Racial Profiling my Vagina

I, like the next person, love my vagina, and I love getting my annual exam. It makes me feel like a liberated, sexually healthy woman.  However a new attempt at being "culturally sensitive" has turned my annual joy into racial shame.

Being that I am poor, I use a clinic that is "family pact" happy and up until this summer I was completely satisfied with my experiences there.

The most recent visit just started off so normal. Walked in, went up to the counter and showed my i.d.  The woman behind the nurse's desk spoke to me casually, read my i.d. then did a double-take at me.

"Will you be needing an interpreter?"  the nurse asked

Having been to this clinic several times in the past I was confused by the question,

"for what"? I asked

"your exam"

  I shook my head at her. What an odd question.

 Next I was instructed that I needed to pee in a cup for a pregnancy test. I asked if it was necesary since I had just ended my period. She agressively insisted that I needed to do it,

"it's policy" she snapped.

After peeing I waited for the doctor and thought about race. Was the woman at the desk targeting me, or was I overreacting? Surely this was a new policy and I just needed to relax and do what they think is best. This is a health clinic. They know what they're doing.

When the Doctor came into the room she asked me if I felt comfortable communicating in English. Clearly the nurse in the waiting room must have doubted my earlier response and apparently despite my ability to communicate with the Doctor on several previous occasions, my last name had drawn up images of piñatas and sombreros, of fiestas in my pussy. I again confirmed that I was comfortable with English.

While she examined me she asked about my family's history, my mother's health, etc. She came off so nuturing I had begun to think that I had misjudged her. Maybe she wasn't a Racist Cuntbag, maybe they really just trying to reach out to me and show me how sensitive they were to my heritage...good for them.

After my exam she had advised that I should come back in about 6 to 9 months. When I asked her why so soon she assured me that I was at risk, despite the fact that I have had the same sexual partner for the last three years. Concerned, I asked about the state of my vagina, which she assured me looked fine. I was confused. I had never had an irregular pap smear and I had been very careful about my sexual decisions.

"you're just in a risk group" She told me.

"how??"

After some manipulative talk I pulled it out of her. The age I lost my virginity, my ethnicity, and my mother's age when she gave birth to me had somehow given me enough points to fall into the "risky" category.

When I raised the "isn't that a little racist?" question she flat out told me, "it's just statistics".

 I was finally released after about an hour and a half, the longest visit I had ever had. When I vented to my friend she had told me her last appointment was only 30 minutes. When I asked why she wasn't held hostage for the same amount of time, she joked, "probably cuz I'm white".

Maybe I'm looking too deep into it but when did "accessibility" become so offensive? Some may argue this is a new way to keep Latinas/os feeling welcomed in public clinics, and maybe it does help some, but to me it just seems invasive and straight up rude. Rather than trying to encourage women of color to take control of their sexual health, these new racialized risk categories leave me feeling like a statistic, or worse, like a sexual health failure.