARDER.