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FGM aka Female circumcision
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Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,104 Mod ✭✭✭✭
Join Date:Posts: 59033
Funny enough W if one reads the reasons given in such cultures they're pretty much identical. The opposite sex prefer it. It's cultural. It's religious. It looks better. They won't fit in if they're not mutilated.whatdoicare wrote: »It definitely should not be compared with MGM, that is a different case in itself for different reasons and requires a different approach to stamp out (which I think it should be)
I would disagree somewhat. That's certainly an aspect to it. It signifies belonging to the common culture/faith. A Jewish woman finding out her Jewish boyfriend has an intact penis would not go down well on a few levels and he would be less "marriageable". It would be akin to a Christian woman finding out her Christian boyfriend wasn't baptised.Jewish parents don't give their sons a circumcision to make them more marriagable
Interesting story. It became fashionable in the West in the late 19th century. It was seen as "cleaner", less animalistic and that it reduced sexual excitement and masturbation(grave sins and all that). Once the upper classes made it fashionable it spread rapidly. It was popular well into the 50's here in Ireland and the UK, but we and the rest of the West rejected it. The US kept it going for some reason. Some have suggested social medicine was one reason. non necessary procedures were frowned upon, but in the pay as you go US medical model it was another addition to the bill, so doctors were more likely to support it.and I'm sorry to say it has become very fashionable in America for what reason I have no idea.
Very much so. And that's hard to change attitudes around that kinda thing. Hell if you read of FGM supporters they see it in not so very different terms. It's seen as harmless, even with the most extreme form which should be clear to even the most dunderheaded is horrific. And of course is seen as the done thing.It's more in line with Irish Catholics baptising - it's just the done thing, seen as harmless and there's a nice ceremony, cake and a party.
Again, like I said earlier in the thread this is not a competition as to which is worse. Clearly FGM is. However the comparisons are pretty much identical in cultural practice and if they can't see that in say the highly educated US, how can we hope to get people to see it in the undereducated developing world. Hell in the rich Middle East, qualified doctors, some of the most educated people out there, will perform it. We have to change cultural attitudes and part of that is recognising engrained cultural attitudes closer to home in the west, teasing them out and seeing why we continue to believe them.
Mostly because it was a practice in the Middle East for centuries(blood sacrifice to deity and such. FGM varied with time and place). This was noted by the Greeks thousands of years before Islam. And it is to the Greeks and Romans that Christians can thank for it being removed from Christianity as a religious requirement. It was heavily debated early on, but since the GrecoRomano world regarded any form of genital mutilation as the preserve of utter barbarians, they rejected it. They also got rid of the near fetishistic dietary requirements too. Romans loved their pork.Muslims circumsize (I may be wrong here but it's what I was told) their sons because the idea came about even though it's not in the Qur'an that Muhammad was circumsized and it is somehow required to be part of Islam.
Islam because it came from the ME and wasn't filtered through the Classical world continued it(if anything to delineate themselves from the Classical world).
Thankfully more hope for FGM there as the Islamic requirements in the texts are extremely scant and debatable. One Hadith(sayings of the prophet) IIRC. Even in that he says only a "nick" and leave what gives pleasure. Never mind that far more Muslims don't practice it than do. Plus it's also practiced among non Muslims in Africa.Again, in both these circumstances, if the religious leaders condemn it and it becomes unpopular amongst their peers then it would probably be ended.
On the religious based front male circumcision will be a much harder nut to crack. It is in the Muslim and Jewish texts as a religious requirement and a personal covenant with god. I honestly can't see a way for them around it. The cultural practice in the US could be a thing of the past though. It's already waning in popularity among a few cultural and ethnic groups within the US.
Culture is a strong influence. EG South Korea. Before the Korean War Koreans didn't practice male circumcision, but with the American influence that changed and rapidly. Now they're one of the highest advocates of the practice. Though it shouldn't take much of a shift for it to go back to previous levels.Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.
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