In what is thought to be the first study of its kind in Australia, a University of Sydney PhD student is investigating how women's feelings about their vaginas affects their sex lives.
Frances D'Arcy-Tehan, a psychologist and clinical sexologist, said she became acutely aware of women's genital anxieties and their impact on self-esteem though her work in private practice.
"Some women, for instance, would tell me they did not like the waytheir 'pink bits' looked and/orthe way their vagina smelt. As a result some women reported an aversion to receiving oral sex and/or feeling uncomfortable being naked in front of their partner.
"In Western society the female genitalia and their functions are objects of mystery, adoration and taboo. Women's bodies are often objectified and evaluated, which may result in poor genital and body image associated with lower sexual satisfaction."
D'Arcy-Tehan, who is asking women to take part in an online survey, says that advertising and marketing machines are taking advantage of our genital anxieties. Female genital, or 'intimate', surgery is widely advertised in women's magazines on and the internet and becoming increasing common.
"An increase in women undergoing elective intimate surgery for a 'designer vagina' indicates that there is a substantial aesthetic component in genital image. Unreal images such as the 'porn look' promote what the ideal female genitalia should look like, and cosmetic surgery promises women a better sex life."