Smear appointment reminder with a Mx

[catin8oots]

Have a routine smear booked at my local surgery and just received a reminder text saying it will be with Mx Firstname Surname.

I have no idea if this person is a biological woman or a biological man.

Can I call and ask?

Wow and they say they are committed to 'being inclusive' the irony! I'm gobsmacked that such a stance could be taken - let alone fought for - by a RAPE CRISIS centre.

I wonder who make up the board of directors because that is just so far distant from their target cohort, it's like animals voting to admit abattoir specialists as their pet sitting circle.

Why do you care about what “social media” thinks? We are here to discuss things that matter to women, not to have a constant eye on what the neighbours might think and censor ourselves accordingly. If people are not sufficiently thoughtful to hear the real concerns expressed on this thread, their thoughts are not very deep, or thoughtful, and should not stop those who want to discuss this in a nuanced way from doing so.

What’s your take on someone like Alex Drummond who is ‘redefining what it means to be a woman’? If he doesn’t epitomise prancing around in a frock, I don’t know what does!

If you have an intimate procedure, you want to be able to trust the person treating you.

If you feel they have lied to you about their sex, could you trust them?

This isn't about being trans. It's a matter of trust.

I actually think some women would be in a position where if they were told the HCP was trans and there would be a chaperone they'd be fine but if they turned up expecting a woman and found someone was trans and felt they'd been misled and they felt unable to ask for a chaperone (as not everyone has the confidence to do this), they'd feel upset about it because of the nature of the procedure.

What you are told matters because it's about walking into a situation you anticipate and feel comfortable with v a situation you have not expected and feel lied to about / disempowered from making informed choices and then struggle to assert yourself due to this fear that you'll be kicked off the patient list for being transphobic.

It's that point again about power dynamics between doctor and patient. The former situation has a different power balance than the latter. This is extremely relevant to survivors of sexual abuse or rape.

I think it's important to acknowledge that women can build up going to a smear / are afraid / in a state of anxiety and feel exceptionally vulnerable.

Given all the initiatives to understand and increase uptake of smears, failure to work out that making your sex ambiguous is probably going to be an issue for a small number of patients is beyond my comprehension. It should be being thought about in any correspondence with a patient.

There are numerous ways in which you can reassure women about this without revealing martial status.

It comes to something when your desire to conceal your martial status / sex comes before considering the known issues of women who are the least likely to turn up to appointment.

Why are we spending money on promoting smears, only to undermine trust by doing this stuff.

HCP should be doing as much as possible to earn the trust of patients. Not putting their politics before other considerations.

I don’t know who that is but I’m thinking they’re not a highly qualified gynae consultant?

This thread is really unbelievable.

Across the world people are allowed to have same sex intimate care. Only in the UK and a few other captured countries, will women defend men doing pap smears, mammos, toilet duties, rape counselling.... because it might hurt their feelings or the feelings of their employers.

Lady doctor? Have we time travelled back to the 1970s?

Why did they need to put M(anything)? Wouldn’t Keri Surname have been enough?

Old Mumsnet thread.

Yes. Might just be a young confused woman who has got lost in the gender woo. I keep it basic. I'd like to see a female for that please.

Because anyone who would want to use the title Mx is going to want to make sure EVERYONE knows they're a Mx.

And that answers OP’s question, perhaps.

Or, the surgery wants you to know that this person chooses to be known as Mx, and leaves you to draw your own conclusions.

@JulySheWillFlyAndGiveNoWarningToHerFlight indeed.

This is why I think female doctors should be called doctresses.
e.g. Drss Smith

Suddenly thinking Mx Keri, is actually an older bio female trying to keep w the times (and not be mistaken for Karen).
please let us know when u meet her

I will come back to the thread on Thursday evening to update

This is where I'm at. I don't mind male doctors at all, and have had one male gyno do a pap smear - he was far better than the first, female doctor who did one decades ago. But a man LARPing as a woman? Not a chance. I don't care if he's one of the tiny minority who've had themselves castrated. That's no guarantee that he's not an autogynephile. The fact that he sees "woman" as a costume is enough.

As long as he is aware that the majority of women would always rather be treated by a female gynae.

Ar our local private hospital there are 8 male gynaes and 2 female ones. The wait to see the females is 3 months or so. You can see one of the men tomorrow.

it’s very odd that gynaecology is actually male-dominated. If it isn’t for salacious reasons then I’m guessing there is a lot of money in it

Me lesbian teenage daughter arrived at a sexual health clinic to have a Mirena put in the other week (to help with crippling period pain) and was so traumatised when a male doctor came in to do it that she couldn’t go through with it

What is ‘male to female surgery’? You mean a man removing his penis and testicles?

That’s not what a woman is

Agree. They should have a bag of blood leaking and sometimes flooding from their constructed vagina on heavy period mode and with pain for a week every month. The dna aspect can’t be escaped. For the op they have the right to see a woman doctor and if that means asking for someone who doesn’t identify as a man and has female chromosomes then at least they will see a woman.

I think transparency and trust are vital. It is a known and a usual thing for many women to have a female for intimate procedures. So put patients first by knowing that, and applying suitable signatures to any comms on appointments like this. Surely not hard! I feel it’s the same with the increased dialogue about physician associates and their introduction to a patient - putting your name and title physician associate ( or better - assistant) would be a start. Just a bit of clarity and factual transparency would go a long way. By all means be Mx if you want but if this negatively impacts those that said Mx is serving, surely you would apply avoidance and reduction of this risk.

If I saw a "Mx" I'd assume it was the usual bad case of Not Like Other Girls that enbies have, and I would be dubious about their competence.

Agree. They should have a bag of blood leaking and sometimes flooding from their constructed vagina on heavy period mode and with pain for a week every month.

Don't give them ideas! Few of them have any surgery, btw.

Apologies meant to quote @ButterCrackers