I guess I'm used to being touched by men, so it seems marginally less strange to me to have a man's hands on me. I won't say no if I get assigned to a woman, though, and I couldn't care less if my regular physician is a man or a woman, although I have to admit that I prefer someone with a little experience (midway between Marcus Welby and a kid fresh out of med school).

As for it being discriminatory... I suppose it is, really. I have a hard time believing that there is a substantive difference between a compassionate male obgyn and a female obgyn. It might be easier for a women to understand cramps, but if we used the criteria of "you have to have been there to treat it", then we would probably lose a lot of good brain surgeons. If we make a choice based exclusively on gender, then that is discrimination.

Some kinds of discrimination should be legal, for instance if you audition only women to play a female role in a movie, or if you want to rent a room in your private home. Your personal health care is one of the most intimate decisions you make, and each person should be allowed to choose a doctor based on their own criteria. Ironically, the government is enforcing religious discrimination against Swedish women by allowing Swedes of some religions a choice while denying it to others. This is wrong.

I myself prefer male gynecologists. I feel like it's easier to get my way with men than with women. I will never have a woman gynecologist again and I would be livid if the government tried to force one on me.

I tend to agree that you shouldn't get to choose in a public healthcare system without good reasons (like those cited). Remember, to compare to US examples, this should be viewed as a government provided public service (as healthcare is in Sweden).

From a legal viewpoint, a lot of advancements for women could be cut back once you start allowing gender preferences to be honored in necessary public services. For one thing, female firefighters are gone under this logic. So be careful about what you wish for.

Another note, one of my aunt's never made it past birth because the doctor crushed its head with the tongs - probably in no small part because doctors didn't look directly at women's genitals back then.

Sure, it probably is discrimination against the doctors, but not allowing women to choose to see the doctor they would prefer is discrimination against women.

I worry that this will keep some women from seeking necessary treatment, which I see as a much bigger problem than discriminating against male gynecologists. You need to feel comfortable with your doctor, and if having a female gynecologist is more comfortable than a male, then that is who you should have.

so is not allowing men to see the doctor of their choice. What it really comes down to is that everybody approves of, or at least approves of allowing, some discrimination in some circumstances, they just don't agree on which ones.

I actually prefer going to a male gynocologist because I have found, slight embarassment aside, that they are in fact more gentle and careful as they conduct an examination. In my experience, perhaps b/c women know what hurts down there and what doesn't based on their own experience, they tend to be a little rougher/less careful. I found that (perhaps due to the lack of firsthand knowledge) this makes men provide for a less painful experience.

I DO have a preference for females, but I have a story to tell about this issue. My (female) doctor referred me to a urologist (male) who recommended surgery. The surgery went very very wrong. In the months that followed, the urologist seemed mystified as to what to do, and kept consulting gynecologists. This is how I learned the hard way that generic urologists are experts on MEN, and find vaginas somewhat incomprehensible. Since the surgery was performed through a vaginal incision, this is appalling to me. Finally, after he made recommendations that I knew were useless and probably dangerous, I called a gynecologist friend and she referred me to a (male) urologist whose specialty was FEMALE urology. After one examination he told me in no uncertain terms that the previous surgery needed to be reversed, pronto, for reasons including severe infection. Next week, I will have another surgery to address my original complaint, performed by the doctor who specializes in females, in hopes of addressing the problem which is now much worse.

Lesson? Urologists, and probably other doctors, can not be assumed to know about female plumbing. Whether your doctor is male or female, PLEASE get one whose specialty is treating women!

I'm publishing anonymously because this is embarrassing. Just call me,

Leaky

Always, 100 % of the time, have an intimate examination with a nurse present, regardless of the sex of the physician. This is a pretty simple rule, and if everyone followed it, a huge number of problems would NEVER arise.

My 15 year old daughter went to her pediatrician. He did a chest exam by putting his stethascope right up inside her shirt. I was present as a witness. It was a clearly clinical examination, and it was obvious that nothing untoward was occurring. However, if I had not been there, she might have misunderstood, or other things might have happened.

Get a witness.

As a male, I don't need to consult a obgyn very oftem, but given a choice between a male and female in any other specialty, I'll choose the woman. My logic here is that the woman had to work harder to get to where she's gotten, and right or wrong, I assume she's continuing to work harder and smarter on my behalf.

DM

I prefer women as doctors categorically. Even my optometrist is a woman. Partially, this is because I like to help support women in the field, since they still rarely make what men who work the same jobs make. Secondly, I do feel a woman may empathize in a way that a man cannot about all of my health issues, simply because she is a woman.

Having said that, my husband prefers male doctors for all of the same reasons.

I do have a male doctor as my immunologist, and I would recommend him to anyone. Most of my doctors in the past have been men. But now that I am able to choose, I do.