# Are male gynecologists professionals or perverts?--this guy says "Perverts!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 1, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-male-gynecologists-professionals-or-perverts-this-guy-says-perverts/508533 "2009-09-01T20:35:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-male-gynecologists-professionals-or-perverts-this-guy-says-perverts/508533/81 "2012-03-06T00:56:09Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > Sounds like it’s time for a new thread…with pole!! > > 😉 Thank you - I was worried that the Dope would just leave that hanging there. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-male-gynecologists-professionals-or-perverts-this-guy-says-perverts/508533/82 "2012-03-06T03:06:05Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I loved doing routine OB as a Family Physician, and delivered probably close to 500 babies in my career before giving it up as too stressful due to both the legal climate and the late nights. Damn, being a prison doctor is less stressful than OB?? :eek: Zombie thread this may be, I must concur with the “couldn’t have been less sexy” consensus. Pelvic exams are sexy in the way a bloodcurdling scream is singing (death metal notwithstanding). You’re using the same anatomy, and similar mechanisms, but producing an entirely different result. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-male-gynecologists-professionals-or-perverts-this-guy-says-perverts/508533/83 "2012-03-06T03:19:47Z")
> [@Beadalin](#): > > Why wouldn’t they? > > Maybe they’re passionate about women’s health, a segment which has historically been vastly underserved, underdocumented, underrepresented, and still has HUGE barriers and issues waiting to be conquered, here and abroad. > > Maybe they wound up finding it more interesting than other branches. Pregnancy, childbirth, and infertility have enormous impact on people’s lives. > > Maybe they like the patient base better. Statistically, women are more likely to seek care more regularly, to seek care earlier when there is an issue, and to listen to and act upon a doctor’s advice. Cannot resist snark. Maybe they are gay men who want patients for whom sexual attraction will never affect their ability to diagnosis. On a more serious note, I like a female GYN simply because they often have first hand knowledge of the subject matter that a male GYN will never have. However, if none are available, a male GYN is fine. It’s not sin if it’s medical. ---
**Author:** ![Sue\_Duhnym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-male-gynecologists-professionals-or-perverts-this-guy-says-perverts/508533/84 "2012-03-06T03:21:54Z")
Count me as another of those that prefer male OB/GYNs. When I lived in NYC, I had a gay, male OB/GYN. It was like finding a unicorn. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-male-gynecologists-professionals-or-perverts-this-guy-says-perverts/508533/85 "2012-03-06T03:44:01Z")
> [@Sue\_Duhnym](#): > > Count me as another of those that prefer male OB/GYNs. > > When I lived in NYC, I had a gay, male OB/GYN. It was like finding a unicorn. Not _too_ much liking finding a unicorn, I hope. Because unicorns have this horn growing out of their forehead, and… ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-male-gynecologists-professionals-or-perverts-this-guy-says-perverts/508533/86 "2012-03-06T03:45:09Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > On an unrelated note, is it sinful for me to go to a lady doctor and have her feel my balls? Oh come on! I set you jokers up with a gem like that and no one bites? Of course the correct answer is “Only if she’s a dentist.” ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-male-gynecologists-professionals-or-perverts-this-guy-says-perverts/508533/87 "2012-03-06T03:58:09Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > Seen as a cushy job with lots of opportunity to hit the golf course? This is definitely not a specialty people go into for the easy lifestyle. OB/Gyns actually tend to have pretty bad work hours even by the standards of doctors. Unpredictable deliveries, the chance of being required to perform emergency surgery, etc. make for a crummy lifestyle. Dermatology and radiology is where all the slackers who want to golf go (well, as long as they stop slacking off enough in med school to get good enough grades and scores to be able to get into such cush specialties). > [@](#): > > I also wonder if there’s any stigma to women who go into male reproductive health… I mean really? Do people crack jokes about lady doctors doing prostate exams? I don’t know. To an extent. I’ve definitely seen people expressing the view that it’s weird for a female to want to be a urologist, though there is also a need for people who want to deal with female urologic patients. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-male-gynecologists-professionals-or-perverts-this-guy-says-perverts/508533/88 "2012-03-06T04:45:37Z")
> [@Sue\_Duhnym](#): > > Count me as another of those that prefer male OB/GYNs. > > When I lived in NYC, I had a gay, male OB/GYN. It was like finding a unicorn. My OB \*teacher \*was a gay, male Certified Nurse Midwife! Beat THAT! 😃 (true story.) ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-male-gynecologists-professionals-or-perverts-this-guy-says-perverts/508533/89 "2012-03-06T08:52:11Z")
> [@Aangelica](#): > > This is the precise reason my GYN gave for not having an OB practice to go along with the GYN one. When one of her patients manages to get her oven bunned, she hands them off to an associate for the duration. She told me that she went into OB/GYN in the first place 40 years ago because, on average, her patients aren’t sick when she sees them. She has a lot more scope for preventative measures that will actually do some good in the preventing disease front - and she also doesn’t loose very many patients. She also pointed out to me that, often, the OB/GYN is the only doctor a woman sees _routinely_ - what with the yearly appointments most adult women make and keep. She doesn’t limit herself to strictly commenting on her patients’ vaginal health. The yearly appointment with her is closer to a full checkup. I know I’ve seen her much more often than my GP. > > Then again, she’s a 60-ish grandmotherly Irish woman. In the “I grew up in Redhook” kind of Irish grandmother tradition. Imagining her with a bottle of Paddy’s or some Guiness while smoking a monster cigar is not at all difficult. > > She’s a great doctor, but she’s not one to put up with much crap. You have (or had) Nanny Ogg as a GYN? How cool is THAT? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-male-gynecologists-professionals-or-perverts-this-guy-says-perverts/508533/90 "2012-03-06T11:21:18Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > .Dermatology and radiology is where all the slackers who want to golf go … I believe pathology is another good specialty for the golf-loving doctor: you don’t even have to see patients, just small samples taken from them 🙂 (Though it might not suit those who hate the sight of blood) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-male-gynecologists-professionals-or-perverts-this-guy-says-perverts/508533/91 "2012-03-06T11:30:45Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Yeah, [you might be right](http://www.faithfulwordbaptist.org/physicians.html). > > > [@](#): > > > > The medical world is based on the assumption that there is no God. It is based on a science book that teaches evolution, that the nature and that God’s creation is not perfect, but that it needs our help constantly. We have to constantly be improving on God’s creation. We have to constantly be stepping in to make sure it doesn’t mess up because there is no creator, there is no God. It is just happening around us. Heh. I defy anyone to continue believing that after the onset of any significant dental problem. Should we use intervene with anaesthetics and treatment, or shall we pray about it instead? ---
**Author:** ![SticksAndString](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@SticksAndString](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SticksAndString)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-male-gynecologists-professionals-or-perverts-this-guy-says-perverts/508533/92 "2012-03-06T11:34:47Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Yeah, [you might be right](http://www.faithfulwordbaptist.org/physicians.html). By that standard then, God (or whoever) must want me to sleep ALL DAY LONG and never do anything. I have hypo (wait..is it hypo or hyper? Must be hypo..I can never keep them straight!)thyroidism and without my medication, that’s pretty much all I do. I go into freaking hibernation.😃 ---
**Author:** ![SticksAndString](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@SticksAndString](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SticksAndString)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-male-gynecologists-professionals-or-perverts-this-guy-says-perverts/508533/93 "2012-03-06T11:41:12Z")
When my female OB/GYN went on maternity, she didn’t pass on her cases to ANYBODY (she was the only one in her office) and had her nurses (or whoever they were) tell her patients that unless it was a OMGSEWWIOUS EMERGENCY that she wasn’t even consider reading their message. No really. I had a problem that kinda freaked me out, I didn’t know what to do or if it was serious so I called her office. “Um…your problem? Doesn’t sound like it’s serious. She’s only taking SERIOUS EMERGENCIES right now because she’s like, on maternity leave and no…there’s not another doctor handling her cases.” was the response I got when I called her office and told the nurse on duty (I assume she was a nurse) what was going on. I was so freaked out I was nearly in tears and I found another OB/GYN that day. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-male-gynecologists-professionals-or-perverts-this-guy-says-perverts/508533/94 "2012-03-06T20:24:28Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > You might want to consider that not every girl going into a GYN’s office is a Victoria’s Secret model. Not even close. I blame the movie _Eyes Wide Shut_ for this belief. For example, I know an elderly male OB-GYN who (based on the clinical summaries I see as a pathologist) has a practice that appears heavily weighted towards the morbidly obese (sorry). Of course [it’s not unknown](http://www.amazon.com/Doc-Rape-Lovell-Jack-Olsen/dp/0440206685) for a doc to molest women who are not model-caliber. I’d personally prefer a male to a female urologist or proctologist, but it’s not an absolute requirement. If some women prefer a male gyno, there’s nothing wrong with that. _ **pissant correction** _ - the current correct terminology for a Pap smear these days is “Pap test” (the vast majority of practices use a liquid-based technology and making smears on slides is obsolete). > [@Giles](#): > > I believe pathology is another good specialty for the golf-loving doctor: you don’t even have to see patients, just small samples taken from them (Though it might not suit those who hate the sight of blood) Oddly (?) I can’t think of any golf enthusiasts in our pathology practice - most of the ones I know are internists or surgeons). As for the hating the sight of blood thing, we get surgical nurses bringing us specimens who go on about how oogy they are, but don’t seem to mind being in the middle of them when they are alive and spurting. ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-male-gynecologists-professionals-or-perverts-this-guy-says-perverts/508533/95 "2012-03-07T00:40:45Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Obviously, I’ve never had one myself, but my understanding is that pelvic examinations are an uncomfortable and embarrassing ordeal that, God willing, you won’t have to endure more than once a year. It varies really heavily depending on the person, their level of comfort/personal issues, and the person performing the pelvic exam. I’ve never had any bad experiences, but it’s not the most fun thing to do ever. I’ve also never had it hurt or had a doctor decide I’m being a wuss during the procedure and use force. > [@SticksAndString](#): > > “Um..your problem? Doesn’t sound like it’s serious. She’s only taking SERIOUS EMERGENCIES right now because she’s like, on maternity leave and no..there’s not another doctor handling her cases.” was the response I got when I called her office and told the nurse on duty (I assume she was a nurse) what was going on. I was so freaked out I was nearly in tears and I found another OB/GYN that day. I would be livid. I had what turned out to be a serious emergency in the past year and had to find myself an OB/GYN that was covered under my insurance with no warning. If they said “oh, that doesn’t seem like _that_ big of an emergency,” there would’ve been some major problems, including telling every person I knew what a poor regard for patients that OB/GYN had. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-male-gynecologists-professionals-or-perverts-this-guy-says-perverts/508533/96 "2012-03-07T01:09:26Z")
Ya know, every time I think we’re running out of crazy some kind soul shows up to revive a dead thread and reaffirm my faith in the internets. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-male-gynecologists-professionals-or-perverts-this-guy-says-perverts/508533/97 "2012-03-07T03:16:01Z")
Cliff Huxtable was an OB/GYN. Really, we should have all seen that he was a perverted bastard sooner, what with the jello this and pudding pops that. Pudding on a stick is unnatural and an abomination unto God. And the [sweaters](http://imgs.sfgate.com/blogs/images/sfgate/parenting/2010/10/10/cosby_one290x303.jpg). My God, the [sweaters](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kcwrOaAbM2o/TunTZ0utcxI/AAAAAAAACLc/n2iZjYcgGAU/s1600/cosby.jpg). You know who else wears ugly sweaters? Rick Santorum. Would you want him diving for pearls in your grandmother’s bearded oyster? Didn’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-male-gynecologists-professionals-or-perverts-this-guy-says-perverts/508533/98 "2012-03-07T09:54:46Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Obviously, I’ve never had one myself, but my understanding is that pelvic examinations are an uncomfortable and embarrassing ordeal that, God willing, you won’t have to endure more than once a year. > > I suspect I know why the women in this pastor’s life have confused that with sex. Bravo! I don’t have a specific obgyn; I only go rarely so I get whichever one has an open slot in the day that’s convenient for me. My first obgyn was a guy with hands like a gorilla’s: that’s bad. But so is the female gyn who refuses to believe any woman with regular periods and who poo-poohs any woman’s worries about dismenorrea or losing regularity with “that’s how it is for everybody”. Learning that the gyn has irregular periods and can go for months without one is definitely not the information I go to see a gyn for. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-male-gynecologists-professionals-or-perverts-this-guy-says-perverts/508533/99 "2012-03-07T10:37:53Z")
Anyone else reminded of that episode of _Friends_ where Rachel tries to hot on the cute gynecologist, saying “I thought a gynecologist would have no trouble dating women.” Dr. Franzblau: I try not to let my work affect my personal life, but it’s hard, when you… do what I do. It’s like uh…Well, for instance, what do you do? Rachel: I’m a waitress Dr. Franzblau: Okay, all right, well aren’t there times when you come home at the end of the day, and you’re just like, “If I see one more cup of coffee…” ---
**Author:** ![SticksAndString](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@SticksAndString](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SticksAndString)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-male-gynecologists-professionals-or-perverts-this-guy-says-perverts/508533/100 "2012-03-07T12:02:30Z")
Believe me, that was the final straw for that doctor. I should’ve run screaming when I first went to her at around 12 weeks pregnant (my reg doc didn’t do OB stuff) and she told me that I WOULD be induced because it made the deliveries fit better into her schedule. I admit, I was too afraid of her to say no. My thing that was going wrong turned out to be my body being weird (for the eleventybillionth time) and nothing serious, thank goodness. But I didn’t know that and I was seriousl freaked out and in tears by the time I got off the phone with the nurse. I didn’t know what to do and fortunately, my husbandface was smart enough to get me a cup of coffee, calm me down and help me find another OB/GYN covered by our ins. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-male-gynecologists-professionals-or-perverts-this-guy-says-perverts/508533.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-male-gynecologists-professionals-or-perverts-this-guy-says-perverts/508533.md?page=6)