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July 07, 2002
I don't believe in manifestos, either
So, in one of the not-enough-for-a-minor-by-like-four-credit-hours African Studies courses I took, the professor gave us some readings on female genital mutilation.
FGC is a term used to refer to any practice which includes the removal or the alteration of the female genitalia. There are three main types of FGC that are practiced through the world : Type I or Sunna circumcision, Type II or excision, and Type III or infibulation. These three operation range in intensity, from the "mildness" of Type I, to the extreme Type III. Type II is a recent addition to FGC. I will explain in the next sections what each of these practices involve, and outline some of the short-term and long-term effects that they have.
The only reason you're not currently clicking frantically to get away from some extremely disturbing photographs is because I'm not quite as evil as people seem to think.
The procedures are also sometimes called female circumcision, which has led some well-meaning but hideously stupid men to compare them to male circumcision. Yes, and we can also compare rope burn to third-degree burns over 80% of your body. I do applaud the tendency of idiots to speak up, though. It makes them easier to identify for later attention.
So while we're all sitting there horrified, the professor began explaining about a group that visits villages and provides the (usually) women who perform the procedure with surgical implements, and teaches how to sterilize them. . .
And we all, predictably, expressed shock and revulsion at the idea.
And she gently explained that you don't stop people doing something they've been doing for centuries before you showed up by cloaking yourself in self-righteousness and telling them they're barbaric savages. Oddly, that tends to make people defiant, and at best will only drive the practice underground. At worst, you end up creating fundamentalists who hate your Western fucking guts. The sterile surgical gear at least reduced the chances of girls developing infections.
And some of us, predictably, expressed shock and revulsion at her acting as an apologist for barbaric savages.
In our defense, we were kids.
Some of us grew up.
Any Americans feeling self-satisfied about how we would never allow something like that to take place here, pay more fucking attention. What's more, we don't, as a matter of policy, consider fleeing here to escape the procedure an adequate reason to grant political asylum.
I don't think I've ever identified myself as a liberal. People assume I am, because I don't bother hiding my absolute hatred for conservatives and libertarians. This is because I find liberals generally pleasant, occasionally annoying, but Mostly Harmless.
Conservatives and libertarians, on the other hand, are evil and must be destroyed.
And that's about the closest you're going to get to a manifesto around here. Now if you'll excuse me, I found a copy of Ozma of Oz from the good people at Project Gutenberg.
Posted by Aaron at July 7, 2002 10:01 AM
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Comments
is it wrong that throughout reading this all I could think of was Star Trek's Prime Directive?
And hey, I'm struggling with my libertarian tendencies, don't hate me...yet.
Posted by: Jason at July 7, 2002 03:24 PM
Eh, the line about evil is actually from Steel Magnolias. Which should indicate the level of threat I pose to anyone.
Did you see that one Star Trek episode when Captain Uhura. . . that joke is dead too, isn't it?
Posted by: Aaron at July 7, 2002 08:11 PM
see, i read and i re-read and I still don't catch them all.
by the by, I've met hinton battle, my dad actually musical directed him in Ain't Misbehavin' in the late eighties. From Fats Waller to Joss Whedon...
Posted by: Jason at July 7, 2002 08:29 PM
And all points in between ... except the ones a straight line might hit! A little like making a leap into hyperspace and passing through every point in the universe ...
Posted by: George at July 7, 2002 09:16 PM
There is life beyond shock and revulsion, I've learned. While I think the Prime Directive is more apropos to policy, there are things that concerned citizens can do, such as work with people who have been protesting FGC/FGM since before Christ was a cowboy. For instance, RAINBO works with many local anti-FGM groups in certain countries, as well as immigrants to Western countries. Check out also their AMANITARE project, which has gotten a lot of private grants. Regards, =l
Posted by: Laura at July 8, 2002 02:19 AM
Bless you, Laura.
That group I mentioned also takes time to explain that the practice is unnecessary and harmful, but -- and I hate phrasing it this way -- in a non-judgmental tone. There's a list of countries that have passed laws against it, but that hasn't worked to stop it. Not yet, anyway.
Please let me know if you think I'm being an asshole. It's hard for me to tell, unfortunately, and I worry sometimes that I've gone *way* over the line. . .
Posted by: Aaron at July 8, 2002 08:03 AM
Jason, I was going to explain that Hinton Battle used to be opera singer and synthesizer goddess Kathleen Battle, famous for her "Switched On Bach", but decided the post was already too long.
And the next time you mention you've met someone I mention here, I'm changing your nick to Drusilla.
Posted by: Aaron at July 8, 2002 08:07 AM
mmmm...drusilla. I don't love karate but I love cuh-razy.
Posted by: Jason at July 8, 2002 09:33 AM