Source:
http://www.wfn.org/2007/07/msg00159.html
This article is about Mauritanian women fighting for erasing the exercise of female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female circumcision. FGM is mainly practiced in Africa and some countries in Asia in the Middle East. It is also increasingly practiced in Europe, North America, and Australia by immigrants. FGM brings many immediate and long-term health and psychological consequences, ranging from severe pain and urination problems to painful sexual intercourse, difficulties with child birth, contraction of HIV and depression.
FGM is performed for different reasons: cultural, religious, sociological, etc. For example, in some cultures, it is performed to maintain chastity and virginity before marriage, SUPPRESS SEXUAL DESIRE IN THE FEMALE WHILE INCREASING SEXUAL PLEASURE IN THE MALE (I'm really angry at this belief. I cannot believe that some women have to go through so much pain- during FGM, after FGM, when urinating, during sex, when giving birth, not to mention possible lifelong psychological problems- and risk death just so men would have more sexual pleasure).
In Mauritania, the rights of women are violated. The idea of women and children having rights is still a relatively new concept. I'm inspired by women like Aminata Louli, a former female circumciser, who educates women in her community about their rights, and the fact that FGM is a harmful practice that should not be retained.
I would consider myself as a pretty open-minded and culturally sensitive person. But when it comes to practices in other cultures that are not acceptable in my own, I always have a hard time deciding whether I should accept them for being different and that they're just part of the culture, or judge them. A very good example would be the wearing of veil by Muslim women. While in Western eyes, the wearing of veil is seen by some people as oppressive to women, it is considered as a sign of honor and respect by Muslims (please correct me if I'm wrong). In Chinese culture, parents favor boys over girls for historical and sociological reasons. Even though I grew up in Hong Kong- a considerably modernized and westernized society- I can understand why it was important for my parents to have a boy (after four girls, they finally got a boy) and my dad sometimes pay more attention to my little brother than me: my brother is going to be the only child who carries on the name of my family. I don't think I can ever get rid of the concept of a boy being more important than a girl, until one day when husbands would take the last name of wives and children would to inherit the last name of their mothers.
So how should I decide when a practice is not acceptable? I think El Hassan Ould Moulaye Ely, secretary general of the Saudi Islamic Institute in Nauakchott, makes a very good point when he says, "If a traditional habit is harmful to health, it needs to be [eliminated]. We can preserve good traditions but give up harmful ones." Not only when a traditional habit is harmful to health, when it is harmful to general to anyone in that culture, it should be eliminated. I think this is what DEVELOPMENT should mean: countries that are developing should try to preserve their cultures, while eliminating their harmful practices. FGM hurts, and even kills, women. It should be eliminated everywhere.
By the way, what do you think about my being ingrained with the idea that boys are more important than girls when it comes to carrying on family names? Rather than being a sexist concept, I would say that it is more of a family value. I would consider myself as a feminist and I always try to fight against sexism and for my rights of being a woman. Does having such concept makes me less of a feminist? Does it make me and other Hong Kong people who have the same value less modernized? Less developed?
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2 comments:
I've heard about genital mutilation in Northern Africa especially in the Middle East, which I believe it is immoral to attempt muilation on the youngs when they do not have a choice at all. Lydia, I really have to agree with your very written analogy in Hong Kong to the Mauritan Women. Usually feminists like to blame this awful situation on “patriarchy" as you have mentioned in your reaction. On the other hand, I do however feel that it is perserve, not really immoral, for China to justify that boys are worth more than girls because of their social and historical statuses. My Taiwanese mother has often spoken about China's one-child policy in order to control the population and it usually focuses mainly by and exterminating the girls like forced abortions. There has been recent cases of missing pregnant women in China and some of them were even being in jail prior to abortion or may have died. That was some unfortunate risky measure that women in China have to face these days. Girls in China of the developing world seem to receive far less attention and resources than boys though. According to the one-child Policy, there can be a potential since China is much more weakening than most Westerners seem to view.
I just want to comment on the wearing of the veil or the hijab. Although American, I happen to like the idea of covering yourself up so that every man who you pass on the street can't look at you and judge you on your physical body and face. Unfortunately, even in our "developed" society, men are often still very "primitive" in their attitudes towards women, and often a beautiful, sexy woman will be treated differently than one is who is not. I think in some ways, covering your body and face (maybe not to an extreme level, but at least to be modest) is in fact "progressive" and wearing very revealing clothing is "primitive" because you are preying on a man's sexual brain to respond to that favorably, rather than responding to your actual merits as a human being.
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