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Original poster

Brighton midwives told to say “front hole”

164 replies

tabbycatstripy · 18/04/2022 06:32

Daily Mail reports that a care guide for transgender patients pregnant or giving birth suggests midwives should use ‘alternative’ anatomical terminology, so, instead of calling a vagina a vagina, they could use “genital opening” or “front hole”.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10727051/Midwives-urged-avoid-using-proper-words-anatomy-avoid-upsetting-trans-patients.html

Aside from the issues of linguistic misunderstanding that might arise when patients are allowed to choose what medical professionals name anatomical parts, isn’t “front hole” simply degrading language? Isn’t it pornified and dehumanising?

OP posts:
Original poster
tabbycatstripy · 18/04/2022 07:07

‘I’d rather use different language when talking to trans patients, than follow the approach used by some other trusts which involves making everything gender neutral.’

But it doesn’t even make sense. Under the trans ideology, ‘vagina’ IS gender-neutral language. Because ‘men can have vaginas’.

What this does is force obfuscatory language into medicine, which is dangerous.

OP posts:
ErrolTheDragon · 18/04/2022 07:07

@MintyMoocow

I have three holes myself, my vagina is the middle one, pushing a baby out of the front one REALLY doesn’t bear thinking about.!
Quite. The fact that the actual front hole is overlooked in this terminology lends weight to the idea that it comes from a 'pornified' view - though it could just be biological ignorance. Either way, it's not something the medical profession should be encouraging.
IDontDrinkTea · 18/04/2022 07:06

To be honest, I’d rather use different language when talking to trans patients, than follow the approach used by some other trusts which involves making everything gender neutral. Brighton have a statement on their website saying that they are continuing to use the word ‘woman’ throughout their guidelines. Other hospitals have changed all their policies to make them gender neutral by referring to everyone as a ‘service user’

Alltheprettyseahorses · 18/04/2022 07:05

Xpost MintyMoocow

Alltheprettyseahorses · 18/04/2022 07:04

Putting aside any other issues, it's the MIDDLE hole fgs! A midwife trying to deliver a baby from the front hole wouldn't have qualified.

Original poster
tabbycatstripy · 18/04/2022 07:02

Then the midwife gets in trouble for saying “I We need to break your waters manually. That will involve putting my hand inside your vagina.”

How are they meant to properly ensure understanding and consent if everyone’s calling the vagina by their own special name?

OP posts:
MintyMoocow · 18/04/2022 07:02

I have three holes myself, my vagina is the middle one, pushing a baby out of the front one REALLY doesn’t bear thinking about.!

Queenoftheashes · 18/04/2022 07:01

You know, against the context of an increasing crisis in maternal healthcare with with scandalous numbers of dead babies and mothers, mothers being blamed for poor outcomes and dangerously few staff. But yeah let’s personalise anatomy to each narcissist. That’s one useful way to expend time, money, effort etc.

Original poster
tabbycatstripy · 18/04/2022 07:00

I don’t know. Just from the parentint perspective, I worry about a young person (especially a girl) growing up in a home where their mother insists they are male, won’t hear the words “vagina” or “breast” or (I’d assume) “period” because it’s too traumatising to them. That is not an emotionally sound situation.

OP posts:
Queenoftheashes · 18/04/2022 06:59

And no I don’t think it’s fair for midwives to have to try and remember each patient’s preferred made up word for their flange in somewhere like Brighton where every other pregnant 20 year old is non binary and you can guarantee one wants foof, one wants fanny and another wants mangina. Bloody ridiculous.

Queenoftheashes · 18/04/2022 06:57

If you’re a pregnant man I doubt someone referring to your vag is the most triggering thing to happen to it. How do they reconcile the baby coming out of it?

Original poster
tabbycatstripy · 18/04/2022 06:44

‘It’s clear from the daily mail that this only applies if the person is not comfortable with the ‘normal’ terminology and requests something else.’

I know. But aren’t there limits to what you can ask a medical professional to do? Why should they be forced to use degrading terms for the body? What if someone wanted to call the vagina a “penis receptacle”?

Isn’t it better to use accurate terms anyway?

And of course a transman might be pregnant not by choice, and of course they have the right to be pregnant whatever anyone thinks.

But do they have the right to control others’ language in this way?

OP posts:
Original poster
tabbycatstripy · 18/04/2022 06:42

Just to expand on that, “hole” is a reductive way to refer to the vaginal channel. During birth, the vagina is designed to stretch and widen, allowing the passage of a human being into the world. It’s a miraculous, unique capability of the female body. “Front hole” is language taken from a pornified view of the world in which the vagina is something you put things in.

A person who is so sensitive about hearing the word “vagina” and would rather call it their “front hole”, (IMO) needs psychological support, not medical staff colluding in their self-hatred.

OP posts:
Magicmonster · 18/04/2022 06:38

It’s clear from the daily mail that this only applies if the person is not comfortable with the ‘normal’ terminology and requests something else.

That being said, I find it difficult to l compute how someone can be comfortable having a baby (which is one of the most stereotypically female things you can do) but not comfortable with the names of the associated body parts