What if it's your JOB to recognise sex exists?

[WomanBornNotWorn]

I wonder how people whose jobs, careers and professions are all entirely based around sex specifics will deal with this?

Then I started listing them ...

obstetricians
gynaecologists
endometriosis specialists
foetal ultrasound techs
mammographers
IUD specialists
midwives
prostate, testicular, penile, breast, cervical, uterine and vulval cancer specialists
IVF specialists
blood, urine and semen sample testers
sperm bank staff
surrogacy specislists
designers and manufacturers of contraceptives, sanpro, incontinence care products
designers and manufacturers of sex aids
sex ed teachers
geneticists
menopause consultants
HRT makers
designers and manufacturers of mastectomy care products
forensic examiners who need to be able to sex human remains
surgeons who do genital surgery for any reason
and chicken sexers (yes, it's a thing)

What if anything they are all being told about policing themselves?

Or out in the real world, is there a collective 'FFS ….' and eyerolling - but getting on with business as usual?

Please feel free to add everything I've forgotten - could be useful to have a list all in one place.

Anyone working in those or similar fields like to comment?

Radiographers need to know where to put the lead sheet to protect your gonads.

you will have to wash his willy for him

The things you learn on MN.

I had no idea O pos could be used for males. Interesting.

That's interesting about the blood! I'm O neg and somewhere along the line, I developed anti-D antibodies (which were picked up during my first pregnancy), so both my (O pos) children had haemolytic disease when they were born. So it totally makes sense that they wouldn't want to risk giving O pos blood to (natal) women who might go on to become pregnant!

I think it came in within the last two years VivaLeBeaver
Without checking my notes I think I first heard about it at our annual blood transfusion training last year, and more explanation at my training last week.

I have had but if we don't get your breathing and ventilation right (as we often argue in my team to other professionals for different reasons) then tbh it really doesn't matter what you identify as/feel/believe you are because if you can't breathe then its game over.

We only want to help people live the best quality of life they can no matter what

I'm really glad you're not compromising on language VivaLeBeaver Keep it up.
One of the things that drives me nuts is of course, presented with a pregnant trans man one would be respectful and careful about pronouns/language, it's called being professional.
But the remaining 99% of pregnant women deserve the same respect and I'm sure most of them would feel insulted or confused if strictly non gendered language and a range of euphemisms were used to describe their experience.

I work in HR. I have to be so careful what I say.

I was discussing enhancing our parental leave policy this week and I said something, and the guy I was talking to said "but only women get pregnant", and I wanted to hug him because I was so bored of having to struggle with words to make it sound like the sex of the person didn't matter.

That is so important VanGoghsDog
One of my conspiracy theories is how a lot of this is to remove all women's protections, things like maternity leave being right up there. It sneaks in in lots of seems harmless or even progressive ways. Shared maternity leave for instance. It's all very well wanting to encourage men's engagement with childcare responsibilities, and for some families where the woman is perhaps the main wage earner it may work.
But (ex midwife speaking here) I am passionate about the fact that it is the WOMAN who has gone through pregnancy and birth and all the physical, hormonal and emotional upheavals. Not everyone bounces straight back. We always said "it takes nine months to make a baby, nine months to recover".
Funnily enough my recent blood transfusion training touched on this. The blood transfusion specialist nurse is fanatical about addressing anaemia pre-op (where possible) with things like iron infusions to help minimise the need for a blood transfusion at the time of the op or immediately after. For lots of good reasons.
She advised midwives present of the time it takes for a woman who is moderately anaemic post natal (perhaps as a result of a pph but also because the baby leaches iron from the mother in pregnancy) to recover her iron reserves. If she gets pregnant again soon after, before fully restoring healthy iron levels then she will be chronically anaemic in the next pregnancy and at greater risk come the birth. She mentioned (I have emailed her to ask for research references) that research is showing this impacts the health of the baby in utero and after and is associated with a range of developmental disorders.

So please stand firm. Only women get pregnant, have babies. And they deserve time to recover.

When I get those references I will pass them on to anyone interested. DM me. Might be after Christmas as she is on holidays.

I'd completely forgotten about animals!

Also, corset/bra designers, athletic support/cricket box designers, and tailors - all need to have clear understanding of the shapes and proportions of m and f bodies who will wear their creations.

Although stab vests are designed only for men and do not accommodate officer breasts comfortably ... Apparently ...

So please stand firm. Only women get pregnant, have babies. And they deserve time to recover.

There is still the law that women who have given birth have to take two weeks off. No question about that. I agree with you, it takes a lot more time than that.

But on balance I support shared parental leave as a concept. Encouraging men (secondary carers) to take time off will help remove the perception that everything to do with children is women's work and in the long run this will help women in the workplace and go towards removing the gender pay gap.

I don't disagree with shared parental leave, personally I think there should be more paternity leave to be taken simultaneously so that fathers can support new mothers as well as being more involved in the care of the baby.
But maternity leave is maternity leave for the reason that women need that time to recover physically not just because it is assumed they should be the ones caring for a newborn and I am not happy with anything that impacts a woman's experience of motherhood and subsequent recovery.
It unfortunately tends to lead to a dismissal and lack of understanding of the real needs of women. Postnatal care is very much a poor relation within the health service/maternity service for this reason imo - you wouldn't have to try hard to find a thread about that on Mumsnet. Or on the physical consequences of childbirth many of which are still almost taboo to discuss irl.
My DD has recently started work as a trainee in the theatres at my hospital. She has just done one week orientation in the maternity/gynaecology theatres. In that one week she has seen three third degree tears and is very shocked. Those women have some very unpleasant physical injuries to recover from whilst trying to get to grips with a new baby and motherhood. I've seen some shocking birth injury threads on here too. I don't think many people realise how common these sorts of problems are.
I just am very suspicious of anything that downgrades the protections women need.

Sorry. Probably a bit of a thread derail.

I had my babies back when maternity leave was 5 months. I was still sleep deprived, breast feeding and recovering from a 3rd degree tear at that stage. Also had PND. It was awful. It takes a year IMO.

Although stab vests are designed only for men and do not accommodate officer breasts comfortably ... Apparently ...
There are ones that fit women but they'd have to be bought separately. I'm guessing economies of scale mean that happens less often.
Also tall or short men need different sized vests. Too long and it affects mobility at the waist and armpit, too short and you just get stabbed in the abdomen.

Getting on this thread to read later as I've been wondering similar
"If Maya's judgement were to be upheld I could be sacked for teaching kids about sex and sacked for not doing"
And you'll still get people calling you names.

Tbh it's only a matter of time before someone dies because of this utter bollocks. The sooner it happens the sooner we can start to sort it out and see what harm has been done.

Someone almost did:
clinchem.aaccjnls.org/content/63/11/1680
A transman who was assessed according to the male criteria for kidney disease.

A case there where recognising and patient's sex and treating them accordingly was crucial to survival.

So obstetrics and gynecology, urology, pharmacology, prescribing, first aid ... A person's sex HAS to be a key piece of essential information. If a trans boy has a period emergency or a trans girl has a twisted testicle (seriously I've seen a colleague suffer that at work), but a teacher doesn't know the facts ... rambling again, but the more I look at this vast subject, the clearer it is that sex exists, it's binary and it matters.

Ah yes bt that's jut a transman, who cares. I'm talking about people here, men and transwomen.

Patient was told to not continue with testosterone but did it anyway and decided to go to an "affirming" medical facility that prolonged her suffering and nearly killed her.
From Reddit: amp.reddit.com/r/GenderCritical/comments/8g6yke/transgender_man_being_evaluated_for_a_kidney/

Sadly I'm sure Yaniv will get his way and some woke gynaecologist will see him.

Thankfully he's so clueless the gynaecologist could probably give him a prostate check and tell him that's what normally happens. Although it'd probably be a bit uncomfortable with his mum in the room too.

It actually never occurred to me the bit about our medical records and how it's based on gender. Not sex.

Interesting!

Marshmallow :

"When a stallion gets his bollocks chopped off he becomes a gelding, no matter how much pink sparkly hoof polish he wears"

@FlyingOink

The renal failure case is tragic.

It is a particular headfuck because it seems like the person in questions right to be defined in all cases as a male (as shown by his insistence on changing clinics and reluctance to be admitted to hospital) conflicts with his right to be given treatment when he meets the clinical criteria for a female-sexed person but not that of a male-sexed body.

It’s a good example of hubris leading to one’s downfall.