Senegal and the Slow Stamping of Female Genital Cutting

In the article "Senegal Curbs a Bloody Rite for Girls and Women", Celia W. Dugger relays the story of a movement. Over 5000 Senegalese villages have abandoned the practice of female genital cutting. Far from the success stemming from white, Western funds and values, the wave has been largely an educational one, spurred by inter-village linkages and facilitated by organizations such as Tostan, which funds runs the educational program.
Female genital cutting is typically discussed in Western forums as this barbaric practice, and is treated as such when trying to educate people about its risks. Hence why many Western groups have traditionally been so unsuccessful at making their case in such villages. Many people believe that they are helping their daughters when they get the procedure done. Others think that it is mandated by Islamic law (it's not). When people do something out of a love for their god and their children, then talking about it like it's abhorrent and sick is insensitive and creates a stalemate of values. By educating people about the risks and making the distinction between Islamic law and ancient custom, the same village structures that held the practice in place for so long are now dismantling the ritual by communally pledging to stop it.
We spent time talking about how doctors select a gender for sexually ambiguous babies based on genitalia, with larger clitoris' being seen as unseemly (ie too masculine). Here too, the "male-looking parts (those that stick out) are the ones being done away with, but it isn't due to a random man's discretion but a cultural conception that women will be more calm and safer if she has the procedure done. Yet cutting does give the impression that women have a sexuality that if unbridled, is uncontrollable for them. This we have also seen this theme in many of our texts (Malleus Malefucarum, the Cantigas, etc).In both cases, we have a case of cultures catering to men's sexual desires (keeping women's parts un-masculine and ensuring that they won't fuck anyone else). Education, as always, is the solution in both cases. However, this education needs to be framed keeping the cultural context in mind.

Tostan: http://www.tostan.org/

the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/world/africa/movement-to-end-genital-cutting-spreads-in-senegal.html?ref=thefemalefactor