Munday Boyce
Amir 8:45-10:30 a.m. T-R
9-9-04
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
In class we watched a video explaining the many mysteries behind the mutilation of female genital parts in some African
countries. In African countries such as Togo, and many other countries where the predominant religion
is Christianity FGM is unassailably evident. FGM is practiced as a ritual, although this is a painful ordeal, many women have
become victims to this practice by way of force and few by choice. The origination of FGM is found to be in Africa.
It is a cultural practice and not by religious beliefs. This mutilation is seen as a method of reducing the sexual response
of women in order to make them not likely to become sexually active before marriage or to seek an extra-marital affair while
married. Because of the poverty issues, lack of hospitals or health clinics surrounding these countries, the procedure is
done under bad hygienic conditions. Anesthesia is rarely used. The instruments used to perform this operation are razor blades,
knives, or scissors. It is believed that when cutting the clitoris if the clitoris becomes voluminous in size the young girl
has already had sex. Uncircumcised women in countries where FGM is the norm, these women have a difficult time finding a marriage
partner. Men prefer circumcised women in Africa because they are believed to be the faithful
women. In the video I saw the pain on the young girl’s face when they were performing the procedure. Therefore we can
see that a people’s culture can be deeper than the slight moment of pain, the belief that FGM was the right thing to
do in their culture made her believe that everything would be alright in the end. In my opinion I am neither for nor against
FGM. Ones culture can play a big part in a person’s life. Being an African American male I am accustomed to the standards
that culture sets for people in their every day lives. My only objection is that I don’t believe anybody should be forced
to participate in this mutilation. There is an incessant am
Munday Boyce
Amir 8:45-10:30 a.m. T-R
9-9-04
Female
Genital Mutilation (FGM)
In class we watched a video explaining
the many mysteries behind the mutilation of female genital parts in some African countries. In African countries such as Togo, and many other countries where the predominant religion
is Christianity FGM is unassailably evident. FGM is practiced as a ritual, although this is a painful ordeal, many women have
become victims to this practice by way of force and few by choice. The origination of FGM is found to be in Africa.
It is a cultural practice and not by religious beliefs. This mutilation is seen as a method of reducing the sexual response
of women in order to make them not likely to become sexually active before marriage or to seek an extra-marital affair while
married. Because of the poverty issues, lack of hospitals or health clinics surrounding these countries, the procedure is
done under bad hygienic conditions. Anesthesia is rarely used. The instruments used to perform this operation are razor blades,
knives, or scissors. It is believed that when cutting the clitoris if the clitoris becomes voluminous in size the young girl
has already had sex. Uncircumcised women in countries where FGM is the norm, these women have a difficult time finding a marriage
partner. Men prefer circumcised women in Africa because they are believed to be the faithful
women. In the video I saw the pain on the young girl’s face when they were performing the procedure. Therefore we can
see that a people’s culture can be deeper than the slight moment of pain, the belief that FGM was the right thing to
do in their culture made her believe that everything would be alright in the end. In my opinion I am neither for nor against
FGM. Ones culture can play a big part in a person’s life. Being an African American male I am accustomed to the standards
that culture sets for people in their every day lives. My only objection is that I don’t believe anybody should be forced
to participate in this mutilation. There is an incessant amount of women being mutilated against their will, there are over
30 million mutilated women in Nigeria
alone. We have supplanted our women with robots for the future if we keep this method of force intact.
ount of women being mutilated against their will, there
are over 30 million mutilated women in Nigeria
alone. We have supplanted our women with robots for the future if we keep this method of force intact.
