Man vs. Vagina – a Foucauldian analysis of men’s discourses about the perfect vagina and female genital grooming

Abstract

Women’s genitals are becoming increasingly visible in Western society across various diverse contexts, including the news, pornography, show business and the cosmetic industry (Fahs, 2014). Against this backdrop, it is the aesthetics of the female genitals that take centre stage, constructed, amongst other things, as a site for perfection, scrutiny and disgust (Braun & Tiefer, 2011). In the existing literature, these representations of the vagina have been discussed in relation to female identity and experience; however, the male perspective has been neglected. This study explores men’s discourses about the appearance of female genitals and situates them within current discussions in society more generally surrounding ‘the perfect vagina’ as well as the rise in female genital cosmetic surgery and pubic hair removal. Based on semi-structured interviews with six male participants, a Foucauldian discourse, analysis indicated that the men’s talk was organised into four broad discourses: the natural vagina and effort; the gendered vagina; the impossibility of the perfect vagina; and the vagina is disgusting/imperfect. Within each of these discourses, a number of narrower discourses were observed, suggesting a high degree of complexity surrounding the issue. Considering the generic depictions of the perfect vagina in the West as a symbol of ultimate heterosexual male desirability, it was perhaps surprising that the male participants’ opinions of female genital appearance were so varied and manifold. Bringing Foucauldian insights to bear, this analysis emphasises how the vagina can be a medium through which men (as well as others) can exert social control and power over (and resisted by) women and how discursive practices identified here may be used to negotiate and challenge the speaker’s own individual identities and identities of women in general.