Thank you for the links. I found the one above to be particularly insightful. I suspect we may come away with somewhat different conclusions but I wholeheartedly agree that trans people are under-served and misrepresented when it comes to healthcare. One of the places in which this is most evident is on the intake forms with two boxes identifying M/F gender. I think the addition of TM and TF would be very helpful to patients and providers alike. But I can already see a problem with that for people who insist on TWAW and TMAM terminologies.
Eh, probably not that different.
I agree that a trans man being turned away at a women’s clinic because he is transgender is highly unlikely. But there are definitely staff at such clinics who will be happy to treat the man “because you’re really a woman.” Hey, the person is getting health care, so no big deal, right? It might not be immediately obvious to cis-men like us how traumatic that can be to a trans man.
My last two “new patient intake” experiences asked me my gender, my assigned sex at birth, and my pronouns. All of which are relevant to a medical provider. So i think the medical establishment is moving to be more trans-inclusive.
I’m not certain what those acronyms mean.
One of the studies you linked indicates that the problem is far more complex than how they are treated at the clinic. There is clearly an internalized dichotomy/schism that they continually struggle to overcome. I obviously can’t relate but I can certainly imagine the inherent psychological stress of feeling one way while having to submit to the opposite biological reality. It is probably humiliating on some level, and beyond any remedy that a new box on a form can really address.
TWAW = Trans Women Are Women
TMAM = Trans Men Are Men
I think that’s correct… or did I get that wrong?
This reminds me: a non-binary friend pointed me to the results of a survey they had taken part in. And there were a LOT of complaints from transmen and non-binary people about having to wear a frilly pink johnny to get a mammogram, and similar uncomfortably misgendering experiences. I’d forgotten about that.
Oh, okay. So the intake forms I’ve filled out handle that fine. Maybe that’s one reason they are structured with three separate questions.
Considering how lousy, clueless, and homophobic my GYN care was as a lesbian in the 1970s and 1980s, I’m all for the declaration of inclusiveness (and staff training).
Yes. Completely thoroughly utterly yes.
What in the world is a frilly pink Johnny?
My mammograms have been in the radiology dept of a hospital. The waiting room serves both men and women, one has no idea what services the other patients are there for. The gown was standard issue hospital gown, pale blue with white ties. Medical Illustrations of breasts were in the mammogram room. Which is fitting for breast health.
Johnny Weir was the first thing to come to mind.
https://cdn.todaymediainc.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/11/johnny-weir-dwts.jpg
He’s fabulous.
A johnny in this case is a hospital gown. I also have never had a frilly pink one for any kind of medical procedure and the place I go to doesn’t even have pictures of breasts in the waiting room. The only way you know what it is is the small “mammography suite” sign on the door.
Last year I was waiting to get bloodwork done. Because of the 6 feet spacing requirements they had people parked wherever they could incluing the mammography waiting room which again looks like every other waiting room in the place. It was me in there with an older man so I jokingly said “I bet this is the first time you’ve ever been in the mammography suite.” He was horrified and actually went and stood in the hall until it was his turn.
one of those skimpy cotton things you wear for medical stuff after taking off your real clothes – only frilly and pink, instead of neutral.
Every place I’ve ever had a mammogram has been mammograms-only. Everyone there is there for a mammogram. I guess I’ve been to three places. The one I’ve been to most recently had completely non-descript johnnies, but it’s easy to imagine a place that thought making them frilly and pink would feel friendlier to their clientele. And I guess some of the places the people who answered that survey went had that opinion.
One young transman with breast cancer was excited by the idea of getting a mastectomy for medical reasons, but his doctors REALLY wanted to preserve his breasts. All sorts of dumb stuff.
One thing that seems to have got lost in the scuffle here is the fact that the Abortion Liberation Fund, AFAICT, is providing funding to support abortion services for individuals who need help affording the cost. Not operating a physical clinic that actually does the procedures.
So I think it’s highly likely that a pregnant transgender man, for example, might not immediately infer that an organization called the Women’s Medical Fund might help pay for his abortion.
Again, the real question here isn’t the made-up issue of “You’re implying that transgender men are morons who can’t figure out how to get sex-specific healthcare if they don’t have inclusive language to guide them!” Rather, the question is “What is the most accurate and inclusive language to use when referring to sex-specific forms of healthcare?”
Yep, and "why would anyone care enough to complain about this organization changing it’s name to what it believes would be more descriptive of its purpose?
Well, hypothetically, a poster who cares about this change and starts a thread could be a disingenuous, transphobic asshole.
Point of order: That is not pink.
It’s white and gold. No, wait, blue and black.
Yes I know but I can easily imagine him in pink. 