Female Genital Mutilation:
Barbaric Custom or Cultural Rite
“I was shaking out of my skin with fear. I sat at Netsent’s head so she couldn’t cry out. The circumciser began to cut with a razor blade. She cut everything: the clitoris, the inner and outer labia. There was so much blood!” This is an excerpt from an article that appeared in Marie Claire in April 2003. The speaker is a girl by the name of Genet Girma, an Ethiopian, describing the conditions under which her sister Netsent was forced to have her genitalia removed. Each year, two million girls undergo the devastating and disfiguring practice of genital cutting (Goodwin 157). Genital cutting, widely known as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), is the practice of cutting away parts of the external female genitalia. Although many people may see FGM as barbaric and dangerous, most of those who practice it see FGM as a religious rite and as a deeply rooted cultural practice.
The three broad categories of FGM are clitoridectomy, excision and infibulation. The mildest form of FGM, clitoridectomy, is the removal of all or part of the clitoris. Excision includes the removal of the clitoris and the cutting of the labia minora. The most extreme form of FGM is infibulation, the removal of the clitoris, labia minora, and the stitching together of the labia majora. Infibulation leaves just a small opening in the vagina for the passage of urine and menstrual fluid, and requires binding together of the legs until stitches adhere. Often the removal of the stitches is part of a wedding night ritual (Taylor 31). If the terrifying nature of the procedure were not enough, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that FGM is “normally performed by traditional practitioners with crude instruments, such as knives, razor blades and broken glass, usually without anesthetics.”
The invasive characteristics of FGM and the unsanitary conditions under which it is usually performed can have serious consequences. Pediatric Nursing writes “FGM may cause numerous physical complications, including hemorrhage and severe pain, which can cause shock, even death.” It also writes “FGM may create long-term complications resulting from scarring and interference with the drainage of urine and menstrual blood, such as chronic pelvic infections, which may cause pelvic and back pain, dysmenorrhea, infertility, chronic urinary tract infe...
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...ce (Ahmad). As WHO has stated, “We have to realize that female genital mutilation is a deeply-rooted traditional practice. As such, it can only be abolished completely when attitudes have been changed” (Taylor 31). As this statement suggests, there has to be a line drawn in the sand when discussing the practice of FGM. On one side, there are Western idealists who believe that FGM is barbaric and should be abolished, with their own hands if necessary. On the other side, there are the people who believe FGM is a tradition and a cultural rite, one that should be continued for centuries to come. And somewhere in the middle there are those that believe that change must come, but must come only when the countries involved are ready. Change cannot be put upon them.
Works Cited
Ahmad, Imad-ad-Dean. “Female Genital Mutilation: An Islamic Perspective.” Minaret. 1 May 2003 .
English, Veronica. “Female Genital Mutilation.” Journal of Medical Ethics 27.3 (2001): 203-205.
Goodwin, Jan. “I Said No to Female Genital Mutilation.” Marie Claire 10.4 (2003): 157-159.
Taylor, Vivienne. “Female Genital Mutilation: Cultural Practice or Child Abuse?” Pediatric Nursing 15.1 (2003): 31-34.
I argue that female genital mutilation (FGM) should not be covered under the universal code of ethics when dealing with cultural tolerance, parents should not be able to make harmful decisions for their children, and doctors are under no obligation to perform such rituals to conform to the beliefs and traditions of their patients such as in cases of
In Althaus’ article, she provides in-depth information about female circumcision; a highly controversial cultural ritual that is practiced in at least 28 countries
Besides in the case of constraint, (A) the agent could have done otherwise. Then, by extension, it would also be equal to say that (B) if the agent had chosen to do otherwise, then he would have done otherwise. As Chisholm describes, this later statement is clearly in a accordance with determinism as, even if by an exaggerated chain of causal events, it can be seen that if he had decided to do otherwise, he would have done so. Under this conclusion, if (B) is in agreement with determinism, and (A) and (B) are of equal value, (A) would also be deterministic in nature. Accordingly, it would then be possible to find that (A) is both consistent with determinism and moral responsibility, and that these two theories must also be equal with one another. Additionally, under very specific circumstances it could be possible to find (B) to be true while (A) to be false, such as in the case of a man who, unbeknownst to him, is locked in a certain room with no way out. However, the man in this case is certainly content in the aforementioned room with no intention of leaving. If he had wanted to leave he is of the belief that he would be able to do so, proving (B) true. This is despite the fact that he would not have done this, as he is not able to, showing (A) to be false. Therefore we can see the need for an additional statement (C), he could have
Female genital mutilation is mostly practiced in Islamic and African cultures, claiming young girls as t...
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
...ndreds of centuries has not harmed a babies health. This procedure is actually in the child's best interest as it is in accordance with fundamental beliefs of his faith.
Neonatal circumcision is one of the most often executed surgeries in the United States. (1:130) In my clinical practice thus far, the question whether to circumcise male neonates or not is frequently asked in the postpartum period. Midwives play an important role in providing informed choice discussions for their clients, it is thus our role to present the research evidence available in order to help women make the right choice for them and their families. This paper aims to describe the different incentives of male circumcision and the benefits and risks involved.
Female genital cutting is often termed as female genital circumcision or female genital mutilation. This includes partial or complete removal of external female genitalia for non-medical reasons (WHO). Woman who undergo this procedure generally range from the ages five to fifteen years old. This process is known to have no actual health benefits however; it is practiced la...
life around it, there is nothing you can do or say that will get them to change;
Yirga, Kassa, Gebremichael (2012). Female Genital Mutilation: Prevalence, perceptions and effect on women’s health. International Journal of Women’s Health, 4, 45-54.
2. FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION: AN INTRODUCTION. National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers FGM Awareness and Education Project. Box 2512 San Anselmo, CA 94979
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...
Also, it helps preserve culture and diverse society. Minority groups would not be penalized by being different based on their traditional practices. The cons of allowing cultural defense is that traditional practices will violate the law in the United States. Cultural practices are different inn other countries. Also, there would be hard time finding acceptance. The consequences of using criminal legal system to address genital cutting is that it would go against cultural beliefs and cultural rights. Also, that many women practice medicine without a license. For example, women who do the surgery are from third world countries that have enough expiernece to does this procedure. Strategies that can help prevent genital cutting is my spreading the challenges and consequences of this procedure. For example, women should be educated about the long term effect of genital
Gender reassignment is a very controversial topic. Does it really work, can surgery really change your gender? People will always tell you about all the things that go right with surgery, but does anyone truly pay attention to the significant problems that this surgery can cause? Gender reassignment surgery (GRS) is a surgical procedure by which a person’s physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble that of the other sex. It is said that this surgery is used to treat gender identity disorder (GID), which describes the condition in which an individual identifies with a gender inconsistent or not culturally associated with their assigned sex. Having surgery performed can cause both physical and mental tribulations. While death is an unlikely result of complications, things do go wrong, as with all surgeries there are risks. There are also major mental, physiological, social and emotional side effects. Surgery will not fix the underlying psychological problems that cause the request for surgery. Anyone considering surgery needs to proceed with caution, as it can result in irreversible damage.
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.