“And though one is struck by the complicity of the mothers, themselves victims, as of the fathers, the brothers, and the lovers, even the complicity of the grand- parents, one must finally acknowledge, as Hanny Lightfoot-Klein does in the title of her book about genital mutilation in Africa, that those who practice it are, generally speaking, kept ignorant of its real dangers – the breakdown of the spirit and the body and the spread of disease – and are themselves prisoners of ritual” (Walker and Parmar, 1993). Over the past 60 years, female genital mutilation (FGM), the process of altering female genitalia, has been condemned by the Western world for a being an inhuman and oppressive tradition in need of abolishment. At the age of puberty, …show more content…
Dating back to the second century BC, FGM is a deep-rooted coming of age tradition that marks a girl’s descent into adulthood. Once cut, a woman is regarded as pure and fit for marriage, as her circumcision represents a deterrence from promiscuity. Similarly to how American culture may presume that cosmetic surgery increases attractiveness, communities that practice FGM believe circumcision aids beauty in the same way. As a cut genitalia is considered the norm, young uncircumcised girls are often embarrassed by their visible inferiority, victimized by their peers, and unable to contribute within their communities (Althaus, 1997). In addition to this, many women look forward to their procedure, as it is a celebration of womanhood in a culture where manhood is celebrated on a daily basis. Circumcised men are frequently thought to have transcended nature with a profound bravery, while leaving women untouched implies their bodies are fragile and must be protected from harm. FGM transcends this sexist ideology by giving women an opportunity to essentially prove themselves as more than docile bodies through the acceptance of pain (Njambi,
Female genital mutilation is mostly practiced in Islamic and African cultures, claiming young girls as t...
This is a case study regarding a family in Senegal that follows the Muslim culture. However, unlike most Muslims, they practice the form of female circumcision. The tradition is to have all girls coming of age to be circumcised; otherwise they would be shunned and would never be able to get a husband. The family’s tradition believes that if a girl does not have this procedure done, they will be considered deformed and their clitoris will hang down to their knees. Awa is concerned because she and her husband, Joseph, have two daughters who are coming of age and her mother-in-law is demanding to know why they have not made the arrangements for the girls’ circumcision. Awa’s dilemma is whether or
"I remember the blade. How it shone! There was a woman kneeling over me with the knife. I bit her; it was all I could do. Then three women came to hold me down. One of them sat on my chest. I bit her with all my might." These words reflect Banassiri Sylla’s account of her experience undergoing female circumcision, also known as female genital mutilation (FGM), at the young age of eight in the Ivory Coast. This disturbing description of her struggle makes it hard to understand why any culture could support such a practice. Yet, it is estimated that about 132 million women and girls in about thirty African countries have undergone the same, or at least similar, cultural procedure as Banassiri. According to the World Health Organization, about two million girls undergo female genital mutilation every year and the percentage of women circumcised is as high as ninety-eight percent in countries such as Djibouti .
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has had different definitions in the ‘Scientific World’ and the world of those who embrace the act. According to the definition of the World Health Organization (WHO), Female Genital Mutilation is the act of removing the external parts of the female genitalia, partially or totally for non-medical reasons (WHO) whereas the practitioners see it as the cutting of “extra skin tags” of the female’s reproductive organ. Various reasons have been put forward to support it, ranging from social, cultural and religious reasons, mainly in the so called Islamic communities. FGM is a violation of the rights of the girl child, causes health implications and drastically disempowers the sexuality of women.
Female genital mutilation is a heartbreaking practice which violates basic human rights and must be banned worldwide. FGM it's a operation on which the clitoris and genitals are completely cut off. Referring to (www.mtholyoke.edu) The cause of this procedure may fluctuate it can be either for family honor, virginity protection, religion, or excessive sexual satisfaction for their partner. Also, this is done by traditional midwives with no medical experience, no anesthesia, or any drug. The tools used for this practice are pieces of glass, knives, scissors, razors and other sharp basics.
"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).
Female circumcision is viewed as a disgusting and barbaric act by a majority of people in first world countries. The United States has even gone as far as to get an international law made to ban female circumcision because of the harmful physical and psychological problems associated with it. In the “Female Genital Cutting Fact Sheet” created and reviewed by Caroline Banquet-Walsh, Sandra Jordan, and Francesca Moneta I discovered that female genital mutilation is an e...
Girls who are circumcised are more likely to be limited in their adolescent exploration thus forming a type of oppression from normal teenage activities. It is essential for teenagers to discover their own bodies and explore their sexuality in order to form a sense of self, this does not imply that young teenagers should commit sexual acts, exploring simply implies that teenagers should know their body and its functions, young women should know their own bodies including their own genitalia especially when females begin their first menstrual cycle. However, later in a female's young adult life sexual acts should not be the taboo subject that it is. Instead women should embrace their sexual life, “FGM is carried out as a way to control women’s sexuality, which is sometimes said to be insatiable if parts of the genitalia, especially the clitoris, are not removed. It is thought to ensure virginity before marriage and fidelity afterward, and to increase male sexual pleasure.” (UNFPA), female circumcision is used in order to deprive women from their sexuality. Female circumcision is no more than a way to control woman, because of this teenagers who have undergone female circumcision are being forced to submit to religious believes that they themselves may not agree with, “The controversial tradition of FGC sets these immigrants apart from the mainstream culture and may complicate their efforts to adjust to life in the United States and cause intergenerational conflict in some families. For instance, parents may consider it important for their daughters to be cut, regardless of the girls’ wishes, as a way to maintain their identity with the family and its cultural community of origin.” (Akinsulure-Smith 358). The effect of being a circumcised female in adolescence in the Unites States is greater than
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is an ancient traditional non-therapeutic surgical procedure that involves total or partial removal of the external parts of female genitalia. This paper aimed to define and classify FGM, identifies the prevalence, describes reasons for performing the practice, and concentrates on the problems associated to this practice with regard to women’s health, religious beliefs, and socio-cultural, behavioral and moral consequences. Researches and survey reports that the global actions have been taken to reduce or abolish the prevalence of the practice will be assessed.
It has been recently documented that there are about 140 million females worldwide that are currently living with the consequences of female genital cutting (World Health Organization, 2013). That is approximately two million girls annually or approximately 6,000 girls per day who endure torture that results in pain, trauma, bleeding, infection or even death (Dorkenoo & Elwothy, 1992). The “long-term physical complications are numerous, and there appear to be substantial psychological effects on women’s self-image and sexual lives” (Toubia, 1993; p46).
In Searching for “Voices”: Feminism, Anthropology, and the Global Debates over Female Genital Operations, Walley discusses the social issues concerning female genital operations as perceived by “westerners”, as well as discusses her ethnographic account of female circumcision. Her main purpose of doing this was to lay the groundwork for “a more productive feminist and anthropological debate” capable of going beyond the binary terms in which female circumcisions are usually discussed. Since female circumcisions are known by a variety of names, such as female genital mutilation and female genital torture, and with her understanding of the negative connotation often associated with those varieties of names, Walley makes the decision to adopt the term female genital operations instead. In 1988, Walley went in the village of KiKhome, in western Kenya as an English teacher and immersed herself in the lives of the people living around the village to better understand the practice of female genital operations as an outsider. One day, some of her students invited her to assist at a female genital operation ceremony. She found out that the participants see circumcision as a rite of passage into adulthood. However, she truly wanted to know the participants’ personal views on the topic rather than the imposed views of their parents and their culture. The four women she interviewed told her that “their custom was good,” and it was something that a person needs to accept with her whole being not to feel the pain. Nevertheless, some of the women told her that they would not want their daughters to undergo circumcision, and that they themselves regretted having done the procedure. Walley finally gave up “searching for real voices,” because what t...
Rites of passage, specifically circumcision, are the focus of study for multiple theorists. Circumcision as a ritual of passage encompasses various theories on the function of these ritualistic passages. Arnold Van Gennep, Vincent Crapanzano, and Victor Turner each approach the ritual of circumcisions’ function differently, specifically they question whether the ritual can be considered in stages.
Imagine this! Being either a young girl or a woman forcefully bound against your will while elders perform a procedure called Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). The young girls and women who are forced to have this procedure done not only loses their rights to sexual pleasure but their rights are sliced, chopped, punctured, and finally burnt away. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) otherwise known as Female Genital Circumcision (FGC) is also a controversial topic in Western societies. This paper will examine the history of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), hegemonic perspective on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), health consequences of having this procedure done, how Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) affects women’s sexual function, and women who have gotten genital reconstruction done on their vagina.
Many question whether female circumcision (FGM, genital cutting, etc.) is a form of abuse, is it a humane and morally acceptable practice and how can we fix this horrendous practice? These assumptive thoughts are typically made through the eyes of outsiders, female circumcision is many things and must be looked at through such a lens. Despite, all of this female circumcision is still framed very commonly between these three views, female circumcision is abuse, is a result of patriarchal societies, and is a cultural and religious practice.
Female circumcision, also known as Female genital mutilation, or female genital cutting is a custom that has sparked controversy among many people belonging to other cultures not accustomed to the practice. Within the argument lay a series of debates surrounding the issue as culture and tradition clash with human rights over whether or not this practice should be allowed. Advocates against the practice draw on the prevalence, perceptions, and reasons for conducting FGM to combat what they believe is a human rights issue.