Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
'Premarital exams' for women are popular in Utah. Some experts say they send a bad message.
Original report: Utah’s unusual ‘premarital exams’ for women are being rebranded as sexual health visits for everyone (Salt Lake Tribune)
______________________________________________________________________
Source: Washington Post
‘Premarital exams’ for women are popular in Utah. Some experts say they send a bad message.
By Marisa Iati
Oct. 23, 2019 at 7:23 p.m. EDT
Jennifer Gunter said she nearly fell off her chair when she saw the headline on the University of Utah’s medical center website.
Getting ready for your wedding night with a premarital exam.
Gunter, an OB/GYN and the author of “The Vagina Bible,” says she had never heard of a premarital exam. And, she said, some of the medical advice it seemed to offer was concerning.
In a Sept. 9 blog post, Gunter described what she saw on the University of Utah Health website: the suggestion that a woman schedule a premarital exam “to confirm that her body is ready for sex” and explore using a vaginal dilator, as first reported by the Salt Lake Tribune. The health-care system also suggested a link between condoms and urinary tract infections, and it recommended that women consider getting antibiotics in case they develop a UTI on their honeymoon.
“It seems very patriarchal to me and not scientific,” Gunter told The Washington Post. “And certainly I’m unfamiliar with any of these practices.”
Premarital exams are considered first gynecological visits in which doctors also try to educate women about their sexual health and forge relationships with them. Experts say women learning about their bodies is positive but that these exams sometimes promote scientifically inaccurate information, make sex sound like a medical condition and imply that women need preparation for sexual intimacy that men do not.
-snip-
By Marisa Iati
Oct. 23, 2019 at 7:23 p.m. EDT
Jennifer Gunter said she nearly fell off her chair when she saw the headline on the University of Utah’s medical center website.
Getting ready for your wedding night with a premarital exam.
Gunter, an OB/GYN and the author of “The Vagina Bible,” says she had never heard of a premarital exam. And, she said, some of the medical advice it seemed to offer was concerning.
In a Sept. 9 blog post, Gunter described what she saw on the University of Utah Health website: the suggestion that a woman schedule a premarital exam “to confirm that her body is ready for sex” and explore using a vaginal dilator, as first reported by the Salt Lake Tribune. The health-care system also suggested a link between condoms and urinary tract infections, and it recommended that women consider getting antibiotics in case they develop a UTI on their honeymoon.
“It seems very patriarchal to me and not scientific,” Gunter told The Washington Post. “And certainly I’m unfamiliar with any of these practices.”
Premarital exams are considered first gynecological visits in which doctors also try to educate women about their sexual health and forge relationships with them. Experts say women learning about their bodies is positive but that these exams sometimes promote scientifically inaccurate information, make sex sound like a medical condition and imply that women need preparation for sexual intimacy that men do not.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2019/10/23/premarital-exams-women-are-popular-utah-some-experts-say-they-send-bad-message/
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
...if you know what I mean. <nudge,nudge>
