(no subject)
Jul. 19th, 2018 03:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormdogContent warning: Female Genital Modification/Mutilation
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ETA: Another reason I write about this is that hardline pushes by outside groups to end FGM often result in the practice becoming both more extreme and more entrenched. It's seen as outsiders coming in to tell people what to do, which seldom goes well. The most effective way to work for a reduction in the practice of FGM is to understand what it is and why people do it and engage with them from a position of understanding. Just think about how hard it is to get people to stop circumcsing male babies, even though for a lot of people there isn't really any logical reason to do it. Parents don't want some random person telling them how to make that very personal choice.
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In light of a talk I had yesterday with an anthropologist about Trump and his supporters (Not my undergrad advisor who I visited this past weekend; another anthropologist!), yesterday, I was thinking about Trump supporters and female genital modification/mutilation (FGM). (And 75% of my readers run away...)
Having been introduced to nuanced views of FGM through anthropology and reading material like this discussion of the work of Fuambai Ahmadu, an anthropologist from Sierra Leone, I'm more aware of the complexities of structure vs. agency that come into play in decisions made about our bodies and our children's bodies and how much depth there is to things that may seem at first blush to be purely and unarguably repulsive and patriarchal.
So maybe it's partly a function of distance from personal experience, but I am, in fact, more able to understand arguments ascribing agency and validity to practitioners of FGM than I am able to with Trump supporters.
I am not saying FGM is just fine and dandy. But I honestly feel more able to accept the practice of FGM than I am able to accept the choice to support Donald Trump's leadership and policies. That's how strongly I feel about this.
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(I'm more than a little nervous about the responses I will receive to this. I'm not very good at hiding unpopular thoughts and opinions...)
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ETA: Another reason I write about this is that hardline pushes by outside groups to end FGM often result in the practice becoming both more extreme and more entrenched. It's seen as outsiders coming in to tell people what to do, which seldom goes well. The most effective way to work for a reduction in the practice of FGM is to understand what it is and why people do it and engage with them from a position of understanding. Just think about how hard it is to get people to stop circumcsing male babies, even though for a lot of people there isn't really any logical reason to do it. Parents don't want some random person telling them how to make that very personal choice.
---
In light of a talk I had yesterday with an anthropologist about Trump and his supporters (Not my undergrad advisor who I visited this past weekend; another anthropologist!), yesterday, I was thinking about Trump supporters and female genital modification/mutilation (FGM). (And 75% of my readers run away...)
Having been introduced to nuanced views of FGM through anthropology and reading material like this discussion of the work of Fuambai Ahmadu, an anthropologist from Sierra Leone, I'm more aware of the complexities of structure vs. agency that come into play in decisions made about our bodies and our children's bodies and how much depth there is to things that may seem at first blush to be purely and unarguably repulsive and patriarchal.
So maybe it's partly a function of distance from personal experience, but I am, in fact, more able to understand arguments ascribing agency and validity to practitioners of FGM than I am able to with Trump supporters.
I am not saying FGM is just fine and dandy. But I honestly feel more able to accept the practice of FGM than I am able to accept the choice to support Donald Trump's leadership and policies. That's how strongly I feel about this.
---
(I'm more than a little nervous about the responses I will receive to this. I'm not very good at hiding unpopular thoughts and opinions...)
no subject
Date: 2018-07-19 09:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-07-19 10:44 pm (UTC)