Female Genital Mutilation
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 ...
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...girl is the center of attention and receives presents and moral instruction from her elders. Lastly, it creates a bond between the generations, as all women in that society must undergo it and thus have shared an important experience. She also went on to say that by eliminating a women’s physical sex drive, circumcision made marriages more secure, and thus provided greater stability for families. She ended by saying, “Perhaps Americans, with their high rates of crime and teenage pregnancy, had things backwards”. While leaving out any personal opinion, we leave a question think about. From the background information of FGM, and the two stories of women who have gone through FGM and have run from it, Is it right for Westerners to impose their views and common experiences to a foreign nation that traditionally for thousands of years practiced Female Genital Mutilation?
It examines questions about cultural practices and why some/all people accept them and whom that might be benefitting or harming (ibid). In other words, it examines the behaviors, consequences, social factors, and above all the power structures in play. In Althaus’ article, she postulates that one reason that female circumcision is used is to increase the sexual pleasure of men (Althaus, 131). Here we can see the strong presence of a patriarchal society. Recall the purpose here is not to actually criticize this practice but rather seek the underlying interests or motivations of implementing it. The strong presence of a patriarchy indicates that women in a way are indeed used as means to serve the interests of men both sexually and also by providing a child. This brings about the winners (men) and the oppressed
Female genital mutilation is mostly practiced in Islamic and African cultures, claiming young girls as t...
Internationally, issues revolving around the female body and reproduction are extremely controversial. For a woman, her body is a very private matter. At the same time, however, a woman's body and her reproduction rights are the center of attention in many public debates. Several questions regarding women's reproductive rights remain unanswered. How much control do women have over their bodies? What kind of rules can be morally imposed upon women? And who controls the bodies of women? Although the public continues to debate these topics, certain conclusions can been made concerning women and their reproductive rights. An undeniable fact is that government has a large degree of control over female reproductive organs. All around the world, time and time again, several national governments have implemented policies, enacted laws, and denied women control over their reproductive organs. Several governments have crossed the border between intimate and public matters concerning women's reproductive organs, by making laws about contraceptives, abortion, and family planning programs.
Some fear that the removal of the healthy part of an organ is a purely
In her article “Should There Be Only Two Sexes,” Anne Fausto-Sterling discusses the implications of this genital surgery. She states that infantile genital surgery “causes extensive scarring, requires multiple surgeries, and often obliterates the possibility of orgasm” (80). Fausto-Sterling explains the consequences of these surgeries in order to argue against them. She instead says that intersex individuals should be allowed to make their own decisions regarding their bodies after being well-informed about the choices they have. The individuals interviewed in the documentary confirm the consequences Fausto-Sterling discusses and her conclusion. One person discusses how doctors had removed her clitoris and performed multiple surgeries to widen her vagina during her youth; however, these surgeries have caused sex to be painful and eliminated the possibility of orgasm. Another individual talks about how multiple childhood surgeries had led to significant pain and infections, resulting in scarring. These stories are not uncommon among the interviewed individuals, and all of them express the belief that genital surgery should be a choice made by the intersex individual later in life rather than by others early in life. While they concede that some intersex individuals may feel differently,
Female genital circumcision (FGC) is a cultural ritual that is performed to the vast majority of women within the countries of Sudan, Kenya, Mali, Benin, Togo, and parts of the Middle East. Female genital circumcision also termed as female genital mutilation is used based upon a person’s beliefs. This ritual has been highly controversial for many years especially in the western society, due to the health risks that women may have to go through. Doctor Gruenbaum, and anthropologist who studied FGC in Sudan, has researched this topic and believes that outsiders need to have an open mind about diverse cultures. I believe that this procedure should not be illegal; however, education about the risks of the procedure should be enforced in the countries where this takes place, in order to create a safer environment for the ritual to be performed in. The goal of this essay is to know what Female Genital Circumcision is and different types of FGC and why this is performed and why it is important for outsiders to not have ethnocentric views when dealing with this. This essay also deals with why it should be medicalized instead of enforcing laws to ban this years long tradition in all African countries. When challenging female genital circumcision, we are also challenging the people who perform this procedure, their culture, values and beliefs.
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.
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.
When teenagers leave the safety of home and enter college life, they can feel very out of place. In order for them to feel that they belong when joining a fraternity or sorority, they can be pressured into binge drinking and other types of behavior that they wouldn't normally do. By doing what the fraternity brothers or sorority sisters ask them to do, they think that they are proving themselves to be worthy of a place in the organization. This can be very dangerous for many reasons. "Results from a recent Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study provide the first national picture in almost fifty years of just how widespread and harmful heavy episodic or "binge" drinking has become, not only for those students who abuse alcohol, but also for others in their immediate environment" (Wechsler, 178). Binge drinkers put themselves at high r...
They are more than just household workers, caretakers of children and materials of pleasure. Women are underestimated because they show off a gentle and very caring side making others think that they can be easily fooled and that they cannot progress. The greatest challenge of women empowerment is changing the stereotypes that have existed in many cultures. For example, female genital cutting shows the discrimination of women. This practice is offensive to human rights and should be eradicated. Although it is difficult to break out of tradition, it has to be broken because it shows a wrong use of religion and tradition. The society has tolerated it for so long; it takes a special person to say that it’s wrong, someone who has great power over the people such as the leaders or other people who see the bigger picture. The female who was an expert in doing female circumcision mentioned that cutting itself is a source of income for her and she would abandon the practice if given another kind of source of income. This shows a capitalist structure in their
One of Sultana Yusufali’s strongest arguments in “My body is my own business” is her scrutinization of the exploitation of female sexuality. Initially Yusufali writes about the injudicious individuals that assume she is oppressed by her hijab. Thereafter, she describes them as “brave individuals who have mustered the courage to ask me about the way I dress”. Moreover, Yusufali’s word choice is intriguing as she utilizes the word “brave” when laymen hear this word they habitually associate the aforementioned with heroic, valiant and courageous. Consequently, Yusufali ensues to comprise her opinions on the hijab and how it carries a number of negative connotations in western society. Furthermore, Yusufali proceeds to strike on the importance
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
Gender reassignment is a very controversial topic. Does it really work, can surgery really change your gender? People will always tell you about all the things that go right with surgery, but does anyone truly pay attention to the significant problems that this surgery can cause? Gender reassignment surgery (GRS) is a surgical procedure by which a person’s physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble that of the other sex. It is said that this surgery is used to treat gender identity disorder (GID), which describes the condition in which an individual identifies with a gender inconsistent or not culturally associated with their assigned sex. Having surgery performed can cause both physical and mental tribulations. While death is an unlikely result of complications, things do go wrong, as with all surgeries there are risks. There are also major mental, physiological, social and emotional side effects. Surgery will not fix the underlying psychological problems that cause the request for surgery. Anyone considering surgery needs to proceed with caution, as it can result in irreversible damage.
Though it's different in many ways from high school, there is still pressure at college to "fit in" and to be liked by others. There is often peer pressure to do things you wouldn't normally do "because this is college" and you are trying to meet new friends. While a trip to Wal-Mart at 3am or staying up late with friends while trying to eat your weight in cookie dough maybe fun new things to try, driving while blindfolded because of a sorority dare or trying cocaine "because this is college" and definitely not good choices. Listen to your common sense.
Everyone at one point or another has desire to fit into a group, whether it is friends, or something else. This is in our nature and this is what makes us humans. In whatever group they are, they wanna feel secure and have a sense of belonging to that group. But what if one’s so called friend betrays the individual or start doing things which are wrong and force the person to do it with them? This is what negative peer pressure is - trying to mess with the minds and forcing them to be an acquaintance with something which is illegal and wrong.