Cuntivating Knowledge

DON'T BE "Os"TRACized

A woman is lying on the table with her feet in the stirrups while her gynecologist

pries her vagina open from beneath a mound of sheets. The woman asks, "What do you think that little red dot is, slightly to the right and below my os?" The doctor's face turns pink as a cervix as s/he wonders what the patient has been doing with her. self. S/he may take the time to discuss the little red spot with her, but in all likelihood will not. Because, for complex and deep-seated reasons, doctors are often intimidated by knowledgeable patients. This is particularly true in gynecology where traditionally male doctors have intimidated female patients into maintaining an ignor. ance of their own genitals. Doctors, being human, are imbued with the same hangups and taboos as the rest of society. There are, undoubtedly, many exceptions, both male and female, but all too often a woman comes away from a gynecological appointment feeling ashamed and confused. Yearly checkups are often dreaded and symptoms

allowed to become intolerable before a woman calls for an appointment.

Women like the patient described above are beginning to overcome intimidation and demand their medical rights through "selfhelp", or "self-health". Self-help is a movement by women to remove the mysticism surrounding their own bodies by learning about and experiencing that part of themselves and others that formerly only a physicial or lover had access to. Self-help began in L.A. in 1971 when Carol Downer and a group of women for the first time used plastic speculums for self-exams. New groups and eventually self-help clinics and centers arose throughout the country. January of this year, self-help arrived in Cleveland when Kathy Courtney and Jackie Stefsko from the Detroit Feminist Women's Health Center gave a slide presentation and demonstration of self-exam at the CWRU union. A local self-help group was born with the goal of, first, to go through the process of self-help itself, and, second, to become the organizing force for new groups in the area. Three months later this group now calling itself the Feminist Self-Help Collective and formally a task group of Cleveland Women's Counseling, was ready to act as "facilitators" for the formation" of new groups.

These groups generally followed the pattern set by other self-help groups across the country. Groups typically consist of about 8 to 12 women who meet for four weeks for two to three hours each week. Each group has at least two facilitators, or experienced self-helpers, to give support

and maintain a minimal structure. At the first meeting women are given packets of information, including such material as pamphlets on uterine cancer, breast cancer, and rape, articles on vaginal infections, men. strual extraction, DES, uterine positions, and charts to record observations from each self-exam. Also included are the three "textbooks" of the self-help movement: the VD Handbook and Birth Control, Handbook, both excellent sources published by the Montreal Health Press, and Circle One, A Woman's Beginning Guide to Self Health and Sexuality. Each woman also receives a speculum. A slide show produced by the L.A. Feminist Women's Health Center is shown to help women relax and begin to share ideas and experiences. Immediately after, a self-exam may be demonstrated, followed by group participation in self-exam. No woman is ever pressured to do self-exam in the group. Some women prefer to take their speculums home to experiment in privacy. In most cases, however, curiosity soon overcomes

modesty, and an atmosphere of trust and warmth is quickly established. The subsequent meetings follow a course largely determined by the needs of the group. A heterosexual group, for example, may want to deal extensively with birth control methods while a lesbian group may be No more interested in vaginal infections. matter how diverse the group, the frustrations and fears of women's medical care act as a common bond to bring women together.

Women in self-help groups do not try to diagnose or treat each other's medical problems. Women do learn to recognize what is normal for their bodies by examining other women's cervices and their own throughout their menstrual cycles. In this way a woman can become skilled in detecting early signs of abnormality. It is always her right to choose where, when, and if to get treat. -ment. Each woman in the group, is, however, encouraged to consult a physician at any danger sign. Or she may choose to treat herself, in cases of common, easily recognized vaginal infections, for instance, by methods described in the self-help literature.

The advantages of early detection of unusual, conditions cannot be understated. Easily missed symptoms of syphilis and gonorrhea can often be spotted, allowing women to seek treatment earlier. Being in close touch with their bodies allows many woman to detect pregnancy before lab tests can be effective, giving them additional time to decide whether to continue the pregnancy, and, if not, to use earlier and safer abortion techniques. Infections can be fought before their

Contributed by Linda Caswall

symptoms become annoying. Self-help does not in any way preclude the need for good physicians and gynecologists. It should in stead lead to more effective use of their services, as women are in a better position to supply details about their state of health and to evaluate and demand better medical care.

Self-help reaches far beyond small groups practicing self-exam. Self-help clinics around the country are also involved in research into women's health problems, abortion techniques and facilities, birth control, repeal of sex control laws, and many other issues. Women, tired of being guinea pigs for drug companies and government agencies with their vested interests, are currently conducting their own carefully controlled experiments to find out what is best for themselves and all women. For example, the Del-Em kit, a device in vented by a self-helper for safe and painless menstrual extraction, is now being tested by advanced self-help women as a way of controlling their monthly periods.

Today, as the first round of groups is nearly over and new groups about to begin, Cleveland Feminist Self-Help Collective is also making plans to extend its activities. Included are plans for the evaluation of local physicians and abortion clinics for the purpose of referral, workshops on specific issues in women's health, and a possible "patient advocacy" program whereby a trained woman accompanies another woman to the gynecologist to see that the right questions are asked and answered. Pap tests are currently being done on a limited basis, but, hopefully, these and other tests such as pregnancy screening will eventually be offered on a wider scale.

The concepts of self-help are not in them selves radical or sexist. Self-help is to every one's advantage. Doctors can work with the movement by replacing the furtive behind. the-sheet routine with a relaxed experience in which the woman is encouraged to par ticipate by seeing, touching, and talking. In timidation can be eliminated on both ends. We may even see the day soon when pelvic self-exam makes its debut on national tele vision, as we saw with breast self-exam, and the speculum is as common a household item as the thermometer.

For information about joining a self-help group or just to hear more about the Feminist Self-Help Collective, call CWC ct 3218585, MWF from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. or Tues. from 7 to 9 p.m., or write them at P.O. Box 18472, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118. Women in Lake and Geauga counties can call any of the following women: Nancy (729-4887), Carolynn (286-2081), Sue (338-8398), Sally (423-3871), or Connie (523-5794).

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/What She Wants/July, 1975