Sunday, January 28, 2007
women, culture, fgm
i wonder why people are able to present crimes against women as cultural significant practices. for example female genital mutilation is not a religious practice as claimed by some it is cultural. i cant understand why women would want to have their daughters circumcised. not only is it dangerous but its ethically wrong. why would any mother want her daughter to suffer so much in the name of culture.
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3 comments:
Perhaps women in these societies perceive that culture is far more important than individual wants and needs, and therefore allow their daughters to undergo FGM. Furthermore, if the mothers have had the procedure done on them, they are more likely to understand the struggles that are associated with it. As such, they assume that it is fine since they went through the ordeal without major consequences.
Isn't it also true that not all FGM procedures will result in undesirable effects? What proportion of procedures turn out horribly wrong? I bet if the proportion was large, more women would be against is, and we would see less procedures being performed.
statistics are hard to come by. but i could guarantee you that many of these procedures do turn out horribly wrong. it is for this reason that many are advocating the procedure to be done in hospital. however, that does not deal with the root of the problem which in my eyes is the continuance of male dominance poorly guised as a cultural significant practice. it seems as if women continually practice fgm to uphold culture and to also protect themselves from other community members who might question their womanhood if they don't. both are wrong reasons, especially when confronted with the serious effects of fgm.
So what is the aim of fgm in the societies you are talking about? Is it just a coming of age ritual? What is the historical background of fgm?
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