Also, As A MINOR She Has The Right To Break The Contract She Signed Regarding The Goat At Any Time. So

Incorrect.

“If, however, you’re a trans woman who has had bottom surgery to create a vagina (vaginoplasty) and possibly a cervix, there’s a very small risk that you can develop cancer in the tissues of your neo-vagina or neo-cervix.”

Which is from the first result when you google, “trans woman vaginoplasty cervix”.

I am relaying what the surgeon who will preform my hysterectomy told me because my cervix will be removed and I will be given a neo cervix. He actually called it a “plug”. But I find that idea a little gross and so just described its purpose.

Also, the cervix dilates to allow menstrual fluid to pass out of the uterus. Crap enters the vagina that doesn’t belong in the uterus. That same crap also does not belong in the abdominal cavity. So surgeons don’t just leave the vaginal canal uncapped or “plugged”. Whether or not they just sew it shut or create a neo cervix depends.

Trans women who have had surgery still need to visit the urologist, not the gynecologist, because the former is familiar with our surgeries and the latter is not. You need to stop lying and spreading misinformation which could get someone killed.

Wow, everything you said is completely wrong. So it's very funny that you think my 'misinformation' is going to 'get someone killed'. That hyperbole is fear mongering and also that's just a really aggressive way to speak to a complete stranger. Especially to accuse me of 'lying'.

So let me clear up your misunderstandings.

Firstly, urologist specialize in the urinary system, which include the bladder and kidneys and also the uterus. They aren't like the male version of gynecologists. For example, urologist treat organ prolapse, where the bladder, uterus, or colon "fall" into the vagina, or will treat fistulas, especially bladder fistulas. (Which is a hole connecting the bladder and vagina.)

Secondly, Vaginoplasties are preformed by reconstructive surgeons not urologist or gynecologist in the vast, vast majority of cases. Also, vaginoplasties are not a trans specific surgery. Severe vaginal injuries, such as those caused by childbirth or disease, are also treated with a vaginoplasty.

It's laughable any ol' off the shelf urologist is "familiar" with the surgery. Plenty of doctors still refuse to preform even the simplest trans-specific healthcare 'because it's not a usual part of their practice they are comfortable preforming' let alone complex reconstructive surgery.

But my original comment wasn't about vaginoplasties, it was about checking the cervix for cancer.

So, thirdly, trans women aren't the only women with neo-cervixies. In addition to the above, people who have undergone hysterectomies of one kind or another often have a neo-cervix as well. Or, for example, if someone has cervical cancer, and needs their cervix removed, they give that person another cervix.

Because the cervix is a very important part of that set of anatomy. It keeps the uterus and other organs from prolapsing (just falling out) and is also something of a barrier that keeps junk out of the uterus. And if you don't have a uterus, it keeps junk out of the abdominal cavity.

The procedure to check a cervix for cancer is the same regardless of if its a neo-cervix or a cervix-cervix.

Meaning, gynecologist are also familiar with the cervix aspect of a vaginoplasty. As well as the rest of the vaginoplasty. Because they treat people who've had vaginoplasties. So, you know, it's perfectly normal to go see a gynecologist to have your vagina looked at.

A basic pap smear is actually simple enough it can be done with an at home kit (though if anything needs to be biopsied they'll need you in the stirrups for that).

So uh, recommending you see a gynecologist for a vaginal specific issue isn't horribly dangerous misinformation, it isn't even misinformation. It's a perfectly normal thing to do.

If a surgeon made you a vagina, that surgeon should tell you what vagina problems to look out for, what health screening you need, and what specialists you should have preform those tests for you. They'll also likely be able to refer you to someone trans friendly if needed.

Getting an at home pap smear test from a general practitioner is not a big deal. There's no need to see a urologist for that. If you need your neo-cervix biopsied there's no reason not to go see a gynocologist since trans women aren't the only ones with neo cervix.

And also most urologist offices aren't going to have speculums and stirrups.

Trans health care is not some big secret only select medical disciplines are let in on.

A general practitioner can prescribe hormones and keep you up to date on the tests you need for that. A plastic surgeon with experience is going to preform the surgeries, MtF or FtM. A general practitioner can send you home with a pap smear kit, or preform one in the office, even. A gynecologist can look at your vagina, because it's not a special or trans exclusive vagina. A urologist can look at a urinary tract or bladder infection or what have you.

Acting like trans health care is some super secret complicated thing is transphobic. That's something transphobic doctors say as an excuse not to treat trans people.

A friend of mine had a complication develop after surgery and needed a local urologist to fix it. The long term fix was surgical, but the urologist could have drained the painful mass that developed while she traveled to see her surgeon. But he refused. So did the doctors at the Emergency Room.

So she got to enjoy a very painful very long very bumpy bus ride from her rural college to the city where her surgeon was so he could take care of it for her.

YOU'RE the one who needs to 'stop lying and spreading misinformation' because your misinformation perpetuates the excuse transphobic doctors use to avoid treating trans people at all.

It is not a trans need to have a painful surgical complication corrected and it is not complicated to drain an abscess. But that doctor refused her, not because the abscess was caused by an unfamiliar surgery, but because she required that surgery because she was trans.

You are telling trans people that our medical needs are complex and overwhelming and scary. That's discouraging. And it's just not true.

Urologist don't preform vaginoplasties. Urologist aren't extra familiar with trans women's health needs. The cervix isn't part of the Urologist's specialty.

Calm down. Going to see a gynecologist for a pap smear isn’t going to kill anyone. And the gynecology field as a whole is making an effort to be more welcoming to trans women because it’s perfectly normal for trans women to see a gynecologist.

@prokopetz

made me think of you

I love it soooo much!!!!

SOB LOOK AT 'EM!

I am so so happy you like it! I hope these lil owlbear butts (or as my spouse calls them- "Hoot-Hoot Patoots") support your wrist wonderfully!

I do like the scorn the opening sentence has for the concept of being "perfectly normal." That's a strong opening for both a children's book and a book about magic.

(Tragically the series doesn't live up to the expectations this sets.)

It also implies The Dursley's go around calling themselves "perfectly normal". Which. It's just not something I can imagine one neighbor saying or another, or Mrs. Dursley mentioning during book club over tea, or the topic coming up in casual conversation. Ever.

The phrasing doesn't come off as non-literal. I get tripped up in the specificity of the action. To whom do they say they are, "perfectly normal, thank you very much."

Does anyone doubt this? We are not actually shown how Harry's magic effects to Dursley's reputation growing up.

It does have a whiff of "tho doth protest too much" since they can't simply be "proud to be perfectly normal". Instead they have to assert (but to whom???) that they are "perfectly normal". They know and are infuriated that they are not.

It's a good set up for the conflict between the Dursley's and Harry, and the idea of an opening that immediately characterizes these antagonists as loving normality and "fitting in" is one I do very much like. But it's not quite there yet.

It needs a few more passes to hit just right.

B-, maybe C+

Anyway,

If anyone does have a recommendation for an urban fantasy book where the protagonist is in someone magically different and surrounded by family which is hostile to their very existence because of that difference I've been itching to read one.

Of, and of course, the protagonist should be explicitly queer because *gestures at previous paragraph*, obviously.

Oh fuck off

Also the original tweet never specifies straight or cisgender women. So. You know.

glad this guy is getting absolutely owned in the replies of this sexist and completely ahistorical tweet

I think Joy did a great job explaining but I’d like to chime in.

I was bullied a lot in school, from Elementary til High School graduation, by both my teachers and peers.

I got into physical fights, I was iced out, called names, sexually harassed. But also my bullies tried to turn the teachers -- who already saw me as a dumb, difficult, non-compliant student -- against me by saying I was the one being a bully.

I don’t recall how often it actually worked. One memorable time the boys accused me of scratching them on purpose playing capture the flag and I had to see the principle. They targeted me because I was the only girl who actually liked to play the game. I sweaty and gross and was sneered at for it. But I was also really good. The best kids told me to stop trying because I’d never be as good as them.

I’m not sure if I was able to point this out to the principle or if there was anything else sus. I had my nails inspected and was told I could cut them shorter / more often but that I didn’t have to, the length they were was fine.

I see so, so, so much of the internet as an extension of this. Argument bait, the hate terms which were the precursor to transmisandry got, of course, the hate transmisandry is currently getting, there’s more but I’m drawing a blank. It can get way, way worse than switching bully and offender.

This is the building blocks to worse behavior. And I completely understand why Joy would want to shut it down before it can even get a start.

Ultimately, dog piling doesn’t do anything. We can support / commiserate with Joy or anyone else dealing with bullshit without having to know the identity of a meaningless stranger.

I'm not going to reply publicly because I'd inevitably get accused of bullying for failing to protect the sender from the consequences of their actions when my followers got a hold of them.

But if you're going to send me a message along the lines of "I like your novel, but I ran it through a filter, and you use too many adverbs, you should consider using less" I hope you know I'm killing you with my mind.

Just mentally holding you underwater until the thrashing stops.

Hope that helps.

Where's your copy of Les Mis by Victor Hugo?

Hey!

I have some flavor of dysautonomia and had psychogenic non epileptic seizures related to the fear and adrenaline rush caused by fainting.

Focusing on my breathing, mostly in the sense of following guided meditation was a really good way to immediately make me feel floaty, distant, unfocused and then to faint.

When I'm out of breath from exercise (like walking the dog, carrying laundry) I don't notice I'm panting at all. I do have to fight that floating away feeling but it's not my biggest complaint about my body during such activity.

Very interesting?

Every time a medical professional tells me to do breathing exercises and then measures my blood pressure they freak out because I'll go from like 110/60 to 170/110 in five minutes and I keep telling them that the slow-count breathing just makes me feel dizzy and like I have to pant to make up for it after the fact.

Writing this post has been miserable because even looking at the word "breathing" this many times has made me feel like I can't catch my breath but when I walk away for a couple minutes and stop thinking about inhaling and exhaling I know I'm going to feel fine again.

I fucking hate it when that four square breathing gif circulates or when I get an ad for a relaxation game on Duolingo, that shit breaks my lungs/brain for minimum twenty minutes every time.

Two sickly, elderly male macaws paired together in the study had scarcely seen another macaw in their lives, yet formed a deep bond—dancing and singing enthusiastically together through the screen and calling “Hi! Come here! Hello!” whenever one or the other moved out of the video frame.

Guys I'm crying, technology brings disabled people AND parrots together. This is so great.

"A few significant findings emerged. The birds engaged in most calls for the maximum allowed time. They formed strong preferences—in the preliminary pilot study, Cunha’s bird Ellie, a Goffin’s cockatoo, became fast friends with a California-based African grey named Cookie. “It’s been over a year and they still talk,” Cunha says.

"According to Kleinberger, the types of vocalizations the birds used suggested they were mirroring the call and response nature they engage in in the wild—“hello, I’m here!” in parrot-speak."

(courtesy wolvendamien at Bluesky)

I have no idea what to make of this, but thank you for including the alt text in the images themselves so my text to speech could read it and I could experince...

Yeah, whatever the hell that was thx

now now, don't cry. eighteenth-century yiddish folktale about sir gawain becoming emperor of china, okay?

The first time I ever got drunk I pulled up the last scene of Twelfth Night on my phone and passionately recited it, voicing all the characters. And apparently this was totally unprompted. There was a lull in the conversation and I just went for it.

I used to have the entirety of Queen Mab memorized but I’m still salty over being harshly graded for that school project and because

“And I, most jocund, apt, and willingly, / To do you rest a thousand deaths would die.”

“Where goes Cesario? / After him I love / More than I love these eyes, more than my life, / More by all mores than e’er I shall love wife“

Is the sexist SEXY-EST thing in all of Shakespeare.

Um no offense but why doesn’t anyone memorize passages from books and then recite them aloud for everyone at parties anymore.