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

Sworn Virgins

"Feminization as devalorization" is a phrase that indicates a situation, structure, or value system where the female and things associated with femininity are deemed lesser than males and masculine-identified things. Thus gaining or losing feminine status also determines a respective gain or loss of power, opportunity, respect, etc. Pertaining to much of what we've covered this semester, this idea permeates our culture in ways we may not realize. Oftentimes, to prove the point, professors will have students list off adjectives to describe men and women, and wouldn't you know, the female adjectives are typically less desirable.
Yet many conflate the notion of feminization as devalorization with what is "natural" or "the truth".
Culturally condescended into believing that parts or wholes of women were less.
As a kid I wasn't ever able to get over how women couldn't just "act like boys" to make their goals happen. And I never really ran into it until this class. We talked about Erauso and de Cespedes, where one used masculinity as a means of escaping out of the convent and the other to match her testicles. But the case of the Albanian women is different as their "sworn virginity" is usually due to economic circumstances. Men serve roles as providers and have much more freedom to travel, negotiate, learn skills, etc. If a family doesn't have a male heir, this is a potential decision that can save a family from dying destitute.
For me, this really calls into question the notion of gender role rigidity. If women can swear to not disturb sexual/orietentation roles, they are allowed to become men. Yet the idea that women should not have the freedoms and opportunities that men do isn't even brought up in the conversation. There would be no such virgins if these inequalities were addressed.
Would the situation be different if there were more/better social services in place?

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/culture-places/beliefs-and-traditions/albania_swornvirgins.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/alice_dreger_is_anatomy_destiny.html

While studying for the final, I chanced upon this video and found it very interesting. The speaker, Alice Dreger, studies history and anatomy and talks about her experience with intersexed people. She met a person with XY chromosomes, but because the individual suffers from androgen insensitivity syndrome, the individual's body does not respond to testosterone. Thus, she grows towards the path of a woman, she looks like a woman. It was not until puberty when she did not get her period when she saw a doctor and realized that she has the genetic make up of a man. After this revelation, people felt that she is a man. But innately, she grew up as a feminine girl and even had breasts.

Another encounter she had was with an individual who suffers from congenital adrenal hyperplasia. He was born a boy, raised a boy and had sex with his girlfriend. However, he found out he had ovaries and a uterus and subsequently, realized that he has XX chromosomes. The reason for his masculinity was because the adrenal glands were very active in the wombs, thus creating a masculine environment internally, which causes the genitals and mind of the individual to be masculinized too.

This video was very interesting as I did not know or hear anything about intersex people. In the above-mentioned examples, the individuals were brought up in a gender that is opposite of their genetic make-up. However, because of their upbringing and internal body environment, they feel the same as the opposite sex, causing the society to question the true identity of the individuals. However, quoting Alice Dreger, we are too used to the notion that "one kind of anatomy comes with one kind of identity." This is a oversimplistic portrayal of the entire issue of sex, as unconventional situations have proved that sex is a very complicated concept. Therefore, the whole notion of gender is actually a social construct built upon our deeply rooted perception of what it means to be a man or a woman. Does it depend on our genetic make up or our upbringing and how we feel internally? Dr Martin Luther King said in his "I have a dream" speech, "We should judge people based not on the color of their skin, but on the content of their character." This attitude should be applied to the way we judge people too. We should transcend beyond the anatomy, and view them as who they are as a person, instead of expecting them to fulfill the societal expectations of gender.

Many found sexually active in 70's

I found this old article in the New York Times where it describes how many American where found to be sexually active in the 60’s and 70’s. In a study actually Dr. Butler states that sexual relationships are important. What really resonates with me in this article is the carefree 60’s and 70’s the “hippie movement” where protesting and having sex was considered rebelling. What I remember from our reading is where Prince Magogul describes that we all have been living under a spell of immense curiosity of sex and are bent to question it. We all have an insatiable desire to speak about it. The individuals that would speak about it would get punished by the church as shown as nuns in the covenant. Although this sex is forbidden because it same they are nuns. To relinquish yourself to god means relinquishing your sexual desires makes no sense. It is within us to be sexual beings and accept one another on his or her gender desires.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/23/us/23sex.html?adxnnl=1&ref=sex&adxnnlx=1323690245-Z9pWODhF7jIciSFXmlinFQ

Fashion and Vagina Dentata

http://www.mydaily.co.uk/2011/11/30/miranda-kerr-victorias-secret-viewing-party/

I came across this article when looking up vagina dentata, which according to some fairly recent posts is a real-life condition. The statement it made about the condition was super casual, but absolutely unexpected at the same time: "An unfortunate effect of Alessandra's metallic dress is that it looks like her crotch has fangs. Although we suppose she could be making a sociological point about the vagina dentata." Society may be fairly aware of vagina dentata at this point because of all the films that have broadcasted the condition, but as seen with our own class which is actually studying the subject in some detail, most are not aware of how real it actually is. This offhand comment embodies that exact ignorance, and without the proper education and knowledge, many of us are actually making light of a situation others may find hurtful or insulting. Misunderstanding vagina dentata can be attributed to how rare the condition is, but it does not excuse the fact that those who suffer from it also face these seemingly innocent jibes.

China's One-Child Policy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndWuq6AznmQ

Although China enacted the one-child policy in order to control the overwhelming population growth rate, it has backfired in terms of gender imbalance and other similar issues. The belief that a male child is more valuable has been reinforced since B.C. ages, because only males can carry on the family name while females lose their last names when married off. The one-child policy caused many households to become one-minded on only producing male heirs, hence creating a gender imbalance in China, especially rural areas. The question today due to the national situation is still hotly debated: should the policy be upheld in order to continue to slow down population growth, or is it more important to begin reversing the gender imbalance?

Another interesting point that the video presents is how parents are forbidden from finding out the gender of their child through ultrasound tests. Even though they can still figure it out anyways through other means, the steps that the government has taken to restore the gender balance is raising more questions. Is it worth encouraging immoral behaviors, such as lying, in order to balance things out once more? In fact, one may go so far as to ask why the government does not find other means to handle the population and gender balance situations instead of establishing strict controlling measures over the largest national population in the world.

There are many videos on youtube criticizing the methods of advertisement industries and their portrayals of woman. They all try to show the sexuality that is prevalent through the media, and the effect it has on the audience. One video in particular chose a set of provocative, but demeaning advertisements, and coupled them with statistics about sexual assault. After several of these, a quote by Oscar Wilde appears on screen, stating “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.” This quote totally changes the viewers perspective on everything they just saw. At first you saw the add portraying two pale, gaunt young women with heavy black eye makeup, dressed in fancy stylish dresses, snorting lines of white powder that has been arranged in the form of a cute tank-top, and you think “it is disgusting that advertisements take advantage of that culture to sell clothes.” But after reading Oscars quote, you start to wonder how much of that culture exists because of advertisements that glorify it. how do we separate the two? Is it possible to tell weather culture is influenced more by the adds we see, or if the adds we see are influenced more by culture? There are two adds depicted which both portray women with bodies that are simply physically impossible (one depicted above). One shows nothing more than a topples anorexic photographed from the back, with her fingers wrapping around her stomach and appearing on the left side of her spine, caressing the bones which shoot through her back. The only thing visible in the background is a toilet bowl, and she appears to be sitting on the ground. The word, obsession is printed at the top, and “for women” at the bottom. While I imagine this must be sexy to someone, to me it appears disgusting. Are these ads imitating what society has deemed appealing, or are they telling society what should be appealing. Do most people who view it think the same thing I did. “Well that’s kinda gross, but she must be sexy because it’s on an advertisement.” do we actually develop attraction for our selves, or does society just make the decision for us?