Last semester I wrote a paper on genitle cutting for my anthropology class. I read several papers by distinguished anthropologists, but never realized until I read "Cosmopolitanism" that they were very biased. The papers mainly talked about the horrors of the mutilation, and as I read them I began to feel sad for the women who go through this process.
Appiah takes on a totally different view and brings up points that I never would have thought of. One point he makes is that critics "say it is mutilation, but is that any more than a reflex response to an unfamiliar practice?" He also says, "They say that female circumcision demeans women, but do not seem to think that male circumcision demeans men."
These viewpoints made me realize that it is just a part of their culture, and just because I don't agree with genitle cutting doesn't make it wrong. Since western culture doesn't practice genitle cutting we automatically frown upon it, and based on biased accounts gathered to make the process sound heinous, we judge it and therefore decide that we need to get involved to help stop it. That would be like someone from another country coming to the United States and saying that male circumcision is wrong and that ethically we should not practice it anymore.
What I don't agree with is genitle cutting without consent of the woman. That is what is unethical. A woman should have a say on what kinds of procedures are to be performed on her genitalia. She shouldn't have to suffer just because her husband wants sex to be more pleasurable. It is the same with abortion, a woman should have a choice on the procedures that are to be performed on her body, no one else should get a say in the matter.
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But alas, Western cultures do practice genital cutting - male genital cutting. What else is circumcision? I can call it mutilation and you would argue against it, but could you argue that it's not genital cutting?
I am a man circumcised at birth against my wishes. As I grew up, the more I learned about male circumcision, the more I wished I had not been circumcised.
So I agree with you that genital cutting without consent is unethical, but I'd ask you to remove the gender. Males deserve the same legal protections as females: to let them also make it to their 18th birthday uncut to have a say on what kinds of procedures are to be performed on his genitalia.
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