Can I address a common misconception that may be the source of some misunderstandings?
Lubrication does not equal arousal.
The female body naturally reacts to invasions and often will self-lubricate simply to make it easier on itself. This is why rape victims often will lubricate. This doesn’t mean she wanted to be raped.
Perhaps this is a source of thought on why some people may think the OB/GYN is at all exciting for females.
And, and, and, and. If anyone thinks it’s all arousing/exciting for the OB/GYN let me remind you that not all the women are going simply because of their annual pelvics. Some are going because of STDs. Some are going because of sickness. Some don’t know personal hygiene. And the list goes on and on.
But why would lubrication even enter into it? Every OB/Gyn I’ve ever known has used synthetic lube on the instruments and fingers. It’s not like she waits for me to get wet before the exam!
What a bizarre idea. As if I’d be more relaxed because at home I have naked men all over the place.
I’ve had a gynecological exam at least once a year for the last twenty-three years, and I’ve never seen anything taped to the ceiling or any displays of beefcake photos. In my experience, college and clinic gynecologists tend to have birth-control themed decor and private gynecologists usually have aren’t-babies-wonderful decor.
However, I will admit that just one time, when I was in college, I had such a handsome young gynecologist on one visit that I had a slight flush of arousal when he suddenly lunged towards my vagina. I hope he didn’t notice. Boy, was he good looking. Movie-star good looking.
Never seen anything at the gyno. I have seen some lovely pictures on the ceiling at the dentist’s though. Generally pictures of Vienna or a lovely meadow. A waterfall might make me have to pee.
My girlfriend had her annual pelvic exam a couple of weeks ago, and afterwards she asked me to guess what the doctor (who happens to be male) had on the ceiling above the exam table. I had never heard of them putting posters on the ceiling before, so I was visualizing a big diagram of a vagina or something.
She said that they had a poster of a hunky, naked man holding a baby taped to the ceiling. She thought it was humorous and was not at all offended by it, but I thought it seemed fairly weird so I decided to ask about it here.
When you add the presence of a baby to this story, I’m even more astonished.
For many women who have experienced child abuse, or who have other forms of either PTSD or major mental illness, going to the gynecologist is difficult at best. A reasonable number of women don’t go because it’s too distressing. U.S. lesbians have a lower utilization rate than heterosexual women.
In my professional opinion, this is a doctor who is likely to be on the receiving end of a reprimand, grievance, or lawsuit.
It’s definitely distressing for me. I wouldn’t go if it weren’t for my total paranoia about unplanned pregnancy and my belief that the pill is the only method that works for me (no shots, nothing to put in down there) and is reliable enough.
Throw in the trauma of possibly feeling aroused in a situation where I know I really shouldn’t be, and that would just be that much worse.
Of course, I take off my glasses at all doctor appointments, including gynecologist appointments, because my fear of doctors means I tend to cry and that gets tear spots all over my glasses if I leave them on. I can see clearly for a distance of about one foot without my glasses. So, for all I know, my gynecologist does have pictures of naked men and diagrams of vaginas on the ceiling.
See, I would imagine that the diagram of the vagina would be on the wall behind you. Just so the doctor can refer to it if he can’t recall the name of the doohickey he’s examining.
“Hmmmm…you got a little bit of ouchy on the doohickey here, and your thingy is a little red. I’m gonna prescribe some of that goop you put on your hoo-hoo…just put a blob-and-a-half on your fingertip and, you know, go to town.”
My wife’s OB/GYN’s office has a mobile of little female figures with skirts and parasols hanging over the exam table. The joke is that when you’re lying on the table you can see up their skirts. This is a clever little way of letting the patient feel like she’s not the only one in an exposed position.
The figures are not particularly anatomically correct, as far as I know.
My regular doctor’s office has lots of Far Side and other similar absurd cartoons on the ceilings to look at, along with assorted pictures - and I do get my yearly checkups done there, rather than at the OB/GYN office. I don’t know of any pictures on the ceiling at the OB/GYN office.
