Letters to the Editor
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@Tyler Mason
I'm no "law and order liberal" whatever the hell that is. I just feel that since terrorists have been known to attack airliners on many previous occasions--whether those attacks involved hijackings or bombings--and have killed thousands of people in those attacks, then a significant level of security and screening at airports is warranted, as long as it's fairly and uniformly applied.
But after reading your post, I guess you feel the answer is to just get rid of all airport security altogether. No screening, no X-rays or metal detectors, nothing. After all, if security isn't 100% flawless and perfect and airtight, then by definition it's 100% worthless and unnecessary, right?
You're a good example of the old saying, "There's a big difference between having an open mind and having your brain fall out onto the floor."
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I am a woman and I prefer female doctors for a very good reason.
Twice, male doctors have actually acted inappropriately while examining me. If a guy goes to medical school and can't a clitoris from a vaginal canal there is either something wrong with him or wrong with his education. Once when I was waiting for a mammogram no less than four men came in and one after another attempted to give me a breast exam. I finally began yelling for the nurse. She said they were just trying to learn. Well, no one told me or asked my permission. I am not a guinea pig.
I am also the anonymous who said I preferred female OB-GYNs. I believe that is my choice and not leftchris's choice since it my damn body. It has nothing to do with the patriarchy.
I am an older woman and I was brought up to be very modest about my body. I didn't like to change in gym class and that was all females. People who think they have a right to tell other people how they should feel about personal matters are assholes.
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@ leftychris
You said: "And aren't those modesty issues a sign of residual sexist, patriarchal thinking? Of old-fashioned sexual hangups and gender stereotypes? How are we going to truly move toward a society of gender equality if such sentiments remain common?"
Why do you think these things? Are we supposed to become a nation of nudists to put aside patriarchal thinking? Please tell me logically how one relates to the other. Doesn't each individual have a right to decide how modest or not modest is comfortable.
Please explain your chain of thinking because the paragraph of yours that I quoted is truly baffling to me.
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@ ralafler
I don't think that anyone is arguing that airport security is not important. Of course it is. All most people are contending is that in the original article that there should have been some arrangment made for privacy if a woman is going to have to take off her bra and that there should be a female officer present. Do you see a problem with that?
Airport security can be annoying and sometimes over-the-top. I think many people worry that it has become a propaganda tool for a Bush Administration that has, strangely enough, left our sea ports relatively unprotected. In other words, annoy ordinary people but never slow the pace of business.
I will only really start to worry if we have to line up naked and they hand us a towel and bar of soap and say that we are really only going to take a little shower.
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@ leftychris
You said: "I'm sorry you feel that way, but he's a medical professional. He's been trained to see what you're showing him, to answer questions about it, to treat conditions and diseases of those body parts, to make sure that everything is healthy and in working order."
You seem to be missing the point. I think Kitchen Girl is smart enough to figure out that her male doctor would be a "medical professional." You seem to want to make it ALL about him. So what how he feels! It is not about how he feels. It is about how SHE feels. It is about what SHE feels comfortable with. Jeeze!
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@ leftychris
You said: "I guess you feel the answer is to just get rid of all airport security altogether. No screening, no X-rays or metal detectors, nothing. After all, if security isn't 100% flawless and perfect and airtight, then by definition it's 100% worthless and unnecessary, right?"
I that, my dear, is hyperbole. Really now, I expect better of you.
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@leftychris
Sorry I miffed you with my pre-911 thinking. Now, quit simpering and stamping your little foot. No ones going to hurt you.
Security can never be 100%. Everyone knows that. It should instead be meaningful and not designed to make the gullible feel secure from oversold threats. Drug smugglers were arrested at JFK today, they were sneaking drugs onto and off of planes. It confirms what we've known - the front door has cameras, guards, and barricades but the house is wide open from the back and sides.
Put away your wide eyed trusting belief next time you pass through a security check. Instead, think about it's intended purpose and how you could circumvent it. Think about the threats they are trying to counter. You'll quickly realize it is all theater with a spotlight on the threat du-jour .
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Back @ you, Lefty
I'm sorry you feel that way, but he's a medical professional. He's been trained to see what you're showing him, to answer questions about it, to treat conditions and diseases of those body parts, to make sure that everything is healthy and in working order. He's seen untold numbers of the same parts, for years and years. Undoubtedly he's bored silly by looking at vaginas in a clinical setting. He's not just some random dude off the street, or some drunk frat boy at a party.
I don't care. I didn't say he was going to molest me, or leer, or do anything bizarre or remotely unprofessional. All I said was, I don't want to have my legs in the air for any male other than the one I am intimate with. That's where I'm at, man. That is how I feel about my body.
You're getting yourself worked up for nothing, psyching yourself out for no good reason.
I'm not worked up over anything. I have a female doctor, and I'm very comfortable with her. She's awesome.
In 99.99% of cases at the very least, your visit to the male OB/GYN would pass without incident, in a completely discreet and professional way. If he were a smart and sensitive male OB/GYN, he'd make you as comfortable as possible and have a female assistant in the room with him at all times.
When I was in college, a nurse had to be in the room at all times, regardless of the sex of the doctor.
I think your extreme discomfort borders on silliness.
Huh. Fuck you.
It amazes me how women rant and rave demanding that men not sexually objectify them or reduce them to their genitalia, then they turn right around and objectify themselves and reduce themselves to genitalia by recoiling in horror from the thought of exposing their "ladyparts" to a trained and credentialed medical professional whose job it is to examine those very ladyparts. Good grief!
I am not the embodiment of all women, I am me. I am not ranting about being sexually objectified or being reduced to my vagina. I do not want a man who is not my sexual partner looking at or touching my pink bits, if I can avoid it. If I am dying on the table? By all means, have at it.
And I will continue to call them pink bits and ladyparts because "vagina" and "vulva" are not at all mellifluous, and besides the slang is pretty funny.