Men can't get cervical cancer

[ohwerehalfwaythere]

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/cervical-cancer-prevention-week-2020-symptoms-a9300756.html

Article about surviving cervical cancer and yet feels the need to say she is a cis woman...didn't realise men couldn't get cervical cancer without a cervix...thanks for making it clear

This isn't about trans people, Wotcha. It's about women. Only women need a smear test. The word 'woman' does not appear in the explanatory leaflet until page 10, and that's only as part of a graphic. This is erasing women from basic women-centred healthcare. As mentioned earlier, not every woman knows what a cervix is, or that they have one. That doesn't matter, if the explanatory leaflet makes it clear that this is a procedure for women. This leaflet does not make that clear. You may know this. You may have been fortunate enough to have accessed enough education to know what is meant by 'cervix' and 'screening' and know that this pertains to women. You may also have enough knowledge of the English language to understand what is not actually written - reading between the lines, as people with a good knowledge of English might say. Not every woman can do this, and the language used in this leaflet therefore excludes them. I'm married to a doctor. I know this stuff. I am fortunate, but other women aren't. Excluding women is bad.

Bloody paragraph stealer! How very dare you?

Great. You know what a cervix is. You are well informed. You understand the risks of cancer and attend screening. Bully for you.

These leaflets are not for you.

Information and education is needed for the less informed, women who may not have grown up with this knowledge, who may not speak English, who may not know the medical words, women who need to be informed that testing may save their lives.