Festive Milestone or Barbaric Abuse? - A Gray-Area Guide to the Circumcision Debate
July, 2011, Rabbi Shira Shazeer
Page 6
Page 6
Circumcision is not the same as “female circumcision” or Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
The folks at MGMbill.org would like to outlaw circumcision by expanding the existing law against cutting minor girls. Many anti-circumcision activists equate the two practices in that they both involve the genitals of a minor, but they are different in significant ways.
There are varying degrees of FGM, but even the least extensive involve removing part or all of the clitoris, intentionally removing the pleasure from sex. Circumcised men continue to enjoy sex.
FGM often causes long term damage to the urinary system, leading to recurring infections and problems with urination. Circumcised men, on the other hand, have a slightly reduced rate of urinary infections.
FGM often involves removing the entire vulva and sewing the whole area closed, leaving only a small hole to let out urine and menstrual blood, leading to more infections, and daily pain. It can cause fertility problems, and make vaginal childbirth impossible so that women are forced to undergo more risky cesarean birth. FGM is intended to keep women from having sex, by making it impossible, unpleasurable, or painful. In a male-dominated society, even when grown women perform the surgery on girls, FGM is about men maintaining control of women, by physically altering their genitals. Circumcision isn’t about someone else owning a man’s sexuality. The Jewish tradition of brit milah can be understood in many different ways, but it is in no way intended to prevent a man from enjoying sex, from functioning sexually or having children. The covenant between God and Abraham promises fertility. Restraint around sexuality is a value in Jewish tradition, but it’s about self-restraint and appropriate, respectful behavior, not control. Historically, Jewish circumcision has been performed by men, the dominant, privileged sex in the society, on boys, their sons, not as a means of control or subjugation, but as a mark of belonging and pride.
Brit milah is ideally done when a boy is eight days old, happens quickly, and heals quickly. If, for whatever reason, it is done at an older age, it happens under general anesthesia. FGM is done at various ages, often in the early teenage years, still without anesthesia, and can be a long, painful procedure, which may never fully heal.
I could go on, but I’ll leave it here. It’s just not the same thing, and treating it as such not only exaggerates any long-lasting physical and psychological effects of circumcision, but trivializes the seriously disturbing practice of female genital mutilation.
There are varying degrees of FGM, but even the least extensive involve removing part or all of the clitoris, intentionally removing the pleasure from sex. Circumcised men continue to enjoy sex.
FGM often causes long term damage to the urinary system, leading to recurring infections and problems with urination. Circumcised men, on the other hand, have a slightly reduced rate of urinary infections.
FGM often involves removing the entire vulva and sewing the whole area closed, leaving only a small hole to let out urine and menstrual blood, leading to more infections, and daily pain. It can cause fertility problems, and make vaginal childbirth impossible so that women are forced to undergo more risky cesarean birth. FGM is intended to keep women from having sex, by making it impossible, unpleasurable, or painful. In a male-dominated society, even when grown women perform the surgery on girls, FGM is about men maintaining control of women, by physically altering their genitals. Circumcision isn’t about someone else owning a man’s sexuality. The Jewish tradition of brit milah can be understood in many different ways, but it is in no way intended to prevent a man from enjoying sex, from functioning sexually or having children. The covenant between God and Abraham promises fertility. Restraint around sexuality is a value in Jewish tradition, but it’s about self-restraint and appropriate, respectful behavior, not control. Historically, Jewish circumcision has been performed by men, the dominant, privileged sex in the society, on boys, their sons, not as a means of control or subjugation, but as a mark of belonging and pride.
Brit milah is ideally done when a boy is eight days old, happens quickly, and heals quickly. If, for whatever reason, it is done at an older age, it happens under general anesthesia. FGM is done at various ages, often in the early teenage years, still without anesthesia, and can be a long, painful procedure, which may never fully heal.
I could go on, but I’ll leave it here. It’s just not the same thing, and treating it as such not only exaggerates any long-lasting physical and psychological effects of circumcision, but trivializes the seriously disturbing practice of female genital mutilation.
