Due to more Australian women having the perception that their private parts have abnormal appearance, labiaplasties have increased by 5-fold in the country Down Under since 2001.

YouTube/Anatomy Channel

Quoting a study made by the University of Queensland School of Psychology, News.com.au reports that more Aussie women were likely to believe that designer vaginas were normal or ideal compared to unaltered images of female genitalias shown to 97 respondents aged 18 to 30.

The respondents were divided into three groups, with one group shown images of surgically altered vaginas, another group of female genitals in its unmodified state and the third group not shown any images.

When members of the three groups were later showed a mixture of modified and unmodified vaginas and asked to rate for the degree the vulva appears normal and represents the ideal, all three groups picked the designer vaginas as the ideal one. Similar views were made by the respondents from the three groups regarding modified and unmodified vulvas.

Claire Moran from the university and lead author of the study, said the jump in genital cosmetic surgery - triggered partly by reports that Sharon Osbourne had a labiaplasty, but she later admitted the story was only made up - is considered a worrying trend.

YouTube/BBC

Explaining the results of the study, Ms Moran said the misconceptions are "due to airbrushing, lack of exposure to normal women's genitals, greater genital visibility due to Brazilian and genital waxing and the general taboo around discussing genitals and genital appearance," quoted News.com.au.

Meanwhile, on the male side of private parts, a review of current literature on penile cancer by experts from the Department of Urology at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, Queensland, said that phallus preservation strategies have provided significant anatomical, functional and psychological effects on patients with the ailment.

YouTube/exoHealth

In the past, total penectomy was widely practiced, but it was associated with significant psychological consequences to body image and masculinity. However, recent advances in surgical techniques and technologies spared men suffering from penile cancer from their phalluses being cut.

Among the advances are topical chemotherapeutic agents, laser ablation, radiotherapy, Mohs micrographic surgery, glansectomy and partial penectomy. Using these technologies allowed little interference as possible with functional anatomy without compromising cancer control.

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