Female Genital MutilationEssay Preview: Female Genital MutilationReport this essayFemale Genital MutilationFemale Genital Mutilation is believed to have started in Egypt 2,000 years ago and spread from there. Only a few years ago, FGM was considered a cultural tradition, but now the United Nations has labeled it as a violation of human rights. Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United States has declared Female Genital Mutilation grounds for seeking asylum and is a punishable offense (1).
Many of us never heard of Female Genital Mutilation until the story of Kauziya Kasinga, a woman from West Africa. Her father did not believe in polygamy, forced marriage, or “female circumcision”. He died when she was 17 and the fathers sister inherited the home, banished the mother, ended Fauziyas schooling, and arranged a marriage as a fourth wife to a man she had never met. The aunt scheduled her for the circumcision and she ran with 3,000 dollars that one of her aunts had saved.
What is female circumcision? The female genital mutilation term covers three main varieties of genital mutilation (2). There is the “sunna circumcision”; this consists of removal of the prepuce and/or the tip of the clitoris. Ironically, sunna in Arabic means “tradition”. This is done because it is believed that the clitoris is a very dangerous part of the female anatomy. In our culture, Freud stated in his book, Sexuality and the Psychology of Love, that the “elimination of clitoral sexuality is a necessary precondition for the development of femininity. In 1979, the “Love Surgery” was performed on women in the United Sates. Dr. James Burt, the “Love Surgeon”, introduced “clitoral relocation” (sunna circumcision) to the medical field. He believed and acted upon the idea that excision does not prevent sexual pleasure, but enhances it. Dr. Burt practiced in Ohio for almost ten years before he was exposed after which he gave up his license.
Clitoridectomy, also referred to as excision, removes the entire clitoris and the removal of the labia. Thirdly, there is a procedure called an infibulation. This is the most extreme form of circumcision, it consists of the removal of the clitoris, the labia, and the joining of the scraped sides of the vulva across the vagina, where they are secured with thorns or sewn with thread. A small opening is kept to allow passage of urine and menstrual blood. A woman with this type of circumcision must be cut open to allow intercourse on the wedding night and is closed again afterwards to secure fidelity to the husband. It is sometimes opened to allow childbirth, but is sewn up again. In some cultures, the husband will cut her open to have sex with her. In males, you would have to remove the entire penis and testicles (castration) to compare this with infibualtion (3). This was done in the Catholic Church to get men to sing soprano. It is no longer permitted and has been outlawed by the Pope. It was also done to men who worked in harems so that they would not have sex with the girls.
Female genial mutilation is mainly practiced in the African culture. It is also practiced in Christian, Judaism, Aboriginal, and Islamic cultures. FGM is not religious, but is a social custom (4). In some countries it is almost universal. There are over 30 million women currently living in Nigeria that have been circumcised and 24 million in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Some groups say that 114 to 130 million women worldwide have had the operation. FGM has spread worldwide with immigrants coming from Africa and other nations that accept this practice. It is outlawed in the United States, but the practice is still done. Specialists in Denver, CO reported in 1998 that at least 6,000 immigrants have settled in the area from African countries, which widely practices FGM. Dr. Terry Dunn, director of a womens clinic in that city commented: “I know of one patient where it was clear it was performed in this country.” About 4 mutilation cases are seen each year at the clinic (5).
Female Genital Mutilation can be done at any age depending on the culture. Most cultures do it at the age of puberty; some do it at birth. The justification for the operation appears to be largely grounded in the desire to terminate or reduce feelings of sexual arousal in women so that they will be much less likely to engage in pre-marital intercourse or adultery. The clitoris has a lot of nerve endings, and this gives feelings of sexual arousal when stimulated.
Women in countries that practice FGM who dont get circumcised have a hard time finding marriage partner and being chastised by other women and men. If you are not married say in an African tribe you have no usefulness. Family honor, cleanliness, protection against spell, insurance of virginity and faithfulness to the husband or simply terrorizing women out of sex are sometimes used as excuses for the practice of FGM. In Muslim countries men prefer circumcised wives because they are more likely to be faithful. Other claims in support of FGM are (6):
a. The clitoris is dangerous and must be removed for health reasons. They believe that if it is a poisonous organ, which can cause a man to sicken or die if contacted by a mans penis. Others believe that men can become impotent by contacting a clitoris, or that a baby will be hydrocephalic (born with “water on the brain”) if its head contacts the clitoris during birth. Some believe that the milk of the mother will become poisonous if her clitoris touches the baby.
b. If the clitoris is removed along with the labia is eliminates bad genital odors.c. FGM prevents vaginal cancerd. An unremoved clitoris can lead to masturbation or lesbianism.e. FGM prevents nervousness from developing in girlsf. It prevents the face from turning yellow.g. It makes the womans face more beautiful.h. If FGM is not done, older men may not be able to match their wives sex drive and may have to resort to illegal stimulating drugs.i. An intact clitoris generates sexual arousal in women can cause neuroses if repressed.These claims appear to have little support outside of countries where FGM is common.FGM was started during the “al-gahiliyya” (translates into “Era of Ignorance”). The Bible is silent on the subject, but the Sunnah (words and actions of the Prophet Mohammed) contains a number of references to female circumcision. One passage is recorded between Mohammed and Um
:Hishman, the prophet of the Holy Spirit, is quoted on the following lines in the Quran:Allah has established that the sun is at a place from which there’s no sun except the Moon in Islam.Hishman writes:I am going to ask you to be more forgiving towards those who reject you. To those who believe that the Sun is at a place from which there’s no sun except your Lord in Islam, to those who reject that there’s no King in Islam, or the Prophets of Allah, or the Messenger of Allah, or whatever they call themselves, those are my friends who believe, and I will ask you from those who ask from those who seek from those who give from those who provide. Allah has established that the Sun is a place in which there’s no sun except the Sun in Islam .
When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prayed on the Mount of T’is that day, he requested Moses, who was leading the people, not to be touched with a knife – that was because the Muslim is the king of Israel. He told Moses that he had called Israel and he needed Moses to bring the people, because they are to be the sons of God and sons of Israel. The women who worshipped Moses did not worship him. Even the wives of Jesus Christ are afraid of him. (The Holy Quran, 10:6)
When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) read that Verse (34) of the Quran that he had recited during the funeral of the body of Jesus,he raised the hand of his mother and took the hand of her face to her cheeks. He kissed her neck. (In the Quran, that verse means that the father had to perform the rite of “kissing the father to her face from his mouth, without pain.” ) He used to perform the rite in some cases by rubbing his face.
Mohammed has said that his mother taught him that once a year, if he did nothing and let her be naked and she turned into a goat, then she would die and leave behind her husband behind. The tradition is that before her death, he would perform this rite.
Mohammed could not practice this act without his mother’s knowledge. He has said to her: “Your mother would find this matter very difficult and painful. You must give your hands to your husband and do not take them to the grave.” That is, you have to beg from his wife and say that the blood of him who committed this act needs to be shed. That is, even the blood of the goat and cow has to be shed because we could not live without it until there was time when it was due for the Prophet Muhammad.
Mohammed was not unaware that women are circumcised from birth – if his mother had not made a choice between two people for the sake of privacy, then he would have been ashamed to perform an act like that. He would have been ashamed to do that. The women would then feel ashamed as well.
Muhammad wrote in his Quran for the first time that ‘Allah’s Messenger delivered Mohammed al-Sarif from the hands of the people in this way, in one day’.
Mohammed did not believe in a single woman being able to perform physical acts against her in accordance with Her will until she passed her menstrual period. (Abu Dawood