I can't stop crying about the Kurdish girl in the Post this AM

[Anonymous]

So sad.

[Anonymous]

The key to this is education.
I had my son circumcised because of what I read about HIV transmission in uncircumcised men.
That said, it must have hurt him, they did use an anesthetic though.

[Anonymous]

The article says they do not know why they do it, but that they have done it for decades and will continue to due to Islam.

[Anonymous]

Now I am crying as well. I wish I hadn't clicked on this post and went looking for the article.

[Anonymous]

The Kurds quoted in the article also said it was because women who did not have it done were considered ritually unclean and thus unfit to prepare food for others. The last quote from the little girl in the pictures is the saddest thing. She is in a lot of pain, and she says something like, "I don't care if no one will eat the food I make, I just want to be back the way I was." It breaks my heart.

[Anonymous]

PP, adding: I too was really shocked at first that the Post printed these pictures. It felt very strange to be sitting at the breakfast table and see a freeze-frame of this one horrific, painful, life-changing moment for a little girl. But then I thought, I'm glad they printed these photos -- the more this is brought to the attention of the world, in all its barbarism, the better the chances of ending it. So thanks, Post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:does anyone know what's the purpose of the kurds clitoridectomy? and the circumcision in US?

I thought I read some where (a very long time ago) that it was discourage sexual relations. Anybody fill in the blanks for me on that one?

I believe that is the primary purpose of the clitorectomy - to eliminate pleasure in women so they don't go having affairs.

Generally, I'm tolerant of the different practices in various world cultures (body piercing, tatooing, fire-walking, etc.) but this act is one of the most repulsive things one could do. The mother and many mothers like her betray their children by telling them they're going to a "surprise party" and it ends up such a traumatic horror.

I looked at the photos of the innocent excited girl as she is anticipating a pleasant surprise and she ends up being held down by 3 grown women to have done to her what was done to them. For men, I think the equivalent is getting their nuts sliced off. Castration is the male equivalent of diminishing their sexual drive. How about it? Can we start cutting 7 year old boys' scrotums off too?

[Anonymous]

To me it is just more evidence of the acceptance of violence against women throughout the world. Look at the prevalence of domestic violence and date rape and the difficulty in getting justice for the victims.That little girl was exposed to an extreme act of violence, in my opinion. And I don't believe the right response is to retaliate with brutality against men, either.

[Anonymous]

OH my God, I just threw up. I wish I had not clicked on this link. I have two daughters. Oh god, oh god, why do they do this to little girls who are aware and can remember? The practice is so barbaric, but Jesus, at least do it under anesthesia.....
I need to vomit. I am bawling. What can we do to help these poor little girls???? How can this go on in the world? I feel so sick, that just by the grace of God, I and my daughters were lucky enough to be born in a country that does not allow for such practices.

[Anonymous]

BTW, I read that in the UK, that some Muslim immigrants send their daughters to their home countries to get this done during their summer breaks. The British government has caught on and made it a crime to do this.

[Anonymous]

And male circumcision does not affect the sexual health of a man FOREVER. Most women who are circumcised cannot have orgasms, have painful sex, etc. The act of female circumcision should in no way be compared to male circumcision. I am actually appalled that anybody would compare the two.

I understand your point, but...I can tell you that my husband is uncircumcised and I know that without a doubt, he feels way more pleasure than the circumcised men I've been with. I personally never had an opinion on it until I met him and learned more about it.

I think that we in the US need to really examine why we routinely circumcise little boys. It's almost like a given -- I never understood those jokes about being able to "tell the religion" as all of my prior partners were not Jewish and had been circ'd.

[Anonymous]

Definitely makes me rethink my position on male circumcision....however, I don't think removing the foreskin is quite akin to removing the entire clitoris. Now, if the entire head of the penis were amputated...that might be an appropriate comparison.

Now to an even more important issue...how can we stop this? After reading this post and then the Post article, I joined Amnesty International which is working to ban this practice in the countries where it is currently not outlaws. Probably more critical though would be to become involved with or provide support to educational campaigns against this practice. Anyone know of organizations that do this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And male circumcision does not affect the sexual health of a man FOREVER. Most women who are circumcised cannot have orgasms, have painful sex, etc. The act of female circumcision should in no way be compared to male circumcision. I am actually appalled that anybody would compare the two. When you look at the health risks below, I am pretty sure you will see that there is just no comparison.
.

Have you seen the wrinkly skin under the head of a circumcised penis? THAT IS SCAR TISSUE and so cannot feel the same sensation as the skin that was cut off with a knife. Many circumcisions go wrong. If too much skin is cut off - as it often is- adult males have pain with every erection and can have tearing of the skin with bleeding and infections. Ever heard of men who curve to the side? That is usually from too much skin being removed and the erection is forced to bend so the skin doesn't tear. Not to mention the penises that were referred to as "destroyed" by circumcision accidents in the research I did to educate myself before deciding about circumcision for my future kids. I suggest you do some research too.

Of course female circumcision is horrifying and brutal and an unacceptable violation of the body of an unwilling, un-consenting child and everything possible should be done to stop the practice. Just because we are used to it and it is the cultural norm (as female circumcision is in some places) we shouldn't gloss over the brutality of male circumcision. Even if anesthesia is used for baby boys, and usually is not, it takes at least an hour to take effect at all and very few wait the hour - it's usually more like 10-15 mins so there is no numbing. Have you seen the "circ board" that the babies are strapped to? Really sad and scary.

If you replace "male" with "female" and read a blow by blow description of a circumcision, anyone would be horrified. I don't say this to take anything away from the horror and pain of that little girl's story but to open peoples' eyes to the fact that WE DO THE SAME THING HERE! We do it under more sanitary conditions and to babies who can't describe how awful it is but we do it nonetheless. We are just so used to it we don't even think about it.

[Anonymous]

PP WE DO NOT DO THE SAME THING HERE. Male circumcision and female genital mutilation should not be compared AT ALL. As a PP said, if we were going to compare apples to apples it would castration of a male.

FGM is used to repress women in certain cultures, as a way to take their sexual freedom away, to take their sex drive away completely. I suggest YOU read up on what exactly is involved and then tell me that there is ANY comparison to a male circumcision. Last time I checked we weren't dragging 7 year old boys into a dirty room to have their balls cut off with very little anesthesia and a "clean" razor.

You are entitled to your research and your opinions of male circumcision, but I have yet to meet a circ'd man who complained about the feeling of his orgasms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, adding: I too was really shocked at first that the Post printed these pictures. It felt very strange to be sitting at the breakfast table and see a freeze-frame of this one horrific, painful, life-changing moment for a little girl. But then I thought, I'm glad they printed these photos -- the more this is brought to the attention of the world, in all its barbarism, the better the chances of ending it. So thanks, Post.

I don't agree. The Post is in business to sell papers, they are definitely not a humanitarian organization. The newspaper business has become increasingly competitive and they are just trying to portray their journalistic "edge". They certainly could have made the same point with the copy only, no photos of a 7 year old being held down, screaming. I feel they exploited that little girl.