A New Debate on Female Circumcision

cnredd · #1 (**permalink**) 12-03-2007, 08:58 AM

Wow!...

Hard to believe some people think like this...

Quote:

Should African women be allowed to engage in the practice sometimes called female circumcision? Are critics of this practice, who call it female genital mutilation, justified in trying to outlaw it, or are they guilty of ignorance and cultural imperialism?
Those questions will be debated Saturday morning in Washington at the American Anthropological Association’s annual meeting. Representatives of international groups opposed to this procedure will be debating anthropologists with somewhat different views, including African anthropologists who have undergone the procedure themselves. As the organizers of the AAA panel note:

Quote:

The panel includes for the first time, the critical “third wave” or multicultural feminist perspectives of circumcised African women scholars Wairimu Njambi, a Kenyan, and Fuambai Ahmadu, a Sierra Leonean. Both women hail from cultures where female and male initiation rituals are the norm and have written about their largely positive and contextualized experiences, creating an emergent discursive space for a hitherto “muted group” in global debates about FGC [female genital cutting].

Dr. Ahmadu, a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Chicago, was raised in America and then went back to Sierra Leone as an adult to undergo the procedure along with fellow members of the Kono ethnic group. She has argued that the critics of the procedure exaggerate the medical dangers, misunderstand the effect on sexual pleasure, and mistakenly view the removal of parts of the clitoris as a practice that oppresses women. She has lamented that her Westernized “feminist sisters insist on denying us this critical aspect of becoming a woman in accordance with our unique and powerful cultural heritage.” In another essay, she writes:

Quote:

It is difficult for me — considering the number of ceremonies I have observed, including my own — to accept that what appears to be expressions of joy and ecstatic celebrations of womanhood in actuality disguise hidden experiences of coercion and subjugation. Indeed, I offer that the bulk of Kono women who uphold these rituals do so because they want to — they relish the supernatural powers of their ritual leaders over against men in society, and they embrace the legitimacy of female authority and particularly the authority of their mothers and grandmothers.

KnightOfSappho · #2 (**permalink**) 12-03-2007, 10:59 AM

If this procedure is being done on an ADULT that wants it done as a cultural ritual, then it is certainly her right to choose.

I have an issue with this procedure being performed on little girls that don't have any say in the matter.

Just Me · #3 (**permalink**) 12-04-2007, 09:00 PM

To play devils advocate here, is this any different then when we circumcise infant boys?

And just to be clear I think this is appalling.

KnightOfSappho · #4 (**permalink**) 12-04-2007, 09:31 PM

I don't think that circumcising little boys is a great idea either.

saltwn · #5 (**permalink**) 12-04-2007, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Just Me

To play devils advocate here, is this any different then when we circumcise infant boys?

And just to be clear I think this is appalling.

Yes, it is different. Although some argue that male circumcision cuts down on the sensitivity, circumcised males still enjoy sex.

Depending on the level of mutilation in a female circumcision, I don't see how a female would ever want to have sex, much less enjoy it. If you cut off the clitoris (as is done in the most extreme cases), that's going to eliminate a lot if not all of pleasure ability. Outer vaginal skin then inner folds of the vagina are the two other grads of the ritual operation. There are a lot of sensitive areas there too.
Yes, male circumcision (unless it was done by an unskilled butcher) doesn't cause men not to be able to enjoy sex.

dabateman · #6 (**permalink**) 12-04-2007, 11:38 PM

According to some, male circumcision reduces the risk of HIV transmission.

Chandon12 · #7 (**permalink**) 12-05-2007, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KnightOfSappho

I don't think that circumcising little boys is a great idea either.

Just think this practice started for religious reasons.... And the US is really the only industrialized country that performs this procedure as a common practice.

Jaaaman · #8 (**permalink**) 12-05-2007, 02:09 PM

Removing the foreskin from the Penis makes it less likely to develope infection and allows for easier personal hygiene in that area. I see nothing wrong with circumcision. I am thankful that I had that 'minor' surgery done when I was a infant... and don't even have any memory of it. Egads!

cnredd · #9 (**permalink**) 12-05-2007, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaaaman

Removing the foreskin from the Penis makes it less likely to develope infection and allows for easier personal hygiene in that area. I see nothing wrong with circumcision. I am thankful that I had that 'minor' surgery done when I was a infant... and don't even have any memory of it. Egads!

I had it done right after being born, too...

I couldn't walk for months!...

Jaaaman · #10 (**permalink**) 12-05-2007, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cnredd

I had it done right after being born, too...

I couldn't walk for months!...

Egads!

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