FGM and MGM

Date: Sun, 7 Apr 1996 13:52:40 -0700 (PDT)
Reply-To: noharmm-l@eskimo.com
Originator: noharmm-l@eskimo.com
Precedence: bulk
From: "Marianne Sarkis (ANT)" 
To: noharmm-l@eskimo.com
Subject: FGM and MGM
X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas

This is a list compiled by hanny lightfoot-Klein, the woman who wrote 
_Prisoners of Ritual_.

BOF--

         Similarities in Attitudes and Misconceptions toward Infant Male
             Circumcision in North America and Ritual Female Genital 
                             Mutilation in Africa. 

Clitoridectomy and Infibulation in Africa [FGM]
Infant Male Circumcision in North America [MGM]

FGM: "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." 
MGM: "It's only a little piece of skin. The baby does not feel any
pain because his nervous system is not developed yet." 

FGM: "The parts that are cut away are disgusting and hideous to look at.
It is done for the beauty of the suture." 
MGM: "An uncircumcised penis is a real turn-off. Its disgusting. It looks 
like the penis of an animal." 

FGM: "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. " 
MGM: "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." 

FGM: "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." 
MGM: "An uncircumcised penis is dirty and only the lowest class of people 
with no concept of hygiene leave their boys uncircumcised." 

FGM: "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." 
MGM: "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." 

FGM: "A circumcised woman is sexually more pleasing to her husband. The
tighter she is sewn, the more pleasure he has." 
MGM: "Circumcised men make better lovers because they have no more 
staying power than uncircumcised men." 

FGM: "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." 
MGM: "Men in all the 'civilized' world are circumcised." 

FGM: "Doctors do it, so it must be a good thing."
MGM: "Doctors do it, so it must be a good thing."

FGM:  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."
MGM: 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."

FGM: 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?"
MGM: "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?"
The Circumcision Information and Resource Pages are a not-for-profit educational resource and library. IntactiWiki hosts this website but is not responsible for the content of this site. CIRP makes documents available without charge, for informational purposes only. The contents of this site are not intended to replace the professional medical or legal advice of a licensed practitioner.