Hi Folks,
I stumbled on the appended article on the WWW.... Here it goes folks
unedited!
Cheers,
M.K. Saidy
------------------
Happy New-Year folks, although the year is already old. May we all be
blessed this year and in the new millennium. Let us thank God for 1998.
It was the year conquered by pornography; the year the evil genie
sneaked into our television sets, computers and radios, without giving
us much choice. A year dedicated to sleazy Bill, Tripped Monica, Kinky
Starr and hellish Republicans. It was a year too much; too full; and
the drama is still playing itself out. May God give us the wisdom to
know when enough is enough.
I have the Oval Office night outs to thank for bringing the issue of
female sexuality to my mind once again. The expression of female
sexuality has always been predicated on men; their whims and caprices
often aided and abetted by uninformed women. Sometimes women are
themselves the advocates of injustices foisted on fellow women, and
this applies to the issue of Female Circumcision and other wicked acts.
Recently Female Circumcision has generated widespread interest in the
West, and also in the minds of women activists in countries where it is
practiced. Before I bring my emotions to bear on the subject, I would
love to elucidate on the practice for the benefit of those who are not
familiar with it and the evils attendant upon it. Such people might
find here, some useful information regarding various forms of Female
Circumcision, as practiced in Africa, the Middle East and parts of the
Far East.
There are three main forms of female circumcision:
(1) The removal of the tip of the clitoris, or the prepuce. This is the
type commonly practiced in Southwestern Nigeria; (2) the removal of the
entire clitoris and the adjacent labia. This is the preferred method in
Senegal and Kenya; (3) infibulation or the removal of the clitoris, the
labia and scraping of the vulva, with the remaining fold of skin sewn
across the vagina, leaving a tiny hole for the passage of urine and
menstrual blood. This is done in Egypt, and it's sometimes called
'Pharaonic circumcision'.
Female Circumcision in any of these forms is an unjust traditional
practice, although efforts have been made by men -- as in other things
-- to put a religious face to it, in order to justify its continuity.
Gratefully, activists are now aware that the practice is purely
traditional and is not a requirement of religion. The mere recognition
of the fact that female circumcision is merely something that is firmly
rooted in people's customs and traditions, and has no 'divine' origin,
has made it a little easier to embark on a massive campaign to stamp it
out. For indeed the question needs to be asked: What has religion got
to do with Female Circumcision? This is just a practice invented by men
to ensure faithfulness to them by their wives in marriage, and to
ensure virginity in girls, until they are ripe for marriage.
There can be no religious justification -- or requirement --for a
calculated attempt to reduce female libido. It can even be argued that
the practice is anti-religious, in the sense that by insisting on it,
man wants to destroy or mutilate something that the Almighty, in His
wisdom, found fit to endow women with, at creation! Additionally, it
must be pointed out that as a matter of simple fact, no one, except a
woman herself, is morally responsible for keeping her sexuality in
check. Circumcision, as a means of discouraging promiscuity and/or
adultery, is medieval and barbaric and it is nothing other than a physical
and psychological assault on defenseless girls at an age when they are
most vulnerable to the cruelty of adults.
Growing up, I was ignorant about circumcision. I had nothing against
it, in that I viewed it as a "normal" procedure. Removal of the prepuce
is the type that is practiced in Southwestern Nigeria where I hailed
from. There, babies (both male and female) are routinely circumcised in
the first two weeks of life, and I grew up believing that this was the
"normal" way of starting off life in infants. It was a great social
occasion, in fact -- men entertained their friends to drinks in
celebration of the event, and everyone had a lot of special dishes to
eat. So I grew up witnessing -- and dismissing -- the innocent cries of
babies passing through this ugly ritual. In my part of the world we
never even knew there were people who did not carry out the practice,
for some sly person had figured out that if it was done at a very early
age, it would become part of us all!
I had no idea I was missing anything until I visited a friend's house
in Northeastern Nigeria in my early twenties. I saw my friend giving
her daughter a cold bath that sunny afternoon. As she was cleaning the
child's genitals, I saw the girl move in an unfamiliar way. I asked her mother
(a nurse) "Is anything the matter? She told me "She's just tickled". I
never asked her why, but I was intrigued, for I had never been tickled
so intensely when I did my personal hygiene. That singular occurrence
aroused my interest and prompted me to search for information.
Good people, I love the way I am, because what one does not know, never
hurts. As far as I know I am total and complete. Perhaps I should be
grateful that the local midwife was kind to me. As it is, she must have
cut off only a tiny little thing off. I can declare wholly that she was
very unsuccessful in reducing or modifying my libido. I have
continued to enjoy the heavenly feeling of true orgasmic ecstasy. The
ugly tradition my parents complied with is of no effect on me. But I
must admit I have wondered, since I got married, whether sex would have
been a lot more fulfilling were one not circumcised at all? I have
since dismissed it from my mind, and today, I imagine it no more than I
do imagine myself as a 6ft 2" tall, size 8 lady. I have asked, though,
what I would I have done if I had given birth to a girl in my home
country, under the watchful eyes of my family and neighbors? I thank God I
do not have to take that decision, but I think I would have gone all the
way to protect my daughter's femininity and bear the social consequences.
I must emphasize that in my view, Female Circumcision is not the answer
to the promiscuity of our generation that is threatening to tear apart
the moral fabric of society. The removal of functioning parts of the
genitalia in this crusade is unnecessary, for all it amounts to is
oppression of women. Promiscuity is a matter of upbringing and
attitude, and physical mutilation in an attempt to curb it must be
stopped. There is no purpose served, by perpetuating traditions that
seek to regulate or control the body, or the sexuality, of the
individual. My sexual conduct today is shaped by my religious beliefs
and by words from my parents. The anatomical removal of my prepuce has
nothing to do with it. Women can reach orgasm through mere petting and
kissing, can't they? Even fantasizing in the mind can do it. How much
more actual penetration -- with or without prepuce/clitoris?
It is unfortunate that women themselves, because they tend to be so
unwilling to discuss their sexual lives with honesty, or at best, touch
upon it fleetingly, in an embarrassed manner, constitute the greatest
impediment to the eradication of this evil practice. They have helped
in no small way to propagate the myths surrounding female
circumcision. I remember being told that a child "would die if its head
touched the clitoris during childbirth"! There are other similarly
useless excuses for the practice. In Western Nigeria, for instance --
which I am most familiar with -- women in general, and the circumcision
practitioners themselves, are ignorant of the real implications of
female circumcision and the health risks associated with it.
Male territorial behavior has always advanced the view that the
clitoris is a dangerous element of the female anatomy, even in the
western world. Sigmund Freud the famous psychologist, in his book,
Sexuality and the Psychology of Love, "elimination of clitoral
sexuality is a precondition for the development of femininity". Imagine
that coming from such a renowned source. In writing this, I condemn
female circumcision of any kind. I denounce it as a form of advanced
terrorism visited on women to prevent them from having a wholesome
life. I urge us all to campaign against this unfortunate practice and
to get rid of it. Its long-term complications, such as sexual
frigidity, pelvic and obstetric complications, as well as its social
consequences, have ruined many of the very marriages it was meant to
protect.
Our people do need to be educated on the dangers of Female
Circumcision. It is a deep-seated problem and only a grassroots
educational approach, that will take all aspects of our culture and
belief systems into consideration can eradicate it. It is my belief
that, God has not created anything that is without a purpose. Some may
not be advanced enough to know the use of a particular organ, but that
does not mean that it is useless. In the case of the clitoris, there is
absolutely no excuse to excise it, for the clitoris, with its massive
collection of nerve endings, was created for the sole purpose of
generating pleasure for the woman and its function is not hidden from
us. Therefore, cutting off this vital organ is nothing other than the
exaltation of cruelty. The clitoris needs no modification in size,
shape Or function. Away with this tortuous practice of cutting it off!
Bamidele Ademola-Olateju © 1999
P.S To my brother and friend, the veiled literary giant in the open.
You have read this and told me to post it and I refused. Now I have, in
the search of money, never mind that NASDAQ did it to me than you:-) I
love you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
