Creative | Posted by Hannah C on 06/11/2010
Tradition
I was thinking about female genital mutilation and the prevalency it still has within a large number of African communities, and in other countries worldwide. After reading Alice Walker’s Possessing the Secret of Joy I began to watch interviews with women who had been under the knife, and this is my interpretation of one of the ways it takes place.
tradition
it’s tradition, they say
new clothes, new jewellery
this celebration is all for you
that elegant gait, they say
walk with a slip slide shuffle
legs together, like true women
Come inside, they say
every woman has to do it
do you want to get married or not
hold her down, they say
spread her legs
hand me the knife
cut it all out, they say
every lump, every bump
make sure you get it all
stitch her up, they say
she’s not dirty anymore
she can get a husband
congratulations, they say
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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aj @ at 2:12 pm, June 11th, 2010
You say “in african communities” and “other countries worldwide”
I hope that sentiment is inclusive of the United States. FGM is happening in our own backyard. It isn’t some “far away” cultural phenomenon.
Arran @ at 3:17 am, June 12th, 2010
Have you read Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s biography ‘Infadel’? She describes the experience as a young girl.
Garen @ at 2:38 pm, June 12th, 2010
The American equivalent of the General Medical Council recommend cutting off a baby girl’s clitoral hood if it’s more than 5/8 of an inch long.
And FGM ranges from infibulation to a tiny trim of the prepuce to invoke ritual bleeding. I think it’s very dangerous for the Western hemisphere to start judging when women were having their clitorises sliced off in Victorian England thnks to Freud and his theories on why women were ‘hysterical’.
I know that FGM does ruin lives, but there need to be a much more balanced discussion. After all, to a stranger, the Nineties’ phenomenon of belly-button piercing could seem like the worst kind of mutilation. You need to walk a mile in another person’s shoes before you can open your mouth to judge.
Katherine C. @ at 10:52 pm, June 12th, 2010
Nice rhythm to the poem.
And FGM is always one of the examples I give when my classmates tell me that “feminism isn’t necessary anymore.” I believe that it’s one of the greatest threats facing women today.
And @Garen: there are some things that are simply wrong, and I don’t think that the belly-button piercing analogy was very strong. You never hear of “belly-button piercing survivors” being traumatized or giving testimonial interviews. It also has nothing to do with broader concepts; FGM has to do with the sexual repression of women, sexual enslavement, etc. People with belly-button piercings made a clear and informed choice, and it doesn’t interfere with the wearer’s ability to enjoy life or express themselves as people.
Emily @ at 6:25 am, June 13th, 2010
I think that you made a point in a very beautiful way, I loved the rhythm of your poem.
I have to agree with Garen on some points. If some women do choose to be circumcised without coercion or force then she is well within her rights to do so, and I’ll be damned before I tell her he can’t.
However, when a woman begins to be coerced or forced then that’s when things become female genital mutilation and it is under no circumstances okay and it vile and disgusting.
I believe that a key part of feminism is the right for women to have a choice about how they live their lives and anything that hampers that right is wrong.
Lenora @ at 2:54 pm, July 18th, 2010
This is one of my favorite on this website. Truly amazing. But sad.
Anna @ at 12:41 am, July 22nd, 2010
I am curious to know what people think of male circumcision. As it is a ritual in the US that is beyond normalized. I personally feel it is wrong. It to is sexually repressing for men (make them lose 70% of the feeling in the penis) and is something that is generally done non-consensually as it normally happens when they are nearly infants. It is also generally thought of something to use to cleans your child and keep them pure.
Does it seem less appalling to most because of how normal it is here? I know many women that haven’t even seen an uncircumcised penis and there seems to be a standard view that they are gross.
Seems to fall under the same vail to me.