Anyway, I'm looking forward to something that fills most people I know with dread - a gynecological exam, complete with pap smear and testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs, formerly called STDs). That's right, I actually like my annual check-up with the hoo-ha doctor.
I know that for a lot of folks, particularly trans and queer people, visiting a nurse or gynecologist and putting one's feet in the stirrups can feel pretty uncomfortable, even unsafe. Moreover, a lot of people don't have the kind of healthcare that allows them to get regular check-ups or even to see a doctor in case of pain or discomfort. I don't want to discount the fact that my excitement about getting my "lady parts" checked is totally enabled by the fact that I'm white, upper-middle class, in a city, cisgender, temporarily abled, femme/feminine, and privileged in a thousand other ways large and small. But excited I am, and I thought I'd take a second to write about why.
In my experience, scheduling and going to my annual gynecological exam is a chance to make good on my beliefs that people with vaginas and any of the associated organs, including many women, should know just how those vaginas work. I don't know about you, but after a lifetime of subtle and direct messages mystifying what goes on "down there," I want to know exactly how my body - all of it - works, what kind of shape I'm in, and what I need to know to keep myself physically and mentally healthy and happy.
I want to make informed decisions about cancer prevention, menstruation, birth control, and any other health and safety issues that are relevant to my vag. I want to learn about the risks and benefits of the HPV vaccine, I want to be able to tell my future partner(s) that I'm STI-free, and I want to know that my vagina's doing okay - and if it's not, I want to figure out how to take care of it!
I'll spend time researching any questions or concerns I have before I go see the nurse, because I want to be able to discuss my health with her, not just sit and listen. I'll insist that I get a comprehensive STI test because I want to take pride in my negative status. I will ask about the shot, the pill, the ring, IUDS...I want to be a resource for my friends and most of all for myself.
I'm not saying it's a transcendent experience, or one that's even particularly comfortable. But it does, in the end, feel empowering, in the kind of the-personal-is-political, Our-Bodies-Ourselves way. Getting a gynecological exam is one small, concrete way that I can educate myself and move towards making important decisions about my own body in the context of my gendered self.
Plus, it's always worth it just to see the look on the nurse's face when I come out to her...
P.S. Jezebel is obviously taking inspiration from me: http://jezebel.com/5474976/tales-of-my-vagina-or-why-womens-health-is-totally-fcking-unfair
