The horror of female genital mutilation is a global issue, and it is also one surprising foreign to Americans although an estimated ten thousand girls in the United States are currently at risk of this operation (Sarkis par. 1). This is a cultural practice that is both unethical and incredibly detrimental to its victims besides obviously being in direct violation of basic human rights. In order to attain a broader view of this issue the following will be examined: basic information about this practice, organizations fighting it, current news pertaining to it, recent academic articles evaluating it, and the question of how it can be stopped.
FGM has recently been receiving growing media attention due to the controversy surrounding it, but the newfound attention is also in hopes that widespread awareness will bring about change. Female genital mutilation, or FGM when abbreviated, is also known as female circumcision, but this practice is far more drastic than male circumcision and is actually more comparable to a surgery in males where the entire penis is removed (Sarkis par. 4). FGM is classified into three different categories based on the extent of the procedure, but it usually entails the removal or the clitoris and/or the adjacent labia. The third degree of FGM is so severe that the female must be cut open to engage in sexual intercourse from that point on (Sarkis par. 5). This surgery is commonly performed in unsanitary conditions with unclean sharp tools like razor blades, kitchen knives, scissors, and pieces of glass (Sarkis par. 6). Female children usually undergo this procedure at three years of age (Sarkis par. 10). Sarkis also states, “Besides the obvious initial pains of the operations, FGM has long-term physiological, sexual, and psychological effects” (par. 7). It is done for a number of reasons ranging from the prevention of marital infidelity to using it as a cultural rite of passage, but more numerous than the reasons behind it are the countries that partake in it. FGM is most common in Middle Eastern countries and throughout Africa (Sarkis par. 2). FGM is by no means a one-dimensional problem or something that can be recovered from. It is, most significantly, a life-altering procedure.
One of the major groups fighting FGM is The Female Genital Mutilation Education and Networking Project. It focuses primarily on the “knowledge is power” aspect, meaning that it concentrates more on educating the population of FGM in an effort to bring reform instead of direct actions.
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
“Before the rape I felt good. My life was in order. I was getting ready to get married. Afterward everything changed. I kind of lost who I was as a person…
Female genital mutilation is mostly practiced in Islamic and African cultures, claiming young girls as t...
workers and the position of supervisor is instantly given an incredible amount more power taking
Roe v. Wade (No. 70-18) was argued on December 13, 1971 and the case was decided on January 22, 1973 and it debated the constitutionality of abortion. The majority Supreme Court justices serving at the time of the case were Harry A. Blackmun, William J. Brennan, Lewis F. Powell Jr., Thurgood Marshall. The concurring opinions came from Justices Warren Burger, William Orville Douglas, and Potter Stewart. The two justices who disagreed with Roe and were pro-life are William H. Rehnquist, and Bryan White (Roe v. Wade, CNN).
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.
2. FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION: AN INTRODUCTION. National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers FGM Awareness and Education Project. Box 2512 San Anselmo, CA 94979
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.
Routine infant circumcision (RIC) is a common, normalized procedure on male infants in the United States of America. Many new parents do not question circumcision, they consent to the procedure without doing much research because they believe it is a necessary procedure for cleanliness. The doctors and nurses that care for new parents and infants offer little to no counsel on circumcision, there is no risk vs. benefits explanation offered. Thus, many parents choose circumcision for their male infants without realizing that it actually isn't necessary and can often times be detrimental. It's misconceptions like these that fuel the normilization of circumcision.
Females as a general population have been faced with discrimination across the ages. In recent history, women have begun to assert their freedom and independence from the male oriented traditions that have spanned generations. In industrialized countries the discrimination of women has diminished, but a serious form of violation of human rights occurs sometimes in parts of the world, such as Africa, the Middle East, and even sometimes the United States and other industrialized countries in North America and Europe. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is an umbrella term for three subtypes of crimes committed against women as a part of various coming of age rituals for young girls in certain patriarchal communities in Africa, spreading through migration of a populace through Northeastern and Western Africa and some spread into the Middle Eastern countries. These communities integrated this practice into women through marriage into these cultures, spreading this practice into their daughters and so forth. FGM has been classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) into three basic subtypes, each growing more and more disturbing. Subtype number one is a clitoridectomy which is the complete or partial removal of the clitoris, while subtype two it includes the clitoridectomy plus the removal of the labia minora of the young girl. Alone, these two types of FGM composed approximately 90 percent of female genital mutilation. The third subtype is the most gruesome that is the narrowing the vagina opening by sealing the orifice with the use of the labia majora. These medical procedures have been described the WHO working in conjunction with United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Un...
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
In the Judith Jarvis Thomson’s paper, “A Defense of Abortion”, the author argues that even though the fetus has a right to life, there are morally permissible reasons to have an abortion. Of course there are impermissible reasons to have an abortion, but she points out her reasoning why an abortion would be morally permissible. She believes that a woman should have control of her body and what is inside of her body. A person and a fetus’ right to life have a strong role in whether an abortion would be okay. Thomson continuously uses the story of a violinist to get the reader to understand her point of view.
Several societies place large burdens upon their women whether it is their looks, mothering skills, or other special cases. A special case that is widely known across the world is a practice that done in China several years ago. In China they had a custom where they broke girl’s feet, and tied them down so that their feet would remain unnaturally small. This practice led to the mutilation of thousands of girl’s feet, but if they did not get their feet broken they would not be able to get married. To my knowledge this practice no longer occurs in the twenty-first century, but another practice similar to it does. This practice is called female circumcision and is widely known in the United States as female genital mutilation (FGM). Female circumcision is a practice that is conducted in Ethiopia and Africa; it can have extremely harmful side effects which have led to it being banned in the United States. Anyone found practicing FGM in the United States could face a sentence of five years in prison. FGM is viewed as abuse in the United States even if the female wishes to be circumcised. However, despite the United States obvious views of female circumcision as immoral; some societies view female circumcision as a part of their culture which is why it still occurs today.
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.