We need a disney princess with chronic UTIs who goes to the doctor and the doctor tells her to always pee after sex and the princess says she’s already doing that and the doctor says well that’s all the advice I have
— dirtbag winemom (@floozyesq) March 28, 2018
As one of the hosts of Guys We F****d once said, “If I’m not feeling any burning in my vagina it’s a good day.”
People with vaginas have to deal with a lot of strange sensations down in their bits on an almost daily basis, to the point where as long as there isn’t a funky smell coming from over there, it’s a good day. Still, there are a lot of issues surrounding women’s health, most egregiously, the dismissal of their pain and discomfort by doctors.
As Samantha Bee illustrated in her fantastic video segment about the history of women’s pain, “women’s healthcare is still shrouded in the same fear, shame, and condescension that has been surrounding the female body since some dude made up a story about some lady stealing an apple to justify why he hates women.”
Yet, that shame builds to the point where there is unending frustration as to why the hell we can’t get answers to questions like why do I keep getting UTIs even though I’m literally growing a cranberry bush out of my actual bush.
On Twitter, the responses to the above UTI tweet were fantastic because of how universal this problem is. I could think of several friends of mine who have chronic UTIs or have some terrible cramping pain that all the birth control in the world has not been able to fix.
Lol seriously, if UTIs were as common in men science would have had the miracle cure figured out 30 years ago
— Laurie (@LaurieDelBae) March 29, 2018
Princess and the Pee, coming this fall.
— 🦄 Magz Skypewalker 🦄 (@Magzdilla2early) March 28, 2018
Honey, you’re not wiping correctly. 😳🤯😡😡🤬
Honey, you need better grooming habits. 😅😂 (I cannot shower after every pee.)
Honey….
— 45 is a Russian Plant (@nastylibtard) March 29, 2018
This mentality trickles down into every aspect of vaginal health from STIs to endometriosis to having severe cramps that doctors refuse to do anything about until you are literally one toe in the grave. Anytime a person says something is wrong with their vagina, the assumption is that they must have done something wrong. You didn’t pee after sex, you didn’t eat every cranberry on Earth, you masturbated too intensely or that somehow you aren’t “clean” enough.
Despite UTIs being super common across the board, the stigma lingers.
Trans men with vaginas also have to deal with this sort of ignorance from the medical field concerning their health. On the recent episode of Sooo Many White Guys, trans activist and former adult film star Buck Angel talked about how due to testosterone treatments the walls of his vagina began to atrophy and his cervix and uterus fused together, burst and then became septic. All the while Angel was going to a gynecologist who was telling him everything was fine, despite complaining about getting cramps everytime he had an orgasm. Still, it was ignored until he one day collapsed with a 105-degree fever.
There are serious consequences to not listening to people about their pain. As a woman, I knew for a long time I simply accepted the fact that I wasn’t going to be comfortable with my vagina. That it was just going to be a constant battle between myself and anything that wasn’t cotton underwear.
Then, one day, I decided, fuck this, I didn’t want to be uncomfortable anymore. So I spoke up and I asked my OBGYN why I always had these weird itches and pains.
She asked what I used to wash and my sexual history and concluded that years of soap to vag use had done a number on my PH balance (also having condom-free sex with a long-term partner can also fuck up your PH balance because sperm has a different level and peeing will not always fix that).
She gave me some medicine to help balance it out and I have not had the same discomfort since. That was one year ago. I started going to the OBGYN when I was 17. So I spent almost nine years of my sexually active life being uncomfortable in my own body because I thought it had to be that way. That vaginas don’t have to be comfortable.
Well, they can be and while the medical community is failing us, we also have to learn to shake off the shame that we feel about our discomfort. It’s not because we are dirty, it’s because vaginas are work and some need more work than others. There is nothing wrong with that and the sooner we learn that the sooner we can be the best advocates for ourselves in the doctor’s office.
Also, how much money do you think Big Cranberry gives OGBYNs?
(via Twitter, image: Pexel)
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