• wuffah@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_genital_mutilation

    FGM harms women’s physical and emotional health throughout their lives.[62][63] It has no known health benefits.[11]

    There is no valid justification for FGM, cultural or otherwise. I do not care about comparisons to male circumcision. I do not care about the concerns of cultural relativism.

    It is a brutal practice performed by barbaric people butchering women in a soulless, sinister, deeply cynical, and horrifically ignorant crime against humanity.

    Bear the descriptions in the article at your own discretion.

    • just2look@lemmy.zip
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      9 days ago

      I agree. Though I also think male circumcision of newborns should be banned. Not as a comparison, but simply because its a surgery with no benefit and measurable harm performed on people unable to consent. Just stop mutilating people.

      I give zero fucks that someone’s imaginary friend told them it is necessary.

      • shawn1122@sh.itjust.works
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        9 days ago

        Both are born out of ancient ideals of purity and control over sexuality (the latter being especially applicable to FGM).

        Male circumcision started because ancient humans viewed the human body as a canvas for social engineering. It survived and flourished because it successfully forged fierce tribal loyalty, distinct cultural boundaries, and deep religious identity. It was later justified as a way to curb masturbation.

        FGM, in ancient stratified societies, including Egypt and Rome, became a prerequisite for marriage. It signified a woman’s obedience, purity, and readiness to join a household. In several cultures, an uncut woman was deemed “unclean” and socially ostracized, making her unmarriageable.

        The foundational justification in almost all practicing cultures was to reduce a woman’s libido. By removing sensitive tissue, societies sought to ensure a girl remained a virgin until marriage and faithful to her husband afterward.

        Both practices are a type of mutilation in my opinion but one is not referred to that way due to cultural relativism. I’m glad to come from a part of the world where neither is or ever was the norm.

        • CatAssTrophy@safest.space
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          9 days ago

          Not necessarily, at least with regards to historical justifications of male circumcision. For example, desert cultures that had extremely limited chances for things like baths experienced high rates of infection that circumcision notably reduced. And with a high rate of phimosis, the choice between infant circumcision (with lower blood loss, faster healing times and lower rates of complications) and teenage+ circumcision (with worse healing and a higher rate of complications). If 1/3 of your boys and men have to undergo circumcision for medical reasons, is it not better to do it when its the quickest to heal?

          Even now, there is significant evidence that male circumcision reduces the chances of HIV (and other STD) transfer in susceptible populations, so circumcision in at risk populations is the common medical recommendation.

          I in no way support circumcision as a routine religious/cultural practice, but when there are times and places and societies where it is a genuine harm reduction technique, and throwing those babies out with that bathwater isn’t really helpful, either.

      • partofthevoice@lemmy.zip
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        9 days ago

        She might already have it, hence the reason she thinks it’s fine. People think abuse builds character. There’s all kinds of ways to live with and spread your own trauma.

        • Dasus@lemmy.world
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          9 days ago

          Oh oh oh, how like most Americans are religiously for circumcision, mostly because it would be annoying to think someone’s robbed them of sexual function by mutilating their genitals as a baby?

          • partofthevoice@lemmy.zip
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            9 days ago

            Exactly. I had my dick snipped. I also requested my son’s was snipped. I was stupid. I should have known better, but I was too Americman for knowing better. I already knew better. I would say things like, “it’s better for hygiene” or “helps prevent premature ejaculation in old age” (like it was some kind of gross favor). So yeah, yeah… I fucking know.

            • Dasus@lemmy.world
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              9 days ago

              Oh wow.

              That level of “I was wrong” is genuinely rare to see anywhere. Mad props for changing your position and even admitting to just how wrong you were.

              This may sound sarcastic, but it’s not.

              You’re “one of the good ones”. (That’s slightly sarcastic, as the sentence in itself implies discrimination.)

              America might not be doing well, but at least there are people like you, brave enough to go against the tide. And I believe that’s sort of a core American value. Like not a modern one, but an ideal one which someone might’ve been philosophising over once. Going against the system just isn’t a thing here to that extent. Levels of conformity, yeah, that’s what I mean. It’s much higher where I live and the values behind everything seem fucked up, and ideal American ones at least resemble French Enlightenment philosophies, even if you’ve really don’t have them in use, currently.