Elettaria

I've heard a few women report this, it's not just you. Admittedly I've heard of patients being told that they weren't actually in pain/discomfort in a variety of situations (my mother just got accused of being addicted to painkillers because she took modest amounts of tramadol for three weeks following intensely painful surgery), but the "I'm a woman so I know that smear tests don't hurt/periods aren't so bad you should have to miss work" thing comes up now and again. I determinedly avoid male doctors for gynae stuff but I've had a female dentist (yes, a sample size of one!) and she was, as D put it, not backwards about coming forwards (i.e. OUCH). It tends to be more about the attitude with me, though. Bear in mind that I've had some REALLY bad experiences with doctors, and encountered one who started making generalisations about how he had four daughters and knew all about women, so I realise that I am a smidgen biased.