Isatou, I see exactly where you are coming from.  Just a week ago a
colleague at work brought the same issue up and you should have seen the
excitement on his face as he handed me an article he printed from the
Internet on FGM (female circumcision).  This article was very explicit and
gave the details of how the whole operation is done as well as the risks and
health hazards.  I like most other women do brushed the issue off not only
because he is a white Caucasian male whose life has not and will never be
affected by this practice but also because of the culture of silence we grew
up in regarding this issue.  This is something we seldom talk about not even
amongst women.

I find it real had to deal with it eventhough I am not a victim myself.  The
mere thought of putting children through this pain and agony just makes me
feel real sick.  I definitely am pro-culture and tradition but this one has
to go.  I strongly believe women's voices have not been heard enough on this
issue and that more awareness  should be created.


Isatou B Kaira <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Female circumcision; a burnig issue in Norway.
>Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2000 16:34:51 +0200
>
>Omar thanks for a wonderful posting. You've said it all. Although busy with
>work, I just have to stop for a minute to  add to what you've already said.
>
>Again today we(foreigners) woke up to being the headlines news in Norway. I
>am sure for most of us it has been the topic of discussion at work or for
>most of us women, being looked at in a very peculiar way, wondering if we
>are or not circumsised.I am sure most of us are not surprised by the
>shallow and one-tracked way the program was featured  on TV.  And now it is
>like all the Gambian and Somalian teenage girls are being pressured and in
>danger. I have a six year old daughter and I have never felt pressured to
>circumsise her. But whose fault is it?
>
>Omar has given you a very vivid account of what happened. How the muslim
>leaders said one thing in public and another thing on hidden camera, after
>showing on Tv one of our Imams giving a sermon about telling lies. To say
>it mildly(I am sorry if I hurt anybody), these muslim leaders were made to
>be liars and hypocrites on national TV. One of the leaders went on TV to
>try to make it good again but I am sorry to say, it was pointless. I have
>to say that I admire his courage for coming on that live program but one he
>failed to realise is how manupulative journalists can be. As Omar said, he
>ended up apologising on national TV.
>
>I am sure most of those leaders meant good when they adviced the young
>Somalian to listen to her parents, because as they said on the video, it is
>in the Koran to obey your parents. Probably they were thinking that, here
>is a young girl who wants to take the "western way of life". That the
>Norwegians should not tell us what to do with our culture/religion.
>Whatever these leaders were trying to do, it is very shameful and at the
>same time annoying to see them being ridiculed like that on National TV.
>These are people that are suppose to be our elders in this society. These
>are people that most of us seek advice from and it hurts so bad to see them
>being treated like that. They could have used the oppturnity to tell the
>Norwegians that not everybody practice it in in the Gambia. And what about
>the women groups in the Gambia trying to educate people about the dangers
>of female circumcision?
>
>But have these leaders sit for a minute sit and think about what female
>circumcision is all about? Do they know what goes in those gatherings? Do
>they know for real how it is done? Do they know the health poblems
>associated with that? Have they ever been around and listen to these young
>girls scream their loungs off during the perfomance? The list can go on and
>on... NO! they don't know much about it. They don't even want to know
>because it is a women issue. As Omar mentioned, it is a tabo to talk about
>it to guys. Well, I think it is about time the men know exactly how and
>what is done during those gatherings. I don't think any father would want
>to put his daughter through that pain.
>
>The one leader who went on TV said that it was a mistake to advice that
>girl to do it. Okay. I am challenging all those muslim leaders and any
>other Gambian who thinks that it is okay to "do it"(as it was adviced on
>tv), to read about it, watch the tapes and talk to people that have gone
>through it. They should know more about it before advicing anybody even if
>there was no law against it.
>
>There has been much talk about it being tradition/religion. Personally,
>that is one aspect of my tradition/religion I have completely erased out of
>my life. As I mentioned earlier I have a six year old daughter and she'll
>never go through that.
>
>Isatou
>

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