MN promoting cervical screening. Guess which word is missing

[HermioneWeasley]

It’s being promoted on MN, later on they say you’ll usually have a female nurse do it, but it’s all about PEOPLE

https://www.mumsnet.com/articles/cervical-screening

@MNHQ why are you colluding with this woman erasing nonsense?

@Lampy123678

No, you just keep insisting that "people" isn't sufficient to cover everyone else even when your comments confirm...it is
We are talking about sex here, not gender identities.
My objection to the use of "people" is that it includes men and children, who are not the target. If you want to exclude men by saying "people with a cervix", you are banking on everyone knowing whether they have a cervix or not. Many women do not know.

I also object because the use of "people with a cervix" implies that having a cervix is not linked to a person's sex. In order to make sure that women who claim special identities get the message about cervical screening, I proposed to refer to them using gender identity names they can relate to (but which I personally disagree with). Because the most important thing is that they get the message. Rather than being sure that everyone who needs to hear the message hears it, you think it's more important to make a political point - that anyone might have a cervix. They can't. Only women have cervixes. You cannot divorce sex from the word woman or the word female, and you cannot divorce sexual organs from sex, either. Trying to do so is dangerous and harms women. Women are female and cervixes are a uniquely female reproductive organ.

the majority knowledge what a cervix is

The majority of people with ESL know what a cervix is? Citation, please.

I'm not reading all that, sorry..
I stand by my initial point that arguments about sex and gender have no place in OTHER patients healthcare, only your own.

Haven’t we already posted research that shows that this simply isn’t true?

Experience working in cervical screening with many many many ESL patients.

Anecdata then

A stupidly large number of people don't know the difference between a vulva and a vagina. How you can assume that women know if they have a cervix when they don't know the difference between their inside and outside genitals I don't know.

What this bullshit relies on is the hangover of the times when everyone referred to 'people with a cervix' as women and girls.

The implied 'of course women know they're female, silly' only works while this hangover of reality lasts. As 'gender' is taught to children, this will become less and less clear.

As healthcare adopts 'inclusive' language this will become harder and harder. Every step taken to eradicate 'women' and 'girls' from language puts understanding a step further back.

Girls are currently being taught in school and by the media and government that 'female' is a gender, a feeling. An identity, nothing to do with their body.

Girls are taught that not all girls get a period.

So - who gets periods? Who the fuck knows! Who has a cervix? Who could possibly say!

It's the reverse enlightenment.

@Lampy123678
I missed this before:
Female nonbinaries and women who claim to be men are women. Obviously.
I'm sorry but as a HCP I disagree. You may think that, but it's really not your business what people are referred to whenthey'rethe patient. As long as You get called a woman when you're the patient. I really don't think people should be rolling their eyes at people's identities when they're receiving care, I think they should be referred to however they feel is respectful whatever you may think of it elsewhere.

And as I said:
A tiny minority of women wish to deny their sex for various reasons. As individuals, one-to-one, they can be dealt with compassionately and sensitively by any HCP they need to see. These women cannot ignore their sex at such times. For their own safety and health, it's important that they understand that they are female - women - even if they don't want to face it.

I'm not reading all that, sorry..

You can't read two paragraphs but you claim people with ESL know what a cervix is?

The amount of women on this feminist board easily ready to assume ignorance of women is really sad (and doesn't match my lived experience of the thousands of patients I've seen over the years)

Anyhoo as I said it's a national screening programme hence why it doesn't actually rely on people knowing much. Good job too - stupid women after all 🙄

@Lampy123678

You do a lot of conflating - ignorance and stupidity are not the same thing.
Sex and gender aren't the same either.

@Lampy123678

Arguments about sex and gender may not belong in healthcare, but sex itself is central. As TWETMIRF said, this whole communication problem was created by allowing people to change their sex marker for the NHS.

I said I'm not, not I can't.
They do. Maybe they're reading comprehension is better than yours 🤷🏻‍♀️

Except me and my colleagues aren't finding it's causing any confusion. Women on this board (who I assume are also being automatically called for screening) are confused by it but yet also doesn't seem to be affecting or limiting their access to screening. But it is increasing access to others, and that's a problem apparently.
I go back to my previous post - this was a great tactic by Mumsnet to get cervical screening trending which is great.

*their

@Lampy123678

How would you know if it was causing confusion? How do you know why 30% of women (or is it "people"?) aren't coming to screening?

You said yourself that women who claim special identities are hard to reach because of the fact that they are registered as male. If they were registered as female, but with a note or a marker that shows that they claim to be men, the invitation letters would go out, wouldn't they? Addressed to "Mr..." if necessary. Wouldn't that be simpler? Unless, as I say, you're not in fact all that bothered about making sure every woman who is eligible is reached by the programme.

I go back to my previous post - this was a great tactic by Mumsnet to get cervical screening trending which is great.

This shows me you have no idea what we are doing. We care about women's healthcare. If cervical screening really is trending, that's fantastic.

If you read the guidance you'll find that most people are registered in this way. There will always be people registered incorrectly or not at all. The literature makes acknowledgement to them to educate everyone including receptionists for example who may incorrectly turn someone down if they haven't been automatically called and want to book a screening.
Screening administration is a huge undertaking, and lots of women are called incorrectly even when it's not been noted that they don't have a cervix. Still though, I havent met anyone working in screening who has said that this is causing a huge problem or confusion except amongst GC messageboards.

This is important information, Pegasus. I didn’t know that, and I doubt if many of us do.

So this ludicrous refusal to call women women not only reduces many women’s chance of understanding a vital message. It also increases the risk to an already vulnerable group.

This is worse than stupid. It is shameful.

We do know lots of reasons why because we have data on who isn't showing up. There are communities where screening uptake is low and they're being targeted with outreach etc
I didn't just say they are hard to reach. I said they sometimes aren't registered correctly for automatic recall or that they encounter people who aren't informed enough about the screening population to know that they're eligible for recall. The population you're so worried about make up a tiny tiny portion of the screening population but yes they DO always need to be referred to in the literature as they ARE eligible.

As feminists I would suggest if you're worried about cervical screening uptake please volunteer support your local communities with their outreach programmes to communities low in screening and write to your MP to demand they open more special health centres where PTSD sufferers etc can more comfortably access screening with specially trained sample takers.

I already pointed out this is incorrect. If your cervix has been removed you are NOT eligible for cervical screening under the programme. Your follow up is totally decided and carried out by your gynaecologist / GP and you do not continue to be screened under the cervical screening programme.

You have no idea, though, how many women fail to be screened because they didn’t understand the message.

It has been pointed out many times that the unnecessary jargon may not be understood by women who have difficulty reading, or have limited English, or don’t know the names of their internal organs. They all know they are women.

Please read my previous post, this is a Mumsnet communication solely saying people. NHS literature and guidance includes women specificallyreferenced. They're also written.to telling them they're eligible. So I fail to see why you're so scared they'll misunderstand? Unless we are back to the assumption that women are so ignorant about their bodies that they get a letter TELLING them they're eligible for cervical screening and they don't know what that is, what a cervix is etc despite all the accompanying literature.

Oh so women just may not even HAVE a cervix anymore? Or even TWO?

Wow.

Seriously, what is the actual percentage of women who don't have a cervix due to a birth defect, or who have two cervix? Honestly, what a crock of shit.

Another "well, you don't really know what chromosomes you have do you" .
Bollocks.
Desperate, very desperate.