Eclairs and Pizza. & Teeth.
So to prove I’m not completely absorbed in to virtual game(s) I have proof that I went outside of my house today. I pigged out before I went to the dentist because I knew he had bad news for me:
I haven’t gone to the dentist for 2 years (shame) (fail!) (more shame) because last time I went he found like four different cavities so I figured I was good for a while… AND I WAS RIGHT! The only thing is, my stupid wisdom teeth (lawl, oxymoron) grew in all weird and long story short, I’m biting my cheek when I chew : ( So I have to get the cheek-biting one removed, and the rest removed at a specialist.
The chocolate eclair and tuna/potato/tomato pizza kind of balanced it out so… I would say it’s not an entirely bad day :P
Restaurant City Addiction
yeah…
I didn’t finish putting the tiling for the extra space because I am saving up for a stupid arcade machine… BLAR.
Chrysanthemum
I am alive! I had the stupid paper, then work, then a midterm… then I got totally obsessed with Pet Society D: I managed to get my pet to level 18 or something in 2, 3 days? D:
Went for a walk today, discovered a little garden of eden in a park near my house <3 bought a chrysanthemum at the grocery market place and took it home. I really hate gardening, but I do love flowers!
FGE
Don’t worry the video doesn’t show anything graphic, it introduces the practice in different areas and contains short interviews from different women.
I know a video from youtube is not a reliable source, but I am writing my paper on this and so far this video sums up some of the issues regarding FGE(female genitalia excision) It’s not entirely correct to call it female genitalia mutilation because it’s demeaning to the cultures that do it; the Sudanese call it sunna or tahara, which actually connotes the procedure as a purification rather than mutilation. … Anyway…
When I started researching I was outraged, set out to convince people that this practice needs to end, but I’ve come across a problem and I don’t think I can write my paper properly. The issue is that it’s their culture to circumcise young girls, and it is an important initiation for the girl into womanhood because the healing process allows for the teaching of how the girl should behave and for her to bond with her peers to form lifelong friendships… but the health risks for those who are literally doing it in a bush or in a seclusion hut far outweigh the bonding or learning experience. and I’m sure you can teach etiquette and behavior without the circumcision part.
The problem is that they live in societies where around or over 90% of the women go through excision, and if they don’t they are ostracized because they are not pure, and not marriageable. the even bigger problem is that the women have very little economic means of choosing not to do this. The practitioners have to cut for a living and the women have to be cut to be seen as a favourable bride. In Sudan the women are so unbelievably restrained in their expression in sexuality, if they professed a desire to have sex, or seemed to enjoy sex, it is grounds for divorce. They also practice the most severe form of FGE, pharaonic circumcision, where the clitoris and labia minora are removed and the labia majora are sewn together leaving a pinhole opening for urination and menstruation. The procedure goes along with the social belief that the woman’s sexual modesty is of the greatest honor for the family…
So, my problem with writing a paper that encourages the abolition of female circumcision is that it’s too neutral. I cannot be convincing when I stand on the middle ground. I think it’s entirely imperialistic to say this is a barbaric tradition, but I also don’t think it should continue due to the health risks and complications that follow (pain, infection, hemorrhaging, death). Although it is a violation of human rights – the taking away of a woman’s genitals for cosmetic/economic reasons without her consent (most of the girls get circumcised before the age of 10), I cannot say that it is something I would have the power to refuse if I were born in such a society. I hate that I took Anthropology and Sociology, which made me so damn culturally sensitive to everything GRRRRRR!!!
The paper is due on Wednesday and I haven’t written anything yet, just read a whole ton of articles. ARRRGH.
Just a Thought
© 2008 Rebecca Chen |
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