Women's genital self-perceptions: the good, the bad, and the discordant
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Date
2017
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University of New Brunswick
Abstract
Female genital self-image (FGSI) refers to women’s subjective thoughts and feelings
about their own genitals. Some, if not many, women are dissatisfied with their genitals.
This is a significant problem because genital dissatisfaction is associated with a variety of
negative sexual health outcomes for women. Thus, this dissertation aimed to enhance our
understanding of FGSI by examining genital dissatisfaction within this broader construct.
First, three measures—Female Genital Knowledge Scale, Partner Genital Feedback
Scale, and Specific Genital Aspects Scale—were developed and subjected to pilot testing
(Chapter 2). Each measure demonstrated psychometric strengths. Next, two manuscripts
were produced. The goal of manuscript 1 (Chapter 4) was to examine the prevalence of
female genital dissatisfaction, both globally and with regards to distinct genital aspects,
for a sample of cisgender women (N = 209) of different ages and relationship statuses.
Overall, 18% of the women were globally dissatisfied with their genitals, although very
few reported extreme dissatisfaction. Even among the women who reported global
satisfaction, 15% were dissatisfied with at least one of three categorical genital aspects
and 86% were dissatisfied with at least one (and often several) of 30 specific genital
aspects. No differences related to age or relationship status were found. This suggests that
whereas few women are globally dissatisfied with their genitals, many (if not all) harbor
dissatisfaction with one or more distinct genital aspects. The goal of manuscript 2
(Chapter 6) was to examine the extent to which various psychosocial factors sexual
health education (SHE), pornography use, sexual experiences, global affect) are
associated with more negative FGSI. Global affect, sexual experiences, and SHE were related to FGSI at the bivariate level. Only global affect and sexual experiences contributed uniquely to the prediction of FGSI. This suggests that the psychosocial
context is important for understanding women’s genital self-perceptions. Overall, this
dissertation offers a comprehensive view of FGSI, including the prevalence of female
genital dissatisfaction and the psychosocial factors that are associated with FGSI. The
results are discussed in terms of their implications for researchers, educators, clinicians,
and journalists.