Just a heads up...the following entry contains discussion of adult subject matter and medical prodecures. Please use judgement when sharing with others.
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In my Society, Culture and Health class, the topic of female circumcision, also known as female genital mutilation, came up. My professor shared with us this case study and village view point before we began our discussion into the dimensions of health:
There is a set of villages in Tanzania who still practice female circumcision. When they are asked what the significance is of this act, there is a surprising answer. They believe that all people are born as men. The differentiation occurs when the women are circumcised. They believe that if the clitoris is not removed then it would grow out to become a small penis, and the entire village would be male.
In looking at the trend to stop female circumcision because of the medical complications and reduced quality of life that goes along with it, the cultural implications must also be taken into account. Changing the ritual of circumcision means confronting years of tradition and family experience. Circumcision is seen as a rite of passage and a definition of a woman’s place in the community. For these communities if female circumcision is stopped, there needs to be another cultural practice put in place. Otherwise the traditional roles of men and women will be confused in addition to changing marriage patterns. The men would object to marrying uncircumcised women because technically, from their viewpoint, they are still male.
What I’m familiar with regarding female circumcision is the gruesome accounts and horrifying results of the procedure. I’ve never been presented with the reasons why cultures have practiced female circumcision historically other than men wanting to exercise control over women. Yes, female circumcision can and does have horrific side effects and outcomes for women. On the other hand, it’s more about culture and less about brutality in more cases than not.
When female circumcision is removed form a community a new rite of passage needs to be instituted so less culture impact is felt. It is tradition and ritual that holds many communities together. The harm needs to be diffused with education from respected sources in the community and the idea of a small culture needs to be embraced.
My viewpoint as an outsider and me who has not and will not be circumcised is more or less a subjective analysis because I cannot even imagine or undergoing such a procedure. Having researched women’s issues in Tanzania and other countries, I am a definite advocate against female circumcision because of its repercussions. Knowing all of this though, I have to acknowledge that it will be something that is hard to eliminate. As a future healthcare provider, I will inevitably see patients who have undergone the procedure. There is a chance that I could end up working in a community that insists on practice in this in the future. How am I to persuade them to change their behavior when generations of women have undergone the procedure and have had little to no negative impact? (Yes, I have previously stated the horrors of this. There are ways to make the procedure “safer” reducing the risk of infection and proper stitching to avoid future tearing during intercourse and childbirth. That does not negate other side effects though which will not be discussed here. If you have questions, please e-mail me and we can discuss it that way.) This task calls on me has a health care professional and cultural learner to find a way to help diffuse the harm without removing identity. It is easy to say that it needs to be done by someone. It’s a completely different task when you think about it in terms of “How would I handle it?”
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3 comments:
It's generally not men, but circumcised women who are the most vociferous proponents of female circumcision. There are intelligent, educated, articulate women who will passionately defend it, and as well as using the same reasons that are used to defend male circumcision in the US, they will also point to male circumcision itself, as well as labiaplasty and breast operations, as evidence of western hypocrisy regarding female circumcision.
Female and male circumcision are more comparable than some people think. Firstly, in countries where female circumcision is done under unhygienic conditions, male circumcision is too (broken glass, no anaesthesia, etc). Many boys die each year in Africa from tribal circumcisions – twenty young men died this year in just one province of South Africa. In some countries though female circumcision only involves the removal of the clitoral hood - the anatomical equivalent of the foreskin - and is done to babies in sterile conditions, even with pain relief. Check out how it's done in Egypt, Malysia or Brunei, for example. Circumcised women choose to have their daughters circumcised, citing how it's cleaner, good sexually, reduces secretions and smegma and is generally hygienic, and also mentioning studies showing circumcised women have lower infection rates. Basically the same reasons that people use to defend male circumcision. It's just a cultural difference.
Are you aware that the USA also used to practise female circumcision? It was never anywhere near as popular as male circumcision, but there are middle-aged white US American women walking round today with no clitoris because it was removed. Some of them don't even realise what has been done to them. There are frequent references to the practice in medical literature up until the 1950's. Most of them point out the similarity with male circumcision, and suggest that it should be performed for the same reasons. Blue Cross/Blue Shield covered clitoridectomy till 1977.
One victim wrote a book about it:
Robinett, Patricia (2006). The rape of innocence: One woman's story of female genital mutilation in the USA.
Personally, I don't think we can end female circumcision until we end male circumcision.
Umm, why did my earlier comment not get approved?
Your earlier comment was not published sooner because I live in a country where internet and electricity come and go frequently. I decided to devote my time, what litte of it I get online to communicating with my family. Have great day!
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