A Cultural Experience About Female Circumcision

A Cultural Experience about Female Circumcision

By
Larry Williams

Professor Youssef
English 102-32
25 Apr. 2011

Outline
Although female circumcision is viewed as barbaric and violent, it is still a cultural tradition embraced by various ethnic groups across Africa.   To understand the ways of African culture we must understand why female circumcision continues to be a part of our society.
  I. Women of African descent are primarily circumcised
  A. Four types of circumcision
  B. Negative feedback from feminists
  II. Researching circumcised women becomes judgmental
  A. Doctors interests only in the circumcision
  B. Awareness of health threats
  C. Recognized and practiced in over 40 countries
  III. The effects of circumcision can leave the woman’s husband hopeless for several months
  A. Unable to penetrate the vagina during defibulation
  B. Westerners treat female circumcision as child abuse
  C. Children are educated why the practice is being performed on them
  D. Banning female mutilation in America

A Cultural Experience about Female Circumcision
Female circumcision, as defined by Khaja, Lay, and Boys (2010) “is the cutting of female genitals without medical necessity”.   “Approximately 135 million females have been circumcised globally” (Cui 2011; Khaja et al 2010).   Primarily a practice common to women of African descent, female circumcision is referred to by many in the Western world as female genital cutting (FGC) or female genital mutilation.   Though there is an argument against female circumcision by westerners who view it as barbaric and violent, female circumcision is still a cultural tradition embraced by various ethnic groups across Africa.
There are four types of female circumcisions—Type 1 referred to as sunna, Type 2 referred to as excision or clitoridectomy, Type 3 referred to as infibulations, and Type 4 which are unclassified circumcisions.   The sunna is the most common type of female circumcision...