Hymenoplasty and Cosmetic Surgery

The New York Times article about the debate over Islam and virginity brought up an interesting question – has the prejudice about the importance of woman’s virginity that was supposed to buried years ago returned? While the article talked about some of the different scenarios that had occurred in France, I feel like we got a very European and Western look at the issue. How do the people who actually got the hymenoplasty procedure done feel about this kind of technology?

I was born in Saudi Arabia and lived there for 7 years and then lived in Bangladesh for 11 years. Saudi Arabia has a 100% Muslim population, and Bangladesh has 88% Muslims. Growing up with Islam around me, I saw the importance of virginity before marriage in Islamic cultures. It is important for both men and women (It just so happens that men don’t have a hymen to tear…) Whether hymenoplasty exists or not, the families of the person who has lost virginity will be put to shame in very Islamic societies. The surgery doesn’t change that fact. In fact, the surgery helps restore peace within families in which someone has lost her virginity before marriage. There isn’t a way of finding out if a man has lost his virginity – now a woman has the ability to hide it too. My initial reaction when I had first heard of hymenoplasty was, “Whew, so many people can get back their respect now in Islamic cultures. You don’t know about a man’s virginity for sure, now you can’t be sure about a woman’s either.” While in European societies, this is seen as prejudice towards women since they don’t want the importance of virginity to be there, in Islamic societies, I feel like this might help women, since the importance of virginity will always be part of the culture.

Out of the other two readings, I did “The Face value of Dreams: Gender, Race, and the Politics of Cosmetic Surgery.” It talks about how cosmetic surgery advertisements focus on the gain but rarely on the complications that can occur, or the painful stage that precedes the final effect of the surgery. It also focuses on how cosmetic surgery reinforces the idea of what is beautiful and what isn’t, where the Caucasian look is considered “beautiful and superior.” While I understand the author’s point of view, I feel that often people just want what they don’t have. Those with curly hair want it straight, and those with straight hair want it curly. Or they want what isn’t common in their nation/area/race – they want an “exotic” look, not necessarily Caucasian.

I thought this news piece would be interesting for this discussion: Do pretty people earn more? “The ugly truth, according to economics professors Daniel Hamermesh of the University of Texas and Jeff Biddle of Michigan State University, is that plain people earn 5 percent to 10 percent less than people of average looks, who in turn earn 3 percent to 8 percent less than those deemed good-looking.”