Poster at the GP surgery

[FondOfOwls]

I recently went to register at a new GP surgery, due to moving house.
Then, upon leaving I noticed a huge, hand made poster stating 'Woman? Transman? Non binary?? Get your cervix checked'.
In general I don't mind this phrase when called for a smear, but it made me feel very uncomfortable-I have a DD6 who would no doubt question it if she noticed it.
I think I'd just tell her it's still women and rather tell her what cervix is, but AIBU to feel it is not appropriate? I'd also worry someone could challenge me if they heard me saying that to my DD.
Receptionist sporting a rainbow lanyard of course.
Feeling a bit disheartened as I spent HOURS filling in the paperwork for them, and the next nearest surgery is not very good and not very close.

Both of the people cited are well aware that they are women. No need to pander to their make believe.

Indeed. Not very inclusive.

Trans and non binary people aren’t going to stop existing to make you feel more comfortable. Neither will they cease to exist because we fail to provide them with healthcare. Get over yourself.

‘Some people are born biologically female but feel that their body doesn’t match what is in their head or feel that the word ‘woman’ doesn’t apply to them and might use different words to describe themselves’ is completely appropriate for a 6 year old and not beyond their comprehension. Just because you find it uncomfortable to talk about, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

(FWIW I’m deeply uncomfortable with a lot of gender theory but I’m also not an arsehole)

Sadly, some young transmen are completely unaware they have a cervix.
You may be aware you were “AFAB” (their term), but you may think that as a transman, nothing for women applies to you.

Never underestimate the power of ignorance. Schools have cocked up an entire generation.

In reality they will stop existing without healthcare
Lifelong medication, complex surgery and medical care for the complications arising from the former are required.

Neither will they cease to exist because we fail to provide them with healthcare.

They will, it's called "dying" and, because female-specific conditions can kill, it's absolutely imperative that healthcare messaging about female-specific conditions reaches women regardless of how they label themselves and regardless of how ridiculous I think their self-applied gender labels are. Which is why I support this poster's wording, even as the world we live in that makes it necessary makes me want to reach for the gin.

<Shrug> That is actually inclusive, isn't it? Women, clear and plainly stated, plus also directly naming the groups who prefer other terms, some of whom may also not know that they have a cervix. Surely that works so that the needed health care is accessible and plainly stated to every woman, regardless of what she chooses to call herself? Which is what matters? Equality of accessibility?

Infinitely better than the 'people with a cervix', which didn't do the job at all for anyone.

Agree.

The pp who suggested 'born female, get your cervix checked ' (assuming you have a basic biological vocab and understanding of English) is my favourite suggestion

This isn’t plain English. It’s not as clear as ‘woman’.

Health Communications need to be clear. That poster is clear.

The only change I would suggest is to have maybe two posters, one that says ‘woman’ and another ‘trans man and non-binary’ just to stop any confusion to anyone not familiar with this bollocks if they read the original poster

I agree.

Agreed. Though it's a pretty low bar to rise above.

Elaine Miller's stage show 'viva your vulva' was about teaching women to know their bodies. Many women don't, and many (even in 2024 in the UK) come from backgrounds where words such as cervix are unknown to them.

Biological sex trumps ideology in medicine.

You would hope that the definition of woman was clear wouldn't you? Apparently some people find that difficult.

@FondOfOwls the only bit of the poster that pisses me off to be honest, is the failure to say please.

I'd just explain in simple and factual terms to a six year old. Some females prefer to think of themselves as male. Females have a different anatomy to people who are born male and it it's about a test designed to keep females well. Lots of tests are similar. However, the person who made the poster must be ill mannered because they shoukd have said please. I hope you never make a mistake like that.

I would probably go down the line of people are boys or girls, men or women, which is a scientific fact, but some people who are born girls don't feel like girls or vice versa but they still have the same bodies and need the same medical care blah blah blah. She would probably say ok and start talking about something else.

If I didn't know better, I'd think that poster was a joke. People actually have to be told that being a transman or non-binary doesn't alter the reality that you have a cervix? Madness.

It’s not about not knowing. It’s about feeling safe to access healthcare.

We encounter patients who are distressed. Lots of them are apprehensive about being judged or rejected by healthcare professionals. They have been referred to us because they feel overwhelmed and are struggling to think clearly and to function well enough to go about their daily lives.

We make a range of adaptions to our waiting room and treatment rooms to try and make them less anxiety provoking. We also have extensive training on helping people who are feeling anxious and maybe self loathing towards themselves.

Those who wear a rainbow lanyard do so as an extension to this. Some also wear autism acceptance pins on them.

I think there are some problems with the rainbow lanyard scheme and choose not to wear one. However, I don't question the motives of my colleagues who do wear them. They have good intentions and are inclusive practitioner who are accepting of trans and GC patients alike.

In related news, the roll out of the HPV vaccine is already showing positive effects in terms of rates of cervical cancer.

Sadly, the thinning and drying of the cervix as a side effect of testosterone makes it more difficult to detect cancer.

Yes this makes sense. I see that with the lanyards too.

This poster at least acknowledges women in their poster and doesn't refer to is as cervix havers. Also doesn't claim men can have a cervix. I don't have an issue with it, and doubt you'll get very far getting it taken down.

The problem is that they don’t all know they have a cervix. Women with English as a second language or those with less education may not know the word, still less that they have one. So it’s important that the word woman appears on the poster.

I'm gender critical but I honestly can't see your issue with this. It's not erasing language around women or women's access to safe single sex spaces or sport. You are coming across and both trans-phobic and homophobic. Do you not have any friends in same sex relationships? Or does your daughter not know anyone from a less conventional family structure? She's not going to decide to be trans by seeing a poster in the GP surgery if that's what you're afraid of?

That wording is a compromise i can live with.
If it said "cervis haver" or "people with a cervix" I'd have rolled my eyes so hard, registered and then asked why they don't mention women on the poster.

I realise that a lot of people aren't prepared to compromise on the wording in the same way, we are individuals.

(both my DCs would have been able to read that at 6, and would have loudly asked what a "cervix" is and do they have one)

It's true "cervix" when used alone is most often taken to mean the uterine cervix, which of course only women (and other female mammals) have. But, as I recently recalled when someone very close to me was referred for a CT scan for suspected cervical myelopathy, men do have several other kinds of cervix: the cervix cornus dorsalis medullae spinalis, for instance, and the cervix vesicae urinariae, are just two (other) kinds of "neck" (sc. "cervix") every human has.

Of course the poster the OP (different kind of "poster" there!) referred to trades intentionally in none of that ambiguity. But, well, language is a tricky beast, and medical language in particular can bite the unwary user.

Oh OP, we don’t stop caring about the world just because we get old! Remember Women’s Liberation started more than 50 years ago, and many of us are as passionate about women’s rights as we were then. You probably have more support there than you think.