Daily struggles

Why don't people understand menstruation? By people I mean the government and the men in it. Every time I read a story about the horrible conditions of people with uteruses is in any type of detention or prison system they can't seem to get this right. Migrant children in detention centers are bleeding though their pants. They're only allotted one pad per day which is not nearly enough. Give people menstrual supplies!!!

Skit: health care

As a millennial who is severely under employed healthcare is important to me. As a 25-year-old who is about to lose their parents insurance healthcare is important to me. As someone who's anatomy basically means family planning is up to them healthcare is important to me. As a very liberal snowflake who thinks healthcare should be free healthcare is important to me. As someone who gets sick a lot healthcare is important to me. As someone who has a few chronic and lifetime illnesses healthcare is important. But as someone born with (and still has) a uterus+, and skin that ranges from Sambuca to Chamois I'm not important to healthcare.

Black people and women, which I am both*, don't received the same standard of healthcare as white people or men. Women's pain tends to be ignored. Women's mental states tend to be seriously overlook, neglected, or left out completely when it comes to formulating a diagnosis. Women's health issues tend to be blamed on various things that specific to the non male anatomy (different hormone levels, uteruses, periods, pregnancy, ect). Women are often treated us hysterical instead of being taken seriously. Black people also aren't treated fairly when it comes to pain; often not receiving the medicine or treatment to deal with the pain. There are many misconceptions in the medical community. Apparently white doctors think black people have thicker skin, that black people pain is inevitable, many are lying to get drugs, and that our nerves don't feel pain the same way.

Not taking black people seriously has lead to higher death rates for black people in America. Black people are more likely to die from a stroke because of medical professionals. Black people with cancer or more likely to go on diagnosed and then die due to detecting it so late. Black people tend to go undiagnosed longer as well. A lot of mental health issues go undiagnosed in the black community. They also tend to have STDs longer because those also go undiagnosed.

Not taking women seriously has led to high mortality rates during childbirth. America ranks last among developed countries when it comes to pregnancy care. Women are more like from heart disease, stroke, the flue, and pneumonia. No one should be dying of the flue. Medical professionals write off women so much that we are drying of the flue. Medical professionals are also leaving women undiagnosed. That leads to blood poisoning from toxins building up in the body. Health issues around periods often goes undiagnosed. Doctors don't take women seriously when we talk about the pain of a period or the length.

There are some things that are medically relevant about black people and women that medical professionals should be aware of. It is harder to find donor organs for black people. Lab results involving blood should have different averages set for black people because our blood is different**. Black people tend to absorb less UV rays however are more likely to go on diagnosed for skin cancer. Black people tend be anemic and have a vitamin D deficiency°. Black people have a high chance of fibrosis. Women display different symptoms for heart attack. Osteoarthritis affects more women than men. Women tend to be more aware of pain than men. Women tend to have higher stress levels than men as well.  A women's period and hormone effect how well medicines work. Women's hormones and menstrual cycle effect their mental health and should be taken into consideration when treating their mental health issues. My psychiatrist had to change all my medications when I got an IUD.

The health care field treats more than just white men so maybe they should study more than just white men. If doctors aren't going to address their bias then we need to standardize care. Some hospitals are weighing sponges and towels to show exactly how much blood is being lost. Some hospitals are requiring specific test if you present with certain symptoms. But as a black woman I deserve more than that. I should be included in medical testing. I should be thought about when it comes to medical screening (no white person's notice light bruising on my skin, I might not even notice). But most importantly I should be taking seriously. Small children are hard to treat because they can't tell you what's wrong. I can! I can answer questions. I can give more detail. I want to get better. But if my doctor ignores me and treats me like a uncommunicative child how are they going to figure out what's wrong with me?

+: Vagina, fallopian tubes, ovaries, and a clitoris. (The non phallic common reproductive system)

*: For the sake of the argument, because doctors don't ask what my gender identity is, and when it comes to medical treatment I am a women.

**:hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), serum transferrin saturation (TS), serum ferritin, and white blood cell count as parts per million

°: Vitamin D, is produced in mammalian skin upon exposure to UV rays from the sun. Because black skin  absorbs less UV rays than white people we produce less vitamin D

Daily struggles

To the girl who faked being trans. That's sick and messed up. Being trans is no joke and is hard. Also she is feeding the hate of people who think that trans people are fake. Feeding the hate of people who think that people choose to be trans. Feeding the hate of people who think people lie about being trans to device people.