Jo Swinson and mammograms.

[Saltovinegar]

I had to have a breast biopsy this week due to something showing up on my routine mammogram. JS isn't 50 yet so will not have been called up for hers.

I wonder if she will suddenly realise exactly what a woman is when she is having her breasts squished and manipulated?

If she stands by her views then she will not mind that there are 3-4 men in the room whilst she is topless, she will not care that they are having to touch her breasts, she will not object to being in the vulnerable position of lying on a bed while a man administers first aid to her breasts.

How can she object because even if the men are 6 foot tall bearded body builders in her world they just have to say they are a woman.

Thank you all who supported me.

I found a lump in my early twenties. I had a needle biopsy in a small local hospital where I knew both staff and patients.

I was completely naked from the waist up, on a bed in an open "ward" area, with the door open. The biopsy performed by a male doctor who was impatient and rough and who refused my request to close the curtains as he was "busy" and clearly in a rush. I was tense and found it extremely painful, but was rushed out - though, in a way I was glad to get out as soon as I could. I think I was in shock as I got to my car and threw up.

At least no one commented on the scars. To my face.

I will NEVER allow a man to perform a procedure like that on me again. I don't care that it's for the sake of my health - unlike the PP who's happy for men to do it. Some people are lucky that they've never had bad experiences. I wish I'd never had them. As long as there are women in the NHS who can provide my care, I will be asking for them. I feel that men should also be allowed to ask for men if that's what they want, too.

I know from my own experience that my mental health is as important to me as my physical health and does actually impact my physical health adversely when I'm stressed.

I've been under a wonderful female counsellor for years. When I became pregnant with my daughter 20-odd years ago I asked her what would happen if I asked for women for my care as much as possible. She said I was within my rights to so I asked and was given all women looking after me.

I admit I'm an old-fashioned dinosaur type but I think we've actually gone backwards. I have always had no problem with anyone being whatever they want to be. It's wonderful that we can live in a country that is currently relatively free.

However, I'm not willing to accept that the will of some people from a relatively small group can overrule the will of about half the population.

Great if you don't mind a man/ex-man performing intimate exams etc., but allow the women who want a woman doing it to do it.

Unless there's an agenda for keeping women out of heathcare that I'm unaware of. Very paranoid of me, but...

As soon as I'd posted last night I went onto the BBC news website to find an article about a male doctor who had been performing unnecessary intimate exams on women using Angelina Jolie and Jade Goody as an excuse, frightening these women into accepting them.

Depressing.

As a survivor of a horrendous "rough sex" experience a few years ago, I will not allow a man to touch me. I refuse. This is not a political issue. It is my body; I decide who touches it.