Shaming in small doses

Gynaecologists still chastise unmarried women for having a sex life. See how moralising slows down healthcare, affecting us all

- Karishma Kuenzang

There is no such thing as an exciting trip to a gynaecologist. Appointments, at the least, involve discussing matters that women track only privately. At worst, there's a test, a probe, a hasty revision of the right protocol involving panties.

Honestly, there's enough awkwardness without the doctors sprinkling some of their own. And in India, they seem to heap an unnecessary bit of that awkwardness on unmarried, sexually active young women. Medical professionals, who go through years of training to separate science from faith, fact from belief, are the same people who see a woman as promiscuous or slutty for exploring her desires. These are doctors who will ask for a woman's sexual history and then shame her for having one.