Also, one of the arguments against FC is that the use of unsanitary and sometimes dull razors to perform the operation can lead to serious infections, painful scarring and other potentially debilitating health issues. The binary of this argument is that Western medicine is by definition sanitary and more safe. However, no surgery is risk free and there are too many cases in America of voluntary, cosmetic surgery going wrong, and women and their families suffer for it. Today, there is even the phenomenon in America of more and more men electing to undergo cosmetic surgery. While social pressures are different for men and women, the fact that more men are willing to take these risks for the sake of looking more attractive is still disturbing. Our culture is body obsessed and it has negative impacts for people. You can make the argument that societies where FC is the norm are attempting to control the sexuality of women. I would agree, but also point out that these very same forces are playing out in American culture as well. The visible results of these forces have very different manifestations, but underneath the surface, are not so different.

Perhaps the connection I perceive between FC and cosmetic surgery is too intellectual for most people. I really do understand that most people aren’t in ph.d programs for anthropology like I am. However, I originally brought up this argument because people on this forum were writing off other cultures as inferior because of certain practices. Other people might write off American culture just as easily because of one or two minor cultural practices. Yet we still love American culture, even if there are parts of it we desire to change. The very argument can be made for every member of every culture. In this way, we are not all so different.

I like this one:
http://www.h-net.org/~africa/sources/clitorodectomy.html

An excerpt from this article that I like:

“For some cultures it is a component of a rite of passage to socially acceptable adulthood. For others it is a nuptial necessity. For yet others, it is a mark of courage, particularly where it is carried out on older people. For some it is a reproductive aid, increasing fertility. For others, it enhances sexuality. Many parents want surgery done on their daughters because it protects them from would-be seducers and rapists.”

You see, the practice is bound up in profound cultural meanings as diverse as the people who practice it. I’m not advocating for FGC by any means, but I am advocating that we not condemn people on the sole basis that they practice it.

Peter responds incredulously: Surely you are joking!

Name me ONE woman who has had a FGC voluntarily.

Peter asks: And when was the last forced liposuction YOU heard about?

“Hey Blip
Rather then admit how woefully misinformed you are on a website. Try using the net to do some research here’s a couple of phrases to google “female circumcision”, “Honor killing”, “Hindu Caste System”. Note that none of these are practiced in the USA.”

We may not have “female circumcision” in this country, but we have liposuction and breast implants out the wazoo. What’s the difference?

We may not have “Honor killing” but we have the highest murder rate of any developed country on the planet. What’s the difference?

We may not have “Hindu Caste System” but we have generations of people living in abject poverty, unable to escape. Spend some time in an inner-city or in Appalachia if you don’t believe me. What’s the difference?

gcblues said:

“a country with walls and guards is a jail for unfree people.”

Probably the most brilliant phrase I’ve seen on the internet this week. Heck, maybe even this month. These people are arguing with you because they are UNABLE to see the prison which binds them. Our culture binds us and then tells us the bindings have set us free. All too many Americans believe this lie and would even seek to bind others into the system as well. That, I suppose, is the hinge of this whole argument.

your ideas are so stupid they do not deserve consideration. only because you and a multitude of ethnocentric morons have big mouths is there a concern. there is no American culture. there is no American language. free people do not need your stupid peter’s rule’s of orderlaws. your need to control others for your own satisfaction and happiness is a clear symptom of mental dysfunction. bastante get help.

by the way, i live outside of the USA now, no country i am ever in, i have filled 3 passports now, requires me to conform to their culture. i do however hear American tourists scream at their hosts, no matter what country they are in, demanding to know why they cannot speak English. maybe that was you???

English is not special. in fact it is rather banal. indeed, normal languages would refer to the popular English idiom as “you are a hole of an a**. in English it is a**hole. clearly the former is much more descriptive of anti everyone but me types like yourself than the latter.