Post by janggut on Nov 18, 2009 13:45:05 GMT
Female genital mutilation: 'Don't touch the children'
Colin Boyd Shafer | Nov 17, 09 11:01am
COMMENT "Excision doesn't remove your desire or ability to enjoy sexual pleasure. The excision of women is cruel on many levels. It is physically cruel and painful; it sets girls up for a lifetime of suffering. And it is not even effective in its intent to remove their desire." - Ayaan Hirshi Ali
Ayaan Hirshi Ali's revealing autobiography Infidel provided me with new insight into the concept of female circumcision. She recounts the events that transpired in her own childhood.
Her traditional Muslim grandmother took her to get her clitoris and labia removed and vagina sewn shut.
According to Reuters (1995), female circumcision is practiSed in more than 30 countries and affects two million girls every year.
In Sudan, for example, up to 90 percent of women have undergone some form of female genital mutilation (FGM).
The average age of circumcision for women is seven - but it is performed on girls as young as four. Although the practice has been outlawed in Egypt, it is still common.
Mohamed Bedaiwy of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation interviewed 3,730 Egyptian girls aged 10 to 14. He found 85 percent of the girls had been subjected to FGM - almost two-thirds of them by non-medical personnel (Reproductive BioMedicine Online, vol 16, p 27, 2008).
Until recently, I assumed that FGM was not found in Southeast Asia. However, I had a conversation recently with an ethnic Malay here in Malaysia, and to my surprise found out that female genital mutilation/circumcision is not unusual in the Muslim community.
I couldn't believe it. I teach a course where we talk about this issue - but I never thought it was widespread here. This particular girl had been circumcised at the age of four.
Upon further investigation, I found a study conducted in Kelantan, Malaysia (1999).
Isa, Shuib & Othman sampled 262 pregnant woman admitted to the labour ward, and found that all of the women had undergone the surgery which they described as "nicking of the tip of the clitoris or prepuce with a penknife or similar instrument, which only drew a drop of blood and caused brief pain".
I anticipate that Malaysians would defend this practice with comments like "our daughter's surgery wasn't that severe", or "our daughter's vagina wasn't sewn shut" or "only a small part was removed".
I don't want to get into the details about the severity of the surgeries being performed. After all, the options are complex (eg, sunna, excision, infibulation, etc).
Ceanliness argument useless
Let's just focus on the simple removal of the clitoral hood or a slight snip of the labia which is called the sunna.
While many will argue that there are practical benefits to the procedure - they are not considering all the facts.
Women's International Network News (1993) reports the findings of UniversitI Malaya's Dr Roziah Omar, a medical anthropologist.
The Malaysians studied supported the practice because of the following misconceptions:
* The removal of the prepuce promotes the cleanliness of the sexual organ of the female.
* It takes away a part of the female body which can enhance her sexuality and promiscuity. Many argue that it is dangerous if a woman is promiscuous and thus she needs to be circumcised.
* Through circumcision, a Malay girl can preserve her virginity. Virginity in Malay society is a prerequisite and valued highly.
* Circumcision is in accordance to Malay tradition and religion. Circumcision is accredited with being the ideal Malay woman and a good Muslim woman.
The cleanliness argument is useless in a society that showers regularly and no reputable studies have shown any positive relationship between FGM and one's health.
Even when parts of the body are removed, desire persists, and in patriarchal societies 'promiscuity' is most often caused by male coercion not female 'desire'.
It's not acceptable anymore
A woman can be circumcised and still lose her virginity at a young age. Finally, many practices that were once considered part of various traditions - sacrifice, slavery, racism, witch burning, etc - are not acceptable anymore.
Female genital mutilation is not acceptable anymore.
It appears that FGM is solely linked to Islamic beliefs. So people are cutting off pieces of loved ones because of religious interpretation.
But if God is great and infallible, than surely his natural genital design is acceptable. We need to stop tip-toeing around religious practices and start analysing FGM for what it is.
If it seems like I'm condemning the people who do this - I am.
Development is more complex than improving the economy. This type of undeveloped barbaric behaviour cannot be condoned in a developed or even developing land.
I understand that some people may say that if it isn't their family it's none of their business. However, these are exactly the people who need to voice their opinion on this issue.
What do you think about this? What do you think about cutting off a little girl's private parts without her consent?
I don't care what it takes. Perform the surgery on yourself, perform the surgery on your friend, but don't EVER touch a child.
In Malaysia, everything seems to fall into the category of sensitive. So it is of no surprise that this topic is understudied and under criticised, and of course society holds many misconceptions.
My Malaysian friend has to live with the choice of her grandparents. A choice that left her body scarred and her trust broken.
She will never be able to forgive the people she loves for doing this to her.
Let your child decide what they want to do with that area of their body. If you raise them well, they will be clean, happy and careful about whom they have sex with.
These are grown-up decisions so let these babies grow up and make the decision for themselves.
COLIN BOYD SHAFER is a social science lecturer at a college in Kuala Lumpur. He spends a good part of his time on documentary photography and trying to create dialogue around sensitive issues. You can follow his photography at 'Colinizing Photography' on Facebook.
****************
taken from Malaysiakini - a Malaysian online news portal.
Colin Boyd Shafer | Nov 17, 09 11:01am
COMMENT "Excision doesn't remove your desire or ability to enjoy sexual pleasure. The excision of women is cruel on many levels. It is physically cruel and painful; it sets girls up for a lifetime of suffering. And it is not even effective in its intent to remove their desire." - Ayaan Hirshi Ali
Ayaan Hirshi Ali's revealing autobiography Infidel provided me with new insight into the concept of female circumcision. She recounts the events that transpired in her own childhood.
Her traditional Muslim grandmother took her to get her clitoris and labia removed and vagina sewn shut.
According to Reuters (1995), female circumcision is practiSed in more than 30 countries and affects two million girls every year.
In Sudan, for example, up to 90 percent of women have undergone some form of female genital mutilation (FGM).
The average age of circumcision for women is seven - but it is performed on girls as young as four. Although the practice has been outlawed in Egypt, it is still common.
Mohamed Bedaiwy of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation interviewed 3,730 Egyptian girls aged 10 to 14. He found 85 percent of the girls had been subjected to FGM - almost two-thirds of them by non-medical personnel (Reproductive BioMedicine Online, vol 16, p 27, 2008).
Until recently, I assumed that FGM was not found in Southeast Asia. However, I had a conversation recently with an ethnic Malay here in Malaysia, and to my surprise found out that female genital mutilation/circumcision is not unusual in the Muslim community.
I couldn't believe it. I teach a course where we talk about this issue - but I never thought it was widespread here. This particular girl had been circumcised at the age of four.
Upon further investigation, I found a study conducted in Kelantan, Malaysia (1999).
Isa, Shuib & Othman sampled 262 pregnant woman admitted to the labour ward, and found that all of the women had undergone the surgery which they described as "nicking of the tip of the clitoris or prepuce with a penknife or similar instrument, which only drew a drop of blood and caused brief pain".
I anticipate that Malaysians would defend this practice with comments like "our daughter's surgery wasn't that severe", or "our daughter's vagina wasn't sewn shut" or "only a small part was removed".
I don't want to get into the details about the severity of the surgeries being performed. After all, the options are complex (eg, sunna, excision, infibulation, etc).
Ceanliness argument useless
Let's just focus on the simple removal of the clitoral hood or a slight snip of the labia which is called the sunna.
While many will argue that there are practical benefits to the procedure - they are not considering all the facts.
Women's International Network News (1993) reports the findings of UniversitI Malaya's Dr Roziah Omar, a medical anthropologist.
The Malaysians studied supported the practice because of the following misconceptions:
* The removal of the prepuce promotes the cleanliness of the sexual organ of the female.
* It takes away a part of the female body which can enhance her sexuality and promiscuity. Many argue that it is dangerous if a woman is promiscuous and thus she needs to be circumcised.
* Through circumcision, a Malay girl can preserve her virginity. Virginity in Malay society is a prerequisite and valued highly.
* Circumcision is in accordance to Malay tradition and religion. Circumcision is accredited with being the ideal Malay woman and a good Muslim woman.
The cleanliness argument is useless in a society that showers regularly and no reputable studies have shown any positive relationship between FGM and one's health.
Even when parts of the body are removed, desire persists, and in patriarchal societies 'promiscuity' is most often caused by male coercion not female 'desire'.
It's not acceptable anymore
A woman can be circumcised and still lose her virginity at a young age. Finally, many practices that were once considered part of various traditions - sacrifice, slavery, racism, witch burning, etc - are not acceptable anymore.
Female genital mutilation is not acceptable anymore.
It appears that FGM is solely linked to Islamic beliefs. So people are cutting off pieces of loved ones because of religious interpretation.
But if God is great and infallible, than surely his natural genital design is acceptable. We need to stop tip-toeing around religious practices and start analysing FGM for what it is.
If it seems like I'm condemning the people who do this - I am.
Development is more complex than improving the economy. This type of undeveloped barbaric behaviour cannot be condoned in a developed or even developing land.
I understand that some people may say that if it isn't their family it's none of their business. However, these are exactly the people who need to voice their opinion on this issue.
What do you think about this? What do you think about cutting off a little girl's private parts without her consent?
I don't care what it takes. Perform the surgery on yourself, perform the surgery on your friend, but don't EVER touch a child.
In Malaysia, everything seems to fall into the category of sensitive. So it is of no surprise that this topic is understudied and under criticised, and of course society holds many misconceptions.
My Malaysian friend has to live with the choice of her grandparents. A choice that left her body scarred and her trust broken.
She will never be able to forgive the people she loves for doing this to her.
Let your child decide what they want to do with that area of their body. If you raise them well, they will be clean, happy and careful about whom they have sex with.
These are grown-up decisions so let these babies grow up and make the decision for themselves.
COLIN BOYD SHAFER is a social science lecturer at a college in Kuala Lumpur. He spends a good part of his time on documentary photography and trying to create dialogue around sensitive issues. You can follow his photography at 'Colinizing Photography' on Facebook.
****************
taken from Malaysiakini - a Malaysian online news portal.