Brooklyn

The Annual Gynological Exam: What to Expect
Soma Mandal
Features Columnist
Issue date: 10/4/06 Section: Features

Reprinted from Washington Square News

Dear Dr. Mandal: I have my first gynecological exam coming up, and I'm nervous. I don't know what to expect, and I've heard really horrible stories. Does it hurt? What should I anticipate? Can my doctor answer any questions I have?

Thanks,

Nervous in New York

Dear Nervous,

The gynecological exam (sometimes called "pelvic exam" or "annual exam") is very important because it allows your physician to make sure that your genitals and reproductive organs are healthy. During this visit, breast health and sexual health is addressed as well. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Cancer Society recommends a gynecologic exam for any woman who is sexually active or over 21 years of age.

It may seem daunting for many women. Many stress over their first exams because they don't know what exactly the exam entails.

THE EXAM, STEP-BY-STEP

Once you are in the examination room, you will be given a gown and sheet to cover your torso. The doctor will ask general questions about your health and then do a brief external physical exam.

The doctor will examine your breasts for any lumps or any pain, then teach you how to do a monthly self-exam. Before beginning the pelvic exam, you will be asked to lie down and place each foot in a foot holders, called stirrups, at the end of the table. It helps to relax your knees and pelvic muscles to facilitate the exam.

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This month marks the two-year anniversary since the passage of New York’s Drug Law Reform Act of 2004 (DLRA). Two years ago, the New York legislature finally began reforming New York’s notorious Rockefeller Drug Laws. According the Drug Policy Alliance, the Rockefeller Drug Laws are "one of the harshest mandatory minimum sentencing schemes in the nation." A first step was taken towards any meaningful reform to the draconian and racist laws in the past 33 years. After the passage of the DLRA, legislative leaders said that they would continue to push for more reforms and create more rehabilitative alternatives to incarceration. Lawyers, concerned activists, families, and community based re-entry organizations anticipated that hundreds of people would be re-sentenced and released from prison quickly. However, this never happened.

The biggest impediment to meaningful drug law reform in New York was the terms of the DLRA that did not increase the judge’s decision making power to place those who struggle with addiction into rehabilitative treatment. Also, some district attorneys thwarted efforts for early release by proposing high sentences for those who were eligible for re-sentencing. Some outright opposed re-sentencing. And some would re-argue each case as if the person were up for trial rather than treat it as a sentencing proceeding governed by DLRA policy changes. A fair interpretation of DLRA allowed Rockefeller petitioners to demonstrate their improvement and rehabilitation. Those eligible for re-sentencing have the right to provide mitigating information including life histories, letters of support from community members, positive prison adjustment, and prospects for successful re-entry.

I have been away from Culture Kitchen for awhile. I have been so immersed in a local primary that I haven't had time to post here. But near the end of the primary season and now that it is over, I began to realize that a rather disturbing underbelly was being revealed right in my very liberal, very white neighborhood. I posted on this at Daily Gotham and got pretty seriously attacked by people who thought I was showing "reverse racism." I am hoping I can explain myself better here because the issue is one that is important for Democrats to face up to.

The Democratic Primary in the NY-11 Congressional district was a hotly contested one. The candidate I originally liked was my City Councilman, David Yassky. Eventually I grew to prefer another man, Chris Owens, who impressed me as being the ideal, intelligent and articulate voice for the progressive movement. Months of hard work, soul searching, arguing and a whole lot more ensued. Ultimately, neither won. My new Congresswoman is Yvette Clarke, someone who overall I like, though she has had some problems with telling the truth.

What makes it hard for me to lay aside this primary is the racial issues that it brought up. You see, the retiring Congressman is black in a predominantly black district. David Yassky, who is white, moved three blocks to enter the district specifically to run because he was relying on a split black vote (originally split among four black candidates, ultimately split among three) and a unified white vote to win. Those who objected to this racial calculation on Yassky's part were called racist.

Today I gave a talk to the Latvia Special Interest Group of the Jewish Genealogical Society. In it I had cause to quote a local Brooklyn politician, Bill Batson who has served on Community Board 8 and who is running for Assembly. More about that talk in another diary when I get the chance to adapt it to the blog format. The connection with Bill Batson wasn't political, but cultural, regarding the preservation of heritage and the importance of heritage.

Coincidentally, today I received Bill Batson's campaign newsletter, and in it he has a success story of preserving Brooklyn's heritage...in fact preserving AMERICA'S heritage. From the Batson campaign:

We are learning more about our ancestors' role in building New York city, especially through the African Burial Ground and the Historical Society's recent exhibit on Slavery In New York.

We were thrilled to discover an Underground Railroad Station on Duffield St. in Downtown Brooklyn. Escaping Slaves used the station as a safe house. Instead of celebrating this wonderful opportunity to teach our children about Black History in Brooklyn, the City used Eminent Domain to try and seize the URR site, knock it down, and turn it into an Underground Parking Lot for a new mall.