The Speculum for "people" with vaginas

[Jeanhatchet]

The nonsense of this article ought to bring home to women who aren't aware yet that the erasure of the meaning of the very word women is happening even when describing procedures affecting only females.

Many of us know what it is like to be told to drop our legs to each side and "relax" in the doctor's couch for a cervical smear. You can hear the clang of the tray and that awful squeaking as it is unscrewed. It's is sharp at the edges and the last bit where they open it inside you ...can make you feel quite sick. It is uncomfortable and embarrassing and you are very very vulnerable and relying on a doctor not to hurt you in your most intimate of places. Your vagina.

The female body is the only one with a vagina.

The reason we have a smear test is so that we don't die of cervical cancer.

The female body is the only one with a cervix.

Cervical cancer only occurs in female bodies. It kills 2 females a week. It kills no males a week.

And yet.... and yet.... even the women who have redesigned the speculum to be more comfortable and better functioning for females .... have to say it has not been tested on "PEOPLE WITH VAGINAS".

Women. Women have vaginas. Women need smear tests. Women need to not die from cervical cancer at the rate of 2 a week.

Women need to be able to say that they want that investigation done by a female. They wasn't a female to insert that object into them. This is specifically important for victims of rape for example. If they can bear the procedure at all that is. They will have been raped by a penis. Females aren't "PEOPLE WITH A PENIS".

Women facing a smear test know their own bodies. Show them some respect when you speak about them.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/apr/23/how-to-redesign-the-vaginal-speculum?CMP=ShareiOSAppp_Other

Its more the case that it is like the only advice dished out to women. Great if it helps some feel more comfortable but if that doesn't cut the mustard for you then there's what?

Patient: I'm nervous and uncomfortable
HCP: No one likes smear tests and my tip is to wear a skirt
Patient: still uncomfortable here
HCP: wear a really long skirt
Patient: I'm anxious now
HCP: wear a skirt which drifts behind you everywhere, collects mud and trips you up on the stairs
Patient: thank you for taking my concerns seriously HCP I feel listened to and respected

The author has tweeted twitter.com/rosegeorge3/status/988470355160453121

"Please note that in my piece on the vaginal speculum, I only use the phrase “people with vaginas” b/c I referred to the design team in the US using it, with some sarcasm. That was cut. Me, I call people with vaginas “women.”

...and LittleLebowski told us all this hours ago.
Sorry for the repost!

@Greymisty I'd go so far as to say that in a lot of cases this doesn't qualify as 'anxiety' which sort of implies there is some lack of reason or groundlessness to these feelings, whereas a lot of women have very sound reasons (which require sound solutions) for not liking or wanting or being satisfied with this procedure.

I've said here before that 25 years ago I was told by the person who did my smear to ask for a long speculum. I've asked for one every single time I get a smear - for 25 years - and every single time bar one I've been told they don't have one. I know it makes the procedure easier and less uncomfortable. I know that the people who do my smear are professionals who do it every day on every iteration of woman (tall, short, mothers, young, old etc) so should be expected to have the correct equipment. When I ask for the long speculum I feel like the answer is important, it shows if they see me, if they think I'm worth hearing. So if the answer is no (and to be fair depending on how they say it, whether or not they make an effort to find one etc) it does make me think twice about putting myself in that vulnerable position.

That article seems preoccupied with anxiety/fear, and I find the “careful explanation” theory a bit . Like we are timid and flighty and need someone to squat down to our level and 'explain' in simple language as opposed to being treated with respect, keeping our comfort and dignity in mind. This might be a consideration for first-timers but what about those of us who know what a smear is like and make our decisions based on our experiences?

And because I just returned from a blood draw and am cross I'll add that the nurse put gloves on before she used her keyboard and printer and then was going to take my blood with the dirty gloves on. When I asked her to change them she said they were for her protection not mine which is beside the point. Clean hands are for my protection. So this is what we're often dealing with, people who treat us like children.

@thefirstmrsdewinter feeling what you wrote. Anxiety implies its senseless or pointless worrying when actually in this context women have real thoughts, life experiences or requests such as yours. When we're not listened to of course we will be anxious but they'll be a reason for it and it's valid.

I used to work as a HCP and I did find its how you approach something with someone that made all the difference to someone's comfort. Maybe it can't be perfect for a patient but we can communicate, listen actively and do things with them not to them....and obviously change gloves if the patient asks! Also not just change gloves but wash hands too. But I was very particular and I had the fortunate experience of freedom to work to patient requirements. We're seeing that less as procedures become rigid and patients are treated like parts in a production line.

"Please note that in my piece on the vaginal speculum, I only use the phrase “people with vaginas” b/c I referred to the design team in the US using it, with some sarcasm. That was cut. Me, I call people with vaginas “women.”

I like her.

I like her too. She sounds great.

@Greymisty thanks for that. I should have said I understand the issues are complex and sometimes I assume funding-related and I absolutely don't feel particularly blamey toward individuals. I appreciate my cross-sounding post may not have been clear about that. In the end it is individuals who we have contact with, so that where our experiences take place.

I felt aggrieved re the gloves because it's science isn't it? Handwashing is just science/common sense, not me being picky or 'anxious' or whatever. She's not taking my blood pressure, whatever is on her hands is on my skin, and then potentially under it. And fine for her that gloves are for her protection, but what about mine? (I do vit b12 self-injections at home and am pretty blasé about it all but the one thing I do is wash my hands.) The other phlebotomist at the surgery doesn't wear gloves but the last thing she does before she touches you is wash her hands, I've seen her do it every single time.

And just to balance what I've said about today's appt, I know she's an excellent nurse (long story, I request her for other procedures) so I have no problem with her personally, I just wanted her hands to be clean (and ideally to not have to ask for that one small thing).

Following on from that, I want to point out that some of the emotions tied up in these matters (speaking as a feminist) is that we get tired of asking for basic stuff, and then tired of the stinkeye we get (eg judgements about 'anxiety') when we're forced to ask for reasonable things we should have got without asking. I mean, if an intimate examination can be made less physically and emotionally difficult, we shouldn't have to beg to have those adjustments made. Where is the dignity?

In addition I personally am fucking tired of gauging how to pitch it somewhere in between asking like an adult and being 'nice' so I won't be punished for not being nice enough. This last struggle alone is exhausting. Can I please stop apologising for being an adult now?

Sorry Op for piling my shit here, is is all tangentailly relevant.

My first smear test was so unneccessarily distressing I nearly didn't ever go back.
I'd presumed I would wear a gown so was in T shirt and jeans (I've always worn skirts since)
Table in the middle of a large room
Very abrupt 'old school nurse' who told me my anxiety was 'silly'
Reference to the fact that 'no doubt the speculum was smaller than I was used to with my boyfriend' (I felt very uncomfortable to the link sex)
Told to lie on my side when my anxiety meant it was impossible lying on my back
Having her do this with my back to her was the point I just gave up, I remember feeling bullied and belittled but felt I had to comply. Few silent tears and a hope that this might be over quicker if I just gave up.
It was a long time ago but the memory is very vivid.

Not all people with vaginas are women. Some are girls.

R0wantrees

Yes.
My first smear was when I was 17. I was told I had vaginismus. By a male doctor with no chaperone.

31 years ago

Rose George is a very good journalist - she has written some amazing pieces on the importance of toilets in the developing world and a great long read on the menopause. I like her a lot.