In particular, Roche argues, the patriarchy inherent in trans medicine manifests for trans women with ‘the clinical reality of gender confirmation, which prioritizes depth over sensation, and confirmation over pleasure’. Roche recalls a particularly uncomfortable routine inspection after surgery, called ‘the depth test’, in which the surgeon checked the depth of the new vagina with his fingers while inattentive to Roche’s obvious pain and discomfort, as symbolic of the misogyny woven into standard clinical practice.
