Greetings, Ylva, I am hoping that Fuambai Ahmadu's posting problem will get resolved so she can be
able to post again.  And as she is on this list (I think), I will respond to her directly.


     Firstly, I'm in the process of reading the book "Female Circumcision in Africa:  Culture,
Controversy,
and Change".  I am actually only in the first few pages of the book, however, I'd first start by
saying that I, for one, definitely have a lot to learn.  


     I think that people who oppose "FGC", as it were, are well-meaning, and when you are told,
time and time again, of the so-called "consequences" of the practice, I think anyone hearing such
things would be concerned.


     As I thought I'd said in a previous post, I'd wondered where the so-called ill health affects
of various forms of FGC had been found out.  What I mean is, how did "Westerners" come to know the
so-called "ill health affects" and "harmfulness" of the practice in the first place.  The book I'm
reading seems to answer my question, in that medical doctors during colonial times made reference
to the practice.


     You are correct in that education goes both ways.  I also do not feel that just because
someone is "uneducated" in Western standards, that they are "ignorant" meaning that they possess
no knowledge.


     My attempt was to merely state that if us "Westerners" are going to "educate" people, we'd do
well to actually understand, from a cultural / moral / other relevant perspective, where the
people we are seeking to "educate" are coming from.  Why do people engage in what we consider a
"harmful traditional practice"?  Is it really even harmful?  If so, how so, and do we go about
stopping said practice or making it less harmful?  If it doesn't turn out to be "harmful", should
we just not leave well enough alone.


     I am well aware that "the West" has a terrible habit / legacy / continuation of imposing its
moral values, culture, etc., on other groups of people.  It was definitely not my intention to do
that.  You seemingly have one Cornelius Hammelberg seeming to agree that girls should be forcibly
examined to see if they've undergone FGC, and going on about how "horrible FGM is", and not a peep
from anyone, I don't think, except from Momodou Sidibeh and myself.


     I certainly did not intend to portray some air of superiority onto other people.  However,
sadly, I do also understand that sometimes things manifest themselves and you may say things,
express opinions that may be, by their nature superior-sounding.


     My intention though, was to say that we should educate ourselves on what exactly we are
dealing with, if there is truly any "harm" involved, and then go from there.  And I say "we" as
"Westerners", activists, health educators, and other relevant people.  The thought has occurred to
me that perhaps "FGC" isn't really as "horrible" or "bad" as everyone's said it is.


     What I meant by the statement "educating women on how their bodies work", was of course
assuming that they'd not know that, however the unspoken assumption, for me anyway, was that they
may already know "how their bodies work", and thus wouldn't be "educated".  I think the problem is
that us "Westerners" are given a lot of misinformation about African culture, in general, one
thing being that women are not educated about their bodies, etc.  I was thinking, though, that if
any "education" was going to take place, perhaps it could take the form of "education" in things
the women may not have known before.  However, I'd also guess that this, also, smacks of some sort
of cultural imperialism.  Perhaps we as "Westerners" have no place in this discours at all, and
should leave the "educating" up to women who are affected / who come from these cultures where
this is practiced.


     This is really a hard one to call, because those of us "Westerners" who are seeking to learn
about African history, and who seek to throw off whatever notions of "cultural superiority" we do
have, when we hear about the supposed horrors of FGC, etc., we not so much want to tell others how
to live or what to do, but we seek to learn about the true nature of the practice and I want to
say "educate" people about the harmful affects of said practice, if said harmful affects truly
exist.  But again, I find myself choosing my words very carefully.


     Perhaps we've just got it all wrong and the harmful affects described have been made up?  I
don't know.  I can see how my post came across as somehow having an air of superiority, however,
at the time, I was addressing someone who seemingly thinks that girls should be forcibly examined
for signs of FGC, and if I remember correctly, he also went on about the excising of women's
clitorises to the point of excess in my opinion, and also seems to suggest that racism no longer
exists in the West, all comments that I, for one, found offensive and sought to address.


     I'd like to know why the comments of a man who seems fixated with "women's clitorises" as he
refers to that often in his posts, was never addressed, but posts from "one Ginny Quick" have
seemingly offended some?


     My first reaction to reading this was to get defensive, try to state my good intentions, and
to try to clarify my position.  However, in past discussions, I have found that this does not
work.  I will instead say that I did not intend to display any sort of cultural superiority, I am
still in the learning process regarding this subject, and I definitely have a lot to learn.  As
I'd also stated before, I have a lot of questions regarding this subject, and I don't think,
especially after the few pages of this book that I have read, that we, as Westerners, should be
traipsing into other people's countries, towns, and villages, and start harping on the "harmful
practices" of FGC, if we don't even understand the people we are talking to.  And perhaps that was
what I was trying to say initially.  And this is made worse when we walk in there and act like we
are better than the people we are dealing with.  


     I will end by once again saying that my intention was not to offend, and that though I wonder
why other people's comments, who I feel were more offensive than myself, were not responded to? 
However, I will leave this subject alone.  I feel I have been "hand-slapped" and "put in my place"
as it were, as if to say "how dare you talk about this, you Western woman, you don't even know
what you're talking about".  Point well taken, I will be silent from here on out on this matter,
and continue to read and learn as much as I can.  However, should I have any questions, is there
anywhere I can go and ask my questions, and get answers, and not be somehow told to remain silent
or that I have no right to discuss this?  Because in us, as Westerners, trying to understand the
true scope of FGC, there needs to be somewhere we can go and ask our questions and to learn the
true nature of "FGC", without being made to feel that we've committed some sort of agregious
offense by simply trying to learn.  


Ginny



 

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