"Person with a cervix"

[Violet9]

Keep seeing this from my local NHS trust about cervical cancer screening. Is "women" not used as a word to describe biologically female adults anymore?? Is this political correctness gone mad?!

twitter.com/mtwnhs/status/1483036225128865793?s=21

Person with a cervix what like in a jar?

I find NHS info posted on Twitter is different to the actual information you get on paper eg on your GP waiting room wall or through the post.
My cervical cancer screening invitation/reminder used "woman/women" throughout and had a separate section on trans patients.

The NHS Twitter feed is woke central though so you'll rarely see the word woman used.

Our local Trust use woman/women and then’those with cervixes ’ or have separate literature for non-binary and trans people.
Woman still first and foremost.

Cervical screening can stop cervical cancer before it starts—but almost 1 in 3 women & people with a cervix don't attend them.

The word women is clearly used ahead of ‘& people with a cervix’ so not sure why you say the word women isn’t being used. I appreciate you might feel everybody with a cervix can also be described by the term ‘woman’ but even if you think non-binary/ trans etc people should identify as their biological sex some of them won’t and I can see why it’s important that campaigns to increase the number of people getting themselves screened for cancers etc don’t exclude anybody who needs to be screened. If the use of ‘people with a cervix’ gets even just one or two people who don’t identify as women (even if they are biologically female) to get a smear then surely that’s a good thing regardless of whether you believe they fall under the bracket of women or not?

The NHS in Scotland recently ran a radio campaign to encourage take up of the cervical screening programme. The word woman wasn't used in the adverts once. 'Those with a cervix' and 'People' but not women or woman.

It excludes those who don't know what a cervix is (metro-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/metro.co.uk/2020/11/09/almost-50-of-women-dont-know-where-their-cervix-is-finds-study-13561743/amp/?amp_js_v=a6&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#aoh=16433280286723&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fmetro.co.uk%2F2020%2F11%2F09%2Falmost-50-of-women-dont-know-where-their-cervix-is-finds-study-13561743%2F ) or those women for whom English is a second or other language and whose ESOL classes are likely to cover the word woman but not cervix, among other groups.

It is not 'inclusive'. It is exclusive.

Person with a cervix what like in a jar?

The main issue is one of confusion. For decades we have had Crystal Clear ensuring that written communications are easily understood. Teachers using various screening apps to ensure handouts etc don't over reach their students. Newspapers like The Sun being written with a deliberately low reading age, about 12.

Why? Because literacy levels are very low in some places. Some people don't have English as their first, or even second, language. So we, as a society, do what is best for the majority and keep official communication nice and simple.

And then came the TRAs.
Stonewall et al.Andd their agenda is to deliberately change all of that so as not to affront a tiny minority of people, all of whom know what sex they were born.

So yes, you foreign and / or illiterate women, refugees, socially disadvantaged, additional learning support needs. YOU do not matter. YOU can now be confused. Your health outcomes can be compromised. YOU are secondary to magical thinking. And you won't have your voices heard when you complain. You will be ridiculed or told you are being unpleasant. And nobody involved will care when you die if a disease that the use of plain and simple English could have avoided.

I'd love someone to explain why that is acceptable.

It says woman. It says it first. It's not excluding anyone. Some people with cervixes will not call themselves women whether you like it or not.

It clearly states “women and people with a cervix”.

It includes everyone relevant

It says woman. It says it first. It's not excluding anyone. Some people with cervixes will not call themselves women whether you like it or not.

They can call themselves whatever they like. But they still know full well that they are biologically female, and I don't think the medical profession of all things should be implying that it's possible to change sex when it's not.

After all, on that basis, why not also change medical literature to accommodate those who identify as younger than they are, or as belonging to a race which they don't? Or aim weight loss advice at those who are convinced they're dreadfully fat because they can't squeeze into their size 6 jeans (and don't offer it to someone who's dangerously obese but doesn't think they are)? Medical advice for physical treatment needs to be based on facts, not on validating people's identity.

Fact - anyone with a cervix should have a regular smear test, whether they call themselves a woman or prefer to call themselves something else.

Clear and includes everyone relevant to try to reduce cervical cancer - the point of the tweet.

Yeah. None so blind, I suppose.

Fact - this specific one includes the word women. Others do not. Plus offering a second group of people will, and does, confuse some women who, due to a lack of understanding, don't automatically assume it means them.

And, as Dr Xand so publicly demonstrated on one prime telly, asking for an explanation gets all sorts of crap thrown out.

Confused person, male or female: so how do I know if I need one (in the case of Dr Xand, a prostate check)?

Dr Xand: well, if you have a prostate, or had one removed for medical issues then you, it means you.

And that man spent years learning medicine, which will have included clarity of communication and the importance of not lying to or confusing your patients.

Words do actually matter s I will ask you specifically over50 why increase the risk to any woman's health for the sake of the feelings, ideology of a few?

I don’t mind this one actually as it includes woman.

It's not being applied in this way to men's health issues. Prostate Cancer UK, while mentioning all those with a prostate on their website, sensibly use men on their campaign materials.

So it's only language relating to women that's being changed. And that's across the board - tampons are for menstruators but erectile dysfunction pills are for men.