Female and Male Circumcision: a Personal Opinion

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Female and Male Circumcision:

A Personal Opinion

The term circumcision brings to mind many thoughts to many different people. To me it is a term that causes very unpleasant thoughts. I personally believe that any form of either male or female circumcision to be wrong when done to an

non-consenting child. If an adult wishes to have a circumcision done to themselves then as a consenting adult it is within an individual's rights to have this evasive and cruel procedure done to themselves. Otherwise, female and male circumcision is a procedure that is done only to meet a cultural norm.

Female circumcision to most people raised in a Western "civilized" nation is an unknown idea. It is a procedure that I personally know of no one who has had it done to them. To me this is a cruel and very anti-female procedure that is done to women who mainly live in poor, uneducated areal of this world that are very male dominated. Female circumcision does not benefit a woman in any way. All that it accomplishes is further degradation and mutilation of women. These procedures are done in most circumstances without any form of modern medical technology. For these female children who are subjected to this horrible procedure it must be a very traumatic experience. I am further appalled by the statement th was made that in some cases a women must be opened with a razor blade each time her husband has sexual intercourse with her and then she is sewed back up each time after intercourse. This is just a deplorable situation.

In support of this practice I will say that female circumcision is a tradition in many parts of this world. As outsiders it is very hard for us to tell people from other societies how to live and what practices to perform. But, female circumcision is a deplorable act that harms women and keeps women in subservient positions.

Male circumcision is much more accepted in our Western culture. Today, it has became a very common, almost universal practice, that is done to most male infants in the United States. Most parents allow this procedure to be performed on their male infants without knowing why it is being done. There is no real reason for this procedure to be done, other then it fulfills a cultural norm. The Jewish faith, though, does require it as part of their religious tradition. Male circumcision performs no necessary medical function.

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