Female Circumcision Research Paper

Female circumcision, or female genital mutilation (FGM), is a form of modification to the female sexual anatomy. There are many forms, some much more extensive in nature than others. Nearly all include an excision of the clitoris. The clitoris is one of the primary erogenous zones associated with a women 's enjoyment of oral and penetrative intercourse. More extreme examples may additionally include the removal of all external genitalia, as well as infibulation, or the act of stitching the vaginal opening shut aside from a tiny hole for urine and menstrual blood to pass. The practice of female circumcision 's exact origins are often disputed among historians and scholars, but the practice occurs among practitioners of Christian as well as

Women in these societies are often considered to be capricious, provocative, and dangerous to men physically as well as spiritually. FGM is thought to be a way of quelling a woman 's desire for sexual gratification, making the notion of her leading an adulterous or premarital sexually active life much less of a danger. Through the elimination of her primary means for reaching orgasm, often combined with the sewing up of the vaginal opening itself, the diminished likelihood for pleasure as well as what many would feel an assuridy for painful intercourse, helps keep women remaining chaste. In spite of the extreme implications, both physically and socially, there are many women who willingly undergo the procedure. They site reasons as diverse as feeling that female circumcision is a "rite of passage", as sort of initiation symbolic of one achieving womanhood, and the act being a tribute to their spiritual deities and commitment to their cultures beliefs regarding sexuality and decency. Many look forward to the experience, and hope to one day indoctrinate their kin into the tradition. There are even some women who have undergone the surgeries that contend not only do they not diminish their sexual desire, but that they do not lead to greater pain or negative outcomes during child birth or sexual contact.Still, there do exist many vocal dissenters, even among the women living in cultures where the practice is commonplace. Aside from their health and physical well being, they feel that by their very nature the procedures degrade women. They feel it may relegate them to a subordinate and often what many in western civilizations would deem "cruel" and "harsh"relationship with the men in their