Friday, 06 February 2009
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Genital Mutilation - Why I Don't Care About Political Correctness
I was just in one of my political science classes, and one of my fellow students asked a question. I'm not sure what it was, and I'm not sure what the answer given was. The only thing that stuck out in my mind was that the professor mentioned genital mutilation, but quickly glossed over the topic with a, "This issue is at a stalemate, because the UN or health organizations can do extremely little about it. They cannot simply invade a village and take away the sovereignty of those people - which is what they would have to do in order to stop female genital circumcision, since those people will not halt their traditions."
This made me so intensely angry. Excuse me, but do people realize what female genital "circumcision" is? It's nothing like male circumcision, which allows the penis to stay completely intact and usually does not cause any sexual problems.Female genital mutilation (because that is the only correct term I know for it), in some cases, means cutting off a woman’s clitoris.
In others, it means cutting off a woman's labia minora and/or majora (a woman's lips, as it were).
And in still others, it means sewing shut the opening to the vagina, allowing only a small gap so that urine and menstrual blood can come out.
And in extreme cases, it can mean all three of these things. And it usually also means huge health problems throughout a woman's life.
Now, honestly, I'm all for preserving cultures and traditions. But if it involves this kind of extensive harm to a person's body, I can equally honestly say that I couldn't care less about tradition. Forget state sovereignty. Forget the political correctness of not being able to go into part of a country and stop something like this, because the inhabitants might feel that their right to live in a certain way is being trespassed. Forget the idea that to try to stop this with more than just words would be "as wrong as colonialization".
NONE of that matters in light of how horrifying it is to think that if I were to live in such a place, I might be subject to having my genitals cut off or sewed up when I'm about seven years old. And I know that if I were given the money and the power to go into such a village and forcefully stop something like this from happening, I would go today.
Would you?
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- From: SerenaDante@xanga
- Name: Smaranda
- About Me: Nympho atheist.
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Comments (180)
Ow, ow, ow.
Jesus. o_o;
That kind of shit needs to end, regardless of where its happening.
I already commented on the original post of this =)
Yes, I heard that it's extremely painful.
Yes. In my Sex Educ. class we had to watch a video of a girl going through the circumcision rites. They used NO ANASTHETIC and there were no hygenic measures taken. The man didn't wash his hands, didn't disinfect anything, nothing. Just picked her up, spread her legs and peeled the clitoris off like it was a seed in an apple. I literally cried.
@Shy___Away@xanga - You watched that in sex ed??? What the hell? That's horrible.
@Shy___Away@xanga - ow shit.i cant even think of that happening anyone,as if period pains and labour isnt enough.ew
@Shy___Away@xanga - Reading that made the area of my body where I would have a clitoris tinge with pain.
It's a harsh tradition.
From what I understand, it really isn't our right to halt any customs or traditions of a group of people simply because we view it as inhumane and degrading.
I don't agree with certain subcultures that eat the flesh of their enemies because they believe this will give them strength, but it doesn't allow me the right to invade their homes and "educate" them in the ways of a "civilized" people. We practice cannibalism in other ways as well such as the consumption of Christ (in the form of bread of course)..but doesn't this make us hypocrites then?
This is a sensitive topic. What may seem wrong to one culture may seem perfectly fine to another. This is not to say I condone what these people are doing to young girls.
Yeah, I chose to do a report on this for my Human Sexuality class. It is SO AWFUL. It's a brutal procedure, even if the people who do it mean well.
At the very least, we could try to convince them, (and I don't know if any of this would work, but if the funds were available) like providing some small monetary incentive every few years for families who haven't circumcised their girls. We could share statistics with them of a large survey done in Africa of men who had two wives, one circumsised and one not, and the men overwhelmingly preferred sexually the wife who had not been mutilated. (And the reason women will often get their daughters circumcised is that men are supposed to prefer it!) We could educate them that no, the clitoris is not actually poisonous, and will not actually kill the baby during birth (as is commonly believed in many regions). Perhaps make an age limit where young women might be able to choose to get it done (yeah, right, but just in case they really want it to follow tradition) so it won't be done forcefully to young girls. We may not HAVE to swoop in and take over their traditions, forbidding it altogether with strict penalties... we might just have to educate and provide strong incentives to NOT do it.
@TakingxOverxMe@xanga - Indeed it was. I should clarify- this class is a psychology class focusing on sex ed stuff. Regardless, I am of the full opinion that female circumcision should be completely illegal. It ups almost every female sexual problem statistic to almost 60%- most women say that sexual pleasure is nonexistent after circumsision, vaginal dryness is horrifyingly present, infections run rampant, and menstruation is incredibly painful. ACK!
@DistantStarlight@xanga - Those are very smart alternatives =) I really hope something like that is done.
I'm too sick to even comment.
@StrawberryShy@xanga - I agree with you. We have no right to just stop someone's cultural traditions because we don't like them. I know a lot of us like to think that everyone wants to be free, to be able to make their own decisions, and to be in a similar situation to us. However, in perspective, who are we to make such decisions for other people?
Don't get me wrong, I don't support female circumcision, butI won't be going over there to stop it. If anything, I'd take the education route and try to convince them that they are harming the women, but it's up to them to stop if they want.
@Spyder_V@xanga - Yeah, just because we think Americans think it is horrendous doesn't mean that we are the ones who should determine what other people are allowed to do.
@DistantStarlight@xanga - Your way of thinking is much more proactive then simply "swooping in" and forcing them to do what we believe is right.
Providing sufficient information for them to make their own choices will have clearly better results. It will motivate them to do what is best for themselves and not only b/c tradition calls for it.
@StrawberryShy@xanga - I feel the same way.
@LupusInvictus@xanga - Exactly!
my pussy hurts.
uhm. yes, it does , now.
*winces* but i hate that shit, too.
i remember i read a book about it..it was so sad :(
That sounds extremely painful. Ew.
All that political correctness crap stops when people are being harmed and are suffering. Â
i would stop it in any way possible.
i saw one show.
i don't even know what it was. but it involved the main people to stop this old witch doctor from "circumcising" a girl who was like 17 or 18.
I'm not really sure why this is on datingish, but I completely agree with you. I believe some practices are just universally wrong. Torture should never be acceptable.
@Shy___Away@xanga - OMG! THAT IS HORRIBLE =((