Blog Post: Female Genital Circumcision!

Female Genital Mutilation became of interest to me when we read “A Statement on Genital Mutilation” by the Association of American Women for Research and Development and “We had Equality till Britain Came” by Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. When one has respect for women they will have respect for their bodies, the female body is a temple.  Most men don’t have respect for the person, much less the body. In Ransome- Kuti’s article men found it just to strip young girls naked in the street to determine whether they were old enough to pay taxes or not. The author blamed this lack of fairness on the new rule of Britain, because before Britain’s rule everything was equal for both men and women.

Female genital cutting is the procedure otherwise known as female circumcision, and female genital mutilation (FGM). This is the cultural practice of partially or totally removing the external female genitalia. The minor form of FGC is when the clitoris is removed. The most severe form of FGC is when all external genitalia are removed and the vaginal opening is stitched nearly closed. Only a small opening is left for urine and menstrual blood (Walsh). Female genital mutilation is classified into 4 categories: clitoridectomy, excision, infibulation, and all other non medical procedures.  Clitoridectomy is partial or total removal of the clitoris and, in very rare cases, only the prepuce (the fold of skin surrounding the clitoris). Excision is partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora.  Infibulation is narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal. The seal is formed by cutting and repositioning the inner, or outer, labia, with or without removal of the clitoris. The forth kind is consist of all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, such as pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterizing the genital area.

Female genital cutting cause numerous short term as well as long term problems for women. Some short term affects are Bleeding or hemorrhaging, Infection, Pain and Trauma. Some long term affects are: problems going to the bathroom, not being able to have sex normally, problems with gynecological health, increased risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV, problems getting pregnant, and problems during pregnancy and labor, and/or psychological and emotional stress. “The clitoris is a site for pleasure – pure pleasure, and its removal does not compromise the reproductively of the female, but serves, not only to create pain in the female body through its removal, but also to permanently obliterate one of the sites for pleasure that constitutes that female body (Morrison 126)”. Millions of young women continue to experience genital cutting but African women’s group have successfully implemented strategies to undermine the practice through female literacy, family law reform, women’s health education and creating new rituals to replace genital cutting.