FGM

          Last semester I was in a women’s studies course where I was educated on many topics foreign to me on women’s rights, suffrage and oppression. I never considered myself a feminist but I was then forced to take a step back and understand that being a feminist means that you support feminism. The definition of feminism is the belief that women and men should have equal rights and opportunities and if that is the true definition I am basing my support off of then yes, I am a supporter of feminism. These classes forced me to think about my feelings as I learned of the horrible truths of women’s history but not only in the past, but current issues that brought me to tears. In America, women battle equal pay for equal work, prejudice in hiring because they are mothers or are pregnant, women are underrepresented in government and corporate and are viewed as second to men in a patriarchal society. Women in the military experience unthinkable amounts of sexual harassment including thousands of cases of rape a year with minimal if any punishment to the men responsible. But my real hurt went out to the women in countries like Somaliland, Iraq and Iran where young girls are sold into arranged marriages at the ages of 11 or younger in some cases. These girls come with a dowry to the husband’s family and if it is not paid in a timely manner, girls are strapped down and burned in an event termed dowry death. When these young girls have children, many of their bodies cannot withstand the labor and die during childbirth or of infection. The most horrifying and immoral act I became educated on was female genital mutilation. In a time frame of infancy to 15, girls are subjected to the pain of a destructive operation in which the female genitals are partially or entirely removed and then stitched together leaving a small opening for urination, menstration & intercourse. This is seen as a religious practice and a way to keep girls chaste and inhibit their sexual feelings. Young girls have no say in the matter and are forced to be circumcised. These young girls then must lay motionless for approximately 5 days, in their waste,  to allow their incisions to heal. Most countries have outlawed these practices but the laws are poorly enforced and so FGM is still widely practice and forced upon young children. There is a line of ethics and morality that even in the name of religion cannot be crossed and when it is, we as a nation must put an end to those immoral and damaging practices.