The number of women willing to put their vaginas under the knife, in order to look more chic while wearing certain clothing, increased by nearly 50 percent from 2013-2014, according to the The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.
The Daily Mail reports girls and women, ages 16-70 are opting for Labiaplasty, which is a cosmetic operation performed on the labia majora, or “lips” surrounding the vagina, although the surgery can be performed on the the labia minora – the smaller, internal vaginal “lips.”
Also known as “designer vagina” surgery, the increasingly popular operation changes the size or shape of a woman’s labia, and is typically performed to make the labia smaller, or symmetrical.
So what is driving the influx in “designer vagina” operations?
According to the Mail, a desire to appear more sleek while wearing yoga pants and swimwear.
The site reports women are becoming more self-conscious of their genitals when wearing swim wear, and tight clothing, such as jeans and yoga pants.
Dr. Jennifer Walden, an aesthetic plastic surgeon, who is also the spokeswoman for the ASAPS, told the site the operation is “one of the most popular cosmetic procedures in women.”
Dr. Walden generally performs two of the operations a week, and says she has noticed a rise in the number of women interested in labiaplasty.
As a result of the absence of pubic hair in modern women, Dr. Walden told the Mail surgery has “become fashionable and as a result women have, all of a sudden, started to see things they may not have taken notice of before.”
Walden also believes pornography and other online standards for feminine appearance are driving the craze, as images of women wearing nothing, or next to nothing, has “made women aware of areas they may not have noticed before.”
Per the ASAPS, from 2013-2014, the number of Labiaplasty operations increased 49 percent.