Friday, October 31, 2014

Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - RE: Tireless campaigner against FGM dies in London

This is to us all:


As mentioned earlier FGM operations are illegal in Sweden and will probably, gradually be eradicated in the countries of birth, where it is still prevalent as a cultural or religious practice. Up to now I don't know what happens in the Bondo Society . In February 1970 I had to read an essay on rites of passage which I was supposed to have researched, and there was Kenneth Little sitting in the seminar room at the Institute of African studies Accra, Ghana, leaning forward with some expectation maybe to hear some personal testimony and first hand experience from the horse's mouth. I'm afraid to say that for lack of any reliable information about e.g. the Bondo Secret Society or the mysteries of the Poro Society, I am still as ignorant today, as I was back then about these specific matters – for which reason I resisted joining the Arochukwu when invited to do so - mainly because since I espouse the philosophy of " Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain" I lack the spirit of inquisitiveness necessary for delving any deeper into such matters that do not greatly interest me – and so , we should ask those who know( people who are members or have gone through such processes as they can be touchy about outsiders pontificating or even showing any signs of "Western" cultural arrogance or imperialism from the outside...)


Within Judaism where the brit milah is a sign of the Covenant I have come across the idea that this shows that we have to help the Almighty – otherwise if the Almighty had so desired , we would have all been born already circumcised.

In the absence of an Almighty type of religious authority for FGM, with the globalisation and spread of Western notions of culture and ideology ( including homosexuality) it's a question of time before the WHO , the church and the mosque legislate that FGM be classified as Child Abuse and Cruelty to children. In about a hundred years time they will be throwing parents in jail for fulfilling any such divine nor not so divine commands... even as tattooing ( forbidden in Judaism) is legally on the increase on the basis of people can do what they like with their own body. Reminds me of Cyprian Lamar Rowe in Ghana (he was a great fan of Achebe , putting him on a pedestal far above what Ayi Kwei Armah's two first novels could ever earn in his estimation) well Cyprian who was very much a man of traditional African fashion when it came to clothing would say in his usually very unctuous tones, about rainbow dashikis, and his palm oil colours in contrast with the British navy blues and greys, " The body is an aesthetic instrument!"

The body! 

That was some mind over body.

Already in Sweden and some other countries in Europe they are making moves to ban ritual Jewish and Muslim circumcision of boys, insisting that an anaesthetic must be used and even going further than that, trying to outlaw the tradition altogether on the grounds that it is a cruel and barbaric custom...

So moral relativity or not, it's the religious and culture tradition practitioners of the various circumcision, the small cut, the big cut or even " the most unkindest cut of all" versus those who oppose on modern atheistic and required anaesthetic and humanitarian grounds.


Over here, we will continue to watch and pray. I haven't read this over. I usually don't.


We Sweden





On Wednesday, 29 October 2014 22:55:38 UTC+1, Cornelius Hamelberg wrote:

Humans Rights Watch : FGM


It looks like we're treading water...


I do not say like Lakunle,


"A savage custom, barbaric, out-dated,
Rejected, denounced, accursed,
Excommunicated, archaic, degrading,
Humiliating, unspeakable, redundant.
Retrogressive, remarkable, unpalatable..."

"An ignoble custom, infamous, ignominious,

Shaming our heritage before the world...."


Even those words are not enough to convey the tragedy of the what's done that cannot be undone and for some people to understand that yes, that even if that was a phase of someone's great culture since a few thousand years ago when Jesus rode upon a donkey, much progress has been made in many other spheres as well, since the advent of Lucy...

Nor do we need to be futuristic or prophetic to observe today, that in this twenty-first century, every enlightened being who espouses freedom and gender difference or equality and even some of the primitives know that FGM is a danger to all women – to womankind as a whole and not just to African women. For at least two decades now FGM has been a recurring topic of discussion in many Africa & Diaspora fora and by now we are all familiar recycling of the various arguments for and against stamping out this wicked practise. Old customs die hard. In the areas of the world where the various types of FGM still persists has it been a rite of passage imposed by patriarchal authorities – authorities who are still the law makers in the societies where FGM is still being practised ? If so, there is hope that with the rising tide of feminism the world over, the chances of FGM being imposed in Western societies the way that tattooing is now spreading,will remain remote - but there is an ever present danger since the African Diaspora West is growing and it is still the wont of some of the first generation immigrants from FGM cultures and countries to continue their FGM practice in their new homeland. So in Sweden efforts are being made to educate people out of this practice. Although, most unfortunately even among some of our intelligentsia there is still some support for FGM by the culture Chauvinists among both the men and women as you cans see here and elsewhere...

Much is made of the virgins in paradise( faithfully waiting for the faithful after they leave this bodily existence in the grave) but there is no mention of FGM in the Qur'an or Bible or any of the scriptures or religious fables in Judaism or Islam. Since FGM is not sanctioned in Judaism or Islam (and I don't suppose that it is sanctioned by Jesus or St. Paul either) - any kind of totalitarian opposition will not come from adherents of the Abrahamic, but if any of the religions of the FGM practitioners sanction FGM then the adherents of those religions would invoke article 18 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights for their right to practise their religion in full for spiritual and not just for the rewards of sexual pleasure ( in this God-given life) or for upholding cherished notions and ideals of morality by amputating penis or clitoris...

We could pay some attention to Fuambai Ahmadu weighing in on these matter and apart from discussing we could contribute to the eradication of FGM in even more practical ways such as supporting anti-FGM groups who are raising awareness about its dangers....


On Tuesday, 28 October 2014 03:00:32 UTC+1, Cornelius Hamelberg wrote:

Dear Wofa Akwassi,


It's good that you mention some of your experiences in Sweden where the Swedish woman generally still has a right to decide over her own body. The African Diaspora in Sweden has increased considerably since you were last here, to the extent that when in the last government, Sister Nyamko Sabuni was appointed Minister of Integration and Gender Equality one of her first acts was to address the pressing issue of FGM being practised in Sweden, as we have a large numbers of immigrants from some of the countries where this practice is still prevalent and even after their re-location to Sweden some of them have continued this practice here - to the extent that some people who live in such tightly knit, enclosed national communities and still adhere to such traditions may experience difficulty in finding suitable marriage partners either in Sweden or their home countries  if such potential partners have not undergone an FGM operation. So Nyamko Sabuni courageously called for an obligatory gynaecological examination of all schoolgirls to ascertain that they had not suffered FGM and also to prevent such operations taking place in Sweden where it is now illegal.


Up till now, some families - ( just like the guy you mentioned) send their daughters to their home country or to some non-medical quack to undergo the operation which is some sort of rite of passage. Girls have been known to die as a result of the primitive conditions and instruments with which the operations is performed – rusty knives, no anaesthetics etc...


Here's part of some of our discussions of the matter in a Gambian list serve...


Needless to say, some of the traditionalists are very faithful to this aspect of what they call ancient African culture. I was once almost unfriended by an African friend - and this was in Swedish female company when  I took the anti-FGM position in a discussion which one of the ladies started. I was so surprised because he was exceedingly angry with me shouting that FGM had been practised for " thousands of years in Africa, before the white man came!" etc. Well even in Africa there are diverse cultures with regard to this , the Wolof woman for example hails from an FGM free zone of Senegal.


In Alexandria in Egypt my engineer friend – an advanced Sufi  -  was singing the praises of a young lady that he wanted me to meet it sounded interesting ( those that your right hand possess etc) but  I got completely turned off when he arrived at the punch line of his long pitch and the punchline was that I would find that she was "completely sealed!" - that is she had been sown up. like leather...


There's Waris Dirie (a Somalian model ) and her anti FGM activism....


Please remember us in your prayers..


Best Regards,


Cornelius


We Sweden




On Monday, 27 October 2014 11:27:07 UTC+1, Assensoh, Akwasi B. wrote:

Ken:

 

Is it old age or bad eyes making it hard for you to type? It is good that you did not type more because there is no justification for FGM (or FC). As a student at University of Stockholm several years ago, I had the opportunity of witnessing some conferences about and by African women (or female scholars), including one in Denmark (UN Decade) and another one in Nairobi, Kenya. Alice Walker, Angela Davies and other radical feminists were very active at those events.

 

It was when "war" broke out at these forums between Muslim women speakers and non-Muslim speakers that I started to learn about the horrors of the practice called FGM. There were tearful female victims, who were ready to expose how they had no "romantic feelings" left for them after what you call the "small cutting" of that precious part of their female organs; it was no longer an African issue but a real human rights issue!

 

Recently at a Berkeley, California, conference, my spouse and I took a taxi cab driven by a Somali national, who told us that he was "reading" his two young daughters to be taken home (to Somalia) for Female Circumcision (FC), what Western feminists call FGM. I was so appalled that I later approached a policeman to see what could be done to stop the man: the policeman's backward reaction was that no offence or crime had been committed yet! "Really?" I asked him. "Yes, really; and that is not my problem," he added.

 

Maybe, the UN should pass drastic anti-FGM laws with punitive punishment or consequences for those, who flout them, regardless of one's religious background!

 

A.B. Assensoh, Oregon.

      


From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] on behalf of Sam Andoh [ando...@gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2014 6:58 PM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Cc: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - RE: Tireless campaigner against FGM dies in London

Really? Only small cutting? 

On Oct 26, 2014, at 3:43 PM, kenneth harrow <har...@msu.edu> wrote:

does everyone on this thread know that female circumcision doesn't take all one form; that in some cases there is only small cutting made to the labia; that radical cuttung and infibulation is not the only form? hard for me to type now, so i'll be brief. outsiders should support african women in dealing w the issue--unlike alice walker in her semi-imperialist WarriorMarks. i hate u.s. people telling africans all about how awful they are for practising fem gen cutting
and i resent outsiders doing the same to jews and muslims over circumcision
ken


On 10/26/14, 2:38 PM, John Mbaku wrote:
IBK:

Sorry, but I do not care about what the Europeans are doing to their bodies--that is their problem. What concerns me is what is happening to girls in Africa--this is my main and only concern. I really do not care what anybody calls it--FGM or some more acceptable name, it is a practice that imposes unnecessary risks on our girls and provides them with absolutely no benefits. Comparing male circumcision to FGM is unfair and totally inappropriate. For one thing, I doubt that the people who circumcise their male children are doing so because they are afraid that without undertaking the exercise their children will grow up to be promiscuous. Yet, it is the fear that the female who is not subjected to the barbaric practice of FGM will grow up to be promiscuous that drives the practice.

Sorry, but I do not agree with you and S. Kadiri. FGM must be stamped out. It is a barbaric and horrific practice that does not belong in today's Africa. No girl should be subjected to such inhumanity. By the way, FGM or female cutting are appropriate names--they describe accurately the nature of the practice and what actually takes place during this barbarism.

On Sun, Oct 26, 2014 at 4:10 AM, Ibukunolu A Babajide <ibk...@gmail.com> wrote:

Cornel is,

I know you claim some Jewish Ness.  Who has the right to remove child's foreskin?

Cheers.

IBK

On 26 Oct 2014 13:07, "Cornelius Hamelberg" <cornelius...@gmail.com> wrote:
Talking about HUMAN RIGHTS,

WHO has the right  - but whatever name,  " to remove woman's clitoris in order to curb female masturbation"?

That is the question dear Salimonu....







On Friday, 24 October 2014 23:22:29 UTC+2, Salimonu Kadiri wrote:
Gynecologists in the nineteenth century Europe and America used to remove woman's clitoris in order to curb female masturbation. It was called CLITODECTOMY. When the same thing is done in Africa, it is derogatively Called, FEMALE GENITATAL MUTILATION. Males and females are circumcised in some African countries but if it were to be in Euro-America it would have been propagated as GENDER EQUALITY! Males' circumcisions in Africa are never referred to as Male Genital Mutilation probably because the Jews and Arabs also circumcise their males. However, both males and females in Euro-America nowadays are engaged in what is called PIERCING OF THE GENITALS (VAGINA AND PENIS).


Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 10:32:53 -0600
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - RE: Tireless campaigner against FGM dies in London
From: jmb...@weber.edu
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com

FGM=Female Genital Mutilation; centuries old, not new.

On Fri, Oct 24, 2014 at 6:36 AM, Mario Fenyo <MFe...@bowiestate.edu> wrote:
PLease forgive me for being so ignorant.   FGM ---  is it some new (or old) disease?
 
Respectfully,  Mario

From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] on behalf of Assensoh, Akwasi B. [aass...@indiana.edu]
Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2014 2:11 PM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Cc: anthony...@yahoo.co.uk; mina...@yahoo.com; Charles.Q...@kpu.ca; dmwh...@iupui.edu; Afoaku, Osita; Nnaemeka, Obioma G; Obeng, Samuel Gyasi; McCluskey, Audrey T.
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - FW: Tireless campaigner against FGM dies in London


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JOHN MUKUM MBAKU, ESQ.
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