Ghana is (proudly) one of the few countries in Africa to have outlawed FGM and it has for the most part been eradicated here. It does continue to exist in remote areas of the North and West, such as the villages I am visiting for my project. It's not something anyone ever talks about. In fact, issues of sexuality are so taboo in this area, that even happily married women do not want to admit to pregnancy as it means admitting to having had sex. (You can then imagine the challenge of getting women to access prenatal care, but that's another issue). Women only visit their husband's hut late in the night, and simply anything even remotely related is never discussed in the public sphere. That is why the aforementioned discussion in the last post (The Voice) was truly extraordinary and helps reaffirm the need to give voice and forum of discussion to women silenced by their own tradition.
FGM. Female genital mutilation, also known as female genital cutting or female circumcision is the cultural practice of using a razor, or shred of glass to partially or completely remove the clitoris of a girl, it may also include removing the labia and/or sowing the vaginal opening closed, leaving only a small opening for menstrual blood. Practiced by Muslims, Christians, and traditionalists alike it is an incredibly widespread practice throughout Africa. WHO estimates about 100-140 million girls and women have undergone the ritual.
It is without question an atrocious practice that needs to stop. However, I think often as outsiders we misunderstand this issue and its cultural and traditional significance. Hearing the description of FGM, the Western feminist in all of us, male and female alike, would like to jump to this idea of men wanting to control women and limit their sexuality. And to a certain extent in some areas, this is true, but that is not the main reasoning behind FGM. Believe it or not, the biggest advocates for FGM are not old men or chiefs, but women themselves. Usually older women, who have undergone it themselves, and it is them that encourage and complete the rite on the girls. It is very much, a female-driven practice. It is an important rite that is based very much on tradition and cultural ideas of beauty and womanhood.
FGM like many other "African issues", are things that in our Western mind we often want to 'other' to that terrible place where the Black people roam in poverty and disease and their crazy customs. But if we take a moment and look at he ideals and shortcomings of our own culture, we might be able to see this in a different light.
So I will boldly challenge you all to look at this issue comparatively with the keen practice of male infant circumcision we culturally highly value in the U.S. Not unlike FGM, it is something far common (estimate circumcision rate in the U.S is 70-90%) and not really ever discussed in private or public. While the the two practices are not at all biologically reciprocal. In fact, the clitoris is biological equivalent of the head of the penis. To cut or remove it would be essentially cutting off the entire penis head. And because the clitoris has twice the nerve endings of the penis (vagina happy fact of the day =), we can assume it to be twice more painful, and this isn't exactly done with anesthesia.
However, the cultural reasons behind the two circumcisions are not all that different. Both practices are painful (yes, baby boys feel pain when circumcised), purely cosmetic, and cultural in nature. Although there is a religious component at times with things like the Hebrew tradition, it's generally just a choice of parents. There is no significant proven or recognized health benefit to male circumcision, it is very much a cosmetic practice that the American culture has come to value. There is some unclear research on the possible negative effects of male circumcision on sexual potency, it's not something really proven or recognized. Since obviously it is difficult to experimentally control and assess with most male circumcisions occurring in infancy. However, what is really different between the two is the obvious known harm of FGM as far as bleeding, painful menstruation, infections, and complications and death during labor.
FGM certainly needs to be put to an end, but it can only be done with education. Until these communities are educated, in a culturally sensitive way, on the physical and psychological harmful effects this causes girls, FGM will never come to an end. But from the outside we cannot seize to a) discuss it, and b) really seek to learn the complexity of the issue. I am not an expert on FGM so I will leave you with the findings of someone who is. Based on decades of research on the issue, she put this table of quotes together that I think really helps see the cultural parallels between male and female circumcision on both sides of the Atlantic. So I will leave you with this food for thought.
I am not trying to attack male circumcision. To be honest, I think if I were to ever have a son, I would have him circumcised. And I'm certainly not trying to defend FGM. It is such a horrendous and dangerous practice. But I hope that that seeing them compared side by side will help us all better understand the cultural aspects of the issue.
Similarities in Attitudes and Misconceptions toward Infant Male Circumcision in North America and Ritual Female Genital Mutilation in Africa.
By Hanny Lightfoot-Klein
| Clitoridectomy and Infibulation in Africa | Infant Male Circumcision in North America |
|---|---|
| "She loses only a little piece of the clitoris, just the part that protrudes. The girl does not miss it. She can still feel, after all. There is hardly any pain. Women's pain thresholds are so much higher than men's." | "It's only a little piece of skin. The baby does not feel any pain because his nervous system is not developed yet." |
| "The parts that are cut away are disgusting and hideous to look at. It is done for the beauty of the suture." | "An uncircumcised penis is a real turn-off. Its disgusting. It looks like the penis of an animal." |
| "Female circumcision protects the health of a woman. Infibulation prevents the uterus from falling out [uterine prolapse]. It keeps her smelling so sweet that her husband will be pleased. If it is not done, she will stink and get worms in her vagina." | "An uncircumcised penis causes urinary infections and penile cancer. It generates smegma and smegma stinks. A circumcised penis is more hygienic and oral sex with an uncircumcised penis is disgusting to women." |
| "An uncircumcised vulva is unclean and only the lowest prostitute would leave her daughter uncircumcised. No man would dream of marrying an unclean woman. He would be laughed at by everyone." | "An uncircumcised penis is dirty and only the lowest class of people with no concept of hygiene leave their boys uncircumcised." |
| "Leaving a girl uncircumcised endangers both her husband and her baby. If the baby's head touches the uncut clitoris during birth, the baby will be born hydrocephalic [excess cranial fluid]. The milk of the mother will become poisonous. If a man's penis touches a woman's clitoris he will become impotent." | "Men have an obligation to their wives to give up their foreskin. An uncircumcised penis will cause cervical cancer in women. It also spreads disease." |
| "A circumcised woman is sexually more pleasing to her husband. The tighter she is sewn, the more pleasure he has." | "Circumcised men make better lovers because they have more staying power than uncircumcised men." |
| "All the women in the world are circumcised. It is something that must be done. If there is pain, then that is part of a woman's lot in life." | "Men in all the 'civilized' world are circumcised." |
| "Doctors do it, so it must be a good thing." | "Doctors do it, so it must be a good thing." |
| Sudanese grandmother: "In some countries they only cut out the clitoris, but here we do it properly. We scrape our girls clean. If it is properly done, nothing is left, other than a scar. Everything has to be cut away." | My own father, a physician, speaking of ritual circumcision inflicted upon my son: "It is a good thing that I was here to preside. He had quite a long foreskin. I made sure that we gave him a good tight circumcision." |
| 35 year old Sudanese woman: "Yes, I have suffered from chronic pelvic infections and terrible pain for years now. You say that all if this is the result of my circumcision? But I was circumcised over 30 years ago! How can something that was done for me when I was four years old have anything to do with my health now?" | 35 years old American male: "I have lost nearly all interest in sex. You might say that I'm becoming impotent. I don't seem to have much sensation in my penis anymore, and it is becoming more and more difficult for me to reach orgasm. You say that this is the result of my circumcision? That doesn't make any sense. I was circumcised 35 years ago, when I was a little boy. How can that affect me in any way now?" |
©Hanny Lightfoot-Klein
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