# Pitting Der\_Trihs **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 5, 2026, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214 "2026-03-05T01:20:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/141 "2026-03-07T17:51:31Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I once had an ultrasound that involved shoving a device up my vagina. I can see that being described as a “gendered intrusion”, although i chose to do it for the benefit of my health, and the nice woman who did the test was very gentle and careful about explaining what she would do and obtaining clear consent. Very gentle and careful with clear consent given to shove a wand up your vagina? Maybe you mean she very carefully _inserted_ the device. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/142 "2026-03-07T19:08:51Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I think I’ve had at least two, medically indicated. Both times they hurt like hell. Mine was not painful. But my vagina was healthy at the time. I once had a pap smear when i had a vaginal infection, and _that_ hurt like hell. I didn’t realize i had an infection at the time, and thought it was from getting old, but the much more intrusive transvaginal ultrasound was two years later, and was fine. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/143 "2026-03-07T23:28:17Z")
I found the writing above as a bit hyperbolic, but not _totally_ unreasonable. I understand what they mean about women being relegated to vessels etc. I understand how they might view an ultrasound (particularly one with the force of law and not medically indicated) as an act of violence. Women in these cases don’t want or need ultrasounds and making them have them is a simple assault with the force of law. Especially if it is a transvaginal ultrasound. There is only one reason that a legal body mostly lacking in Doctors would insist on this: pain, humiliation, and shame. it is quite akin to rape. I however, do not agree that a consenting mom who wants that first peak at her baby in utero, is being subjected to violence. Though I do understand what the writer meant about _other_ people’s conscious or un conscious attitudes regarding the mother’s place in the world when the fetus becomes the star of the show, so to speak. I think it’s complicated to say the least. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/144 "2026-03-07T23:31:21Z")
When i was pregnant, i looked for an obstetrician who was, herself, a mother. I wanted my doctor to consider _me_ as her primary patient, but the fetus, and thought that having her be a mom increased my odds of that. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/145 "2026-03-07T23:32:17Z")
> [@Sylvanz](#): > > I however, do not agree that a consenting mom who wants that first peak at her baby in utero, is being subjected to violence. There are plenty of things that aren’t considered violence when consented to, but which are when they’re not consented to. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/146 "2026-03-07T23:34:20Z")
I wish I had thought of that. Having said that though, I was quite found of my OB. He was professional, compassionate and funny. He also thought my jokes were funny. Gotta’ love that. And I always felt that I was his patient who had a fetus I wanted to keep healthy. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/147 "2026-03-07T23:42:37Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > When i was pregnant, i looked for an obstetrician who was, herself, a mother. I wanted my doctor to consider _me_ as her primary patient, but the fetus, and thought that having her be a mom increased my odds of that. I had a good group of nurse midwives helping me out. I’ll never forget the nurse who took the brochure, which said, _“Who will deliver your baby?”_ crossed out the word “who” and wrote in giant letters “YOU!” “YOU will deliver your baby.” ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/148 "2026-03-07T23:42:51Z")
When I was pregnant I was such a high-risk patient they naturally leaned in hard at keeping me healthy. Always with the caveat “ if you’re healthy, baby will be”. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/149 "2026-03-07T23:53:35Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Anyway, i tend to assume the best of people. I tend to assume good motives (or simple selfishness) and lapses of judgement. My go-to is, “Never ascribe to malice that which can adequately be explained by stupidity.” > [@puzzlegal](#): > > The fetal ultrasound i did involved a wand against my belly. It is much less invasive. Judging by the number of ultrasound images I’ve seen on refrigerator doors, they are popular with those who are pregnant. > > Laws that require a transvaginal ultrasound are likely inspired by a desire to hurt women. Most readers will resist the latter conclusion. Abortion opponents will say they are applying penalties to women who are even _considering_ an abortion. Which is plausible I suppose, but when penalties entail physical pain it’s reasonable to conclude that an element of malice is involved. Which rubs my intuition the wrong way, but – really now – it’s the strongest explanation. Malice exists. Der sees it everywhere, but his take is vastly outweighed by those who perceive it nowhere. * * * Now for a plug. Those who wish to understand the conservative mentality better, the one that existed before MAGA, might be interested in reading [Bruce Bartlett’s substack](https://brucebartlett.substack.com/). Bartlett was the architect of the Kemp-Roth tax cuts that Ronald Reagan pushed and passed. Bartlett later worked for various free market think tanks for a while, then penned a book claiming that, "Bush and Richard M. Nixon were “two superficially conservative presidents who enacted liberal programs to buy votes for reelection.” For that, he was fired from his think-tank post and became _Persona non grata_ among conservative employers. Oops. His training was as an economist, so it was natural for him to drift off to the American center-left, which would be center-right in the remainder of the democratic world. He’s an interesting guy. He’s not a deep thinker, but he is an informed and systematic thinker. The wellspring of US conservatism is far from the land of conservative economists and pundits, but the latter have their influence. > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Does it matter, really, whether they want to make women suffer or whether they are just okay with that happening? It kind of does. The indifference of the many far outweighs the malice of the few. Which is to say that the world is scarier and _worse_ than that depicted by Der Trihs. Say what you want about Darth Vader, but at least you know where you stand with the guy. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2026, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/150 "2026-03-08T00:18:06Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > The indifference of the many far outweighs the malice of the few. In its complicity with that malice, ISTM that it _intensifies_ the “malice of the few.” ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2026, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/151 "2026-03-08T00:36:31Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I had a good group of nurse midwives helping me out. I’ll never forget the nurse who took the brochure, which said, _“Who will deliver your baby?”_ crossed out the word “who” and wrote in giant letters “YOU!” > > “YOU will deliver your baby.” I have a friend who is a midwife. She corrects people who describe her job as “delivering babies”. She says she catches babies, and coaches women who are delivering babies. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2026, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/152 "2026-03-08T01:31:02Z")
I don’t think anyone should deliver babies. It’s a pretty important organ. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2026, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/153 "2026-03-16T14:06:39Z")
[Officially warned](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculating-on-how-much-time-we-really-have-left-a-climate-change-thread/1028461/36) for more of his off-topic pet concerns. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2026, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/154 "2026-03-16T16:12:47Z")
Der Trihs contributes about 1000% more to this board than the troll who baited him into that warning. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2026, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/155 "2026-03-17T14:30:06Z")
Seconded. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/156 "2026-03-18T22:41:03Z")
I’m hoping he’ll reconsider his surrendering to Trump. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/157 "2026-03-18T22:43:25Z")
Link? ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/158 "2026-03-18T22:47:03Z")
I’ll come back to this when I have time. But he’s 100% certain that he’ll be killed by the fascist US government in the next few years. Nobody who believes that is going to do a thing to resist said government. There’s no point. He has surrendered to Trump. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2026, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/159 "2026-03-19T00:17:29Z")
wait, who? Der Trihs? ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2026, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/160 "2026-03-19T00:29:08Z")
Yes. He hates them, obviously, and it’s well deserved. But it’s pretty clear to me that he doesn’t think they can be beaten. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214.md?page=9)