Moolade: Technology And Women For Change

Loretta Kopelman’s dissertation, Female Genital Circumcision and Conventionalists Ethical Relativism, takes a new approach in a global plight. Kopelman begins her thesis by elaborating on a particular tribe in southern Kenya. She describes how young girls are being mutilated for marriageability. Their fathers, eager for large dowries, perform the ritual on girls as young as nine. While some victims are able to escape and seek sanctuary, this obviously isn’t always possible and thus these girls must live with an inflicted deformity their whole life that doesn’t only cause serious health complications but sometimes even death.

In Chapter Thirteen, “Grassroots vs. Treetops” of Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn the act of genital mutilation is discussed. It starts off by giving gory details on genital mutilation, stating that every ten a girl is mutilated. Despite the medical problems surrounding female genital mutilation, it thrived in parts of Africa as a serious problem for young girls. FGM is sometimes described as a female circumcision, it’s cultural significance is to reduce sexual trends and to make the girls more marriageable. However, often these procedures are done with no new medical supplies and are performed with dirty materials leading to infection and sometimes death for girls partaking. A woman in Illinois is doing her best to stop female genital mutilation by working closely with each village and getting to the main source of the problem. Most people were under educated about what was wrong with female genital mutilation, it was a cultural rite of passage. But through working with each individual village, this woman could help ban female genital mutilation is thousands of villages and increased school attendance at the same time.

major part in a human's life, a close control over this specific aspect in a

In the story written by Frances A. Althaus’s “Female Circumcision: Rite of Passage or Violation of Rights? She explores female circumcision within African Culture and the health complications after the ritual is completed. Female circumcision is the practice of partial or total removal of the female external vaginal area and is still practiced in several countries today , dut was ruled as illegal in America in 1997. Females did not have the option to chose if they wanted to have the procedure performed, mothers often made that decision for them. The practice is to transition a girl into womanhood and to ensure that virginity is not lost before marriage, prevention of infidelity and

For class today, we read two brief articles on genital mutilation. In class, we also watched V-Day: Until the Violence Stops. Female genital mutilation is the removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. It is performed with a blade with or without anesthesia. I have been aware of the idea of male circumcision before, but I had honestly never thought about female circumcision before the reading. It shocked me to learn that certain cultures did not want women to have sexual desires. As a teenager growing up I did not know enough about my own body, I could only imagine what it was like to not understand your own body and not understand why your community would want you to have a FGM procedure done. Leyla Hussein explained that she

Culture can have a major impact on medical practices and health as a whole. Malian beliefs make it so it is required for a female to become circumcised. If a person would be asked why the female circumcisions were performed they would simple just explain that ‘”It our tradition. We all do this”’ showing that it has just become part of their culture and everyone just goes along with it because it is what they have always known as being appropriate. (27)While Katherine is talking to one of the residents of the country she even says that a man would not marry a woman if the circumcision was not performed. Later in Dettwyler’s research time while with her friend Moussa, he begins to complain about not feeling well and has a headache. Right away Dettwyler begins to go through all

In an extensive article, by Richard Griffith he reinstates information from the WHO Organization that “It is estimated that 100–140 million girls and women worldwide are currently living with the consequences of female genital mutilation (FGM).” (World Health organization, 2008). It is a horrible practice in which young females between the ages of infant and fifteen years of age, undergo a surgery for the alteration, removal or partial removal of their genitalia for religious or cultural reasoning’s. If that isn’t terrifying enough, understand that this takes place against the will of the receiving party. This is reason by itself, along with many reasons to stands up against FGM, as it should be outlawed entirely. But, before we can establish the barrier between necessary and criminal in discussion with this topic, we must look at the research and history of this practice, and let the statistics speak for its self.

Now that we know little about the mutilation process these females undergoes; let’s ask ourselves “Why would someone ever agree to conduct such procedure on their own will?” If mutilation emphasizes the clear violation of human rights, why is this procedure being implemented in many different countries? Well, this issue is due to different ethical, and moral perspective; one may believe that female mutilation is morally right; while others may think it’s a violation of human rights. Let’s first explore the ethical theories on this

Female Genital Mutilation is a practice in which external portions of female genitalia are removed for non-medical, cultural reasons. In many countries and cultures, young girls are forced to go through this procedure before getting married, based on the belief that the practice will keep them pure and virgins. This practice, set in place by a patriarchal hegemonic system, controls and decides the lives of any girls in a lot of places. Often times, these lives are ended because the practice is non-medical, not safe, and definitely not even done the right way.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) also known as female circumcision is a tradition passed down from generation to generation occurring all around the world affecting millions of women and young girls. FGM is controversial matter most prevalent in Africa (Ahanonu and Victor, 2014). To this day it’s estimated that about 28 African countries still practice this ritual including Nigeria (Ahanonu and Victor, 2014). In the past twenty years there has been a worldwide increased interest in FGM due to its multiplicity and lifelong effects. Some people believe FGM violates basic human rights where others believe this ritual is required to increase their chances of marriageability and that this practice is a transition from adolescents into adulthood

As we continue our march through the technological age, it is easy to see how technologies have affected all parts of our day-to-day lives. In “Sinister Fruitiness,” Stevens writes about how pervasive technologies have changed human existence in developed countries. Written in the mid-90s, before the real surge of internet and digital innovation, Stevens was already commenting on how people had begun to align their circadian rhythms so that their days gave them convenient windows to log-in and check their e-mails (414). Socializing has changed as the imbrication of physical and digital realities continues to intensify. Our body-language skills continue to erode in an age of remote interaction, where people are accustomed to documenting and narrating their lives for “on-line friends, many of whom we’ve never met” (414). In Neuromancer, Gibson portrays a technology-rich cyberpunk world whose synthesis of computer-science and biology seems predictive of our current social direction. In Gibson’s world, technological progress has had a significant effect on gender norms, as genderless cyber-space and cyborg body transformations muddle the basic biological distinctions between man and woman. As part of a postmodern commentary, Gibson uses technology as a gender-deconstructing tool, highlighting present-day patriarchal gender

"I remember the blade. How it shone! There was a woman kneeling over me with the knife. I bit her; it was all I could do. Then three women came to hold me down. One of them sat on my chest. I bit her with all my might." These words reflect Banassiri Sylla’s account of her experience undergoing female circumcision, also known as female genital mutilation (FGM), at the young age of eight in the Ivory Coast. This disturbing description of her struggle makes it hard to understand why any culture could support such a practice. Yet, it is estimated that about 132 million women and girls in about thirty African countries have undergone the same, or at least similar, cultural

Imagine this! Being either a young girl or a woman forcefully bound against your will while elders perform a procedure called Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). The young girls and women who are forced to have this procedure done not only loses their rights to sexual pleasure but their rights are sliced, chopped, punctured, and finally burnt away. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) otherwise known as Female Genital Circumcision (FGC) is also a controversial topic in Western societies. This paper will examine the history of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), hegemonic perspective on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), health consequences of having this procedure done, how Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) affects women’s sexual function, and women who

     Many of us never heard of Female Genital Mutilation until the story of Kauziya Kasinga, a woman from West Africa. Her father did not believe in polygamy, forced marriage, or "female circumcision". He died when she was 17 and the father's sister inherited the home, banished the mother, ended Fauziya's schooling, and

One fundamental way in which technology is often expressed in any society is through gender. The relationship between technology and gender has been theorized through decades due to the fact that the social struggles for equality between men and women are a contemporary topical issue. Lately, there has been an increase in the strength of the women’s movement advocating matters on women’s equality and empowerment. Amongst these issues is women’s invisibility in all aspects of technology. Some individuals view technology as neutral (Faulkner 2001: 90) but those who reject that notion view technology as a socially defined concept. Feminist technology studies understand technology to be socially constructed due to the concept of gender socialization; technology is socially constructed in conjunction with gender. Gender socialization refers to the range of social process in which men and women learn their gender roles. It often takes place in families, daycare centers, schools and within the media. Men and women are socialized into different gender roles, which are culturally produced. Historically, technology was defined as a masculine concept (Wajcman 2000: 447) even though the tasks that woman were forced to take on in the past involved a high degree of skill. This debate is looked at through a variety of perspectives, one being the feminist point of view as it involves norms guiding the social positions of women.