#gynecologist

[afriblaq]

Anarcha Westcott was a young Black girl enslaved in Alabama. After a traumatic childbirth, she developed vaginal and rectal fistulas, a condition that left her in constant pain and shame.

Instead of receiving care, she was experimented on over 30 times by Dr. J. Marion Sims, who operated on her without anesthesia. He used her body to develop a surgery that would later be used to treat white women, with pain relief, dignity, and consent.

Anarcha didn’t agree to any of it. She wasn’t a patient. She was a victim of medical violence.

Today, she is finally being remembered, not as a statistic, but as one of the true Mothers of Modern Gynecology, alongside Lucy and Betsey.

[this-is-anti-masculinity]

i keep seeing cis perisex women on instagram say stuff like "male gynecologists are all perverts trying to get to finger us, only women should be gynos" which doesnt make sense to me and feels just like a terf rhetoric. i once saw this reel where a woman was talking about pelvic exams and the comments were like "men shouldn't be allowed in gynecology" "they just want to finger us and hear us moan, theyre nothing but horny pigs" and im just tired.

1. not all men have penises. not all women have vaginas either. transgender, intersex, non binary, multigender (and other identities if i forgot any) people exist.

2. "male gynecologists are just perverts" is literally nothing but gender essentialism 😭 maybe a male doctor just wants to cure peoples diseases?? just because hes a man doesn't mean he wants to touch people??? seriously you wouldn't give a shit if a woman is an andrologist so shut the fuck up and use your brain a little (at them not you)

This is androqueerphobia, transgynephobia, exorsexism, and heteronormativity & andro-amatonormativity.

"Only women should be gynos" Men and enben can have vaginas and mullerian ducts. Women can have neither of those things. It's not always women who are the patients in those appointments. And the erasure of enben is strong here - they don't even consider enben in the medical field whatsoever.

"They just want to finger us and hear us moan, they're nothing but horny pigs" Not all men are sexually attracted to women. Not all men experience sexual desire at all. And even if they are sexually attracted to women, you can separate attraction from your job. What about doctors (not even necessarily andrologists) who are straight women, and see naked men as part of their job? Do they get all hot and bothered at the sight of their patient? No, because their mind is in a different place, it's in work mode. The same thing goes for men.

And (this isn't an example you've given, but one I've seen) "what would motivate a man to be a gynecologist?" - maybe they have (or used to have) a vagina or mullerian duct? Maybe someone they really cares about had one, and experienced complications due to it (ie; cancer)? Maybe they just have an interest in reproductive anatomy?

If you don't want a male doctor being your gynecologist due to trauma or something, that's perfectly in your rights. But don't demonize men and people without vaginas who work in the gynecology field.

[medicaldesigner]

Gynecological laparoscopic surgery, perhaps from the 80s

[hunny--hunny]

" invading womens spaces " then its just a trans man / masc needing reproductive healthcare.

vagina owners need to go to the vagina doctor ? shocking.

[docjoss]

Gyn surgery

[yrfemmehusband]

On cis men gynecologists- a perspective of a 10+ years long endometriosis patient.

Aside from the plethora of other reasons we shouldn't disallow men from being gynecologists, the crowd that thinks they shouldn't would keel over at the fact that: Of the 7 gynecologists I've seen for endometriosis, all 6 cis women gaslit me, medically neglected me, denied me pelvic floor therapy when I have an obviously hypertonic pelvic floor, and even botched a necessary surgery before ghosting me; whereas the one cis man I've seen did all the opposite.

The one cis man gyno I've seen listened to my pain, performed the same surgery correctly so that I have a fraction of the healing time as my last surgery, has never come close to gaslighting me, and acknowledged my terrible past experiences and said it's so common he keeps multiple tissue boxes in his office for when his endometriosis patients cry. I cried our first appointment because I'd never felt listened to in that way.

If you never want to see a male gynecologist, that's your prerogative. But to say that none should ever be allowed to be gynos ignores the fact that, when cis women are gynos, they often attribute their lack of symptoms to everyone and seem to think because they have the hardware they don't need to learn as much. Asserting that only cis women should be gynos, aside from the fact that you're not taking into account trans and intersex people, follows an assumption that women are never sexually predatory, never dismiss symptoms or gaslight, and always believe their patients- while implying the reverse about cis men gynecologists.

The truth is, sex does not dictate how good of a doctor you'd be in what field, just as it doesn't dictate what job you would be good at or what hobbies you have. And before you say "But why would a MAN want to study VaGinAs-" at least in the USA, our doctors do not pick their fields. Aside from that, maybe he has a sister or mother with reproductive disease. Maybe he is trans. Maybe he is intersex.

And. Maybe he just fucking cares. Because my cis man gynecologist sure does.

[lisastutebi]