'' the benefits are the reduction of the female libido ,which inturn have a
derterant to aids
and hiv. the woman will have more control over her sexual desires ''

Suntou,

I've been meaning to respond to your post but have not had the time to do
so...Interesting angle indeed but it must surely take more than a single
source to arrive at such a conclusion?

I am aware of the fact that this argument has lived for quite a while
but there is no statistical evidence to support it and I know of many cut
women who have vowed to fight to death so their daughters never go through
what they have experienced and continue to experience. Not to mention the
diametrically opposing point of view which claims that because cut
women don't easily reach satisfaction they are inclined to seek it
elsewhere, making them more vulnerable to STD's.

In 1999, or maybe 2000, can't quite recall, FMG was the agenda at the
Gambian Cultural Week seminar held in Oslo. The main speaker on the subject
is a highly educated Gambian woman. She argued passionately then that the
practice is harmful and recounted painful personal experiences she lived
because of it. She vowed never to allow any daughter of hers to go through
similar experience.

Speaking from a very personal experience, I have never personally known a
woman, if you know what I mean, that has been cut, except one and it was
exactly this one, cut clean, that was ever unfaithful in all my
relationships.

 So you may understand why I am more inclined to believe that a woman's
self-control has more to do with upbringing and the moral values inculcated
in her as a child, not to talk about self-respect, than whether or not she
is cut.

Though men cannot stand aside and allow this debate to be a women only
affair, and I applaud you for your engagement, I believe cut women should be
allowed to take the lead since they are the ones who know how it feels. I
also feel that it is a violation of a woman's human right to deny her that
part of her body which probably generates more arousal in her than any
other.

Just last week, Eritrea outlawed the practice because of what they claimed
to be it's harmful effects. Here is a society where all young girls used
cut.

Though I am not dismissing your deterrent argument out of hand, I believe it
has to be weighed against the rights of a woman to enjoy herself to the
fullest. A Somalian woman friend of mine once told me how some of their men
react negatively, calling their wives whores, if they show signs of enjoying
themselves in the act!

I also saw your comparison to male circumcision and disagree with you on
that one too. Just as Malinding argued, male cutting has its proven medical
advantages besides doing away with the foreskin that wraps the most
sensitive part of the male organ.

Also, as I understand, the practice, as performed in some pockets of the
Middle East, is not as elaborate as in some parts of Africa, just making a
token cut and this slight incision was adapted in place of the earlier clean
cut, after the advent of Islam.

What I disagree with vehemently, is the Western angle in dealing with the
practice, always using it to highlight the "barbarity" of those who practise
it. It does not help the debate one bit, especially when many men use it
to fight what they term Western inteference with a long-standing African
cultural practice.

Regards,

Kabir.









On 4/9/07, Suntou Touray <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> malanding ,similarly some will arque about the benefits of female
> circumcission .
> i spoke a seirra leonian lady a short while ago and she told me '' the
> benefits
> are the reduction of the female libido ,which inturn have a derterant to
> aids
> and hiv. the woman will have more control over her sexual desires ''. i am
> not
> saying whether this is true or fasle but that is her assertions. she is a
> red
> cross executive doing her masters in a london uinevrsity. some feel that
> is it
> completely unnecessary ,that is there opinion .some feel that it is .
> this lady went on to say compair the number of hiv infected people in
> africa ,one will find out that areas that don't perform female
> circumcission is
> highes on the list. well ,i cannot substanciate that because i don't know
> whether the southern african people do it or not.
>
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