[If you do not see a blue menu bar on the right, click here. You are at "Female Circumcision".]

"The plain fact is that circumcision is a form of "child care" that male babies can well do without. Female babies are more fortunate. Their bodies are less suitable for mutilation and they are able to pass through babyhood without genital wounding. [Webmaster's Note: In the last few years, a law has been passed here in the U.S. which made Female Genital Mutilation (or circumcision) illegal. It was practiced until at least 1959 in the U.S.] Unhappily this does not mean they will escape later on. For many young girls, in no fewer than twenty-five different countries, circumcision is performed even today. The fact that they are past the baby stage makes it worse, because they are more aware of what is happening to them. In some countries the clitoris alone is removed, but in others the mutilation is even more severe. There are today sadly no fewer than 74 million women who have been subjected to circumcision in Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Asia." 30.

"They [doctors] have successfully covered up the fact that they practiced female circumcision randomly and routinely in the late 19th century and early 20th century. If you tell a doctor this, he will not believe you. I have all the documentation for this history as well. The only way we can prevent these horrors from returning is by knowing the history and broadcasting it so that it can never be repeated" --Frederick Hodges, D.Phil., Medical Historian

Further Reading: FGM Education & Networking Project

Also see...

Article: Female Circumcision Comes to America

"I Was Circumcised as an Infant": One American Woman's Story.

"My mom recently told me I was born with a severe overgrowth of tissue which caused my inner labia to abnormally protrude, the medical term was hypertropic overgrowth. She had this corrected shortly after I was born which was what the doctor recommended. My inner labias were cut back to a normal size and they also removed my clitoral hood at the same time because of phimosis. I was quite surprised when she told me because I had always thought only boys were circumcised, but apparently it's sometimes necessary for girls to have it done too. I understand my condition was very rare and it only occurs about once in 1,000 births. I think circumcision of both males and females should be done at birth if it's a medical necessity rather than let a condition persist that will likely get worse as the child gets older."-- Jennifer
[Webmaster's Note: "Phimosis" is a natural, desired state in both girl and boy infants. Actually, true phimosis can't be diagnosed until adulthood, but a non-retractable foreskin is natural, normal, and desired. See "What Do Doctors Know?" in the "Doctors" section of the blue menu bar.]

"The procedure is easy. However, it is so distressing to the patient that general anesthesia should be used to avoid making an enemy for life. A blunt probe is inserted into the raphe and swung around the head of the clitoris. There is usually no bleeding, or at least very little."
From a 1958 U.S. medical journal on why female circumcision is "necessary".

An American medical journal from 1959 explains with illustrations how to use the female circumcision clamp: "This instrument is seen with jaws open Figure 4 and closed in Figure 3. It is simply a "vice-grip" pliers with strong, specially designed jaws for this procedure. After opening, the lower triangular plate or jaw (which is not perforated), is placed under the prepuce and the jaws are partially closed. A tooth thumb forceps is then used to reach through the hole in the upper jaw and pull the desired amount of prepuce into the clamp (Figure 7). The adjusting screw on the handle of the pliers can be turned to adjust for the various thicknesses of prepuce before the pliers are clamped. The cam action not only exerts adequate pressure to compress the tissues at the narrow lower edge of the upper jaw, but also sets itself so that no more force is needed by the operator."

"IN DEFENSE OF FEMALE CIRCUMCISION.

"Dear Mr. Geib: I have just seen your website in which you show a picture of a young girl and ask 'should she be circumcised?'. Your comments suggest that you are inviting the answer 'no'.

"Why should this be? Circumcision has been popular among African women for many thousands of years. Western pressure groups attempt to blackmail African nations into banning the custom, but whenever moves are made to do this, the streets are filled with happy circumcised women demonstrating their desire to protect their daughters' right to enjoy the same benefits.

"Here are some of the most obvious things that a girl gains when she is circumcised:

• It is a rite of passage and proof of adulthood. One day she is a girl; the next, a woman.


• It raises her status in her community, both because of the added purity that circumcision brings and the bravery that initiates are called upon to show.


• It confers maturity and inculcates positive character traits,including the ability to endure pain and a submissive nature.


• The circumcision ritual is an enjoyable one, in which the girl is the centre of attention and receives presents and moral instruction from her elders.


• It creates a bond between the generations, as all women in that society must undergo it and thus have shared an important experience.


• The girl will never have her conscience troubled by lustful thoughts or sensations or temptations such as masturbation.


• There is little or no risk of premarital relationships which end in heartbreak or the stigma and social difficulties of illegitimate birth (this is especially so with full circumcision, i.e. all impure tissue is removed and the girl is sewn up until her wedding night).


• The bond between husband and wife is closer because neither will have had sex with anyone else and the relationship will be motivated by love rather than primarily lust, because there will be no physical drive for the women, only an emotional one.


• There is no incentive for extramarital sex, hence marriages are made more secure.


• There will be far fewer rapes (especially in the case of full circumcision).


• Marriages are also made closer because the emphasis is taken away from sexual technique and performance.


• Children are better cared-for because there is less incentive for a marriage to break up, and because the husband can be more confident that the children are his.

"There are many ills in today's Western society which could easily be eradicated by the adoption of universal female circumcision with infibulation at puberty. Think of the positive impact on the teenage pregnancy rate in the US, which has been linked to the rise of crime and ghettoisation, especially for minorities. And it would create more peaceful, satisfied women - at the moment females are told that this little nub of skin, a vestigial penis,should have awesome phallic power. For most of them, it just doesn't, which creates dissatisfaction.

"So, in answer to the question on your website: yes, I do believe that the girl in the picture should be circumcised. It will do her good, and she will thank you for it."-- Anon.