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However, as the section [[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox2#FGM before Islam|FGM before Islam]] demonstrates, FGM existed before Islam, and there is no evidence that pre-Islamic FGM was religiously-motivated. Thus FGM can not solely a religious practice - there must have been other reasons for its existence in pre-Islamic societies. | However, as the section [[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox2#FGM before Islam|FGM before Islam]] demonstrates, FGM existed before Islam, and there is no evidence that pre-Islamic FGM was religiously-motivated. Thus FGM can not solely a religious practice - there must have been other reasons for its existence in pre-Islamic societies. | ||
It is all too natural to consider FGM as nothing more than an arbitrarily misogynistic practice. However, it is actually a solution to certain social problems - albeit problems that not all societies suffer from, and that no society ''need'' suffer from. The section [[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox2#The origins of FGM|the origins of FGM]] will consider what these 'problems' are, and why they arise in some societies. The next section ([[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox2#Islamic Doctrine that creates social conditions favourable to FGM|Islamic Doctrine that creates social conditions favourable to FGM]]) shows how Islam doctrine reproduces the very factors that ''made'' FGM useful or necessary in some pre-Islamic societies. A final section ([[User:Flynnjed/ | It is all too natural to consider FGM as nothing more than an arbitrarily misogynistic practice. However, it is actually a solution to certain social problems - albeit problems that not all societies suffer from, and that no society ''need'' suffer from. The section [[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox2#The origins of FGM|the origins of FGM]] will consider what these 'problems' are, and why they arise in some societies. The next section ([[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox2#Islamic Doctrine that creates social conditions favourable to FGM|Islamic Doctrine that creates social conditions favourable to FGM]]) shows how Islam doctrine reproduces the very factors that ''made'' FGM useful or necessary in some pre-Islamic societies. A final section ([[User:Flynnjed/Sandbox#FGM and the Uses of Trauma|FGM and the Uses of Trauma]]) considers how the social purposes of FGM is realised through the experience of the individual child undergoing FGM. | ||
==FGM in the Qur'an and Hadith== | ==FGM in the Qur'an and Hadith== | ||
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All these factors correlate with increased neglect of, and violence towards, children, either from the father or from step-mothers. Data from 22 sub-Saharan African countries finding that children of (rich) polygynous families were 24.4% more likely to die compared with children of (poor) monogamous families. Fathers have less involvement with their many wives, and even less involvement with their even more numerous children . Islam encourages parents, relatives and teachers to treat and discipline children in ways that are considered unnecessarily harsh in the non-Muslim world. All this and the physical violence and wife-beating that is common in polygynous/Islamic families normalises the cruelty of FGM. | All these factors correlate with increased neglect of, and violence towards, children, either from the father or from step-mothers. Data from 22 sub-Saharan African countries finding that children of (rich) polygynous families were 24.4% more likely to die compared with children of (poor) monogamous families. Fathers have less involvement with their many wives, and even less involvement with their even more numerous children . Islam encourages parents, relatives and teachers to treat and discipline children in ways that are considered unnecessarily harsh in the non-Muslim world. All this and the physical violence and wife-beating that is common in polygynous/Islamic families normalises the cruelty of FGM. | ||
== | ==FGM and the Uses of Trauma== | ||
Islamic FGM is sometimes mistakenly referred to as a 'Rite of Passage'. Rites of Passage are essentially symbolic whilst FGM is functional (as a chastity assurance measure) and technical (its performance is more akin to, for example, a visit to the dentist than a religious service). But the FGM practiced where Islamic influence is weakest (e.g. coastal West Africa) often takes on aspects of initiation ritual and loses aspects of Islamic FGM, for example the Islamic anxieties around 'purity' are entirely absent in the FGM practiced by the Sandé of Liberia and Sierra Leone.<ref>Mende Sowei part 1 - youtu.be/ZTjU1dyavRw</ref><ref>Mende Sande Initiation Part 2 - youtu.be/zTanZWkvm5o</ref> | |||
Rite of Passage are marked by three stages: | |||
'''Severance''' - where the initiand breaks with previous people, practices and routines; | |||
'''Transition''' - the creation of a ''tabula rasa'' through the removal of previously taken-for-granted forms and limits. The rite follows a strictly prescribed sequence, under the authority of a master of ceremonies. This stage has a destructive nature which facilitates considerable changes to be made to the identity of the initiand. | |||
'''Incorporation''' - the initiand is re-incorporated into society with a new identity, as a “new” being with a higher social status. <ref>[https://www.liquisearch.com/liminality/rites_of_passage/arnold_van_gennep Liminality - Rites of Passage - Arnold Van Gennep]</ref>'''<ref>[http://archive.today/2021.04.26-041314/https://courses.lumenlearning.com/culturalanthropology/chapter/rite-of-passage/ Rite of Passage]</ref>''' | |||
Islamic FGM lacks the element of Severance as it generally occurs at home or hospital<ref>'[http://archive.today/2021.04.26-080016/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/nov/18/female-genital-mutilation-circumcision-indonesia The day I saw 248 girls suffering genital mutilation' by Abigail Haworth, The Guardian (2012)]</ref> with family members present and often participating<ref>[http://archive.today/2021.04.26-080404/https://www.nowtolove.com.au/health/diet-nutrition/the-final-cut-can-we-end-female-genital-mutilation-12912 I was 7 when I was mutilated while my aunt held me down]</ref>; it does not have the 'prescribed sequence' of the Transitional phase, not even prayers; and there is no incorporation - status after FGM is largely the same as before (however - 'uncut' girls are frequently bullied, shunned and stigmatized by their 'cut' peers<ref>[https://archive.ph/2021.04.26-080534/https://plan-international.org/case-studies/uncut-girls-club#50% THE UNCUT GIRLS’ CLUB]</ref>. The fact that this bullying stops after the girls have undergone FGM suggests the procedure does confer ''some'' increased status). | |||
Rites of passage are public or semi-public, with either the whole community as witnesses or initiates. Islamic FGM is generally a private and secretive affair. With rites of Passage a Master of Ceremonies imparts secret or occult knowledge to the initiand. No such thing occurs with Islamic FGM. Rites of Passage occur at important transitional life events (such as birth, puberty, marriage, death); Islamic FGM can occur any time between birth and puberty, and its timing may depend on quite practical factors: for example, families and isolated villages, rather than having to pay for a ‘cutter’ to visit as each daughter reaches a certain age, will have ''all'' their daughters cut during a single visit of the ‘cutter’, girls from a wide range of ages therefore being cut at the same time. | Rites of passage are public or semi-public, with either the whole community as witnesses or initiates. Islamic FGM is generally a private and secretive affair occurring within the family. With rites of Passage a Master of Ceremonies imparts secret or occult knowledge to the initiand. No such thing occurs with Islamic FGM. Rites of Passage occur at important transitional life events (such as birth, puberty, marriage, death); Islamic FGM can occur any time between birth and puberty, and its timing may depend on quite practical factors: for example, families and isolated villages, rather than having to pay for a ‘cutter’ to visit as each daughter reaches a certain age, will have ''all'' their daughters cut during a single visit of the ‘cutter’, girls from a wide range of ages therefore being cut at the same time. | ||
However, FGM | However, FGM and Rites of Passage do share one characteristic: they both involve a deliberate ordeal (a 'destructive nature') which brings about permanent physical and psychological changes. | ||
This is | This is reflected in the fact that anaesthetics are generally not used, even when available. [[File:Indonesia - susanfemalecircumcision-1.jpg|thumb|Medicalised FGM in Indonesia - note the apparent lack of anaesthesia (see also [https://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/nov/18/female-genital-mutilation-circumcision-indonesia The day I saw 248 girls suffering genital mutilation] The Guardian 2012) |alt=]]{{Quote|[http://archive.today/2021.04.27-044528/https://www.unfpa.org/pcm/node/9481 Female genital mutilation (FGM) frequently asked questions, UNFPA (2020)]|'''Anaesthetic and antiseptics are generally not used''' unless the procedure is carried out by medical practitioners.}}[[File:Fgm-in-the-middle-east.jpg|thumb|Iraqi Kurdish four-year-old Shwen screams during her circumcision in Suleimaniyah on April 14, 2009]]{{Quote|[http://archive.today/2021.04.27-042745/https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13131835.i-screaming-mother/ 'I was screaming for my mother' (2013)]|I remember I was screaming for my grandmother and my mother to help me but no-one did. I wasn't given any medication before or after - '''not anaesthetic, nothing'''.}}{{Quote|Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Survivor Tells Her Story (2016) - youtu.be/jlyj9hgdbrQ|My aunt was a doctor, so when she led me downstairs for a clinic and instructed me to lie flat on my back on her operating table I didn't think to question her authority. '''With no anesthetic''' and very littlewarning she performed a ritualized cut.}}[[File:Endfgm-campaign-video-016.jpg|thumb|August, 25, 2008. Tuz Khurmatu, northern Iraq, a midwife (who also delivered Omer and is a trusted and valued member of the neighborhood) slices part of seven year-old Sheelan Anwar Omer's genitals (Photographer: Andrea Bruce).<ref>Image cropped from larger photo - for original see http://archive.today/2021.04.26-065336/https://i0.wp.com/freethoughtblogs.com/taslima/files/2012/06/Kurdish-girl.jpg?ssl=1</ref>|alt=]]{{Quote|{{cite web | ||
| title = 'A horrific nightmare' Female genital mutilation survivor shares her … | | title = 'A horrific nightmare' Female genital mutilation survivor shares her … | ||
| url = https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-thursday-edition-1.3784062/a-horrific-nightmare-female-genital-mutilation-survivor-shares-her-story-in-ottawa-1.3784067 | | url = https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-thursday-edition-1.3784062/a-horrific-nightmare-female-genital-mutilation-survivor-shares-her-story-in-ottawa-1.3784067 | ||
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| archiveurl = http://archive.today/T79HL | | archiveurl = http://archive.today/T79HL | ||
| archivedate = 2021-04-27 }}|In Burkina Faso, we did not have proper clinics for these procedures. We didn’t have doctors in white jackets and gloves. '''We didn’t even have anesthesia to numb the pain'''.}}{{Quote|<nowiki>Breakout Session 3: Female Genital Mutilation - The Facts (2017) - youtu.be/nuaZ_QIx-3U?t=31m44s</nowiki> | | archivedate = 2021-04-27 }}|In Burkina Faso, we did not have proper clinics for these procedures. We didn’t have doctors in white jackets and gloves. '''We didn’t even have anesthesia to numb the pain'''.}}{{Quote|<nowiki>Breakout Session 3: Female Genital Mutilation - The Facts (2017) - youtu.be/nuaZ_QIx-3U?t=31m44s</nowiki> | ||
|Remember, '''there were no anesthetics''' because for we you have to walk the walk, you have to dance the dance. It's what makes you a woman. When you feel that pain it shows you that pain is all you know as a woman.}} | |Remember, '''there were no anesthetics''' because for we you have to walk the walk, you have to dance the dance. It's what makes you a woman. When you feel that pain it shows you that pain is all you know as a woman.}}In Rites of Passage ordeal, pain and fear are used to | ||