30-05-2025
I was on an international flight from Australia when I asked a doctor a question that changed my life forever
An alarming number of women across Australia are going under the knife in pursuit of the 'perfect' vulva, and experts say they're being sold a dangerous lie.
It was on a long-haul flight to Colombia that Australian writer Ellie Sedgwick found herself face to face with the dark reality of the growing labiaplasty trend.
Seated next to a man in scrubs, she asked him what he did for work, only to discover he was a gynaecologist who specialised in the surgery.
Ms Sedgwick recalled the moment he proudly scrolled through dozens of before and after photos of women's genitals on his phone.
'I do up to ten a day,' he told her.
Sedgwick says she had considered the surgery herself, having booked three consultations before backing out.
The doctor however, tried to change her mind.
'Then he invited me to watch one in action. He claimed [having the surgery] would "improve my pleasure",' she recalled.
The writer and photographer has created a photobook 'Flip Through My Flaps' to highlight the reality of women's bodies and fight against pressure from social media to be 'perfect'
Ms Sedgwick was shocked by how candidly the doctor spoke about the subject, but said it was sadly not surprising.
The unusual encounter only confirmed what she had already suspected, that a silent epidemic was taking place.
One where women and girls are being told that their natural bodies are 'wrong', often before they even understand what's normal.
Comfortable In My Skin, a women's health initiative founded by Ms Sedgwick, recently surveyed over 1,900 Australian women.
She says the findings are nothing short of disturbing, but that the blame doesn't fall on women but the pressure coming from every direction.
'Porn, advertising, Instagram filters, even misinformed doctors, they all feed the same message: you're not normal,' she said.
According to the survey, 65 per cent of women said social media fuels their anxiety about their bodies, while half said they worry about the size or shape of their labia.
Even more troubling is where women are turning for answers.
'The education system is failing them,' Sedgwick said.
'Three-quarters of women leave medical appointments with more questions than answers. So where do they go? TikTok. Google.'
She does admit however, that there is nothing wrong with going under the knife, but it should come from a place of knowledge and confidence, not shame.
'If you've chosen labiaplasty for yourself, that's your right,' she said.
'But most women aren't making these decisions fully informed.
'They're in the dark, no real education about vulva diversity, no trusted language to challenge the shame, and nowhere to ask the real questions without embarrassment.'
In response to the pressure of social media, Ms Sedgwick published a photobook called Flip Through My Flaps: An Exploration of the Vulva.
The project hopes to highlight what real vulvas look like.
'We need to show women the truth before they're talked into surgery,' she said.
'Because we're not broken. But there's a billion-dollar industry making money by convincing us we are.'
As the number of women undergoing a labiaplasty rises, Ms Sedgwick said it's time to stop impossible beauty standards from dictating self-worth.
'We need to stop slicing off parts of ourselves just to fit someone else's idea of pretty,' she says.
