Female Circumstitions

Bad reasons to cut a girl's genitals

1. Because "it will stabilize her libido,
2. Two, it will make a woman look more beautiful in the eyes of her husband.
3. And three, it will balance her psychology.”

   - Lukman Hakim, chairman of social services,
   Assalaam Foundation, Indonesia
   New York Times magazine, January 20,2008

4. Advantages of circumcising female children
   1. It shows that one is a follower of Prophet Ibrahim’s way of worship. Prophet Ibrahim (ASW) is the father of faith. [FGC is not mentioned in the Bible.]
   2. It shows one as a follower of Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
   3. It is a way of reducing sexual desire in the woman thus avoiding adultery and a way of curbing her from bad sexual habits. This is because an uncircumcised woman would always have unlimited sexual appetite, which may force her to commit adultery.

   Rules of circumcision in Islam - Sheikh A.B. Muhammed, Friday, 28 May 2010

5. psychosexual reasons: reduction or elimination of the sensitive tissue of the outer genitalia, particularly the clitoris,
   • in order to attenuate sexual desire in the female,
   • maintain chastity and virginity before marriage and
   • fidelity during marriage, and
   • increase male sexual pleasure;
6. sociological reasons:
   • identification with the cultural heritage,
   • initiation of girls into womanhood,
   • social integration and
   • the maintenance of social cohesion;
7. hygiene and aesthetic reasons:
   • the external female genitalia are considered dirty and
   • unsightly and are to be removed to promote hygiene and provide aesthetic appeal;
8. myths: enhancement of fertility and
9. promotion of child survival;
10. religious reasons: Some Muslim communities, however, practise FGM in the belief that it is demanded by the Islamic faith. The practice, however, predates Islam.
    

    - the World Health Organisation

11. "Those who advocate for FGM from an Islamic perspective commonly quote the following hadith to argue that it is required as part of the Sunnah or Tradition of the Prophet:

    'Um Atiyyat al-Ansariyyah said: A woman used to perform circumcision in Medina. The Prophet (pbuh) said to her: Do not cut too severely as that is better for a woman and more desirable for a husband'." 1,8

    - www.religioustolerance.org

12. Because "it brings many benefits."
13. Because "The secretions of the labia minora accumulate in uncircumcised women and turn rancid, so they develop an unpleasant odour which may lead to infections of the vagina or urethra.
14. Because "Circumcision reduces excessive sensitivity of the clitoris which may cause it to increase in size to 3 centimeters when aroused, which is very annoying to the husband, especially at the time of intercourse."
15. Because "it prevents stimulation of the clitoris which makes it grow large in such a manner that it causes pain."
16. Because "Circumcision prevents spasms of the clitoris which are a kind of inflammation."
17. Because "Circumcision reduces excessive sexual desire."
18. Because "For us in the Muslim world female circumcision is, above all else, obedience to Islam, which means acting in accordance with the fitrah and following the Sunnah which encourages it."
19. Because "It takes away excessive libido from women"
20. Because "It prevents unpleasant odours which result from foul secretions beneath the prepuce."
21. Because "It reduces the incidence of urinary tract infections"
22. Because "It reduces the incidence of infections of the reproductive system."

    - Islam Q&A

23. "How on earth can they get married with a big thing hanging between their legs? Shame! Think of how long it will grow!"
24. "When she gets married, she’ll get sliced open again. Then, you know, if her husband doesn’t enter her, he is shamed. Weak. Her family will refuse the marriage."

    - "K", an old Djibouti woman on the Jones family blogspot.

25. To "build trust between hospitals and immigrant communities,
26.  save some girls from undergoing disfiguring and lifethreatening procedures in their native countries,
27.  and play a role in the eventual eradication of FGC."

    - American Academy of Pediatrics 2010 Policy on Female Genital Cutting, p 1092 (6 of 8)

28. Because s/he was diagnosed with "clitorimegaly associated with ambiguous genitalia" (had a bigger clitoris/penis than someone else was comfortable with).

    - Jennifer Yang, Diane Felsen and Dix P. Poppas
    Nerve Sparing Ventral Clitoroplasty:
    Analysis of Clitoral Sensitivity and Viability
    J Urol, 178, 1598-1601, Oct 2007

29. Because "Uncircumcised girls will want sex more than is healthy.
30. And they are more liable to infections and cancers...."

    - Dr Saed Thabet in Wiens J. Female circumcision is curbed in Egypt BMJ (1996)313:249.

31. "While religion was the main reason for circumcisions,
32. it is believed by some locals that a girl who is not circumcised would have unclean genitals after she urinates
33. which could lead to cervical cancer.
34. It is also believed if one prays with unclean genitals their prayer won't be heard."

    - Photo-essay by Stephanie Sinclair in VII, June 21, 2010

35. "In some countries where the practice of female circumcision, it is believed that if a woman has not passed through this test, then it is unclean,
36. too excited
37. and can not properly deal with the economy.
38. It is also believed that uncircumcised women can not give birth to a boy."

    - Photo-essay (same photos) at Ankit Mehta, June 27 2010

39. "... it was considered to be a good traditional practice
40. ...to...avoid being shunned and laughed at by the boys
41. ...that was the only rite of passage to womanhood."

    - Ms Joyce Munanda, an advocate against FGM who got circumcised in 1968; "When culture confronts health and the law", the Monitor (Uganda), July 10, 2010

42. 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.
43. The milk of the mother will become poisonous.
44. If a man’s penis touches a woman’s clitoris he will become impotent.

    - Lightfoot-Klein H ‘Erroneous Belief Systems Underlying Female GM in Sub-Saharan Africa
    and Male Neonatal Circumcision in the United States’,
    paper presented at the 3rd International Symposium on Circumcision,
    Washington, DC, 1994.

45. "It was hoped that it would tame the women's sexual desires since we (the men) had to move long distances grazing our animals. Therefore,
46. it would prevent the women from being unfaithful to their husbands. However, I vowed to my wife that none of our children will ever undergo the tradition."

    - a 60-year-old Ugandan to Richard Musani in New Vision

47. "Greater sexual sensations, closer communication with one’s partner, higher levels of orgasm.” “An awesome 75% of women are hindered from feeling the full extent of sensations, due to a condition which is most commonly known as “hooded clitoris”

    - "The Kindest Cut: Circumcision for Women", Playgirl, 1973, quoted in Rabbitwrite's blog, December 31, 2010

48. "The practice has become important to Islam because it is associated with female sexual purity.
49. FGM is intended by its practitioners to both control women's sexual drives and also
50. to cleanse women's genitalia by removing the clitoris,
51. which is seen as masculine, a female penis."

    Jacqueline Castledine, Mount Holyoke College.

52. To allow them to enter the secret Bondo society of women (Sierra Leone)

    statement by African Woman are Free to Choose
    and news item, February 11, 2009

53. Marrying without circumcision was not an option: uncut girls were believed to be undisciplined and clumsy.
54. No husband would be willing to run the risk of social isolation inextricably bound up with marrying an uncircumcised girl.
55. To make things worse: circumcision was believed to be a religious obligation for both Christians and Muslims.

    Ethiopian village fights against female cutting, Radio Netherlands, April 11, 2011

56. Female genital mutilation is the partial removal of the external genitalia, undertaken for cultural initiation of a girl into adulthood.

    K’jongs told to shun female circumcision, New Vision (Uganda), May 8, 2011

57. ... because it has an important role in the Maasai culture. ... an uncircumcised girl will find it hard to prove that she is a woman
58. and any children she bears will be seen as unclean.

    - Why Female Genital Mutilation Persists, by Nyokabi Kamau, Daily Nation (Kenya), May 9, 22011

59. ""Marrying an uncircumcised girl degrades your value as a man.
60. There are some rituals the girl cannot participate in if she is not circumcised," explained Martin Ololoigero, one of the managers of the rescue centre.
61. "It is important for a woman to be circumcised so that she can go to her husband's home," said Olemairuj Kipaken, a Maasai elder in Narok.

    "Female circumcision in Kenya" News24 October 5, 2011

62. "Plapan regretted that some of the mid wives cannot attend to uncircumcised women for fear of going against their traditions, which considers uncircumcised woman as untidy.
63. “Some of the uncircumcised women are teased by their fellow circumcised women.
    “This forces them to change their heart and go for the cut,” she said.
    
64. The men also consider uncircumcised women as promiscuous and polygamous men fear such women can embarrass them especially when they take long to “reach their matrimonial beds”.

    "Cultural Beliefs Benefit Pokot Pastoralists" Coastweek, December 2, 2011

65. "Hundreds of schoolgirls underwent the traditional rite of passage that now allows them to get married,..."
66. "The government allowed us to circumcise the men, which we did, but then we later wondered: now that we have taken men through the initiation, must we not create a pool of women from where they can marry?"

    "Villagers ignore the law and go on a girl circumcision frenzy" the Daily Nation (Kenya) December 7, 2011

67. “Personally, I have been through the process. I will even make my daughters undergo it. The pain is tolerable and has strengthened my relationship with my husband,” she wrote.

    "Bohra women go online to fight circumcision trauma" Hindustan Times, December 9, 2011

68. “Some cultures consider it a purification ritual,” Ms [Faduma Salah] Musse said.
    “I am a victim myself, and I was forced to allow my three daughters to go through it also.”

    - "Woman's mission is to end mutilation", Danenong Leader, January 13. 2012

69. "The child's mother... said her child was suffering from stomach infections, as a result she couldn't learn how to walk even after attaining the age of twelve months.
    ... "I sent my child to her grandmother, who claimed in order for the child to be healed, she must undergo circumcision," she said.

    "Child subjected to FGM now admitted to hospital" IPPMedia, January 30, 2012

70. To express the power of the patriarchy, etc.