Enough with the Gynecology Torture Chamber!

The horror stories of the past are disgusting, with women, especially black and brown women, being subjected to painful procedures under the guise of “medical research.”

While those experiments are less likely to occur in the modern era

can we just be honest for a minute?

The procedures for exams and treatment are unnecessarily uncomfortable and painful.

Pap smears and cancer screens of the cervix are done with a cold metal speculum that stretch the walls of our vagina open. Then Q-tips are dragged along the vagina walls and the cervix and often, this is uncomfortable and for some painful.

When I was 20 and expressed my anxiety to my doctor at the on-campus clinic, she said, “You’re not a virgin.

I’m sure your boyfriend’s penis does more than this so you’ll be fine.”

Um excuse me ma’am.

I actually want his penis inside of me. My body is also designed to receive the shape of a penis. What it is not made for is this torture device pulling it’s cold claws into me and spreading me open.

It’s past time that we find a better way to administer these tests.

The goal of these 2 specific screenings is to gather a “culture” of bacteria and/or tissue cells that can later be tested to identify STDs or cancer.

That’s it. There’s literally no need to visually inspect the inside of the vagina, so all you need is something to insert and gather these tissue samples.

*side note: even when you need to visually inspect, you use camera for colonoscopies. Why can’t we have a camera experience for our vaginas too?

My suggestion is a phallic shaped device that can have cotton at key points. The patient can insert this in privacy. Move it in a circle to get a full sample and place it neatly into a medical bag. The cotton portions can be replacable and the plastic phallic insert can be sterilized the same way the speculum are.

Just like the urine samples are placed on a table to await the nurse, these can also.

I can hear the Virginity protectors now. *gasp* What if the patient is a virgin? Won’t this “take” her virginity?

Press the brake pedal and the pause button.

If a person does not interact with another person sexually, then they still have not had physical sex.

But here’s a great compromise. Let the person choose which exam method they prefer.

All females of all ages have different psychological reactions and physical too when getting these exams. Some have such severe anxiety that they pass out but many just avoid the exams, not because they neglect their health, but out of fear.

Having more exam options is not only beneficial, it should be mandatory.

Share this article if you agree.

Pass it on to your OB or any medical professional you know. Share it with all the women in your life.

We need and deserve better.