Dignity in health and social care? Perhaps not, if you are male.

Do women need protection from men but not visa-versa?
When I was at school, female physical education teachers regularly used to use the male changing rooms as a shortcut to their office, even while schoolboys were changing or coming out of the showers. The thought of male teachers doing this to schoolgirls is unthinkable, but when I complained, it seemed that nobody was willing to listen. Why? Anybody believing that there is no such thing as female paedophiles is sadly mistaken.^{[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11]} Even when female paedophilia is identified however, it seems to be taken less seriously than male paedophilia.^[12] This double standard is a recurring theme. I have noticed female-only gym and swimming times at public facilities where there are no male-only times for example. I believe this theme is also apparent in healthcare.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=da8_1394506711

Double standards with respect to gender in health care:
My second ever job was as a healthcare assistant in operating theatres. I worked in various theatres, but most of my work was in genitourinary theatre. Most of the patients were men with prostate problems and I did not feel that the way they treated was dignified. Most of them were awake during surgery. They arrived wearing hospital gowns with nothing underneath, were transferred into the operating table, and then their legs were put up in the lithotomy position, exposing their genitals and anuses. When I started work there, there were young female student nurses and young female Royal Air Force trainee operating department practitioners working in the theatre. I remember thinking about how humiliating the experience must be for the patients. Female patients were treated very differently. They wore their underwear under their hospital gowns. Most of them were given general anaesthesia and their underwear was only removed in theatre when they were unconscious. On the very rare occasions when female patients were awake, male theatre staff were minimised as far as possible to maintain patient dignity. What was the reason for the difference in treatment? I still do not know to this day, but I have a sneaking suspicion it may have been sexism.

Far more recently, I worked in a genitourinary medicine clinic for a couple of days. I noticed that there were separate male and female waiting areas clearly marked with signs. On my second day on arriving I noticed two female medical students sitting waiting in the male waiting area. I told them I thought it might be a little intimidating for male patients to see on arrival two female medical students sitting in their waiting area. One of the students had not realised that she was in the male waiting area, because they had both been told to sit there by a female nurse. The medical students got up but the nurse came out and told them to stay in the male waiting area. In summary she said:

“Men are not allowed in the female waiting area”

What did this mean exactly? Later that day I noticed that men and heterosexual couples were waiting in the area marked ‘Male Waiting Room’ while only women were waiting in the ‘Female Waiting Room’. I consider this to be a sexist attitude. On later discussion, both female medical students admitted to feeling awkward sitting in the male waiting room while there was a lone male patient sitting there. One of the female medical students later told me that most male patients probably do not mind women being in their waiting room, but most female patients probably would mind a man being in their waiting room, hence the double-standard. Even if this is true, I do not think it should apply to staff sitting in the patient waiting rooms, because there is a power differential between ‘healthy’ staff and ‘vulnerable’ patients.

While I was there, I could not help but notice one other thing. Male doctors, when examining a female patient, call for a female chaperone. What sex chaperone do you think female doctors were using when seeing male patients? Female! Men attending the clinic would therefore have their private parts seen by a minimum of two women (instead of one) if they consented to being examined. Perhaps I could rationalise this in my mind if I thought that women were less predatory in the sexual sense than men. Unfortunately however, I am not under that illusion, because pictures of male models in states of undress were on display on the wall of the nurses’ laboratory.

It seems we live in a society that expects men to be insensitive, trains men to be insensitive and then blames men for being insensitive. Perhaps that has something to do with why so few medical students are male nowadays.

References:
1. http://www.kxxv.com (2011) Teacher gets 3 days in jail after having sex with student. Available from: http://www.kxxv.com/story/16011854/teacher-gets-3-days-in-jail-after-having-improper-relationship-with-student Accessed: 19:44 21/11/2011
2. Thompson P. (2011) Is this America's worst teacher? Middle school reading instructor, 41, 'had sex with ELEVEN teenage boys in three month period'. Available from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2059491/Teacher-Cindy-Clifton-41-sex-ELEVEN-teenage-boys-month-period.html Accessed: 19:03 21/11/2011
3. Chick T. (2011) Linda Lusk is back behind bars. Available from: http://www.keprtv.com/news/live/133411228.html Accessed: 19:41 21/11/2011
4. Narain J. (2011) Female RE teacher who bombarded 14-year-old pupil with sex texts is spared jail. Available from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2055705/RE-teacher-Kathryn-Roach-bombarded-pupil-sex-texts-spared-jail.html Accessed: 19:05 21/11/2011
5. Slack C. (2011) Woman, 33, who pretended to be nurse to lure 14-year-old boy for sex is spared jail. Available from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2045214/Woman-pretended-nurse-lure-14-year-old-boy-sex-spared-jail.html Accessed: 19:35 21/11/2011
6. FoxNews.com (2011) Florida Teacher Who Pleaded Guilty to Having Sex With Boy Asks Judge to Reduce Probation Available from: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/09/22/florida-teacher-who-pleaded-guilty-to-having-sex-with-boy-asks-judge-to-reduce/ Accessed: 18:58 21/11/2011
7. WorldNetDaily.com (2011) The big list: Female teachers with students. Available from: http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=39783#ixzz1eN07B200 Accessed: 19:32 21/11/2011
8. Russia Today (2011) ‘Cougar epidemic’ rages as teachers seduce students. Available from: http://rt.com/usa/news/cougar-sex-teachers-students/?utm_source=2leep&utm_medium=2leep&utm_campaign=2leep Accessed: 19:48 21/11/2011
9. Daily Mail (2010) Single mother had sex with boy, 12, almost 200 times... and marked each encounter with a star in her sordid diary. Available from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1244367/Single-mother-36-faces-jail-seducing-boy-12-having-sex-200-times.html Accessed: 19:37 21/11/2011
10. Ramirez M. (2008) Nun who abused boys gets 1 year in jail, 10 years' probation. Available from: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2008-02-02/news/0802010620_1_age-and-health-problems-abuse-sentence Accessed: 18:41 21/11/2011
11. Karvunidis J.M. (2011) Apology to Men's Rights Activists. Available from: http://www.chicagonow.com/high-gloss-and-sauce/2011/10/apology-to-mens-rights-activists/ Accessed: 19:52 21/11/2011
12. Hermann C. (2011) Oh, Boys. Available from: http://communityvoices.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/opinion/the-radical-middle/29629-oh-boys Accessed: 19:58 21/11/2011

What defines homophobia and misogyny?

A couple of days ago I was accused of homophobia and misogyny at a Student Council meeting. It could be true, so I sent out a mass e-mail to the Council members asking in what way I was homophobic.

I discovered that my homophobia was manifest by mentioning HIV and homosexuality in the same sentence / same slide of a PowerPoint presentation:

“

• HPV is the most common cause of anal cancer in men.
• 61% of HIV-negative and 93% of HIV-positive gay and bisexual men have been estimated to have anal HPV infections.
• HPV is thought to play a role in 30% of mouth and throat cancers.
• HPV vaccination is not available to boys or men on the NHS.”¹

At first, I thought this basis for the accusation was ridiculous, because I had used the information to illustrate how boy's healthcare needs are not being addressed by the National Health Service with respect to HPV, in contrast to the vaccination program currently offered to girls. I think if I was homophobic I would be more likely to think of 'homosexual men' as a separate entity from 'men' and I would not have sourced the data from the National LGBT Cancer Network. In my mind, it came down to simple statistics and targeting healthcare provision based on need. I would not for example think somebody was racist for mentioning the terms 'Asian' and 'diabetes' in the same sentence. The presentation I used was even checked by a homosexual friend before I distributed it, and he did not find it offensive.

On reflection, it comes down to sensitivities. HIV unfortunately has a stigma attached to it that diabetes does not a share. As a healthcare professional I do not discriminate on the basis of HIV sero-status and paradoxically I have become less sensitive to that stigma as a result (forgetting that people in general may fear it). If I was a homosexual man, I probably would not like to constantly be reminded of associations between homosexuality and HIV positive status, and I would not want the public reminded of it either. Science is for healthcare professionals and political correctness is for the public. Lesson learnt.

As for my misogyny, this was the motion I proposed to Union Council:

This Union Notes:
1. There are fewer male students than female students at UEA.
2. National statistics suggest that male students are at greater risk of violent crime than female students.
3. Domestic violence against men is largely overlooked.
4. Men have a lower average life expectancy than women.
5. Male suicide rates are higher than female suicide rates.
6. Male sexual health services have been cut from the UEA medical centre.
7. Boys are currently not offered vaccination against HPV on the NHS, even though the viruses contribute to oral, anal and penis cancers.
8. Students should check that their sexual partners have the mental capacity to consent to sex (i.e. are not intoxicated beyond their capacity to consent). Individuals that fail to do so may be committing sexual assault and men that fail to do so may be committing rape.
9. Union Council currently has a Women’s Officer but no Men’s Officer.
This Union Believes:
1. Male students are a minority on campus
2. Male students need as much protection from the threat of violence as female students.
3. Domestic violence against men, such as spitting and face-slapping in addition to more serious crimes should be openly identified as unacceptable and not trivialised. The students union should have a zero tolerance policy on violence, including female violence against males.
4. The health and social care needs of men are not currently being addressed adequately or in an equitable way.
5. Male students are generally at greater risk of suicide than female students.
As for 4
As for 4
6. Greater male awareness of legal issues surrounding sexual activity and intoxication could benefit both male and female UEA students.
7. In the interests of sexual equality, the UEA students Union should consider having a Gender Equality Officer post.
This Union Resolves:
1-9. To hold a general meeting open to all students for open discussion regarding the pro’s and con’s of having a Gender Equality Officer post.

Apparently this motion was also offensive, to the extent that during the Council meeting the first two parts were completely deleted to avoid offending anybody and the third part was changed to something like:

This Union Resolves:
To hold a series of meetings open to all students for open discussion regarding the pro’s and con’s of having a Gender Equality Officer post, and then feed back to Student Council.

To be honest, I am still at a loss as to why the motion I proposed is misogynist, or why the first two parts had to be deleted. Perhaps any suggestion that men have any sex/gender specific needs is misogynist. The PowerPoint file was checked by a female Cheerleading Law student and we both scratched our heads in wonder and amusement as to the reaction it produced. Perhaps 'misogyny' is defined by feminists rather than women in general.² A female friend from the Buddhist Society told me that she did not like the tone of the presentation and that statistics mean nothing to her because the margins for error are always high. I can understand that, because I presented the data in the same style I have seen data presented in feminist propaganda. Looking in the mirror must have been an uncomfortable experience for them!

V

References:

1.National LGBT Cancer Network (undated) HPV and Cancer. Available from: http://cancer-network.org/cancer_information/hpv_and_cancer/ Accessed: 20:02 12/3/2011

2. Wilkins A. (undated) UEA Women’s Campaign: what do we need it for? Available from: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=141786891654 Accessed: 20:04 12/3/2011