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July 08, 2002
The Rest Is Salient
If your spelling is as bad as mine, WordNet is an invaluable resource. Run it local my own self, but there's also an on-line version. So if you weren't quite certain that salient meant what you thought it did, you can, like, look it up.
The State Department has a report on FGM on their site (PDF only, it seems, Google conversion here), under the International Women's Issues section.
There are also some Individual Country Reports, mostly for African nations. The Congressional report states:
The origins of this practice are unknown. It existed before the beginning of Christianity and Islam. It is not required by the Quran or the Bible. It crosses religious lines. It also crosses ethnic and cultural lines and is performed in many countries around the world, but is most prevalent in Africa. Estimates of the number of females who have been subjected to this practice range from 115 million to 130 million worldwide and an estimated two million girls are at risk each year.
There follow some rather graphic descriptions, which I've been trying to avoid quoting -- swearing is all well and good, but I'd rather not have a child stumble in here looking for information on their favorite author and having to ask their mother what "clitoridectomy" means.
Actually, they wouldn't have to. It's explained in that section. Quite clearly.
FGM is most associated with Africa where it is practiced in varying degrees in over half of the Sub-Saharan African countries. It also occurs in some Middle Eastern countries: Egypt, the Republic of Yemen (primarily coastal areas), Oman (in limited numbers throughout Oman but more widespread in the southern coastal region), Saudi Arabia (among a few immigrant women and among some Bedouin tribes and residents of the Hejaz) and Israel (among a very small number of women in a few Bedouin groups in the south). It also occurs in some Muslim groups in Indonesia where the most common form is a symbolic pricking, scraping or touching of the clitoris. It is reported by medical professionals to be practiced by a very small number of Malay Muslims in rural areas in Malaysia where it resembles a symbolic prick, a tiny ritual cut to the clitoris or where the blade is simply brought close to the clitoris. It also occurs to a very small extent among the Bohra Muslims in the largest cities of Sindh and Punjab provinces in Pakistan. Because the incidence is believed to be so small or information is not available, this report does not further discuss Malaysia, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Israel or Pakistan.
Convenient, those last three left off the list. Except the report is from June, 2001, before Pakistan became our good and trusted ally, so I should drop the paranoia.
One, well, two more things. The practice was/is widespread in Ethiopia, including among the Beta Israel. It's reported as not taking place among the community currently in Israel, but since this isn't something people like to talk about, who knows. According to their country report, "virtually all Somali women are subjected to one of these procedures", yet I've heard nothing with reference to the large Somali population of the Twin Cities.
Then again, they ignore the Hmong and the Tibetans as well. This is called as "Minnesota Nice" by the locals and "Impressive Ability to Ignore Objective Reality" by everyone else.
There is a law against the practices, passed in 1994. And, you know, that must have taken care of the problem, because God knows laws have been so effective elsewhere.
As you may have noticed, reading up on this has ruined my generally sunny disposition.
Right, the second thing. Beta Israel is the preferred name for Jews from Ethiopia. Falasha (which I've used here in the past) is considered derogatory. Oddly, I feel no compulsion to copy it over several lines and scream from the rooftops that I have the right to call them whatever I want.
Oh, that's right.
I'm not a conservative.
I expect they would try to cheer me up by pointing out that FGM, along with almost all other traces of African culture, were essentially obliterated during slavery.
Yay us.
Posted by Aaron at July 8, 2002 03:36 PM
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You can also get WordNet rolled up with Webster 1913, Devil's Dictionary, The Jargon File, and some other databases --> dict (or kdict if you are a fan of the KDE desktop). Check it out, wonder how you ever got along without it, and marvel at its sexy speed and undeniable power.
Webster 1913 also coughs up the occasional dusty gem that is hilariously outdated and/or offensive. At least Webster's retires its embarrassingly outdated garbage quietly instead of running around bellowing "Respect My Author-ah-tay" like some real life Cartman quixotically "fighting for our freedom."
Posted by: goneaway at July 8, 2002 06:23 PM