BuzzFeed Found the World’s “Hottest Gynecologist,” Which We Thought Was a Joke, But Is Not a Joke
Whenever I feel that oh-so-fun, peeing razors sensation that means a urinary tract infection is coming on, I stock up on cranberry juice and think to myself, “Whoa, I better get myself over to the doctor so that I can down some antibiotics before this turns into a kidney infection.” (NB: Never ignore a UTI because kidney infections are NO JOKE.) And then, you know, I diligently prep below the waist for my doctor’s appointment because I am one of the many, many women who chose my gynecologist based on how hot he is. Oh, wait. No, I didn’t. I’m not a monster.
Well, maybe I am a monster, but I’m certainly not that kind of a monster. However, it seems like there are a lot of people (grown adults!) who actually think about the hotness level of their gynecologist. Over on BuzzFeed, a post titled “Meet the Hottest Gynecologist Ever” proves that I am maybe alone in not caring that much about how my gynecologist looks. Call me crazy, but I’m much more concerned about how good of a job she or he does. God. I know. I’m such a killjoy. Why should I even be bothered by the fact that this one guy was singled out by BuzzFeed for being a particularly good-looking doctor? Maybe I should even be happy that it’s no longer just professional women whose accomplishments are ignored in favor of ranking how hot they are compared to others in their field? Maybe? Or maybe I should be upset that some women don’t really take their reproductive health seriously, and instead think that there’s something titillating about getting a PAP smear? Yeah, I think maybe it’s that last thing.
I get that the whole medical field of gynecology tends to be surrounded by jokes, because haha! vaginas. But we still live in a time when women’s health isn’t taken seriously; a time when birth control pills aren’t covered under health insurance, even though Viagra is; a time when women have to travel across state lines to get an abortion. And so, yeah, I don’t really like that women’s health is trivialized in such a way that it’s assumed a woman might prioritize the looks of her doctor over the competency with which he performs his job. We still have a long way to go before women’s health is taken seriously, and this isn’t going to take us any farther down that road.
Follow Kristin Iversen on twitter @kmiversen