The myGP app has come under fire for its social media tweet asking women to publicise photos of the cat which most closely resembles their vulva.
The campaign was launched as part of Cervical Cancer Prevention Week which ran from 18-24 January.
The main aim was to discourage women from avoiding routine smear tests because they feel self-conscious about the hair around the vulva.
The tweet asks women to share a photo of the cat which best describes them – bushy, bare or half-way there. However it has led to questions asking what grooming has to do with cervical smear tests.
The tweet reads:
Share an image of the cat that best reflects your undercarriage/flower/bits (technical term vulva!) current look.
Tell and tag your friends to let them know.
Some women did respond with pictures of cats, but the campaign caused a stir on Twitter with many saying the question was ‘ridiculous.’
I’m all for female empowerment and health advocacy…. but I think this has missed the mark completely! Hair has nothing to do with cervical health, and is another perfectly normal thing that women are guilted into “fixing”.
— Sinéad Taylor (@sineadtaylor) January 23, 2021
This is seriously inappropriate. Making crude,sexualised jokes about women’s reproductive health will only put more women off attending clinic appointments. Read the room!
— Mrs de Winter (@TroubleBlooded) January 23, 2021
I have no tolerance for this tasteless stuff. I find it demeaning and stupid. Women are life givers. We gave birth to every human in this universe and it was a miracle every time. Where's the reverence and respect for our amazing bodies and what they can do?
— Woman, the only kind (@BKLynn5) January 23, 2021