SynthesisBMC women's health2015
The contribution of online content to the promotion and normalisation of female genital cosmetic surgery: a systematic review of the literature.
Synthesis in BMC women's health, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 61 citations in OpenAlex.
- Female Sexual Function After Labiaplasty: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Aesthetic plastic surgery · 2026Pooled it
- Female genital cosmetic procedures from the perspective of health practitioners: a systematic review of knowledge, attitude and practice studies.BMC women's health · 2024Pooled it
- Comparison of Sexual Function, Satisfaction, and Assertiveness in Genital Cosmetic Surgery Groups: A Randomized-Sampling Cross-Sectional Study.Aesthetic plastic surgery · 2025Trial
- The Role of Media in Women's Demand for Genital Cosmetic Surgery: A Systematic Review.Aesthetic plastic surgery · 2026Review
- Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Labia Minora Anatomy in Premenopausal Women: Toward Better Labiaplasty Decisions.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Perception of aesthetic procedures applied to the vulva in the context of the medical specialty of gynecology and obstetrics.Sexual medicine · 2026Article
- Women's Decision-Making for Labiaplasty: A Qualitative Analysis of Influential Factors and Psychological Experiences.Archives of sexual behavior · 2025Article
- Motivational Factors for Labiaplasty: A Systematic Review of Medical Research.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Unbridled Advertising of Female Cosmetic Genitoplasty Procedures in the Absence of Health Policymaking in the World: An argumentation.Sultan Qaboos University medical journal · 2024Article
- Sexual activities and experiences in women who underwent genital cosmetic surgery: a cross-sectional study using data from the German Health and Sexuality Survey (GeSiD).International journal of impotence research · 2023Article
- Health professionals' and beauty therapists' perspectives on female genital cosmetic surgery: an interview study.BMC women's health · 2023Article
- Gendered genital modifications in critical anthropology: from discourses on FGM/C to new technologies in the sex/gender system.International journal of impotence research · 2023Review
- Review
- Vaginal rejuvenation: current perspectives.International journal of women's health · 2017Review
- Female genital cosmetic surgery: a cross-sectional survey exploring knowledge, attitude and practice of general practitioners.BMJ open · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWomen considering female genital cosmetic surgery (FGCS) are likely to use the internet as a key source of information during the decision-making process. The aim of this systematic review was to determine what is known about the role of the internet in the promotion and normalisation of female genital cosmetic surgery and to identify areas for future research.
methodsEight social science, medical, and communication databases and Google Scholar were searched for peer-reviewed papers published in English. Results from all papers were analysed to identify recurring and unique themes.
resultsFive papers met inclusion criteria. Three of the papers reported investigations of website content of FGCS providers, a fourth compared motivations for labiaplasty publicised on provider websites with those disclosed by women in online communities, and the fifth analysed visual depictions of female genitalia in online pornography. Analysis yielded five significant and interrelated patterns of representation, each functioning to promote and normalise the practice of FGCS: pathologisation of genital diversity; female genital appearance as important to wellbeing; characteristics of women's genitals are important for sex life; female body as degenerative and improvable through surgery; and FGCS as safe, easy, and effective. A significant gap was identified in the literature: the ways in which user-generated content might function to perpetuate, challenge, or subvert the normative discourses prevalent in online pornography and surgical websites.
conclusionsFurther research is needed to contribute to knowledge of the role played by the internet in the promotion and normalisation of female genital cosmetic surgery.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.