How do you end a tradition that a culture has had around for centuries? Every culture has a different and original tradition. What happens though when the tradition is a horrible and painful one? Female Circumcision is a procedure that is a tradition to many cultures. The purpose of this procedure is to make women stay faithful to their husbands and not become promiscuous, as they get older. This procedure is not safe and has many side effects. Female Circumcision is a shocking procedure that cause women pain and suffering for the rest of their lives.
The first thing I did was, I conducted a survey with general questions relating to female circumcision. The point of this survey was to see how many people in Fresno, California knew anything about a female circumcision. The procedure is illegal in the United States and is only practiced in Africa with the exception of a few cities in Egypt. Therefore I assumed not very many people here in Fresno, California would know too much about it. My assumption was right. The results of my survey showed that out of 25 people only 14 people knew what female circumcision was. In spite of this, from some of the other questions I asked, I believe most of the people who claimed they knew what female circumcision was did not truly know. For example 9 people answered yes they knew where female circumcision took place but only 6 really did, and 5 said they knew what religion practice this procedure but really only 2 did. (Female Circumcision) These results informed me the best place to start is from the beginning.
The big difference between a female circumcision and a male circumcision is the different ways to perform the procedures. With men there is only one way to have the proc...
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... of Rights) Some people think that maybe these women are brainwashed to believe that this is a good thing. Nothing good comes from this procedure, and it is very painful.
A tradition is a tradition. Some of these women feel it is okay to undergo this procedure, and who are we to tell them otherwise? Other women are forced to go through with this, and those are the women we need to try and help.
Works Cited
Female Genital Cutting." Womenshealth.gov | 800-994-9662. The National Women's Health Information Center. Web. 15 June 2010. .
Female Circumcision: Rite of Passage Or Violation of Rights?" Guttmacher Institute: Home Page. Frances A. Althaus. Web. 15 June 2010. .
Heather Raymond. “Female Circumcision” Questionaire. Fresno: Heald, 2010.
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Show MoreFreedom of choice is a desire for most, but as we are young we depend on the decision of our parents. With this dependent nature of a child the freedom of choice is limited, for males this can lead to a life long consequence. Male circumcision is the surgical removal of the foreskin; the skin covering the head of the penis. Circumcision is practiced for religious purposes in Jewish and Muslim communities. Normally, the boy’s age varies from 4 to 11 years old. In the United States, this procedure is also done but without a religious purpose. The boys in this case are commonly newborn. This practice became popular after medical groups claimed that there were many health benefits that came with circumcision. Though it has been proven otherwise, it is still a common practice in the U.S. fueled by ignorance. Circumcision is an unnecessary surgery that leads to psychological problems, issues with sexual activities and lasting physical damage.
"Did you know that 125 million women have experienced female genital mutilation worldwide, and 3 million girls estimate at risk of the procedure each year"? (Facts to End FGM). Female genital mutilation is a procedure for females that implicates partial or total removal of the female genital organs. This procedure intentionally alters or causes injury to the female that can have short and long-term health risks with no benefits. In recent years, the practice of female genital mutilation has been increasingly in the news, generating a complex debate about cultural norms and the worth of sexual functioning (Nussbaum 13). Female genital mutilation is known in terms such as female circumcision and female genital cutting. Female circumcision is the action or traditional practices of cutting off the clitoris and sometimes the labia of girls or young women. FGM contemplates as a dull violation of human rights for women and girls. There are four types of FGM operations. The first type is excision or removal of the clitoral hood, that is either with or without removal of parts or all of the clitoris. The second type is the removal of the clitoris together with parts or all the labia minora. The third type is the removal of or all the external genitalia. The fourth type is a variety of procedures that includes, scraping or cutting of the vagina and surrounding tissues. "The World Health Organization estimates that overall, in today's world between 85 and 115 million women have had such operations" (Nussbaum 13).
Unlike male circumcisions which were practice for religious purposes, female circumcision is done for social convention and is practiced as a way to prepare girls for marriage, as well as conform to societal norms of femininity. Female circumcisions are often motivated by what would be considered proper female behavior and as a way to promote virginity as well as cause pain during intercourse to uphold these beliefs. Much like male circumcision these societal beliefs about sex and purity, have affected these cultures in their convictions that circumcision must be performed to be pure and free of
Many of us never heard of Female Genital Mutilation until the story of Kauziya Kasinga, a woman from West Africa. Her father did not believe in polygamy, forced marriage, or "female circumcision". He died when she was 17 and the father's sister inherited the home, banished the mother, ended Fauziya's schooling, and arranged a marriage as a fourth wife to a man she had never met. The aunt scheduled her for the circumcision and she ran with 3,000 dollars that one of her aunts had saved.
Female genital mutilation (also known as female circumcision) is the cutting of female clitoral hood and removing clitoris. Following the cutting of female genital organ, there are many short-term and long-term health risk problems, and even death due to some complicated infections. The reasons for performing female genital mutilation are connected with socio-cultural beliefs, attitudes, values and customs, transition of girls into womanhood, tradition and cultural heritage, the fear of not having access to resources and opportunities as a young woman, perception to reduce sexual desire of females; hence, will sustain premarital virginity, and maintain marital fidelity. Actions have taken at international, national and regional levels since the past many years and have begun to bear fruits, but the practice is still undergoing in many countries in the world and highly prevalent in Africa. To continue and motivate further reduction in changing the society’s attitudes towards female genital mutilation in the countries where the prevalence has remained stable so it’s therefor...
Female Genital Mutilation also called FGM is a destructive operation. The procedure consists of the female genitals being partly or entirely removed or injured with the goals of inhibiting a woman’s sexual feelings. Before the girls hit puberty is usually when it is performed. This often happens to girls between the age of four and eight, but recently it is increasingly performed on nurslings who are only a couple of days, weeks or months old. The female clitoris is anatomically analogous to the male penis and plays a central role in women’s sexuality. The equivalent of mutilation performed on the male will be amputation in various degrees of the penis. In its comparable extreme form, of the penis will be stitched together so as to make sexual intercourse and other bodily functions difficult. Many people are concerned because of the human rights and health issues that are involved in it. FGM is a human rights issue because it constitutes an unacceptable violation of the rights of the girl, child, and adult women to their natural sexuality. International human right covenants underscore the obligations of the United Nations member States to ensure the protection and promotion of human rights, including the rights to non-discrimination to integrity of the person and to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.
In Chapter 2 of the textbook Cultural Anthropology, it discusses the understanding of controversial cultural practices. In this case, it is using genital cutting as an example of practices that other cultures value while we criticize them due to our different cultural backgrounds. This ritual is performed on both boys and girls in Africa to demonstrate different meanings. The removal of the male foreskin is something that is seen as acceptable in Western societies due to hygienic and religious reasons. In the Hofriyat culture, this ritual is used to allow a boy to make the step towards manhood. For girls however, this circumcision only allows a girl to save her gift of fertility for marriage. Only then will she become a woman. The process is also extremely different. It involves many painful procedures that seem to do more harm than good.
FGM originated in Africa. It was, and remains, a cultural, not a religious practice. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is also known as female circumcision is performed on young women before they reach puberty. There are three types of FGM practiced. One is Sunna circumcision in which the tip of the clitoris and/or its covering (prepuce) are removed, Clitoridectomy where the entire clitoris, the prepuce and adjacent labia are removed, and Infibulation (a.k.a. Pharaonic circumcision) which is a clitoridectomy followed by sewing up of the vulva. Only a small opening is left to allow urine and menstrual blood to pass. In all types of FGM, the vagina is sown up until the female is ready to have sexual intercourse with her spouse or give birth to a child. The remaining sides of the vulva are stitched together to close up the vagina, except for a small opening, which is preserved with slivers of wood or matchsticks. This leaves them with reduced or no sexual feeling. Orgasms are sometimes impossible to experience later in life. Many health problems are a result of this traditional ceremony. Most women that do not go through female genital mutilation do not get married or society looks down on them, because women are viewed as clean and more desirable if FGM has been performed on them. These are the various types of FGM that the men uphold, but it is the women who usually do the cutting. The women that do the cutting are known as Circumciser’s and usually are elderly women figures in the tribe, who went through the same trauma of FGM when they were young girls. Many women who have expressed their experience openly to someone have described scenes such as a group rape. They describe being powerless, held down ...
Female excision has been widely practiced for hundreds and even thousands of years in certain parts of Africa. This cultural practice is defined by the World Health Organization as any “procedure involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons” (Female Genital Mutilation). Generally, female excision is “performed without anesthetics under septic conditions by practitioners with little or no knowledge of human anatomy or medicine” (Althaus). Some of the medical complications include severe pain (both long and short term), shock, retention of urine, hemorrhage, infection, in some cases death. Psychological effects can
These procedures are done from birth to 5 years old and are seen as a part of growing up; uncircumcised Somalians are seen as unclean (Lewis, T. 2009). While male circumcision is safe if done correctly, female circumcision is dangerous for the child and can have many devastating complications. Some complications include scarring, urinary complications, sexual dysfunction, and psychological problems (Hearst, A., & Molnar, A. 2013). These views about uncircumcised men and women are founded in social tradition and religious beliefs (Hearst, A., & Molnar, A.
Female Genital Cutting is a highly controversial practice that is defined as partial or total removal of part of the external female genitalia. There are three main forms of FGC; Hoodectomy, a Clitordectomy otherwise known as Clitorectomy, and Infibulation.
In Althaus’ article, she provides in-depth information about female circumcision; a highly controversial cultural ritual that is practiced in at least 28 countries
Many feminists in the Western Culture have this ethnocentric idea that female circumcision is “female mutilation” portraying it as a “barbaric tradition” and “violence against women” (“Yes to Female Circumcision?”). According to Fuambai Ahmadu, a Sierra Leonean-American anthropologist, female circumcision is an initiation that symbolizes matriarchal power. The practice is “synonymous with women’s power, their political, economic, reproductive, and ritual spheres of influence” (Ahmadu, pg. 14). By having no regards to the cultures and traditions of these small-scale societies, we are invalidating their beliefs and presenting ethnocentric
Using the terms “circumcision” and “surgery” to describe this practice is often done to make the procedure sound more pleasant than it really is (Alavi). In some cultures the “circumcision” occurs as an infant, in others it is performed around the time of a girl’s first menstrual cycle, the procedure being viewed as the girl’s first steps towards womanhood. During this procedure many of the young girls die due to shock or blood loss. The ones that survive often suffer from complications and infections from not being able to properly dispose of urine or menstruation, extreme pain during intercourse, and complications during childbirth, if childbirth is even possible (Epstein, Graham and Rimsza). In order to fix some of these life threatening complications, many women often go to genital surgeons to fix their circumcisions in order to proceed with their life without
Westerners should not attempt to eradicate female circumcision in the countries where it is practiced. Female Circumcision has almost no benefits medically, but socially, economically, and culturally circumcision can benefit a female’s life. Although circumcision holds no medical ground for health benefits, a woman’s life will be changed in a drastic circumstance in the countries where it is practiced if she does not have the procedure done. Where a circumcised woman has a better chance to find a husband with money and land, or be viewed as possible for childbirth in a social context, her life will be greatly improved economically and socially. Westerners do not understand the cultures where this is practiced and it seems inhumane and performed by uneducated