Female Genital Cutting?

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JudieK

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Hey friends! I wanted some opinions. I just received an urgent appeal from the charity called “CARE” about the atrocity of female genital cutting, and how we must give now to end this horrible practice. I agree that it seems horrible and barbaric, and the whole idea sends shivers down my spine. Basically, in many villages in Africa and Asia, girls between the ages of 4-12 are mutilated by having their external (and even some internal) genitalia cut off, often with dirty, dull instruments or even broken glass. They are then sewn up except for a tiny opening, and their legs are bound together for 30 days so that they can “heal.” They experience horrible pain, infection, etc. for the rest of their lives! When the time comes for marriage, they are sliced open or simply ripped. It all sounds so horrible. My question is, is this a cultural thing we should not get involved in (imagine what the gentiles thought of circumcision!) or should we try to change this ages-old practice because of how awful it seems (and how very unhealthy, etc)? I am tempted to give, but I want to be sure I am not being a cultural “elitist” or something. Any thoughts?
 
I dont think ethnocentrism could cancel that out…
That is terrible and totally contrary to human dignity, oppose it all you want.
 
I dont think ethnocentrism could cancel that out…
That is terrible and totally contrary to human dignity, oppose it all you want.
 
This is a disgusting practice. It has to end, because it causes pain and horribly mutilates the girl’s body, only for her to experience more pain when the time comes to reverse the process. Furthermore it can’t compare to infant circumcision as there is not memory that could lead to psychiatric problems in the future. Remember, child sacrifice was a ‘‘cultural thing’’ as was cannibalism (still is in some parts).
 
Those were my thoughts, too. This seems to be just another way that certain cultures have of keeping women from being fully human. And it is performed by the other women in the village!
 
Certain cultural practices, though unappealing, are tolerable, this however is not one of those practices. I wonder though, how effective the charity is at putting a stop to it…
 
from what i understand, it is often the mothers of these girls who make certain that this is done. they believe that they are doing right.

that is what makes this practice so hard to defeat. loving parents-both mothers and fathers- are doing what they think is right by their children. although it is very cruel, the parents aren’t trying to be cruel.

education is probably the key.
 
deb1 said:
from what i understand, it is often the mothers of these girls who make certain that this is done. they believe that they are doing right.

that is what makes this practice so hard to defeat. loving parents-both mothers and fathers- are doing what they think is right by their children. although it is very cruel, the parents aren’t trying to be cruel.

education is probably the key.
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Yes I agree with you there. But whether or not this education will prove effective remains to be seen. I pray these people will be shown how awful and morally wrong this practice it is. I am especially concerned that although it pre-dates Christianity and Islam it is prevelant in people of both faiths, particularly amongst the tribes in Africa.
 
LDNCatholic said:
To make sure they don’t have sex before marriage.
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Actually, that’s only part of it.

Clitorectomies, or female circumcision, or genital mutilation (whichever term you prefer) is a practice that has its roots in African paganism. It was to prevent a woman from having premarital relations, and also to ensure that she did not experience pleasure during sex.
It has now, in some African countries, been wedded to Islamic practices, though from what I’ve read, the Koran doesn’t anywhere prohibit female enjoyment of sex (in fact, I dimly recall a story about Muhammed rushing out of his tent in such a hurry he forgot his sandals because a woman came to him complaining that her husband wasn’t fufilling his marital duties, and Muhammed went to remedy the situation).

The practice varies in severity from region to region. In its more “mild” form, a slice of skin is taken off the labia (less skin is removed than during a male circumcision in these cases), and the clitoris is completely intact. The most severe end of the spectrum, the full clitorectomy, is the one most people are familiar with, and is practiced mostly in Ethopia.

Again, although many claim this is an Islamic practice, it isn’t found in the Koran, and is actually remnants of indiginous religious practices, sort of like the blending of African folk “magic” beliefs and Catholicism one sees from time to time.

As for supporting this organization, I would ask HOW they plan to end the practice. If they’re just going to go in there with the “this is wrong, this is bad, change it now” tactic, it’s not going to work, and you’re better off sending your money elsewhere. However, if it’s an educational program, which seeks to recognize the reasons for the practice (female sexual purity) and find other, less barbaric ways to reach these ends, then go for it. The bottom line is this: this is a cultural practice that has been going on for generations. An effective program will not seek to belittle the culture, but rather help the culture improve health and life for all its members, while “allowing” the culture to maintain its unique identity.

Cheers,
Cari
 
Generic_Man said:
That’s extreme.
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I lived in Etheopia for part of my childhood. Our housekeeper was a young coptic woman. When her husband traveled, which seemed to be often. He’d have her sewn shut to make sure she did not cheat on him. IT was done by some women of the tribe who did this sort of thing. This was apparently not unusual.
 
I think there are multiple aspects to consider:
  1. The unhygienic conditions under which this is carried out make it really unsafe for girls and can create future problems, but opposing it only on those grounds would mean that it’s okay to take the girls to a medical facility and have it done by trained personnel (something that the more enlightened in those cultures have been known to do)
  2. It is something cultural and as such would be very difficult to eradicate. Good evangelization would probably be of more value than campaigns to change one particular aspect of a deeply-rooted culture.
While looking out though, there’s also a need to look in. We have to consider whether there are similar practices in our culture too (e.g medically unnecessary circumcision of male infants; many say they don’t remember the pain, but just a few years ago many thought they didn’t feel the pain - so what do we really know?)

Seems like across cultures there’s this tendency to try to alter the Creator’s handiwork (as though they could ever be improved upon!) to something more to our liking. Maybe that is the mindset which needs changing - in all cultures.

Having said all of this, I would be interested in knowing what the approach is of the organization that solicited your support. How exactly do they attack the problem and how effective are their efforts?
 
Cari said:
As for supporting this organization, I would ask HOW they plan to end the practice. If they’re just going to go in there with the “this is wrong, this is bad, change it now” tactic, it’s not going to work, and you’re better off sending your money elsewhere. However, if it’s an educational program, which seeks to recognize the reasons for the practice (female sexual purity) and find other, less barbaric ways to reach these ends, then go for it. The bottom line is this: this is a cultural practice that has been going on for generations. An effective program will not seek to belittle the culture, but rather help the culture improve health and life for all its members, while “allowing” the culture to maintain its unique identity.

Cheers,
Cari
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Excellent point. However, I ask out of ignorance, and as you seem educated on the matter, would these same tribes that allow/ demand that their young daughters be hideously mutilated allow their women to be educated on the wrongs of it? After all it is women who most often perform the ‘‘circumcision’’. I realise that different tribal groups would be either more or less receptive to the education that certain others, but I feel that in general it would be rejected.
 
LDNCatholic said:
Excellent point. However, I ask out of ignorance, seeing as you seem educated on the matter, would these same tribes that allow/ demand that their young daughters be hideously mutilated allow their women to be educated on the wrongs of it? After all it is women who most often perform the ‘‘circumcision’’. I realise that different tribes will be less or more receptive to these ideas but in general I feel there would be a rejection of this idea.
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Cari said:
As for supporting this organization, I would ask HOW they plan to end the practice. If they’re just going to go in there with the “this is wrong, this is bad, change it now” tactic, it’s not going to work, and you’re better off sending your money elsewhere. However, if it’s an educational program, which seeks to recognize the reasons for the practice (female sexual purity) and find other, less barbaric ways to reach these ends, then go for it. The bottom line is this: this is a cultural practice that has been going on for generations. An effective program will not seek to belittle the culture, but rather help the culture improve health and life for all its members, while “allowing” the culture to maintain its unique identity.

Cheers,
Cari
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i think that this is the key. you have to assure the people that the underlaying reason behind the practice-remaining chaste-will still be perserved.

american media depicts so much impurity that our culture must seem highly immoral to outsiders. it would be easy for an african to deduce that only two extremes are open to him/her. either complete sexual deviance or using genital cutting to perserve female chastity. 😦

maybe if our media held up better examples of modern men and women who remain pure despite not being mutilated then we could have some affect on such practices.
 
This is not a strictly Islamic practice. As others have said it’s older then Christianity.
While there Is nothing in the Qur’an about it, there are Hadith that mention it. Muhammad was reported to say that a woman can do it was it is pleasing to her husband. But he did say to cut only a little bit. Shari’ah says that cutting the hood is all that is allowed. Some schools of Shari’ah say that it is mandatory. Others do not.
 
LDNCatholic said:
Excellent point. However, I ask out of ignorance, would these same tribes that allow/ demand that their young daughters be hideously mutilated allow their women to be educated on the wrongs of it? After all it is women who most often perform the ‘‘circumcision’’.
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That’s exactly why the approach needs to be something other than the “Western people imposing Truth and Justice on the rest of the World” tactic. You’re right- there’s no way traditional parents are going to let their daughters go off to “let’s end clitorectomy” classes any more than I’m going to let my daughter attend Planned Parenthood-sponsored sex education classes. 😉

This needs to be more of a grassroots sort of effort. There needs to be a change of the culture, while still allowing the culture to express itself. I’m not even entirely sure that an outside group can do it at all.

Consider the practice of foot-binding in China. It was originally a display of conspicuous consumption, of prosperity. It was a way to say that you were so wealthy you could effectively cripple a worker. It was limited to aristocracy. Then, it slowly became a status symbol down through the social classes until you had women in the peasant class, who DID have to work, with bound feet.
It was the Communist government, and not missionaries or outside charitable organizations, that finally ended the practice. By making displays of conspicuous consumerism undesirable, the practice slowly ended.

That’s how the change has to occur here, I think. The whole mindset, that women shouldn’t be allowed to enjoy sex, that they are the property of their husbands, needs to be changed- then the practice will, perhaps die out.
Maybe they should all be given courses in Theology of the Body? 😉

But yes, the whole practice, and how to best change it, is a complex and terrible one.
 
This sounds weird but I’m serious… showing them that it is actually against their religion and offer them chastity belts. At least the poor girls will not be mutilated.

Then they could put male chastity belts on the men too… give the keys to their mom’s and later their wives. Seems a fit thing to do.
 
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