That is indeed part of the reason, but don't discount the general atmosphere of ever increasing prudery due to how society is reacting to the openness of former decades.
Many groups of people complain about sexual licentiousness and what they consider to be sexual depravity and permissiveness and now we have been seeing the backlash, which started around the turn of the century I would think. The 1990s were the last truly permissive decade and even then disapproving elements in society were able to make use of HIV as a way of denigrating sexual freedoms, what they saw as a righteous punishment for how low they thought society had become in sexual matters.
There‘a always people who complain about the others’ behavior that are distant from their own experiences and what is considered normal by them, their peers and upbringing.
That being said, I’m unfamiliar with this backlash against sexual licentiousness and sexual depravity that runs counter to the recent or distant past. To the contrary, I find myself constantly encountering groups with differing sexual ideas who now openly proclaim their ideas/identity/activities in great detail, and this openness is ever present on tv, in movies, social media, etc, etc.
What the “me too” movement, along with others such as “take back the night” and … I’m not sure of the name, but the “positive consent (a verbal yes) is required for every step in a physical encounter or else it’s assault” movement … has led to is a climate of pervasive confusion and often even fear, any time physical contact is made with someone you don’t know well. And that definitely includes doctors!
Every movement against the status quo, whatever it may be, always seems to be a push of a pendulum going from one end of a spectrum to the other. Too many people took advantage of a more permissive culture that led to many women being assaulted in situations where it was easy to duck responsibility. Usually he-said/she-said situations where there’s no way to demonstrably prove innocence or guilt. The campaigns from movements above to raise “awareness” of these terrible things led to much greater sensitivity, greater sensitivity leads to more accusations, and then fear of being accused leads to more extreme defensiveness on the part of professionals who need to interact intimately with people.
Bad cops led to pervasive use of body cams. Larry Nasser, Matt Lauer, and Harvey Weinstein led to bosses leaving their doors open when talking to employees, doctors refusing to examine one without a chaperone, asking permission before every step of an exam, and so on, and so on, and so on. Actually, a lot of these kinds of changes began earlier than those well publicized cases, but their notoriety made those kinds of practices required by HR and malpractice insurers.
When will it end/change? Probably when folks like the OP and many of the other women on this thread who feel uncomfortable with the more extreme consent-gathering eventually hit their boiling point and movements to change it come about.
Plus ça change, plus ça même chose!
Please know I’m not passing judgment on any of this - merely expressing my observations on why a doctor would require consent for every minute step, and why I’d expect we’ll probably see and experience a lot more of it for a while until, once again, things change again!
-g