Vagina embarrassment

If there’s one person you should never be embarrassed to say the word “vagina” to, it’s your GP. But, according to a new study released this week by Ovarian Cancer Trust, 66% of 18-24 year-olds are so shy of muttering those three syllables to their doctor that they are avoiding going to them altogether, preferring to turn to Google for all their gynae-related questions.

Clearly, this is a worrying statistic with obvious health implications, as a spokesperson for OCT points out: “While many of us have turned to the internet for help, Googling symptoms is not a substitute for proper medical attention. It’s incredibly important that women feel empowered to talk about their health and feel comfortable visiting healthcare professionals.” But while women under-24 are at a significantly reduced risk of getting ovarian cancer compared with women over 55, it is not, of course, the only reason they should be getting checked out.

It’s hard to know what’s causing this reticence among millennials to take a trip to their GP surgery, but research by the The Eve Appeal, to be published in September, might have one suggestion – the stigma that persists around gynaecological cancers being linked to sexual promiscuity. According to the press release: “One quarter of women are put off talking to their GP because they don’t want to discuss their sexual history, with almost 40% agreeing that there is a greater stigma around gynaecological cancers than other types of cancer.” One thing is evident: women need to feel free to talk about sexual health matters without the fear of being judged.

“It is sad that gynaecologists and GPs don’t have the trust of younger women. They need to create an environment of trust and encourage women to feel comfortable so they can talk about their problems,” Professor Christina Fotopoulou told the Independent. And if there was another reason needed to make sex education compulsory in schools, surely it’s this.

US military history

Today marks a first in US military history, as two women – captain Kristen Griest and first lieutenant Shaye Haver – are set to graduate from the gruelling Army Ranger school after months of arduous physical and mental training. It comes in the same week that a top Navy Seals admiral, Jon Greenert, has revealed that the navy is planning to open its elite Seals team to women, too.

“Why shouldn’t anybody who can meet these [standards] be accepted? And the answer is, there is no reason,” Greenert told the Navy Times. “We’re on a track to say, ‘Hey look, anybody who can meet the gender non-specific standards, then you can become a Seal.” There’s no doubt that Griest and Haver’s performance has influenced Greenert’s, although they may be more modest about it. Speaking to the Guardian, Griest said: “I do hope that with our performance in Ranger School we’ve been able to inform that decision. We can handle things physically and mentally on the same level as men, and we can deal with the same stresses and training as the men can.”

‘Female Viagra’

After two failed attempts, flibanserin, dubbed the “female Viagra” finally got the go-ahead by the Food and Drug Administration this week, becoming the first drug on the market to treat low libido in women. And guess what? It’s pink. Even though Sprout Pharmaceuticals, the company that developed the drug (which will be sold under the name Addyi) was bought for $1 billion just 36 hours later, it is by no means a miracle product. Reactions to the news have been mixed, not least because Addyi comes with a very hefty health warning – the highest it can receive while still being on shelves. Then there’s its misleading moniker – Addyi works nothing like Viagra. Instead it must be taken every day (not just when sex might be on the cards), as it acts like an anti-depressant to balance chemicals in the brain (thus increasing sexual desire) rather than push blood to the body. Even then, those who partook in clinical trials only reported experiencing “one more sexually satisfying event a month, compared to a placebo”. Beginning to sound like more trouble than it’s worth? This sex therapist thinks so too.

But one group – Even the Score – is thrilled with the FDA decision. Having spent years campaigning for the dug, believing its absence to be a sign of gender inequality in the treatment of sexual dysfunction and accusing the FDA of gender bias, the female pressure group sees the advent of Addyi as a “game changer for women”.

“In a breakthrough moment for women’s health, the FDA today chose to respect the science and stand with millions of American women by approving the first-ever medical treatment option for HSDD [hypoactive sexual desire disorder], wrote Susan Scanlan, chair of Even the Score. “It is our hope that this historic moment for women will open the door to a pipeline of future treatment options for the most common form of female sexual dysfunction.”

Biggest airport drinkers

Next time you’re at an airport pouring scorn on young men (probably journeying to a stag-do in Prague) drinking lager at 6am, remember this: 65-year-old women are four times more likely to drink eight units before a flight than anyone else. In fact the poll, carried out by website Holiday Extras, found that two in three men aged 18-24 didn’t drink before a flight at all. Whether these women have some time to kill in departures, are settling their nerves or are still treating air travel as an event that warrants being marked with a cocktail (or three), now you know who to avoid sitting next to on a flight. Although there have been no reports of brawling in the aisles. Yet.

ICYMI

Sadie Frost turns academic to highlight lack of film production roles for women

From literary heavyweight to lifestyle brand: exploring the cult of Joan Didion

Women in Gaza: ‘If we want to live here, we want to live in dignity’

Is a woman too old to have a baby at 50? It depends on who she is

I’m tired of being kind to creepy men in order to stay safe

• This article was amended on 24 August 2015 to remove information about research which was embargoed, and on 1 September to reinstate it.