Women Aren’t The Only Ones Who Need “Women’s Health”
The words you use matter.
I need y’all to realize that calling reproductive/uterine system care “women’s health” or “the lady doctor” has actual consequences on the health and lives of trans men and transmasculine people. The words you use matter.
Making a space we need to occupy in order to access healthcare be literally designated as a place we do not belong has consequences.
Not only does it create massive issues of dysphoria (which can cause transmasculine people to avoid necessary reproductive care), but it normalizes healthcare practitioners ignoring us or openly being hostile to us in those spaces. Especially considering trans people at large are at incredible risk of sexual abuse, domestic violence, survival sex work, and HIV, it is negligent to systemically exclude us from spaces for reproductive care or sexual health.
Many cis people don’t realize that testosterone hormone therapy does NOT make AFAB people (those assigned female at birth) infertile. Plenty of transmasculine people choose to become pregnant, have already been pregnant, and/or still need access to birth control. Many trans AFAB people also seek fertility treatments to obtain eggs that can then be carried by a surrogate, even if they do not wish to be pregnant themselves.
Unintended pregnancies or issues with pregnancies or labor are often simply not recognized as such by medical staff, leading to much worse outcomes for both parents and children.
TW for this article for medical abuse, pregnancy, birth, transphobia, death
Before anyone undermines this horrific story with the victim-blaming narrative that “he should have told them he was trans and pregnant!”, he did. Multiple times. They didn’t listen.
The concept of not ignoring trans men and nonbinary people in uterine systems healthcare also applies to all those “hot takes” about “if men could get pregnant” or “if men had to use hormonal birth control” or “if men had to get Pap smears” etc etc etc. We do, and with additional difficulties of medical abuses and possible dysphoria. Stop using us as props while simultaneously excluding us from your feminism or uterine systems care advocacy.
Anyway, if you consider yourself a trans ally, stop referring to reproductive care as “women’s healthcare”, and encourage other cis people to do the same.
Tw rape, transphobia
One last thought: corrective rape of transmasculine people absolutely exists, especially for those who are unable or don’t choose to medically transition.
For this reason and many, many others, including trans masculine people in your feminism is crucial.
Link to original thread here:
