| Clitoridectomy and Infibulation in Africa |
Infant Male Circumcision in North America |
| "She loses only a little piece of the clitoris, just the part
that protrudes. The girl does not miss it. She can still feel, after
all. There is hardly any pain. Women's pain thresholds are so much
higher than men's." |
"It's only a little piece of skin. The baby does not feel any
pain because his nervous system is not developed yet." |
| "The parts that are cut away are disgusting and hideous to look
at. It is done for the beauty of the suture." |
"An uncircumcised penis is a real turn-off. Its disgusting. It
looks like the penis of an animal." |
| "Female circumcision protects the health of a woman.
Infibulation prevents the uterus from falling out [uterine prolapse].
It keeps her smelling so sweet that her husband will be pleased. If it
is not done, she will stink and get worms in her vagina. " |
"An uncircumcised penis causes urinary infections and penile
cancer. It generates smegma and smegma stinks. A circumcised penis is
more hygienic and oral sex with an uncircumcised penis is disgusting
to women." |
| "An uncircumcised vulva is unclean and only the lowest
prostitute would leave her daughter uncircumcised. No man would dream
of marrying an unclean woman. He would be laughed at by
everyone." |
"An uncircumcised penis is dirty and only the lowest class of
people with no concept of hygiene leave their boys
uncircumcised." |
| "Leaving a girl uncircumcised endangers both her husband and
her baby. If the baby's head touches the uncut clitoris during birth,
the baby will be born hydrocephalic [excess cranial fluid]. The milk
of the mother will become poisonous. If a man's penis touches a
woman's clitoris he will become impotent." |
"Men have an obligation to their wives to give up their
foreskin. An uncircumcised penis will cause cervical cancer in women.
It also spreads disease." |
| "A circumcised woman is sexually more pleasing to her husband.
The tighter she is sewn, the more pleasure he has." |
"Circumcised men make better lovers because they have more
staying power than uncircumcised men." |
| "All the women in the world are circumcised. It is something
that must be done. If there is pain, then that is part of a woman's
lot in life." |
"Men in all of the `civilized' world are circumcised." |
| "Doctors do it, so it must be a good thing." |
"Doctors do it, so it must be a good thing." |
| Sudanese grandmother: "In some countries they only cut out the
clitoris, but here we do it properly. We scrape our girls clean. If it
is properly done, nothing is left, other than a scar. Everything has
to be cut away." |
My own father, a physician, speaking of ritual circumcision
inflicted upon my son: "It is a good thing that I was here to
preside. He had quite a long foreskin. I made sure that we gave him a
good, tight circumcision." |
| 35-year-old Sudanese woman: "Yes, I have suffered from chronic
pelvic infections and terrible pain for years now. You say that all of
this is the result of my circumcision? But I was circumcised over 30
years ago! How can something that was done for me when I was four
years old have anything to do with my health now?" |
35-years-old American male: "I have lost nearly all interest in
sex. You might say that I'm becoming impotent. I don't seem to have
much sensation in my penis anymore, and it is becoming more and more
difficult for me to reach orgasm. You say that this is the result of
my circumcision? That doesn't make any sense. I was circumcised 35
years ago, when I was a little baby. How can that affect me in any way
now?" |
