LoveLife | April 21, 2009 | 6 comments

Run and Hide from Your Next Pelvic Exam?

source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/joepublic/2009/apr/17/smear-tests-mental-health

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This story, by a blogger at The Guardian's website, details her trip to the gynecologist for her first pap smear in 10 years. It's unbelievable to me that someone would let 10 years slip by between check ups, because it's not like you use you vagina for important stuff like... I don't know.... sex, warming a seat on the tube or making other human beings. Although she was urged to go for years by doctors, it was the death of Jane Goody that finally propelled this woman into the stirrups. Reality TV, you have conquered all.

However, the article takes a turn for the irresponsible. The reporter ends of chronicling how horrible her experience was and how she is not going to go back to the gyno. WTF? Is that the right message to send to your readership? Am I being judgmental and PR oriented because I am concerned about the message? If you were a woman who had a history that included sexual assault, I could see why you 1) wouldn't want to go see your doctor for paps 2) would find the whole process to be traumatizing. Doctors could always be friendlier...maybe warm their hands up a bit first?

Having had several friends who's pap smears have turned up pre-cancerous legions, I really think this reporter is in the wrong, but perhaps I have fallen into that age old "tell-women-what-to-do-with-their-bodies" trap of thinking.
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6 comments // Run and Hide from Your Next Pelvic Exam?

  • Dorothy_Forbis
  • Matthew_Chiglinsky
    • 0
      Matthew_Chiglinsky  

    • What a traditional rapist may say is, "If you don't let me put my d*** inside you, I'm going to kill you."

      What a gynecologist effectively says is, "If you don't let me put my fingers inside you, you're going to get sick and die."

      Notice the similarity. There is no consent, because fear is the motivation. Gynecologists are basically criminals the system hasn't caught up with yet.

    • 1 year ago
  • Matthew_Chiglinsky
  • teenelizabeth
    • 0
      teenelizabeth  

    • My mother recently went in for her annual exam, and the doctor found that her uterus was full of potentially life-threatening tumors. Because it was found, they performed a hysterectomy, and she is alright.

      Exams are *extremely* important, even if you find it uncomfortable or scary.

    • 2 years ago
  • abbym0308
    • 0
      abbym0308  

    • I get her point... something traumatic happened in the past that makes it hard for her to relax when anything gets between her legs. The doctors certainly should try to be a bit more amicable and not treat their patients like they're on the conveyor belt in some gynae factory. However, if she was feeling uncomfortable she should speak up. She should make it known, have them put notes on her files, that she needs a bit more comforting than the average patient. Doctors aren't mind readers. The nurses and doctors who perform smear tests have to do dozens every day, maybe even more, which can absolutely be tiresome. I think that the doctor-patient relationship has become pretty dehumanized recently and we should ALL take a minute to get to know our patients/doctors better. Then maybe people like this woman won't feel so violated in a place meant to be safe.

    • 2 years ago
  • AnnieMole
    • 0
      AnnieMole  

    • I can understand that they're not the most pleasant things to experience. But I certainly wouldn't miss mine as going through some unpleasantness for five minutes is better than potentially dying isn't it?

    • 2 years ago
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