1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,920 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:10,000 Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you welcome to stuff mom never told you? 3 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:17,880 Speaker 1: From House top works dot com. Hey and welcomes podcast. 4 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:20,440 Speaker 1: This is smalling and I'm Kristen Kristen. A few weeks ago, 5 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:23,200 Speaker 1: we did a podcast called Our Circumcision Is Really Necessary. 6 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:26,560 Speaker 1: We talked about male circumcision and promised our listeners that 7 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: we would eventually do a subject on female circumcision. Yes, 8 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:33,519 Speaker 1: it's it was. You know, It's not the top of 9 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:35,840 Speaker 1: my list of subjects I'm eager to dive into every 10 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:40,240 Speaker 1: week because it seems very um sad. I guess that's 11 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 1: fair to put, fair to put, and well, it's also 12 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:46,240 Speaker 1: a little easier for us as women to relate to 13 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:51,839 Speaker 1: the concept of female circumcision than getting our foreskin snipped. Um, 14 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:54,480 Speaker 1: so let's die right into it. But that what it 15 00:00:54,480 --> 00:00:56,680 Speaker 1: actually is, and I think we should say we were 16 00:00:57,000 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: when we were trying to decide what to call this podcast, 17 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:02,040 Speaker 1: we didn't know whether or not to use the term 18 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:05,640 Speaker 1: female circumcision because not everyone refers to it. Is that 19 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:09,039 Speaker 1: according to the World Health Organization, the u n UM 20 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: and a lot of other sources It's referred to widely 21 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:17,280 Speaker 1: as female genital mutilation, but even that term is um 22 00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:22,080 Speaker 1: contentious because some people compare it to abortion language. For instance, 23 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: like how you have people who are anti abortion or 24 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 1: pro life, you know what I mean, kind of attaching 25 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:30,320 Speaker 1: such a negative connotation to it. It would be like 26 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 1: if you went up to a woman who's going to 27 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:33,759 Speaker 1: get an abortion and say, oh, you're here to murder 28 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:36,480 Speaker 1: your innocent baby. Whereas if you're trying to approach an 29 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 1: African woman and say, you know this, this thing that 30 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:43,280 Speaker 1: you've done historically for centuries is mutilation. This initiation, right, Yeah, 31 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:46,040 Speaker 1: they don't necessarily suis mutilation, so they try some people 32 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: try to use terms that make it more neutral, yeah, 33 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:51,680 Speaker 1: like female genital cutting, female circumcision. And usually if you 34 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 1: see the term female general mutilation, it's used by someone 35 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 1: who wants to outlaw the practice, which was sort of 36 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 1: the approach I came with it too. I mean, seems 37 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: kind of ridiculous to me as a woman to subject 38 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:07,080 Speaker 1: yourself to having parts of your genitals cut off for 39 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:09,920 Speaker 1: no medical reason. You know, when we talked about male circumcision, 40 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:12,800 Speaker 1: there were some valid health reasons why you would do 41 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 1: that too. For cleanliness, to avoid promosis, so on and 42 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:20,280 Speaker 1: so forth. But um, the question is is there a 43 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 1: medical reason to do this? Yeah, and it does seem 44 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:28,360 Speaker 1: like female circumcision would be a much more painful process. 45 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:31,680 Speaker 1: And this is just me, just my mind. Maybe maybe 46 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 1: I'm wrong. You know, I don't know what Getting your 47 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:38,240 Speaker 1: foreskin cut off feels like it's impossible. Um, but it 48 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:44,760 Speaker 1: seems like removing someone's clitterists would be a lot more 49 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:47,440 Speaker 1: painful than having a piece of skin removed. Now. I 50 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: know that there are a lot of nerve endings in 51 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:52,680 Speaker 1: foreskin as well, but the clarterist is a bundle of 52 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:55,959 Speaker 1: nerves that runs like, I think, something like two centimeters 53 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:59,919 Speaker 1: under your skin. And then they might also remove parts 54 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:02,440 Speaker 1: of your labia as well, and there's big problems with 55 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:04,560 Speaker 1: scar tissue, whereas it seems like with foreskin it's a 56 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:07,360 Speaker 1: much easier healing process. But I guess I'm getting ahead 57 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 1: of myself. Okay, you're getting a little bit ahead of yourself. 58 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:13,760 Speaker 1: Because there are four types of female genital cutting that 59 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:16,360 Speaker 1: we found. So let's just let's back up and do basics. 60 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 1: Because what we found when we started researching this is 61 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:21,160 Speaker 1: we do have a very sort of Western approach to 62 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:24,480 Speaker 1: this topic, and it's worth just trying to forget your 63 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:27,240 Speaker 1: personal viewpoints and just look at it as something that happens. 64 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:29,160 Speaker 1: Not that I endorse it, but we're just gonna look 65 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:31,519 Speaker 1: at it as something that happens. Yeah, well, first listen, 66 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: maybe Molly, we should say where this happens. Okay, okay, So, uh, 67 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:40,600 Speaker 1: it happens mostly in African countries. UM worldwide, female genital 68 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 1: cutting effects up to a hundred and forty million women, 69 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,280 Speaker 1: and that's usually about three million women and girls every year, 70 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:51,080 Speaker 1: according to estimates from the World Health Organization, although those 71 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 1: statistics can be kind of hard to uh quantify, and 72 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:56,080 Speaker 1: this is one of the one of the things the 73 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: World Health Organization has been trying to tackle actually finding 74 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:03,840 Speaker 1: out how um these cultures go about actually doing the 75 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: circumcision and how many women are subjected to it, right, 76 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:10,000 Speaker 1: And it's getting harder to do that because of this. 77 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:12,000 Speaker 1: You know, if you see, you know, white person with 78 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:14,680 Speaker 1: the clipboard come in and say are you practicing this? Now, 79 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 1: these women know enough to maybe not admit it because 80 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:19,280 Speaker 1: they know the rest of the world frowns on it, right, 81 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:22,240 Speaker 1: And a lot of African countries have UM past laws 82 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:26,560 Speaker 1: outlawing female circumcision, but that doesn't mean that people are 83 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:29,720 Speaker 1: not still doing it because this is an initiation right 84 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 1: that has been practiced for centuries. Right. So, now, what 85 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:36,599 Speaker 1: we learned from the World Health Organization is that the 86 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:40,279 Speaker 1: two big countries for this are Egypt and Ethiopia. UM. 87 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 1: But that about it's twenty eight countries that are over 88 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:45,520 Speaker 1: that are affected. When they do it kind of depends 89 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 1: on the country and the community. Mostly it's girls under 90 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:52,840 Speaker 1: the age of fifteen. UM. In Egypt, the girls are 91 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:56,120 Speaker 1: between five and fourteen. In Yemen, girls may not even 92 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,240 Speaker 1: be two weeks old. So it really depends on you know, 93 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:02,800 Speaker 1: a lot of factors usually relate to these cultural you know, 94 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 1: standards about when they actually do the procedure. So for 95 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 1: an idea of how this actually happens the procedure in 96 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:12,080 Speaker 1: the settings UM, I'm going to refer to an article 97 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:14,039 Speaker 1: about it in the New York Times, and this took 98 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:19,480 Speaker 1: place in Indonesia, UM. And basically there is a small 99 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:22,920 Speaker 1: group of women who they aren't health workers or anything 100 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:27,960 Speaker 1: like that they handle the circumcision. And in this in 101 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:30,920 Speaker 1: this instance, it was sponsored by something called the Oslon Foundation, 102 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:34,719 Speaker 1: which is an Islamic and educational and social services organization 103 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:39,480 Speaker 1: that basically sponsors these kind of mass female circumcision days 104 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:42,800 Speaker 1: for girls to come in and um have parts of 105 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,159 Speaker 1: you know, they're they're clearterests and labia snipped off and 106 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:50,240 Speaker 1: they said that. Um. Basically, the procedure takes just a 107 00:05:50,279 --> 00:05:53,040 Speaker 1: few minutes and there is little blood involved. And then afterward, 108 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:56,560 Speaker 1: the girl's general area is swabbed with the antiseptic bedading 109 00:05:56,839 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 1: and she has in help back to her held back 110 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 1: into her underwear, returned to a waiting room where she's 111 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:04,520 Speaker 1: given a small celebratory gift, which is usually fruit or 112 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:07,000 Speaker 1: donated piece of clothing, and she's offered a cup of 113 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:10,039 Speaker 1: milk for refreshment. And that's it. But then you also 114 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:14,680 Speaker 1: read um situations where girls are like literally held down um, 115 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:17,320 Speaker 1: sometimes against their will and and you know, subjected to 116 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:19,960 Speaker 1: this and that there is blood. You know. I found 117 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:22,599 Speaker 1: it interesting how many accounts say, oh, you know, it's 118 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 1: just like it's just like a nail clipping, that's how 119 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:26,640 Speaker 1: much skin they take off. It's just you know, the 120 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:28,720 Speaker 1: tip of a leaf or the tip of your fingernail, 121 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:31,040 Speaker 1: whereas others you read some of these accounts and they 122 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:33,719 Speaker 1: just talk about how there's just blood everywhere. So it 123 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:35,760 Speaker 1: seems like it can be done different ways a lot 124 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:37,520 Speaker 1: of different places, and it's it's hard to know which 125 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:39,840 Speaker 1: to believe a little bit right, well, and that's why 126 00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:43,200 Speaker 1: I think the World Health Organization has broken down UM 127 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:48,840 Speaker 1: female circumcision or female genital mutilation into four separate categories. 128 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:52,680 Speaker 1: UM kind of broken down by I guess, the severity 129 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:56,479 Speaker 1: of the procedure. So there are four types. Apparently the 130 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:00,640 Speaker 1: most common form of this, representing about the cases is 131 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:03,800 Speaker 1: UM taking out the clitterest and the labia manora. And 132 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:07,640 Speaker 1: then the more extreme version UM is called infibulation, and 133 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:11,720 Speaker 1: it accounts for cases globally, and this is removal of 134 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:15,640 Speaker 1: all external genitalia and stitching up the vaginal opening in 135 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:18,760 Speaker 1: some cases just leaving you know, a mastic size hole 136 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:21,240 Speaker 1: for everything that needs to come out down there. UM. 137 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:24,960 Speaker 1: They may cauterize or burn the clitterest and surrounding tissue, 138 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:29,080 Speaker 1: scrape the tissue surrounding the vaginal orifice UM, and introduced 139 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:32,520 Speaker 1: corrosive sub substances or herbs into the vaginant to cause bleeding, 140 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:36,040 Speaker 1: and it'll UM sort of tighten it up, I guess, 141 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:38,760 Speaker 1: so that they can sew it closed. Yeah, and UM, 142 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:41,880 Speaker 1: once infibulation happens, that doesn't mean that, I guess once 143 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:44,240 Speaker 1: So a girl gets married obviously, like she's going to 144 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:47,240 Speaker 1: have sex with her husband, and he probably can't put 145 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 1: his penis through a magetic size hole, so it's going 146 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 1: to rip that open. And sometimes some women will even 147 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:56,840 Speaker 1: have that stitched that closed again. Right. There are some 148 00:07:56,880 --> 00:07:59,800 Speaker 1: cultures where you know they they might and sew it right, 149 00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:02,160 Speaker 1: but where she gives birth and then as soon as 150 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:05,040 Speaker 1: the baby's out, so it right back up again. Now 151 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:09,520 Speaker 1: let's talk about cultural arguments for some arguments for why 152 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:13,920 Speaker 1: female circumcision happens, because some people think that UM, there 153 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:17,000 Speaker 1: are benefits for women UM. According to the New York 154 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:19,320 Speaker 1: Times article that I referenced earlier, UM, one of their 155 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:23,720 Speaker 1: sources says that it stabilizes a woman's libido because basically, 156 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:28,400 Speaker 1: if her um genitals are not really functioning, I mean, 157 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:31,480 Speaker 1: if she especially if she's one of the who had 158 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:34,719 Speaker 1: the infibulation process happened, UM, there's no way that she's 159 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:37,200 Speaker 1: going to be able to have sex and people not 160 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:39,360 Speaker 1: notice it. UM. And then also it will make a 161 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:41,440 Speaker 1: woman look more beautiful in the eyes of her husband, 162 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:43,800 Speaker 1: probably because he will know that she is a virgin 163 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 1: and then three it will balance her psychology, right, And 164 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:50,000 Speaker 1: that was actually one reason why they did them. At 165 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:52,319 Speaker 1: some point UM in the nineteenth century and the United 166 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:56,199 Speaker 1: Kingdom they used to do um female circumcisions. It was 167 00:08:56,280 --> 00:08:59,319 Speaker 1: weird for epilepsy and then just for libido purposes. Well 168 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:02,240 Speaker 1: because if you were member from our male Circumcision podcast, 169 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:05,480 Speaker 1: UM back in the Victorian era, male circumcision was thought 170 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:08,200 Speaker 1: to be a cure for masturbation because they thought the 171 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:11,280 Speaker 1: masturbation made you insane. Yeah, I would not have mine 172 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:15,160 Speaker 1: to live in that area. But also some um cultures 173 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:18,319 Speaker 1: do this because they believe that the clitterest is a 174 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:21,880 Speaker 1: male vestigial organ, that it's basically like a mini penis, 175 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:25,040 Speaker 1: and that by cutting it off it reinforces to a 176 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:27,600 Speaker 1: girl that she is a woman, that it instead of 177 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:31,199 Speaker 1: taking away a woman's essential femininity, it kind of gives 178 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:33,800 Speaker 1: it to her because they're getting rid of what they 179 00:09:33,800 --> 00:09:35,720 Speaker 1: see is this thing that you don't need and that 180 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:37,920 Speaker 1: makes you man like. Yeah, And there have been you know, 181 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:41,080 Speaker 1: anecdotes from uh from the different sources that we've read, 182 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:45,400 Speaker 1: from women who were not initially circumcised, and would the 183 00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 1: other girls would make fun of them for looking like weirdos, 184 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:50,840 Speaker 1: for having you know, this in their minds. Kind of 185 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:53,600 Speaker 1: many many peace yea. And in some cultures they don't 186 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:55,040 Speaker 1: take it. You know. I didn't go through all the 187 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:57,400 Speaker 1: four in depth, but there is one where they just 188 00:09:57,440 --> 00:09:59,760 Speaker 1: sort of prick it and it's like a ritual drop 189 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:02,840 Speaker 1: of lud and it's still intact. It's just you know, 190 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:06,440 Speaker 1: it's just reasserting that you're a woman now by you know, 191 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:10,000 Speaker 1: taking that crop of blood. Yeah. So it really wasn't though, 192 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:13,559 Speaker 1: until I'd say the turn of the century that Westerners 193 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:16,800 Speaker 1: realized that this was going on. And then in the 194 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:19,760 Speaker 1: past couple of decades we have seen a lot of 195 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:22,640 Speaker 1: effort on the part of the U N and the 196 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:25,240 Speaker 1: w h OW to go in and stop it, because 197 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:28,720 Speaker 1: in their eyes, this is a very dangerous brutal practice 198 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:32,440 Speaker 1: that is happening to millions of girls every year, and 199 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:36,160 Speaker 1: it is leading to health problems, problems with childbirth, and 200 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:38,640 Speaker 1: they think they're also psychological problems linked to it, and 201 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:40,280 Speaker 1: so they want to go in and they want to 202 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:42,400 Speaker 1: stop and that's one of the main reasons why fifteen 203 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:45,800 Speaker 1: African countries now outlaw in the first place. And so 204 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:48,640 Speaker 1: there was this landmark study UM and the British journal 205 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:50,760 Speaker 1: the Lancet that went in and compare the women who 206 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:55,040 Speaker 1: had undergone the circumcision with those that hadn't, and they 207 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:57,240 Speaker 1: found that the infants of the mothers who had had 208 00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:00,760 Speaker 1: the procedure, um, you know, it was just del a 209 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 1: bad hand from birth, The usually had an increased risk 210 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:06,560 Speaker 1: of death. There were increased risk of childbirth problems. UM. Basically, 211 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:10,360 Speaker 1: the more that had been affected, the more complications you 212 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:12,160 Speaker 1: were likely to have. And this was sort of the 213 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:14,920 Speaker 1: first study to say, hey, there's a health reason for 214 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:16,920 Speaker 1: not doing this. Yeah, and this was the largest of 215 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:19,280 Speaker 1: its kind because in addition to even even being able 216 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:21,960 Speaker 1: to go in and quantify like how many women are 217 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:25,440 Speaker 1: being circumcised every year, UM, it was a lot harder 218 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:28,800 Speaker 1: to go in and actually track long term health problems. 219 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:31,120 Speaker 1: And and like you said, I mean even just considered 220 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:34,920 Speaker 1: the issue of someone who has an infibulated vagina where 221 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:37,240 Speaker 1: they have, like you said, a match stick size hole 222 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:39,880 Speaker 1: for everything to come out. Um, there are problems with 223 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:43,079 Speaker 1: menstrual blood getting caught up in there. Basically their your 224 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:46,200 Speaker 1: rethroll opening is covered up um, and so you have 225 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:50,640 Speaker 1: repeated urinary tract infections that are common. Stones may form 226 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:54,240 Speaker 1: in theory ARETHRA and the bladder because of obstruction and infection. UM. 227 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:57,360 Speaker 1: It's it's not not a good thing. But that's the thing, 228 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:00,120 Speaker 1: you know, when I was starting to research this, that's 229 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:03,679 Speaker 1: what I knew of this procedure, that it it raised complications, 230 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:06,680 Speaker 1: it was painful, um, so on and so forth. And 231 00:12:06,679 --> 00:12:08,480 Speaker 1: we hear about these organizations just want to go in 232 00:12:08,559 --> 00:12:10,640 Speaker 1: and stop it. And I think that, you know, from 233 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:13,520 Speaker 1: a Western point of view. You know, we've heard so 234 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:16,800 Speaker 1: much about not wanting just to please your husband to 235 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:18,880 Speaker 1: have a surgery that just you know, makes it more 236 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:22,600 Speaker 1: pleasurable for a man um that you know, I expected 237 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:24,360 Speaker 1: to find a lot of things about how to stop it, 238 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:26,840 Speaker 1: and I did want to point out something we found 239 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:29,600 Speaker 1: UM on Tyrney Lab in New York Times a writer 240 00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 1: named Flambie ahmadu Um. I'm probably not pronouncing that right, 241 00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:36,880 Speaker 1: but she was a native of Sierra Leone and grew 242 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:39,120 Speaker 1: up in America, so she had the same maybe western 243 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:40,800 Speaker 1: point of view that I did. But she went back 244 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:43,840 Speaker 1: Gierra Leone as an adult to undergo the right and 245 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:46,480 Speaker 1: so she wrote sort of a compelling reason for why 246 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:50,280 Speaker 1: it happens, and she says, we're overwhelmed with these images 247 00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:53,520 Speaker 1: of how barbaric it is, and that what you know, 248 00:12:53,559 --> 00:12:55,800 Speaker 1: the press and people don't want us to know is 249 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:58,520 Speaker 1: actually that you know, even though those problems can happen, 250 00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:01,880 Speaker 1: they can just as easily not happen. Yeah, well she is. 251 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:05,320 Speaker 1: She is also making the point that, um, we are 252 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:09,080 Speaker 1: not looking at we're not approaching this from a cultural standpoint. 253 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:11,480 Speaker 1: We're just seeing, you know, something that we consider to 254 00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:15,000 Speaker 1: be primitive and brutal without taking into account that this 255 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:17,959 Speaker 1: is an important initiation, right for a lot of women. 256 00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:19,640 Speaker 1: I mean, it's kind of like if if you think 257 00:13:19,679 --> 00:13:24,840 Speaker 1: about how widespread male circumcision is for Jewish people and 258 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:27,880 Speaker 1: how how widespread is among among Muslims. Mean, it's a 259 00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:33,000 Speaker 1: very important ritual part of becoming a man, you know, 260 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:35,400 Speaker 1: and and it's the same thing here. Yeah, it doesn't 261 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:38,200 Speaker 1: seem as pretty by any stretch of the imagination. But 262 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:42,280 Speaker 1: she's arguing that we we are being very very western, 263 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:45,760 Speaker 1: far too western about this, and um, and not taking 264 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:49,160 Speaker 1: into account the important history behind it, right, And so 265 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:51,320 Speaker 1: they were suggesting that instead of going to these countries 266 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:53,520 Speaker 1: and saying, hey, don't do this, or just have a 267 00:13:53,559 --> 00:13:57,719 Speaker 1: health practitioner do it instead. UM, a good compromise might 268 00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:01,960 Speaker 1: be UM asking for ways in which a female can 269 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:04,200 Speaker 1: have a greater right to choose whether she wants the 270 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:06,480 Speaker 1: procedure or not. You know, the people who tend to 271 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:08,960 Speaker 1: get put in our newspapers are girls who are held 272 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:12,160 Speaker 1: down against their will and had the had the operation. 273 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:14,440 Speaker 1: Whereas you know, if if a girl really wants to 274 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:16,640 Speaker 1: do this to become a woman, that should be her choice. 275 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:18,840 Speaker 1: And of course it's sminty. We're all about a woman's 276 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:21,640 Speaker 1: choice and that's something you know. They're there are people 277 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:24,800 Speaker 1: and who argue the same thing for male circumcision as well. 278 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:26,480 Speaker 1: I say, wait, if you if you have a baby, 279 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:29,400 Speaker 1: just let him grow up and decide whether or not 280 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:32,800 Speaker 1: he wants his foreskin. And she's kind of saying the 281 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:35,800 Speaker 1: same thing. And of course the most interesting part of 282 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:38,520 Speaker 1: that Tyranney Lab blog Molly was reading the comments because 283 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:42,520 Speaker 1: people could not get their heads around this idea that 284 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:47,400 Speaker 1: female circumcision might be an okay thing. They're just we're 285 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:49,960 Speaker 1: just too uncomfortable with it, right. I you know, sometimes 286 00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:51,640 Speaker 1: I'm listening to what I've been saying in this podcast, 287 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:53,480 Speaker 1: I'm like, I can't believe I'm saying this. Of course 288 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:56,000 Speaker 1: you shouldn't, you know, cut off a woman's genitalia. But 289 00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:58,320 Speaker 1: I do think that her essay was sort of eye opening, 290 00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:00,560 Speaker 1: and you know, we were reading our nicles and what 291 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:02,600 Speaker 1: she said is true that people who are profiled in 292 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:06,280 Speaker 1: these stories have horror stories well, and and I do 293 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:08,240 Speaker 1: think to what we we need to point out one 294 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:12,320 Speaker 1: thing that she highlighted UM. She referenced that the World 295 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:15,120 Speaker 1: Health Organization study that was published in the Lancet which 296 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:19,440 Speaker 1: really got it, really put genital female genital mutilation UM 297 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:21,960 Speaker 1: into the headlines and got people really thinking about it. 298 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:23,960 Speaker 1: And she points out that in the w h O 299 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 1: City not a single statistically significant difference was found between 300 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:33,280 Speaker 1: those who had type one genital surgery UM versus no surgery. 301 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:35,720 Speaker 1: And so she's basically saying that, yes, there might have 302 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:40,600 Speaker 1: been these differences in infant weight and uh prenatal prenatal 303 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:45,320 Speaker 1: death rate for UM for women who had UM children 304 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:48,360 Speaker 1: after they were circumcised, but that the result the gap 305 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:52,760 Speaker 1: wasn't that big. It was basically writing home about yeah, yeah, 306 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:56,200 Speaker 1: that we were basically slanting the statistics to write the 307 00:15:56,240 --> 00:15:58,120 Speaker 1: story that we want to hear, which is, this is 308 00:15:58,120 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 1: a brutal practice. We need to go in and stop 309 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:04,240 Speaker 1: it and save these poor African women. Which yeah, I mean, 310 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:06,400 Speaker 1: having that attitude at anything usually gets you in trouble, 311 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:10,080 Speaker 1: right and Molly. Right after I read that essay, I 312 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:15,160 Speaker 1: clicked over to a Newsweek article profiling a woman who 313 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:18,240 Speaker 1: lived and grew up in Molly. And she was circumcised, 314 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:21,360 Speaker 1: and now she's in living in the US, and she 315 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:26,560 Speaker 1: had reconstructive surgery for her her clitterists in her labia 316 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:29,840 Speaker 1: because she had the infibilation process done. And the article 317 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:32,680 Speaker 1: even mentions that while they were doing the process, they 318 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:37,120 Speaker 1: had to take out that um, the ash or whatever 319 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:40,800 Speaker 1: kind of dark substance they put into the vagina too 320 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:43,360 Speaker 1: to make it bleed. That stuff was still in there 321 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:47,040 Speaker 1: um when they did the reconstructive surgery. And and I 322 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:50,880 Speaker 1: and I understood what the what that cultural anthropologist was saying, 323 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:56,760 Speaker 1: because the Newsweek article was so like, oh, let's rescue this. Know, 324 00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:00,360 Speaker 1: this poor poor African woman from her from her applied 325 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:02,800 Speaker 1: to this, this brutal practice. She comes over here and 326 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:06,840 Speaker 1: finds this very kind American gynecologists who does this surgery 327 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:11,439 Speaker 1: for free, and um, you know it, I got, I 328 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:13,720 Speaker 1: got what she was saying. Yeah, and you know the reason. 329 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:15,720 Speaker 1: The main reason that that woman in the newsweek article 330 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:18,159 Speaker 1: wanted to do this was to have romance with her husband. 331 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:23,119 Speaker 1: She'd had two children but just did not find sex satisfying. Um. 332 00:17:23,160 --> 00:17:25,639 Speaker 1: But to go back again to the tyranny lab, the 333 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:28,560 Speaker 1: woman writes that what Westerners don't want to consider is 334 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:30,840 Speaker 1: that there are people who have the surgery and have 335 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:34,760 Speaker 1: sexually fulfilling lives. There are some who have orgasms, and 336 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:37,040 Speaker 1: there are some that don't. But the same could be 337 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:39,439 Speaker 1: said of people who are fully intach down there. Sometimes 338 00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:41,720 Speaker 1: you have an orgasm, sometimes you don't write and I'm 339 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:44,040 Speaker 1: not I don't think that anyone listening to this should 340 00:17:44,119 --> 00:17:48,320 Speaker 1: misinterpret what we're saying as me and Molly advocating female 341 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:51,760 Speaker 1: circumcision or female genital cutting, whatever you want to call it. Um, 342 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:55,040 Speaker 1: I think it's just important to look at all sides 343 00:17:55,119 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 1: of the argument, because our perspective looking over there might 344 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:01,000 Speaker 1: not be the same for a young girl growing up 345 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:04,040 Speaker 1: in Sudan. Right and so UM, I did read a 346 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:06,440 Speaker 1: few ways of how in communities where they do want 347 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:08,720 Speaker 1: to stop at things that have been most effective. Have 348 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:11,879 Speaker 1: been trying to find another ritual you can do to 349 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:16,119 Speaker 1: mark womanhood. Um, so just realizing that it does have 350 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:19,879 Speaker 1: that cultural impact and also showing um, I was reading 351 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:24,719 Speaker 1: that showing males videos about female self esteem was also helping. 352 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:27,399 Speaker 1: And that just plays into the issue of choice. I mean, 353 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:29,280 Speaker 1: if it's going to help your self esteem to go 354 00:18:29,359 --> 00:18:32,480 Speaker 1: through the same thing that you know women before you have, 355 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:34,840 Speaker 1: then then you're probably going to have a better experience 356 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:36,600 Speaker 1: with it, Whereas if you don't want to do it, 357 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:40,000 Speaker 1: it's gonna hurt your self esteem. And um, they have 358 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:43,520 Speaker 1: gotten cultures that still practice that have gotten better about 359 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:47,720 Speaker 1: having actual health care workers performed the operation rather than um, 360 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:51,199 Speaker 1: just random women from the village. You you probably been 361 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:54,520 Speaker 1: doing it a long time, but probably aren't very medically trained. 362 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:57,399 Speaker 1: And um. Some of the articles also noted that younger 363 00:18:57,440 --> 00:19:01,320 Speaker 1: women are more opposed to it the more basically, the 364 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:04,880 Speaker 1: more educated the women are, the less they wanted to happen, Right, 365 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:06,439 Speaker 1: But I mean that gets into the point of if 366 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:09,199 Speaker 1: they're educated and have money of their own, then they 367 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:11,640 Speaker 1: don't necessarily rely on a man, whereas the man may 368 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:14,240 Speaker 1: need this as proof. Yeah, so I think they've given 369 00:19:14,359 --> 00:19:17,439 Speaker 1: the best overview we can without without continuing to go 370 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:20,680 Speaker 1: in circles about what men and women want, which could 371 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:23,760 Speaker 1: take is um. So let us know what you guys 372 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:26,959 Speaker 1: think about the issue UM and as always, you can 373 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:29,240 Speaker 1: email us at mom stuff at house stuff works dot com. 374 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:31,280 Speaker 1: I think we've got time for one or two emails, 375 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:34,640 Speaker 1: don't you, Kristen. Yeah, I've got an email here from 376 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:39,440 Speaker 1: Patricia and she wrote in about our recent episode on 377 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:42,600 Speaker 1: whether or not men and women feel pain differently, and 378 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:44,680 Speaker 1: she says, I have two children and although that was 379 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:48,040 Speaker 1: very painful, I would have to disagree and that it 380 00:19:48,119 --> 00:19:51,640 Speaker 1: was the most painful thing that I've ever been through. Patricia, 381 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:53,960 Speaker 1: You're a strong woman. I would have to say that, 382 00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:56,960 Speaker 1: hands down, I would rather go through labor than have 383 00:19:57,040 --> 00:20:00,119 Speaker 1: a toothache. Having a toothache is horrible. It makes all 384 00:20:00,119 --> 00:20:01,840 Speaker 1: of your teeth hurt, and the whole side of the 385 00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:04,880 Speaker 1: face it's on, hurts to drink, eat brush, and if 386 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:07,199 Speaker 1: it's really bad, orts to breathe. A scale of one 387 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:09,520 Speaker 1: to ten, ten being the most painful, one being the least, 388 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:12,359 Speaker 1: I would have to read labor and childbirth as an 389 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:16,720 Speaker 1: eight point five in a toothache on a ten, But 390 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:19,080 Speaker 1: maybe that's just me. My labor was I would say, 391 00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:24,360 Speaker 1: pretty normal without any complications. Well, you know that's good 392 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:28,960 Speaker 1: to know myself. Yeah, child birth might be less painful 393 00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:31,640 Speaker 1: than a toothache, because I have had some pretty bad toothache. Yeah, 394 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:33,920 Speaker 1: they hurt. Thank you, Patricia. All right. Our next emails 395 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:38,440 Speaker 1: from Heidi, who's running about vampires. Um. She said that 396 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:40,639 Speaker 1: she thought it was interesting how we mentioned Edward Angel 397 00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:43,080 Speaker 1: and Bill Compton but didn't mention Jacob, Spike and Eric. 398 00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:44,919 Speaker 1: And I will say we have gotten tons of emails 399 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:48,000 Speaker 1: on behalf of Jacob and Eric. Apparently we like some 400 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:51,159 Speaker 1: shape shifters. We did not consider that they are the 401 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:53,480 Speaker 1: winners here. Um. She writes for me, the latter three 402 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:55,080 Speaker 1: are the drool objects. And I had to think about 403 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:57,320 Speaker 1: why that was. Partly that they are batter boys, but 404 00:20:57,359 --> 00:20:59,280 Speaker 1: I think it most because I found that the heroine 405 00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:01,719 Speaker 1: in each case it was more herself with them than 406 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:04,320 Speaker 1: she was with the main love interest. Bella is much 407 00:21:04,320 --> 00:21:06,119 Speaker 1: more interesting and seems to talk more, and we discover 408 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:08,719 Speaker 1: more about what she wants in life as opposed to undeath. 409 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:11,960 Speaker 1: When she is with Edward, Buffy loses herself completely an angel. 410 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:13,960 Speaker 1: But with spikes. She is her true warts and all, 411 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:17,239 Speaker 1: badass kicking babe. And in the books, Suki is not 412 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:19,520 Speaker 1: lost in Eric. In fact, she is much more herself 413 00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:21,679 Speaker 1: with Eric than with Bill. I think I like them 414 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:24,000 Speaker 1: more because in each case, the heroin does not idolize 415 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:26,520 Speaker 1: the guy. She sees him for who he truly is, 416 00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:29,639 Speaker 1: while with the main love interest it seems more pedestal like, 417 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:31,920 Speaker 1: which I thought was a pretty pretty great perspective on 418 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:35,399 Speaker 1: those guys. So that's what we've got for listener mail today. 419 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:37,320 Speaker 1: If you've got something to say, email us at mom 420 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:40,160 Speaker 1: stuff at how stuff works dot com. As always, check 421 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:42,720 Speaker 1: out our blog how to stuff on how stuff works 422 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:45,080 Speaker 1: dot com and Molly, I don't think that you've told 423 00:21:45,119 --> 00:21:48,119 Speaker 1: them to go check out our articles as well, also 424 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:56,960 Speaker 1: housed on our stuff works dot com for moralns and 425 00:21:57,080 --> 00:21:59,600 Speaker 1: thousands of other topics. Does it how stuff works dot 426 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:06,479 Speaker 1: com m HM. Brought to you by the reinvented two 427 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:09,000 Speaker 1: thousand twelve Camry. It's ready, are you