The Lancet in trouble for bodies with vaginas

The editors of the medical-scientific journal proudly tweeted The Lancet Friday last week the cover of their new song. Topics covered: WHO guidelines on air quality, low back pain and menstrual shame. That last story was presented with a quote from the piece: „Historically, the anatomy and physiology of bodies with vaginas have been neglected.”

The tweet was inundated with outrage from women who did not appreciate the fact that the word “woman” had been swapped for “body with a vagina” in this sentence. Isn’t a woman more than that: a body with a reproductive tract in it? And why was there elsewhere in The Lancet does it refer to the man and his prostate, and not to ‘a body with a prostate’? Why were women, who had to fight for emancipation for so long, erased?

Woke ideas

Added to this were the objections of people who were clamoring for what they see as the further advancing of the woke– thoughts. Can’t you even call women women anymore because that might offend trans men? It didn’t stop with angry tweets – some scientists canceled their subscription or cooperation with the magazine.

so was The Lancet ended up in a discussion that is particularly heated in the United Kingdom. What does the word ‘woman’ mean and who is entitled to it? Harry Potter writer JK Rowling can speak for the heaviness of this discourse. When she expressed her doubts about the desirability of allowing trans women into female only-rooms, she became the target of a mountain of criticism, which was sometimes very hateful and even resulted in death threats. She would be transphobic and her words would endanger the lives of trans people.

Politicians are also grappling with the issue. Labor leader Keir Starmer was asked at his party’s congress this week whether he thought the phrase “only women have a cervix” was transphobic. He felt that “this should not be said. It is not correct.”

dehumanized

On Tuesday, Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet on all the fuss. He “understood the intense feelings” that the cover had evoked. “We have created the impression that we have marginalized and dehumanized women. (…) I apologize to our readers who were hurt by the quote.”

But then he continues: “At the same time, I want to emphasize that transgender health is an important part of modern health care, but one that is neglected. Trans people regularly face stigma, discrimination, exclusion and ill health, often finding it difficult to get good healthcare.” The piece was intended as empowerment for women, along with “non-binary, trans, and intersex people who have experienced menstruation.”

A look at the more than 2,000 comments under this tweet learns that this sorry, not sorryresponse has not yet managed to calm the mood.

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