Women’s attitude towards genital aesthetics and the effect of social media: a qualitative study in the context of turkish-muslim women

Purpose: In the study, it was aimed to determine Turkish Muslim women’s attitude towards genital aesthetics and investigate the effect of social media in this regard. Methods: In the collection of the study data, semi-structured interview technique, one of the qualitative method techniques, was used. The study was completed with 11 women. The data collected were analyzed through qualitative content analysis. Results: The women generally associated genital aesthetics with sexuality and childbirth. They were mostly of the opinion that genital aesthetics could be performed when needed and that their religious beliefs were not an obstacle to it. The women also emphasized the positive aspects of social media regarding genital aesthetics. As a result of the content analysis, 4 main themes and 10 subthemes were determined. These main themes were: (1) reasons for genital aesthetics (birth-related problems, sexuality), (2) attitudes (the woman’s attitude, society’s attitude, beliefs), (3) obstacles and expectations (obstacles and expectations related to health service provision, scientific obstacles and expectations, privacy), (4) social media (information, its effect on concerns). Conclusions: It is recommended that health service providers should make attempts in order to create appropriate environments and opportunities through which women can easily access to information about genital aesthetics, that healthcare professional should inquire about women’s sexuality while providing care and have adequate information about genital aesthetics. It is also recommended that more studies should be conducted on genital aesthetics methods and their risks and benefits, and that experts should provide more information on the issue on social media.