Female circumcision

I recently watched a movie called Desert Flower, which was based on the life story of Waris Dirie, a Somalian emigrant to England.  I loved the movie, but the horror of what happens to many girls made me cry. I knew something of this practice as I have a lot of experience working alongside immigrants and I am a naturally curious person. I dunno why, but people talk to me. I've been told that I don't judge harshly, but you might not know it by reading this blog. I suppose I don't judge poor people nearly as harshly as the rich, powerful, greedy, and entitled. Anyway, I met a girl who told me that this had happened to her in her home country in Africa. She was grateful that the family had emigrated and her younger sisters had escaped her fate. I remember that she had the most beautiful smile and many admirable qualities.  I met her and she told me her story years before Waris Dirie shined an international spotlight on the practice in order to try and stop, or at least reduce it.


That is why this article caught my eye this morning:

The horror of female genital mutilation in the UK
An estimated 66,000 girls have been illegally mutilated in the UK, but no one has yet been prosecuted for this practice.
Last Modified: 30 May 2012 15:50
Aljazeera

"...The poisonous power of patriarchy
Female Genital Mutilation is without a doubt powered by the poison of patriarchy. In a FGM affected community, there is a fundamental belief that mutilation is the only way to initiate a girl into becoming a "good woman" ready for marriage and childbirth. The bitter irony is that the very process of FGM is achieving the exact opposite. Removing part of a girl or a woman's anatomy, disturbing and forcefully changing the way her body is intended to function not only takes away her femininity, but biologically changes the composition that makes her into the woman that she naturally is intended to be. Women across the world are torturing other women to accommodate and appease an ideology and distorted history of male supremacy. FGM is practiced to satisfy the wishes of a patriarchal family structure, but in reality the men distance themselves from the procedure of the practice, maintaining a dominating presence in the "background" and are not concerned enough with the consequences to stop inflicting this depravity onto their daughters...."

Many immigrants have traditions that they bring with them that are charming and sweet.  This is not one of them.  This one brings with it pain and suffering and dangerously unhealthy side effects to its victims:

" It is not uncommon in some cases for a woman's vulva to be stitched up, leaving just a small opening for urine and menstrual blood to pass through, before the woman is then re-opened for sexual intercourse and childbirth...."

 It brings nausea and anger to me and frankly it makes me want knock some of these ignorant, selfish men and stupid old women upside the head to knock some sense into them. These women need to buck up and learn the power of what my mom calls "equalizers." Things like cast iron frying pans, and artfully leveraged tools, 'cause the bastard's gotta sleep some time. Ladies, your biggest tools are the truth told to the right people, and education. Being a good wife is not by definition being repeatedly raped or submitting to some selfish, stupid, cowardly piece of shit, and that's exactly what men who favor this practice are:

"There is no endorsement of FGM in the Bible, the Tanakh or Quran."