Genitale body-modifications bei frauen

Abstract

The desire to change the appearance of one's own body is as old as humankind. Nearly everybody in western civilized society is trying to optimize his or her appearance. New kinds of alterations that can be made to the body are called "body modification" or "bodmod". This article gives a general view on current methods of body modification in women, and in particular (play-)piercings, genital piercings, flesh tunnels, tattoos, implants, saline injections, sewing up of body orifices and extensions of the labia minora pudendi. The article enumerates health risks and side-effects of these minor operations. Motives for them are: enhancing one's attractiveness, peer-group pressure, imitation, desire to look grown up, quest for personal identity, curiosity, tests of courage, sensation seeking, protest, rebellion, marking a rite of passage, control over the body, sexual motives, fetishism, exhibitionism, sadomasochism, religious/spiritual motives, borderline experiences, and attempts at self-therapy. © 2007 Springer Medizin Verlag.