#that feels a bit too reminiscent of ‘the evil trans people are saying women have to erase themselves’ imo

[lycandrophile]

absolutely seconding all of that. i do my best to word things so they won’t be misunderstood but i guess i must’ve missed the mark a bit with that one. so, just to clarify my intention with my original reply:

the point i was making was not by any means that degendering healthcare is the solution to medical misogyny; it was that the gendering of healthcare is a product of medical misogyny and is one of many factors that contribute to that misogyny, so supporting that gendering and opposing a switch to neutral language is going to (if anything) work against the goal of quality medical care for women rather than toward it. obviously it’s going to take far more than a shift in language to change how women are treated in medical settings, i’m just saying that resisting that shift isn’t going to make things any easier.

and trust me, you don’t have to tell me that the systemic barriers facing women in medicine go beyond language. i’ve experienced misogyny my whole life and continue to even as i go through my transition; i’m very much aware of the reality of medical misogyny, and i would never want to minimize its impacts or the work necessary to end it. this isn’t about me “getting mine” — if medical misogyny continues i’m just as fucked as the rest of us and even if i wasn’t, i can assure you i do in fact care about other people and have no interest in denying systemic inequalities.

degendering medical language isn’t a cure-all to medical misogyny any more than it is to medical transphobia, and i know that. i think it’s one of many steps we can and should take to shift the way the medical industry views and treats women — if we want to get rid of the idea that women are nothing more than uteruses, it only makes sense (in my opinion) to get rid of the manifestations of that idea that have been baked into our current medical system, and “women’s health” being used as a synonym for gynecology etc is just one manifestation out of a very long list of them. i know there’s a lot more work to be done than just that; i just think this one thing is still worth talking about along with everything else involved because i think it’s important to acknowledge how seemingly small things can help perpetuate really harmful larger systems.

degendering the language we use isn’t the only step or the most important one by any means, and i never meant to say it was. it’s one of many, and i just thought it was a relevant one to bring up considering the topic of the original post. hopefully this clears up what i was trying to say in my reply.

btw the term “women’s health” to discuss uterine care/menstruation isnt just transphobic, it also keeps up this aggravating idea that the uterus & menstruation are obscene and impolite and need to be kept hidden under flowery vague terms as to not offend any cis men. like trans people demanding the end of gendered language around this stuff aren’t just helping trans people, its also just good to normalize calling tampons and pads “menstrual supplies” because thats what they fucking are!!! we should say the words uterus vagina menstruation and we should do it in public and in stores instead of talking about ~women’s needs~ and ~feminine care~. trans liberation is fundamental to women’s liberation and anti-patriarchal action in general. listening to trans men & people isn’t bad for women its good for literally everyone