Blog 1- Genital Mutation of Women

I read an article published on February 6th, 2014 by Baba Ahmed entitled, "Mali Communities Denounce Female Genital Cutting," that discussed the revolt that some women in Mali are having against the genital mutilation of their daughters. Genital mutilation involves the removal or abuse of the female genitalia in an effort to decrease sexual pleasure, and sometimes obliterate it all together. There are several reason for this, some involving religious affiliations, and others hoping that the loss of sexual desire that these young women will have will result in a long abstinence period. Dicko Ongoiba, a 40-year-old women with eight daughters, didn't realize the harm that could come with genital mutilation, so she spared her youngest two daughters the pain and has participated in several revolts along with many other women who are hoping to stop this terrible practice. In participating in these revolts, many women face rejection from their traditional society to stand up for what they believe to be right.

Analysis:
The topic of genetic mutilation may be a foreign concept in the United States, but this is something that women in Africa, Indonesia, Egypt, and Mali experience since a very early age. 98% of female children are stripped of their sexual right in the early months of life. This is seen as a global problem because it is a problem that affects a lot of people around the world, even if it isn't very common in the United States. This practice is driven by people's religious beliefs, and therefore is a social problem. How does it relate to gender inequality? Well, you don't see the men in these cultures losing their sexual freedom, do you? This is purely a form of female oppression to make sex less desirable for women so that they will remain faithful to their husbands and be used exactly what their culture thinks they are made for: reproduction. The fact of the matter is, women deserve to have sexual pleasure just as much as men do. Why does this culture feel the need to take away the basic sexual right of these women? Because of the male-dominated world that we live in, women are not seen as deserving of the same rights as men, especially in more reserved countries where the customs are most strict.

Link:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/mali-communities-denounce-female-genital-cutting-22397491

Also- I watched this video related to this topic as well and it gave me some of the background information that was not included in the text.
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2014/02/06/pkg-mohsin-indonesia-fgm.cnn&hpt=wo_c2&video_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2FWORLD%2F