What I’d Like to See This Decade
Date posted: February 2, 2010Some people debate whether this year is the start of the new decade, or if next year is, but it’s easier for me to think of the teens as being all of those years that start with a 1. So to me, 2010 is the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century. Therefore, this is a good time for me to discuss some things I would like to see happen this next ten years. And as you might expect, all three of these hopes pertain to my field of labialasty / vaginoplasty surgery.
1) As of this writing, even though the health plsn that the democrats wanted is on hold, inevitably Congress will be negotiating a final healthcare insurance bill in the future. Without getting into the politics involved (There is good and bad in it), this promises to keep people’s attention on health insurance for the immediate future. I would hope that part of this increased scrutiny of the insurance industry would lead to some loosening up of what they will cover in the area of plastic and reconstructive surgery. Specifically, there are many instances when labiaplasty surgery is not done purely for aesthetic reasons, but for legitimate causes. My hope is that insurance companies will start covering these procedures much more than they currently do (which is rarely).
2) The big thing during the past decade has been for celebrities to go public with something personal in their lives, in order to remove the stigma associated with it. For instance, in the 00′s, celebrities confessed publicly to having been molested, to being gay, and to having problems with depression. My hope is that some greatly-admired person will come forth and admit that she had a labiaplasty and tell the legitimate reasons there are for having the procedure. This should help to take away some of the ammo the critics use against the procedure.
3) Although there are several reasons for having vaginal surgery, one instance in which it’s absolutely required is in vaginal prolapse, disruption of vaginal musculature from trauma including difficult child birth, reconstruction of the vagina after cancer surgery and more rare but still being done is in male-to-female sex reassignment surgery. One of my hopes for this next decade is that we will emerge from the Dark Ages and come to better understand those who feel the need for this surgery. As far as gender sex change surgery-sometimes this is necessary. The individuals involved are not homosexuals, nor are they some kind of freaks of nature. They are people who genuinely feel that their being born male was an accident of nature. Surgery helps correct this, in order to give them a life that will relieve their frustration and give them the fulfillment they’ve long craved.
Am I hoping for too much? Perhaps, but these really would make the world a better place.
2 Comments »Categories: female sexuality
I see little in the healthcare bill that finally passed that will help either the plastic surgery field or those of us interested in getting a cosmetic surgery procedure. I don’t label myself as either a Republican or Democrat, but I have to call it like I see it. Everything I’ve read says that there is no limit to how high the insurance companies can raise insurance premiums. So even if insurance providers were forced to start covering more plastic surgery procedures, no problem! They’ll just jack your insurance rate up sky high to pay for it. Either way you look at it, we’re still going to wind up paying for our own plastic surgery procedures, unless they’re absolutely required to keep us healthy. And even then, I don’t see much changing.
And by the way, sure, we can celebrate there not being a “Botox Tax” in the healthcare bill, but what’s up with the tax on tanning salons? For many of us, who not only are considering plastic surgery, but also like to tan once in a while, they’re cutting off one end of the hotdog, adding to the other end, and saying it’s bigger. Politics as usual!
Crazy as it sounds, I was not totally opposed to the tax on plastic surgery that was originally in the healthcare bill (but then taken out). We all know that the changes in healthcare in America are going to cost some money. That money has to come somewhere. Everyone seems to be fine with “Americans” paying for it, as long as I’m not one of those Americans. And the logic is consistent with what we’ve done in the past. We tax cigarettes and alcohol because you don’t need those. You want them, but could live without them. That certainly holds true for plastic surgery.
I understand tha there are some plastic surgery procedures that are more necessary than others, but still….Maybe they should have shaped the tax so that only elective cosmetic procedures were taxed, but those which were considered medical necessity, or constructive surgery, were tax exempt.