NHS mammogram advice - “tell the staff your pronouns”

Not necessarily, PP is correct that some of us qualify for breast cancer screening from an earlier age than the general population who don't have our risk factors.

"ask staff not to use any phrases or words that make you uncomfortable or nervous"

I would expect that this is primarily aimed at survivors of sexual abuse and violence or other traumatic histories as that is the context in which I usually see this advice. For instance, some SA survivors attending cervical or breast screening might find it triggering to be told to "relax" by the HCP as their assailant had said the same thing when assaulting them.

The video makes the process much clearer than I would have expected. The binder comment towards the end would perhaps be necessary for anyone who hadn't watched the video and thought it was like a chest x-ray where you just need to remove any metallic clothing or items but would still be covered up.

Let's be honest. Those who have differing pronouns will let you know.

It's like vegans telling you they're vegan.

But we should all be called by our names? No one calls you she.

I agree that younger women sometimes have these, when needed. Even a younger women would understand that she is biologically female though.

The pronoun-havers don't need to be invited to impart their pronouns; they'll have them ready as soon as they walk in!
Women going for a mammogram wearing a binder? Really? Wonder how many that would be then?
(Probably tiny)

By informing women that if they wear a binder, they'll have to remove it, shows the NHS know that some people have very little in the way of health literacy. So surely this should lead them to also understand that healthcare needs to be as simple and universally accessed as possible, yet they continue to push the nonsense of pronouns etc and skirting around the issue of sex.

Exactly this.
Telling people they can tell staff their pronouns in this context is purely virtue-signalling and performative.

What's the point in telling someone who is addressing you directly what your pronouns are?
Everybody's pronouns are you/your when you're talking directly to them

BTW MyThreeWords, having a discussion does not mean that we're all 'worked up about it', most of us are interested and engaged in the important subjects involved here: the quality of healthcare in general, women's health in particular, and gender ideology.

The more discussion there is about gender ideology, the quicker the fad for declaring pronouns and demanding that other people use them will pass, and the quicker organisations like the NHS will see that they've been overthinking all this and wasting a lot of energy, and money, on it.

Breast cancer screening, which is what this document relates to, is for the older age group.

I had a mammogram and a follow up visit to the breast clinic shortly after. There was none of this nonsense so it must be regional.
Both letters stressed I would be seen by female staff only.
I would certainly have made my views known if stuff like this did appear; we must all push back if we can.

This really doesn't bother me. Women who wear binders and/or identify as men need mammograms too and if this helps them access them then great. Much rather this than all the nonsense the other way, where trans people are recorded as being the sex they identify as and miss out on vital screenings.

I get that but why out of a list of 7 things to ‘Do’ is it necessary to mention pronouns and “phrases or words that make you uncomfortable or nervous”? What like “woman” “female” and “breast”?

• ask staff not to use any phrases or words that make you uncomfortable or nervous
• tell the staff your pronouns, if you would like to

There are all sorts of accommodations that are more likely to be required that are not spelled out. Why be specific about pronouns which for the majority of people would be a head scratcher when only a very small number would require that particular accommodation. It’s virtue signalling bullshit

I can't bring myself to get worked up about this. The "tell us your pronouns" thing specifies "if you would like to", and it is the last bullet point in the list, coming below "ask staff not to use any phrases or words that make you uncomfortable or nervous", which is already quite niche.

The binder thing floats about on its own, outside of the main do's and don'ts lists, which allows the more mainstream "don't" to appear with uncluttered prominence.

It is natural to feel annoyed by even these small pieces of performative-and-probably-not-really-necessary gestures. But OTOH, if it is part of a process of making everyone feel comfortable as the over-accommodation of trans ideology recedes, then all is well, really.

If thinbgs continue to normalise over the years, I can see an NHS communications team somewhere down the line saying "Hang on, why do we have this info here, is it really needed?" and older heads will explain it as an anachronism hanging over from a weird era; then it will disappear.

Indeed.
People do come to the GP and are astounded that they may need to take some clothes off to be examined...

I think it would be fair enough to say something concise and easily understood like:
'If you are a woman who IDs as a man, breast screening is important for you too, and you will be treated with respect'

I'm pretty sure the genderists would whinge that that is "othering".

But that's literally what the website says. It says you can tell staff your pronouns if you want to.

💯

The onus should be on the person requiring the accommodation (of someone else pretending that they are not female) to request the use of alternate, non sexed pronouns.

I would imagine a lot of people think a binder is an A4 ring binder not a niche bit of underwear.

It doesn’t contain any advice on breast implants, which is an initial concern for women who have them, and implants are more frequently seen than binders.

It's not just older women who have to have mammograms. They are the main group, true, but younger women have them too when needed.

I think it would be fair enough to say something concise and easily understood like:
'If you are a woman who IDs as a man, breast screening is important for you too, and you will be treated with respect'
The pronouns/binder references seem coy and unclear to those unfamiliar with trans terminology.
I completely agree. It's meant to clarify and include but it's actually potentially confusing and exclusionary.

I thought this too and is relevant if we're talking about routine screening mammograms aimed at us older women.

But then I thought about the damage binders do to breast tissue and now I have started wondering about that & mammograms. Would having previously bound breasts in one's adolescence and caused damage affect screenings in later life? Unknown so far, I'd imagine, but potentially disastrous.

But is there a problem here? Are there trans-identified women who aren't attending for mammograms because the language isn't 'inclusive' enough. Or that don't understand that whatever they identify as, they need to get their breasts checked?

If you are women of mamogrammable age then you've lived long enough to understand that you are actually a female, with a female body, regardless of how you wish to dress and identify.

I agree, but they probably want to avoid being accused of a hate crime.

Truth is Bigotry, remember!