A Qualitative Sociological Study of the Influences Leading Iranian Women to Undergo Genital Cosmetic Surgery

Female genital cosmetic surgery (FGCS) has emerged as a growing global phenomenon, raising important sociological questions across diverse cultural contexts. This study examines the motivations and experiences of Iranian women who undergo FGCS, drawing on qualitative interviews with 26 participants who had undergone procedures such as labiaplasty, colporrhaphy, and gynecological fat transfer. Using a grounded theory approach, the findings identify three interconnected conditions shaping women’s decisions: basic conditions (including underprivileged participant, stereotypes and lack of knowledge about the body and surgery), causal conditions (such as relationship with spouse, causes of divorce and objectification), and intervening conditions (including the importance of sexuality for women in their 40s and beyond, lack of sexual knowledge, low self-confidence, peer and family influence, interpersonal endorsement or blaming, normalization and globalization). While situated in Iran, the findings reflect broader patterns observed across countries of the Global South, where women’s bodies are shaped by intersecting forces of gender inequality, economic dependency, and transnational beauty ideals. The study demonstrates how FGCS operates as a strategy through which women negotiate relational expectations, social value, and bodily self-perception within structurally constrained environments. By situating the Iranian case within a wider Global South framework, this research contributes to sociological debates on body politics, globalization, and gendered embodiment in non-Western contexts.