As we enter the month of love, let’s touch on pleasure through awareness of traditional practices. Pleasure, to me, does not necessarily have a sexual meaning, but I am about to make it sexual. In the general sense, pleasure is a feeling of euphoria. A feeling where everything seems right with the universe. In the sexual sense, it equates to anything involving erogenous zones and genitalia. In the latter definition, a lot of non-males are deprived of genital pleasure due to mutilation. The year is 2023, and being deprived of something that connects you with the cosmic beings, WITHOUT your consent, is beyond my comprehension. In my experience, pleasure makes you feel good about yourself – mind, body and spirit. Thus Improving your self-confidence and the way you allow others to perceive you. So if that which pleases you is removed, what now?
Today is the International day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation. A practice that is surprisingly common around the world. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is the altercation of the genitalia by removal or covering of the vaginal canal done for non-medical reasons (Strickland, 2001). The key word is non-medical. The difference between FGM and male circumcision is that the latter is a medical procedure with different health implications. Paakkanen (2019) details male circumcision to be a procedure that is health motivated as it is known to decrease the spread of HIV and other infections; while FGM is rooted more in power over the female body.
FGM is seen as a rite into womanhood by many cultures. As one’s virginity is highly considered and determines one's suitability for marriage. The procedure is traditionally performed on infants, children and teenagers across Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. FGM is associated with the cultural ideas of femininity and modesty - females are clean, and thus the unclean part should be removed. The idea is that female genitals should be smooth and hairless to have a greater aesthetic value and be deemed attractive. Personally, if female genitals were meant to be “smooth and hairless” they would’ve been made that way. FGM comes with long-term health consequences and these are placed secondary to the idea of “purification”.
I agree with UNICEF (2019) in that it is a suppression of non-males sexuality as it is rooted in sex inequality. It is based on the idea that female genitalia is something that should be presented in a certain way to be deemed desirable. And promotes the notion that a non-males worth is dependent on the number of people that they have slept with or whether they are a virgin or not. Whereas males, are allowed to explore their sexuality and their experience makes them more powerful.
Being violated like this can create an unhealthy bond with the owner's body. They will grow up constantly feeling like they don’t own their body and won’t see their worth. As this is a traditional practice, western practitioners tend to seem alarmed when they encounter this which further demoralises patients. This removes the safe space they require. Other psychological effects include depression, anxiety and loss of trust in their caregivers. Due to the removal of highly sensitive genital tissue, may affect sexual sensitivity which will lead to sexual problems such as pleasure, painful sex and reduced or absence of orgasm (WHO, 2022).
As much as awareness is brought against the practice, more trained healthcare professionals keep violating their Hippocratic oath to “do no harm”. This doesn’t make it safer as it still consists of removing sensitive, NORMAL tissue.
In conclusion; the female genital area was designed the way it is for a purpose and it is gorgeous just the way it is. The only time it should be altered is because the owner exercises their human right, through CONSENT, to do so.
Side note: most traditions are rooted in patriarchy. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
References:
What is female genital mutilation? 7 questions answered (2019) UNICEF. Available at: https://www.unicef.org/stories/what-you-need-know-about-female-genital-mutilation (Accessed: January 26, 2023).
Female genital mutilation (2022) World Health Organization. World Health Organization. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/female-genital-mutilation (Accessed: January 26, 2023).
Paakkanen, E. K. (2019) “Entitled, Empowered or Victims - an Analysis of Discourses on Male and Female Circumcision, Genital Mutilation/cutting and Genital Cosmetic Surgery,” The International Journal of Human Rights, 23(9), pp.
Nzinga, A.-M. et al. (2021) “Consequences of Female Genital Mutilation on Women’s Sexual Health - Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” 18(4), pp. 750–760. doi: 10.1016/j.jsxm.2021.01.173.
Strickland, J. L. (2001) “Female Circumcision/female Genital Mutilation,” Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, 14(3), pp. 109–112. doi: 10.1016/S1083-3188(01)00086-9.
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