You asked: “I'm really curious about where this comes from. It certainly isn't from me--I've never demanded that anybody's vaginas be changed in any way just to please me”

That’s because the kind of guy who complains about the appearance of labia is not the same kind of guy who writes thoughtful posts on Salon, much less reads Salon, much less reads anything. Unfortunately though, these men DO exist. I have heard groups of young guys making fun of large labia (i.e. “meat curtains,” “roast beef,” bacon butterfly”). I once knew a guy who had the name of a girl he sometimes had sex with programmed into his phone as “fat lips” – and he wasn’t talking about the lips on her face.

So, who are these guys? Mostly guys age 30 and under. I’m guessing you are not in your 20s (neither am I).

I see this as a sort of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs issue, where constantly impose new standards once basic needs are met. Humans always strive for more and bigger and better and standards always increase over time, *especially* in a capitalist consumer culture. So while a 20 year old man in 1900 would thank his lucky stars to see any naked woman, a 20 year old man in 1950 would be disgusted if she didn’t shave her legs and a 20 year old man in 1980 would be disgusted if she didn’t shave her legs and armpits and a 20 year old man in 2010 is disgusted if she doesn’t shave her legs, armpits, and pubic hair. If a man in 1900 saw a woman like Pamela Anderson he probably quite literally would not have known if she was an actual human being or not. Today her constructed body type is the default model in men’s magazines.

Anyway, my point is, beauty standards ALWAYS become more and more stringent over time. Technology vastly accelerates the phenomenon. People are joking here about ball lifts but mark my words, they will not be uncommon within 10 years. I would put money on it.

The only way that hair would cost $1200 would be if you were completely bald.

I must say that I'm gratified to learn the brand new fact, as of today, that I have "aspirational" hair. Since my hair looks exactly like Blake Lively's. And you don't need genetics or a fat wallet, since most women of European descent could have Blake's hair if they wanted it by simply: (1) growing it long, and (2) buying some Clairol. So women must not be pining for her hair after all - shocking! As usual, a NYT "trend" story is full of crap.

The broadsheet post, however, was well worth the read, just for this line, which has got to be one of the funniest things I've read in a long time: "But if men aspire to sleep with 22-year-old women who can pass for teenagers, and women aspire to be 51-year-old lesbian talk show hosts, we're at an impasse."