Labiaplasty and the Melancholic Breast

This article is an attempt to think through the sociosymbolic dimensions of the phenomenon of nonmedical or cosmetic surgical reduction of the labia minora, an interventionist medical practice that is gaining currency in the contemporary Western context. The article seeks to navigate the symbolic me...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Studies in gender and sexuality 2015-07, Vol.16 (3), p.204-225
Main Author: Nurka, Camille
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Breasts
Clinical medicine
Context
Females
Femininity
Plastic surgery
Self concept
Self image
Sexuality
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Summary:This article is an attempt to think through the sociosymbolic dimensions of the phenomenon of nonmedical or cosmetic surgical reduction of the labia minora, an interventionist medical practice that is gaining currency in the contemporary Western context. The article seeks to navigate the symbolic meaning of labial excision in the contemporary Western "postfeminist" context. I suggest that the desire for labiaplasty is embedded in a dialectical narrative of femininity that draws upon a specifically postfeminist distinction between desirable sexuality and undesirable maternity. I use the Kleinian theory of melancholic loss to argue that the contemporary desire for labiaplasty is indicative of a failure of mourning and the inability to establish the maternal breast as a good internal object in the psychosocial formation of the feminine body-ego. I argue that because the mother's breast cannot be legitimately mourned, the female body is compelled to abject its reproductive, animal materiality.
ISSN:1524-0657
1940-9206
DOI:10.1080/15240657.2015.1073070