Female Genital Mutilation...all in the name of culture...

2»

Comments

  • pandora
    pandora Posts: 21,855
    haffajappa wrote:
    pandora wrote:
    Whose fault is it that they are not enlightened, liberated, treated as equals? I still say it is a mans world and some men need to have a change of heart, maybe a should say grow a heart.
    Its not a man's world... or at least people need to rid of that thinking.
    But unfortunately too many places still think it is.
    I agree it shouldn't or can't be a mans world but they still seem to hold the power
  • soaks the pages
    soaks the pages Posts: 91
    the worst thing is knowing that there are those in the world, like these women, who defend and perpetuate this practice because first of all, they don't know any better, and second of all, because it is tradition. you could call any atrocity a tradition and cry out for its validity. and the thing is, this IS a religious issue because there ARE muslims and there ARE christians who actually encourage the continuation of this practice or fail to see the harm in it. but where do we draw the line on freedom of religion? where do we draw the line on cultural relativism?

    the article clearly shows that the english law against this practice is not having an affect on it. how about instead of just relying on prosecution against it, we focus on education against it?
    that's faarkokte.
  • StillHere
    StillHere Posts: 7,795
    soaks the pages wrote:
    the worst thing is knowing that there are those in the world, like these women, who defend and perpetuate this practice because first of all, they don't know any better, and second of all, because it is tradition. you could call any atrocity a tradition and cry out for its validity. and the thing is, this IS a religious issue because there ARE muslims and there ARE christians who actually encourage the continuation of this practice or fail to see the harm in it. but where do we draw the line on freedom of religion? where do we draw the line on cultural relativism?

    the article clearly shows that the english law against this practice is not having an affect on it. how about instead of just relying on prosecution against it, we focus on education against it?

    EDUCATION..yes
    education is the key
    to all things
    peace,
    jo

    http://www.Etsy.com/Shop/SimpleEarthCreations
    "How I choose to feel is how I am." ~ EV/MMc
    "Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness and they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy, or they become legends." ~ One Stab ~
  • soaks the pages
    soaks the pages Posts: 91
    did a little more reading into this subject and found out... guess what? we do FGM here in the good old usa, too.

    http://womensrights.change.org/blog/vie ... university

    what i'd like to know is how on earth somebody took it upon himself to determine that a young girl's clitoris, before the girl has even finished developing entirely, could be considered "abnormal," "enlarged," or would cause her "humiliation." and then goes ahead and personally runs stimulation tests on them himself.
    that's faarkokte.
  • StillHere
    StillHere Posts: 7,795
    soaks the pages wrote:
    did a little more reading into this subject and found out... guess what? we do FGM here in the good old usa, too.

    http://womensrights.change.org/blog/vie ... university

    what i'd like to know is how on earth somebody took it upon himself to determine that a young girl's clitoris, before the girl has even finished developing entirely, could be considered "abnormal," "enlarged," or would cause her "humiliation." and then goes ahead and personally runs stimulation tests on them himself.

    don't mean to hijack your post, but I'm running with it...there is a PETITION attached ...this is the USA..Cornell University man, while they are not performing the stage 3 radical surgery performed in other cultures, they are, nevertheless, changing the anatomy and the self-image of young girls without their permission.

    SIGN THE PETITION to Tell Cornell University: Stop Genital Mutilation Now

    Targeting: Faculty Councils, Weill Cornell Medical College, Gerald M. Loughlin (Chair, Dept. of Pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medical College) and David J. Skorton (President, Cornell University)

    Tell Cornell University and Medical School to stop sanctioning this procedure, clarify their position on female genital mutilation (FGM), and take actions against the Dr. Poppas and any associates who are peddling mutilation as medicine.

    THIS PART IS MY OPINION: (below this will be the text of the petition)
    Any such surgery should obviously be the chioice of the individual....not the parents
    as long as the so-called "defect" is not obstructive, preventing function of the genitourinary system
    who is to judge someone else's appearance
    that just says to young girls..you were born "Wrong" and we have to fix you now
    what do we expect that young girl will grow up feeling/thinking about her body/herself
    IF you agree...click below to sign the petition against this awful practice!

    http://womensrights.change.org/petitions/view/tell_cornell_university_stop_genital_mutilation_now

    Petition Text

    Dear Members of the Cornell University and Medical School,

    Greetings,

    The media has recently picked up on a story concerning Dr. Dix Poppas, a pediatrician and urologist at Weill Cornell Medical College and New York Presbyterian Hospital, who is performing surgeries on your girls to reduce the size of their clitoris. Dr. Poppas believes he can do this without nerve damage, and tests nerve damage after surgery with such devices as a vibrator on the young girls.

    This is female genital mutilation, pure and simple. No child should be subjected to such a painful, potentially harmful, and psychologically scarring procedure; certainly, it is not the place of a leading hospital and pediatrician to create and recommend such a practice, when doctors who know how the body works should explain to anxious parents that their children's "abnormality" is nothing to be ashamed of.

    The hospital needs to take serious and decisive action: apologize to the young girls it has harmed, end performing genital mutilation and young girls, take a proactive stance against FGM, and take action against Dr. Poppas for abusing his situation as a doctor to perpetuate this terrible process.

    On a personal note, I can think of nothing more painful, humiliating, and psychologically as well as physically damaging than to undergo such a procedure. One that teaches girls from a young age to sacrifice pleasure for "image," that they are only as good as what they look like on the outside, that there is only one "normal" way to exist.

    Sincerely,
    peace,
    jo

    http://www.Etsy.com/Shop/SimpleEarthCreations
    "How I choose to feel is how I am." ~ EV/MMc
    "Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness and they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy, or they become legends." ~ One Stab ~
  • TravisTheSky
    TravisTheSky Posts: 615
    gimmesometruth27 wrote:
    i think we as the human race could stand to be a little better to one another. we are... capable of such barbarism...

    Listen to the pettiness of this Dad: "That's the look I'm going for."
    http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8212662920114237112# (13 minutes)

    And I can shine a little light on your dismissal of male foreskin:
    http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1482347046642439341# (19 minutes)
    The foreskin is a miracle of physiology designed solely for sexual pleasure. Whoo hoo!!!

    Knowledge is power. Wisdom is understanding.

    Love, Brynne
    "May you live in interesting times."
  • GTFLYGIRL
    GTFLYGIRL NewYork Posts: 788
    TravisTheSky wrote:
    gimmesometruth27 wrote:
    i think we as the human race could stand to be a little better to one another. we are... capable of such barbarism...


    http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8212662920114237112# (13 minutes)


    Good God. Couldn't watch the whole thing. THAT is why we didn't do that to our son.... NO. WAY.

    IMO. THAT. IS. MUTILATION.

    Maybe not as "bad" as FGM... but unnecessary and painful mutilation. :evil:

Categories