FFFF: Nadia Kamil’s Pap Rap

by | April 11, 2014
filed under FFFF

Friday Feminist Funny Film logoNadia Kamil made this rape video about the importance of Pap tests to screen for cervical cancer, and if that weren’t awesome enough, she’s backed up by Muppet-like puppets of Mary Wollstonecraft.

Note: Some language NSFW

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  • yazz

    I don’t think there is anything awesome about this video, to the contrary I think it’s quite disturbing.

    First off, cervical cancer is not as prevalent as they would make you believe. Cervical cancer rates were already declining before mass pap screening started.

    http://medicalconsumers.org/2007/03/01/a-critical-evaluation-of-the-pap-test-and-its-role-in-reducing-cervical-cancer-deaths/

    So am I going to jump on the bandwagon in blissful ignorance to spread my legs for a stranger to look for a rare disease with an inaccurate test (the pap smear) that produces a high rate of false positives resulting into further unnecessary harm.

    What is really disturbing about this “feminist”‘ message is that instead of helping women -as she believes (by making light of the situation)- what she really is doing, is making light of the rape culture we are living in and further perpetuating it as women are already urged and coerced into having pap smears. But apparently it is “trendy”, “progressive” and “feminist” to ridicule a woman’s choice to decline a pap smear? Why else call these exams “necessary” for every woman? Why make it look like fun when so many women DO feel traumatized from these exams?

    Instead of being concerned about those women who are taking the wise decision to not have pap smears, feminists should rather be concerned about the many women who are met with ridicule when they decline a pap smear and are bullied into having pap smears when they go to the doctor for unrelated health issues. This “catchy rap video” that is supposed to make pap smears ‘trendy’ is instead making it even more difficult for women to say NO to an outdated invasive medical exam that poses more harm than benefits to their physical health and trivializes the invasive nature of the exam.

    Obviously the video gives the message that having a pap smear is ‘not a big deal’, but for a lot of women it is and no matter how many silly rap video’s you make about it being ‘funny’ and ‘cute’ that is not going to change anything for these women. What about advocating for self-testing to those who want to get tested (and these tests already exist mind you, look into the Delphi screener) or is the thought of handling your own vagina instead of submitting yourself to a stranger whilst obediently rattling off the age old mantra ‘that it’s no big deal and oh so necessary for us women” that your gynecologists instilled into you-too scary for a “feminist” like Nadia to even ponder upon?