Reply to Should mutilating children be a protected form of culture?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Guess what this story is really about:

[19th-century Chinese] community leaders say the [campaign against foot-binding] is an attack on their culture and religion.

“It’s as if the authorities are telling us that our traditions are wrong,” said [a Chinese citizen].

[Wu Ziang], secretary general of the [Chinese Cultural Ministry], was much more critical. “[Authorities] are now lecturing the [Chinese] about how we should treat our children, about the dangers of [foot binding], about how the [girl] feels pain,” he said. “It’s as if they think we are barbarians, that we are indifferent to how the child feels,” [u][b]Mr. Kramer[/b][/u] said.

Under [Chinese custom], [girls' feet] must be [bound] on [their second birthday].

“Making a decision about [foot binding] is very difficult for the family,” said [a Chinese woman], who has a [daughter]. “But I really think the state should not interfere.”

“It’s a very, very sensitive issue,” said a Justice Ministry official who spoke anonymously because the topic was so controversial. [The Chinese government], the official added, has to find a balance between principles: the rights of parents; and a person’s right to physical integrity.

Other countries are questioning [foot binding] as organizations for the protection of children insist that it is the state’s duty to shield children from physical injury.

[One country] recently proposed that [Chinese families] replace [foot binding] with a symbolic ritual. Some lawmakers also called for a minimum age of 18 so that parents could not decide. In [another country], the Medical Association has urged leaders to consider alternative rites that are not irreversible and are not painful for the child.

[Chinese families] are perplexed. They wonder whether these trends signal some kind of [anti-Chinese sentiment] that is concealed by medical and legalistic arguments. [/quote]

Oops, OP.  Not too many Chinese Jews....[/quote]

Ha! Missed one. It's from this story: [url]http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/18/world/europe/18iht-letter18.html[/url], and of course, it's about circumcision.

To me, the parallels between the two are interesting, particularly the linked story's quote about thinking something is barbaric. I doubt anyone in China now would think footbinding was anything but barbaric now, but 200 years ago, it was low-class to have regular feet, and ladies had to have bound feet (or else they were only suitable for fieldwork like their non-foot-bound sisters).

PP has an interesting point about ear piercing. (Not car seats, though, sorry - that's not a physical mutilation). Why is it we draw the line at some permanent mutilations to our children without their consent (ear piercing, circumcision) but not others (tatoos, face piercing, foot binding, female genital mutilation)?

Is it really just culture and dominant ideology that makes some forms of this ok, and others illegal or taboo? Will people in a thousand years think ear piercing and circumcision are barbaric and pity those who thought they were ok?[/quote]

OP, I'm 12:25 and 12:55.  I think your parallel is interesting.  BTW, I do think circumsion is debatable due to the "medical" aspect--I think that ear piercing falls soundly into the mutilation camp since it's only purpose is adornment.  Having said tht, I admit to a bias that comes from having been reared in a culture that considers it a mark of the lower classes as well.  So I guess you have to take that with agrain of salt, then.  Anything that is permanent and done purely for aesthetics should be left to adults, IMO.  And the jury is still out (or arguing) about circumcision.[/quote]

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