Critical Resource Response #1: Kelsey

542 Words

Genital mutilation. A phrase that catches people off guard and creates an uncomfortable atmosphere. My topic for sex and resistance is women’s bodies. When I researched Ted Talks about this topic a video called “My Mother’s Strange Definition of Empowerment'' came up. This Ted Talk is about Khadija Gbla, whose mother preformed female genital mutilation on her and is now an activist in stopping FGM in Australia. In this essay, I will agree with the speaker and argue that female genital mutilation is an act of violence against women because of the long-term heath affects, repression of women’s sexuality, and the brutal procedure itself.

Female genital mutilation, or FGM as describes in the Ted Talk, causes lifelong health issues. Gbla says, “When I started having my period around the age of fourteen, I realized I didn’t have normal periods because of FGM. My periods were heavy, they were very long, and they were very painful. Then they told me I had fibroids. And then came the big news. ‘We don’t think you can have children, Khadija’” (Khadija Gbla). These women are experiencing lifelong health issues that they normally would not if FGM hadn’t been performed. These women have already gone most of their lives feeling like they are not normal because of what they are missing, and they also cannot have children like normal women can because of it. FGM victims are unable to feel like true women. An act that involuntarily takes away a woman’s fertility is an act of violence towards women.

FGM is an act practiced to make sure that the girls are kept “pure” and makes it so they are not able to enjoy sex.. Gbla says, “I said to my mom ‘Dolly and Girlfriend said I deserve pleasure, and do you know what you have taken away from me, what you have denied me? You have invaded me in the most sacred way’” (Khadija Gbla). Khadija expresses her anger towards her mother, whom ordered the mutilation, because she will never be able to enjoy sex in her life and have a clitoral orgasm. She feels as through she’s being ostracized from other women because they are able to enjoy sex and she cannot.

The procedure of FGM is brutal; it is not done in hospitals, but instead with objects in the home with no sedation. Gbla says, “The old lady came towards me with a rusty looking knife. She took that rusty knife, and started cutting away, inch by inch. When she was done, she threw that piece of flesh across the floor” (Khadija Gbla). This is just a short snippet of the horrors that Khadija endured during the process of FGM. Not only is the process incredibly inhumane, but it can cause massive health issues such as bleeding out and blood clots. These mutilations are done without consent and are therefore assault.

However you look at it, the process of genital mutilation is an act of violence.

FGM is an issue that is still present in today’s society all around the world. Many cultures still believe that a woman’s body is made only for the pleasure of men and that simply is not true, and that ideology is harming women all over the world.