Editing Labia minora (section)

===Variation===
[[File:Labia minora variation.jpg|thumb|upright=2|The individual size, coloration and shapes of the labia minora are subject to significant variability between women. The labia minora are completely covered by the labia majora in some women in a standing posture, while in others they protrude visibly from the pubic cleft.]]
Being thinner than the outer labia, the inner labia can be also more narrow than the former, or wider than the labia majora, thus protruding in the [[pudendal cleft]] and making the term ''minora'' (Latin for smaller) essentially inapplicable in these cases. They can also be smooth or frilled, the latter being more typical of longer or wider inner labia.
[[File: Differences of vagina with open and closed legs.jpg |thumb|upright=2|The appearance of the labia minora varies depending on the position of the legs. On the left, with the legs closed, the labia minora is almost completely covered by the labia majora. In the center, with the legs slightly open, the labia minora becomes partially visible. On the right, with the legs fully open, the labia minora is completely visible, along with the clitoral hood.]]

From 2003 to 2004, researchers from the Department of Gynaecology, [[Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Obstetric Hospital|Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital]] in London, measured the labia and other genital structures of 50 women from the age of 18 to 50, with a mean age of 35.6. The study has since been criticized for its "small and homogenous sample group" consisting primarily of white women.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Oeming|first=Madita|date=1 January 2018|title=In Vulva Vanitas – The Rise of Labiaplasty in the West|url=http://genderforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/022018_Cliteridectomy_Comple-Issue.pdf|journal=Gender Forum|volume=67|pages=70–91|issn=1613-1878|access-date=8 June 2020|archive-date=18 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718231742/http://genderforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/022018_Cliteridectomy_Comple-Issue.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The results were:<ref name="Lloyd">{{cite journal | vauthors = Lloyd J | display-authors = etal | title = Female genital appearance: 'normality' unfolds | url = http://www.newviewcampaign.org/userfiles/file/BJOG%2005-normal-genitalia.pdf | journal = British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology | volume = 112 | issue = 5 | pages = 643–646 | pmid = 15842291 | doi = 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2004.00517.x | date = May 2005 | s2cid = 17818072 | access-date = 2011-09-19 | archive-date = 2011-10-05 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111005144436/http://www.newviewcampaign.org/userfiles/file/BJOG%2005-normal-genitalia.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
! Measurement
! Range
! Mean [SD]
|-
| [[Clitoris|Clitoral]] length (mm)
| 5–35
| 19.1 [8.7]
|-
| [[Clitoris#Glans|Clitoral glans]] width (mm)
| 3–10
| 5.5 [1.7]
|-
| Clitoris to [[urethra]] (mm)
| 16–45
| 28.5 [7.1]
|-
| [[Labia majora]] length (cm)
| 7.0–12.0
| 9.3 [1.3]
|-
| Labia minora length (mm)
| 20–100
| 60.6 [17.2]
|-
| Labia minora width (mm)
| 5–60
| 21.8 [9.4]
|-
| [[Perineum]] length (mm)
| 15–55
| 31.3 [8.5]
|-
| [[Vagina]]l length (cm)
| 6.5–12.5
| 9.6 [1.5]
|}

{| class="wikitable"
!Feature!!Value!!Frequency
|-
| rowspan=2|[[Tanner scale|Tanner stage]] (n)
| IV
| 4
|-
| V
| 46
|-
| rowspan=2|Colour of genital area<br />compared with surrounding skin (n)
| Same
| 9
|-
| Darker
| 41
|-
| rowspan=3|[[Rugosity]] of labia (n)
| Smooth
| 14
|-
| Moderate
| 34
|-
| Marked
| 2
|}

Due to the frequent portrayal of the pudendal cleft without protrusion in art and pornography, there has been a rise in the popularity of [[labiaplasty]], surgery to alter the labia—usually, to make them smaller.<ref>{{cite news|author=Rowenna Davis|date=27 February 2011|title=Labiaplasty surgery increase blamed on pornography |department=Life and style|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/feb/27/labiaplasty-surgery-labia-vagina-pornography|url-status= live|access-date=2015-04-03|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141207234106/http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/feb/27/labiaplasty-surgery-labia-vagina-pornography|archive-date=2014-12-07 }}</ref><ref name="pmid29405204">{{cite journal |vauthors=Özer M, Mortimore I, Jansma EP, Mullender MG |title=Labiaplasty: motivation, techniques, and ethics |journal=Nat Rev Urol |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=175–189 |date=March 2018 |pmid=29405204 |doi=10.1038/nrurol.2018.1 |s2cid=3560906 }}</ref><ref name="pmid28314908">{{cite journal |vauthors=Clerico C, Lari A, Mojallal A, Boucher F |title=Anatomy and Aesthetics of the Labia Minora: The Ideal Vulva? |journal=Aesthetic Plast Surg |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=714–719 |date=June 2017 |pmid=28314908 |doi=10.1007/s00266-017-0831-1 |s2cid=4738537 }}</ref> On the other hand, there is an opposite movement of [[labia stretching]]. Its proponents stress the beauty of long labia and their positive role in sexual stimulation of both partners.

[[Labiaplasty]] is also sometimes sought by women who have asymmetrical labia minora to adjust the shape of the structures towards identical size.<ref>{{Citation|last=Triana|first=Lina|title=Lazy S Labiaplasty (Edge Labiaplasty)|work=Aesthetic Vaginal Plastic Surgery|year=2020|pages=37–51|publisher=Springer International Publishing|doi=10.1007/978-3-030-24819-2_4|isbn=978-3-030-24818-5|s2cid=203502492}}</ref>

[[Labia stretching]] has traditionally been practised in some African nations in the East and South<ref name="who">{{cite journal|url=http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/hrp/progress/67.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050212223655/http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/hrp/progress/67.pdf|archive-date=12 February 2005|title=Sexual health—a new focus for WHO|page=6|journal=Progress in Reproductive Health Research|date=2004|issue=67|publisher=World Health Organization}}</ref> and the South Pacific.<ref>Robert Suggs, Marquesan Sexual Behavior [New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1966], pp. 39–42</ref>