Over 230 million women and girls have had their genitals cut. This may include the removal of the clitoris, or infibulation (where everything is removed and the vulva is sewn up, only to be ruptured by the bride groom). Today, I was asked how to end female genital cutting (FGC).
According to the map (figure 14 from Khalifa 2022), genital cutting is more common in southern Nigeria (Christian and agricultural?) than in northern Nigeria (Muslim and mostly pastoralist?). Do you know why is that?
Yes, this is correct. It's about 30+% among the Yoruba and Igbo, where women have a lot of freedom of movement. But we can think of it as a trade-off. If you are sexually possessive, it may be seen as a way of mitigating risks.
I challenge the definition of "Christian" for this population that, at least in this context, acts so contrary to clear teachings of Christ and the Christian message.
Your objection is noted. I was using the term mostly in a cultural way. I don't think this practice derives from religious observance, either Muslim or Christian.
There are Quranic and Hadith verses about it. This Muslim man makes a distinction between female circumcision and FGM. I don't agree with his view, I think both are wrong, but here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lzofNTVTaQ
Can you also write about why men in some culture are so obsessed with virginity while not so much in other cultures? Does it have anything to do with birth control or the healthcare system?
I wonder why Ayaan Hirsi Ali received such vitriol in the West? She's already handling it quite gracefully for someone who had gone through this treatment. Can't really expect anyone to stay completely calm or rational after this..
Doesn't a clitorectomy remove a body part that would otherwise be a source of intimate pleasure during lovemaking with one's husband? (Not to mention that female genital mutilation often includes sewing shut or partially shut the vaginal opening.) Your equating that form of genital mutilation with circumcision is wrong. In fact, part of the popularity of circumcision as standard practice in most of twentieth-century America derived from the recognition of very low incidence of cervical cancer among wives of circumcised husbands. In other words, circumcision removed a repository of pathogens and infectious material which benefited women and does not detract from a husband's sexual experience. With multiple sexual partners, that protection apparently loses its efficacy; I'm not sure whether studies on the more recent decades' increase in female reproductive issues have been correlated against either monogamy or monogamy-including-circumcision. (Oh, yes, it was an OBGYN who worked with both Jewish and non-jewish patients who noticed, first, that Jewish wives of (circumcised, of course) Jewish husbands did not present for cervical cancer while others did, and applying Judeo-Christian-based scientific principles, initiated and inspired extensive studies to understand what that first doctor had observed.)
Cousin marriage has become an issue in the UK where it is presenting children with a lot of health problems because of the religion in which FGM is also common. See here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkxuKe2wOMs
Do you know about the Dawoodi Bohra? They are a Shia Ismaili community in India, relatively wealthy and educated, and women are relatively emancipated by Indian standards. They practice some form of FGC because their religious book, the "Da'a'im al-Islam" recommends it. There have been court cases in the U.S. and Australia surrounding members of this community engaging in FGC.
AFAIK the rates of FGC is going down among them in India though, possibly because women in this community are well-educated and often in the workforce.
In this video popular moderate Muslim Youtuber, Gabriel al Romaani, explains the difference between female circumcision and FGM. I think both are wrong and both are FGM, but he says there's a difference. So according to him, FGM would be "reduced" if instead people just "circumcised" instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lzofNTVTaQ
The fundamental solution is to address the spiritual dimension. I do not know that all who deface humanity this way are Muslim, but I understand that there is a strong correlation. Even if this mutilation is not specifically Muslim, the view that permits it is against the Judeo-Christian view of the universe, where God declared the intrinsic value of every person, regardless of age, sex, or any other characteristic. Christian-based societies, over time, have honored that intrinsic worth concept through such things as prison reform, prohibition of "cruel and unusual punishment," and prohibition of slavery. That slavery flourishes today is a symptom of the strength of non-biblical worldviews, as is the persistence of genital mutilation. Both of these travesties would end if Judeo-Christian principles were put into practice. Each of us can contribute to that happening by investigating seriously, and following what we understand, even imperfectly.
To attribute slavery to a "non-biblical worldview" requires "worldview" to do a lot of work: the bible certainly does not oppose slavery in a surface sense.
According to the map (figure 14 from Khalifa 2022), genital cutting is more common in southern Nigeria (Christian and agricultural?) than in northern Nigeria (Muslim and mostly pastoralist?). Do you know why is that?
Yes, this is correct. It's about 30+% among the Yoruba and Igbo, where women have a lot of freedom of movement. But we can think of it as a trade-off. If you are sexually possessive, it may be seen as a way of mitigating risks.
Interesting. Thanks!
If I've learned anything from this post, it's that there are always trade-offs.
I challenge the definition of "Christian" for this population that, at least in this context, acts so contrary to clear teachings of Christ and the Christian message.
Your objection is noted. I was using the term mostly in a cultural way. I don't think this practice derives from religious observance, either Muslim or Christian.
There are Quranic and Hadith verses about it. This Muslim man makes a distinction between female circumcision and FGM. I don't agree with his view, I think both are wrong, but here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lzofNTVTaQ
This does not seem to be something Christ taught clearly about.
Can you also write about why men in some culture are so obsessed with virginity while not so much in other cultures? Does it have anything to do with birth control or the healthcare system?
This article, combined with the recent NYT reporting about this exact topic, is very jarring to read.
Female Genital Cutting Continues to Increase Worldwide https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/07/health/female-genital-cutting.html
I wonder why Ayaan Hirsi Ali received such vitriol in the West? She's already handling it quite gracefully for someone who had gone through this treatment. Can't really expect anyone to stay completely calm or rational after this..
Doesn't a clitorectomy remove a body part that would otherwise be a source of intimate pleasure during lovemaking with one's husband? (Not to mention that female genital mutilation often includes sewing shut or partially shut the vaginal opening.) Your equating that form of genital mutilation with circumcision is wrong. In fact, part of the popularity of circumcision as standard practice in most of twentieth-century America derived from the recognition of very low incidence of cervical cancer among wives of circumcised husbands. In other words, circumcision removed a repository of pathogens and infectious material which benefited women and does not detract from a husband's sexual experience. With multiple sexual partners, that protection apparently loses its efficacy; I'm not sure whether studies on the more recent decades' increase in female reproductive issues have been correlated against either monogamy or monogamy-including-circumcision. (Oh, yes, it was an OBGYN who worked with both Jewish and non-jewish patients who noticed, first, that Jewish wives of (circumcised, of course) Jewish husbands did not present for cervical cancer while others did, and applying Judeo-Christian-based scientific principles, initiated and inspired extensive studies to understand what that first doctor had observed.)
Cousin marriage has become an issue in the UK where it is presenting children with a lot of health problems because of the religion in which FGM is also common. See here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkxuKe2wOMs
Do you know about the Dawoodi Bohra? They are a Shia Ismaili community in India, relatively wealthy and educated, and women are relatively emancipated by Indian standards. They practice some form of FGC because their religious book, the "Da'a'im al-Islam" recommends it. There have been court cases in the U.S. and Australia surrounding members of this community engaging in FGC.
AFAIK the rates of FGC is going down among them in India though, possibly because women in this community are well-educated and often in the workforce.
In this video popular moderate Muslim Youtuber, Gabriel al Romaani, explains the difference between female circumcision and FGM. I think both are wrong and both are FGM, but he says there's a difference. So according to him, FGM would be "reduced" if instead people just "circumcised" instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lzofNTVTaQ
The fundamental solution is to address the spiritual dimension. I do not know that all who deface humanity this way are Muslim, but I understand that there is a strong correlation. Even if this mutilation is not specifically Muslim, the view that permits it is against the Judeo-Christian view of the universe, where God declared the intrinsic value of every person, regardless of age, sex, or any other characteristic. Christian-based societies, over time, have honored that intrinsic worth concept through such things as prison reform, prohibition of "cruel and unusual punishment," and prohibition of slavery. That slavery flourishes today is a symptom of the strength of non-biblical worldviews, as is the persistence of genital mutilation. Both of these travesties would end if Judeo-Christian principles were put into practice. Each of us can contribute to that happening by investigating seriously, and following what we understand, even imperfectly.
To attribute slavery to a "non-biblical worldview" requires "worldview" to do a lot of work: the bible certainly does not oppose slavery in a surface sense.
"it is against the Judeo-Christian view"
No. Jews are all for the genital mutilation of boys. And it was popular amongst Christians up until recently as well.