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Torture, Not Culture - Female Genital Mutilation
TORTURE, NOT CULTURE
(AN INSIGHT INTO FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION)
Female circumcision, better known as Female Genital Mutilation, is an ugly
monster finally rearing its head from out of the depths of time. It can
attack a girl at any age, with a little prompting from her society, and
the aid of an unsuspecting human wielding the knife. Usually, it is
performed from a few days after birth to puberty, but in some regions, the
torture can be put off until just before marriage or the seventh month of
pregnancy (Samad, 52). Women that have gone beyond the primary level of
education are much less likely to fall victim to the tradition ("Men's...",
34). The average victim is illiterate and living in a poverty-stricken
community where people face hunger, bad health, over-working, and unclean
water ("Female...", 1714). This, however, is not always the case. As one
can see in the following story of Soraya Mire, social classes create no
real barriers. Soraya Mire, a 13-year-old from Mogadishu, Somolia, never
knew what would happen to her the day her mother called her out of her
room to go buy her some gifts. When asked why, her mother replied, "I just
want to show you how much I love you." As Soraya got into the car, she
wondered where the armed guards were. Being the daughter of a Somolian
general, she was always escorted by guards. Despite her mother's promise
of gifts, they did not stop at a store, but at a doctor's home. "This is
your special day," Soraya's mother said. "Now you are to become a woman,
an important woman." She was ushered into the house and strapped down to
an operating table. A local anesthetic was given but it barely blunted the
pain as the doctor performed the circumcision. Soraya was sent home an
hour later. Soraya broke from her culture's confining bonds at the age of
18 by running away from an abusive arranged marriage. In Switzerland, she
was put in a hospital emergency room with severe menstrual cramps because
of the operation. Seven months later, the doctor performed reconstructive
surgery on her. Now in the U.S., Soraya is a leading spokeswoman against
FGM (Bell, 58). In addition to being active in the fight against FGM, she
is a American filmmaker. She has come a long way. Being well-educated
about the facts of FGM also brings to light the ugly truth. "It is
happening on American soil," insists Soraya. Mutilations are occurring
every day among innigrants and refugees in the U.S. (Brownlee, 57).
Immigrants have also brought the horrifying practice to Europe, Australia,
and Canada (McCarthy, 14). Normally, it is practiced in North and Central
Africa ("Men's...", 34), the Middle East, and Muslim populations of
Indonesia and Malaysia ("Female...", 1714). Although it seems to have
taken root in Muslim and African Christian religions, there is no Koranic
or Biblical backing for FGM ("Men's...", 34). Many times female
circumcision is treated as a religion in itself. It can be a sacred ritual
meant to be kept secret forever. As a woman told poet Mariama Barrie, "You
are about to enter Society {sic}, and you must never reveal the ritual
that is about to take place." (Barrie, 54).
The ritualistic version of FGM is much more barbaric than the sterile
doctor's world which Soraya Mire passed through. Mariama Barrie had to
endure the most severe form of FGm at the tender age of ten. Mariama's
torture is known as infibulation. There is also excision and sunna.
Infibulation consists of the removal of the entire clitoris, the whole of
the labia minora and up to 2/3 of the labia majora. The sides of the vulva
are sewn or held together by long thorns. A small opening the size of the
tip of a matchstick is left for the passage of menstrual blood and urine.
Excision is a clitoridectomy and sometimes the removal of the labia
minora; sunna is the only type that can truthfully be called circumcision.
It is a subtotal clitoridectomy ("Female...", 1714). To put this in
perspective, infibulation would be like cutting off a man's penis
completely, cutting the testicles to the groin, and making a hole in them
to have the semen siphoned out (McCarthy, 14). But still, it can get worse.
The instruments that can be used to perform the operation are usually
crude and dirty. they can include kitchen knives, razor blades, scissors,
broken glass, and in some regions, the teeth of the midwife. Because of
this, there are many dangers threatenng the victim. The most immediate
danger is exsanguination: there is no record of how many girls bleed to
death because of this operation ("Female...", 1715). Other physical
consequences include infection, gangrene, abcesses, infertility, painful
sex, difficulty in childbirth, and possibly death ("Men's...", 34). No
matter how much we learn, the pain will still be the same as when the
first female circumcision was performed in the fifth century, B.C.
(McCarthy, 14). The number of women affected by this has risen steadily
since then. The average per year is now 2 million (McCarthy, 15), and it
is their "female friends, mothers, and grandmothers who urge them to lie
backa nd think of traditional culture" ("Men's...", 34).
The reason women are promoting this practice is because "circumcisions are
often carried out by select older women, whose profession provides them
witha degree of public esteem rarely enjoyed by women in male-dominated
societies" (Brownlee, 58). A better, but still not logical reason for
women to promote FGM is life. Soraya Mire remarks, "[It] is proof of your
virginity, and men only want to marry virgins. A Sudanese woman without a
husband is not only an outcast, she is likely to die of starvation because
she has no way to make a living on her own." (Bell, 59) Many cultures
support female circumcision because of ancient native beliefs. For example,
some believe that bodies are androgynous at birth. To enter adulthood,
girls "must be relieved of their male part, the clitoris" (Brownlee, 58).
Others believe that the clitoris contains poison or will eventually grow
to the size of a man's penis ("Female...", 1716). However, the tide is
turning. Men, who probably created FGM for their benefit, are turning
against it. Most men found out that prostitutes are more fun if the woman
isn't in pain. It's not the best reason, but it's better than none at all
("Men's...", 34) This has been a tragic and horrifying story to tell. I'm
sorry I had to be the one to tell it, but someone had to.
WORKS CITED
Barrie, Mariama L. "Wounds that never heal." Essence, (Mar. 1996), 54.
Bell, Alison. "Worldwide women's watch." 'TEEN, (June 1996), 58-59.
Brownlee, Shannon and Jennifer Seter. "In the name of ritual." U.S. News
and World Report, (Feb. 7, 1994), 56-58. "Female genital mutilation."
JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, (Dec. 6, 1995),
1714-1716. "FGM: A universal issue." Humanist, (Sep. 1996), 46.
McCarthy, Sheryl. "Fleeing mutilation, fighting for asylum." Ms., (July
1996), 12-16.
"Men's traditional culture." Economist, (Aug. 10, 1996), 34. Samad, Asha.
"Afterword." Natural History, (Aug. 1996), 52-53.
Word Count: 1,185
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