Aolana+and+Leilani

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2414014/2-000-female-genital-mutilation-victims-seek-help-London-hospitals-just-3-years.html

Abstract: This article talks about the procedure of genital mutilation in communities in Africa, particularly Mali, Somalia, Sudan and Kenya, as well as some parts of the Middle East. Genital mutilation is when certain sexual parts of a females body are cut off because they induce pleasure. In the article, it talks about how women were not being treated for this abuse ealier because genital mutilation was just considered a "cultural practice". But in most cases, many people say that the mutilation of female sex organs isn't necessarily celebratory but just an act of gender-based violence. In the UK, many young women are taken to these countries where FGM is legal and are forced to be "cut". While it is illegal in many parts of the world, the UK, up until recently has not been fully acknowledging the issue. Discussion Questions:

- Do you consider this as a “cultural” practice? Or as an act of gender violence?

- How does this compare to male circumcision?

- How does FGM symbolize suppression of females?

- Do you think this act will ever stop (considering its been a tradition in some cultures)?

Aolana’s Reaction:

I am greatly disturbed and against female genital mutilation. Not only is it inhumane, but it is highly unnecessary. I respect that fact that FGM is a cultural practice in some cultures, but given the times we live in today, it loses its effect. The article states that the reason for FGM is to prevent women from having pleasure during sex. Men were probably the ones to make up this “ritual” and for the benefit of their own. Male circumcision, pertains nothing to the pleasures of sex, but to their devotion to God (or what they believe in). To me, FGM is symbolic of male suppression of women. Controlling women’s “pleasures” is a major way to enforce dominance. Another fact that stood out to me in this article is the equipment used on these women. Rusty jagged rockish looking knives look very dangerous, painful, and not sanitary. Besides losing a part of their senses, these FGM-ed women have to endure the side effects of infection, pain, and many other horrible symptoms. I back up the motion of making this act illegal all over the world, but because it is recognized as a “cultural” practice, it may not be abolished entirely.

Leilani's Reaction:

Originally I had learned of the practice of FGM throught Ms. Falk's Flipboard and when I first learned of it, it sounded to me like some sort of medieval torture. People from these communities force these young girls to be cut up with dangerous, unsanitary products, many of these young girls have the physical scarring their whole lives. What also disgusted me was the fact that many people still considered FGM to be a "cultural" practice, in what kind of society is mutilation "cultural". When I first read about it, FGM sounded to me like a way just to oppress the female populous. In the article, when I read about the young girl, Nimko Ali who was take out of her home in the UK at the age of 7 and taken to Somalia where she was brutally forced into FGM, I was astonished, not only by the fact that she was in so much pain, but also because when she came back to the UK no one took her story seriously.