“The lotus flower blossoms, baring its exquisite beauty to all those who are aware, enough to recognize God unfolding.” Patricia Cori
I don’t want to be the white woman from the Western world, pointing her finger at developing countries and saying to them, “Change. Be like us. The way you are is wrong.” There are many things about the way the West operates that are harmful and unjust. However, as a person, I do not align myself with “the West” and whatever ideology that conjures up in the minds of different people. I align myself with universal human worth and dignity, non-violence, and the values of honesty, respect and kindness. I am concerned not with what others think of me as a white woman, or as a Westerner; rather I am more concerned with where these values lie in the hearts of others, or if they exist there at all.
As a student of international development, I am of the particular school of thought that homegrown development is where lasting and meaningful change lies, in small steps, in small actions, in small groups that start out slowly and quietly, and then breathe and grow and become larger and more powerful, capable of spreading change and ideas and innovations across great distances. When I heard about the film Africa Rising: The Grassroots Movement to End Female Genital Mutilation, I was deeply heartened. I know there are groups out there fighting against FGM all the time, and they have been for years, but more than anything, the voices of those who are threatened firsthand by such violent misogyny are the voices we need to hear from, and that is what Africa Rising is all about. The film follows the journey of a number of characters from various grassroots movements of both men and women against FGM in Burkina Faso, Mali, Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania. I truly believe that if FGM is ever to be stopped, it is going to be largely a result of grassroots movements against the practice.
Here we come back to where FGM is practiced in the world, and what kind of ideology allows it to continue. FGM is practiced mostly in developing nations in Africa, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia, with other smaller pockets existing around the world in the Middle East and North America; FGM in North America is practiced by specific cultures that have immigrated and have brought the custom with them. The practice of FGM is firmly rooted in a foundation of misogyny. Now, I know that might seem obvious, but the mindset behind the practice is more complex than just wishing to inflict violence upon women and girls. FGM persists as a result of a combination of cultural, religious and social causes. Some communities practice FGM because it is believed that the cutting of a girls’ genitals will dissuade her from premarital sexual behaviour, or keep her from committing adultery. In some cases, social pressure to conform to this already accepted practice allows FGM to go on, even when some members of the community may feel that the practice should not continue. Sometimes girls’ are forced to undergo the procedure with the aim of closing and tightening the inner labia so that sexual intercourse will be more pleasurable for her future husband, and therefore make her more desirable for marriage. All of these reasons for the perpetuation of this heinous practice come from one source – the idea that females in general are lesser than men, lesser even than some animals, that they do not have a fundamental human right to protect their bodies from such violence and that they can and should be controlled and dominated.
I hear a lot of women in the Western world talk about how the fight for women’s rights is, for the most part, pretty irrelevant in this day and age, that we have everything we asked for, that we can marry and divorce freely, have sex with whomever we choose, have children or not at all, get the same jobs as men and make the same kind of money (or more), and even marry another woman in some countries. We are free, a lot of them say, and while I agree with this statement on a few levels, I recognize that the battle is far from over. Personally, I won’t feel “free” until every woman on the planet can enjoy the freedoms and rights that I enjoy. I am willing to do whatever I can to support other women around the world, fighting for basic rights to protect their bodies, their hearts and their minds, because I am just lucky enough to have lived a life where I didn’t have to fight nearly as hard for such things. Can we all take a minute to stop and remember how hard our foremothers fought just for the right to vote, just to be seen as “persons” under the law? I think it’s also important to remember that if you travel to some countries in the world today, you will still be ostracized as a woman, even if you are a “free” white woman from the West. The same oppressions inflicted on the local women will be inflicted on you, and while you might get away with more as a tourist and a foreigner, you will, unfortunately, feel the sting of discrimination, sometimes even to the point where you fear for your personal safety.
I think it can be useful to keep these other realities in sight when we consider how much freedom women really have and specifically, how many more millions of women in the world are living with violence and discrimination as compared to women who already have nearly every freedom they could want.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Finally.... UN Women.
On July 2, 2010, after 4 long years of hard work and tireless dedication, the GEAR Campaign joyfully succeeded in their ultimate mission - the General Assembly of the United Nations voted unanimously for the establishment of a single UN agency to promote gender equality and rights for women the world over, known as “UN Women”, UN Women will bring together 4 previously separate UN entities under one agency, strengthening the world’s commitment to gender equality and the right of all women and girls to an education, economic independence, health care and security of person. The GEAR Campaign (gender/equality/architecture/reform = GEAR) is comprised of over 300 different organizations with a focus on human rights and gender equality, including such groups as Equality Now, Amnesty International and Women’s Environment and Development Organization. Recognizing the magnitude of the problem, these groups came together to lobby the United Nations to establish a single, driving force that rightfully gives greater recognition and credibility to gender issues in an international forum. As a result, the 4 entities now united under UN Women are the secretary-general's Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, the U.N. Development Fund for Women known as UNIFEM, the Division for the Advancement of Women, and the U.N. International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women. It is hoped that the establishment of UN Women will also result in increased funding and renewed commitment from UN member states to deal more effectively with gender equality issues.
With this new and wonderful development unfolding on the world stage, my mind is drawn back to a gender issue that has haunted me for many years: female genital mutilation (FGM). FGM isn’t easy to talk about, let alone think about. If you’ve never heard of FGM, you may be quite shocked by what you read here. FGM is sometimes referred to as female circumcision, although I have always found that name to be rather euphemistic; “mutilation” seems much more accurate. According to the World Health Organization, there are 4 different kinds of FGM practiced around the world, and they are as follows:
1. Clitoridectomy: partial or total removal of the clitoris (a small, sensitive and erectile part of the female genitals) and, in very rare cases, only the prepuce (the fold of skin surrounding the clitoris).
2. Excision: partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora (the labia are "the lips" that surround the vagina).
3. Infibulation: narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal. The seal is formed by cutting and repositioning the inner, or outer, labia, with or without removal of the clitoris.
4. Other: all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, e.g. pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterizing the genital area.
FGM has absolutely no health benefits, and violates the most fundamental basic human rights to security and integrity of person agreed upon by all 197 member states of the United Nations. And yet, it continues at an alarming rate. The age range of victims of FGM is roughly from infancy to about 15 years old; we should never forget that we are talking about children here. In Africa, about 3 million girls undergo FGM every single year. The WHO estimates that roughly 100 to 140 million girls and women worldwide are living with the physical repercussions of FGM, not to mention the psychological trauma caused by such a horrific procedure, the kind of emotional scar that I would imagine never really heals.
I call this blog “The Lotus Still Blooms” for a very specific reason. The lotus is a water flower that begins its life in total darkness, at the bottom of a pond or a river, rooted in mud. Over its lifetime, the lotus grows upward from the darkness as it seeks the light just above the surface of the water. When it finally breaks the surface, it blooms into a beautiful flower. When I think of the lotus, I think of perseverance. I think of inner beauty emerging from the darkest places. I think of the divine feminine in all of us, and I think of the obstacles overcome as the lotus strives to reach the light throughout its entire life. The lotus reminds me that the light is still attainable, even when our beginnings originate in the darkest of places.
With this blog, my intention is not to overwhelm the reader with horrific facts about FGM, or stories of pain and heartache. My intention is to remind women of the world (and men!) of our common humanity, and to appeal to that sense of compassion, to appeal to them not to turn away in fear or helplessness, but to move forward with hope and conviction, in partnership with others, to try to bring real change. For now, we will leave some of the more gruesome details out of this story, and in my next post, we will look at why FGM persists and where it occurs. You may be surprised to learn that is has likely happened in your own backyard.
UN Women’s official name is the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. My hope is that groups like UN Women will make it possible for women and girls around the world, especially the youngest and most vulnerable females, to continue moving ever closer to the light - to freedom, to equality, to security, and to a life of love and self-worth.
With this new and wonderful development unfolding on the world stage, my mind is drawn back to a gender issue that has haunted me for many years: female genital mutilation (FGM). FGM isn’t easy to talk about, let alone think about. If you’ve never heard of FGM, you may be quite shocked by what you read here. FGM is sometimes referred to as female circumcision, although I have always found that name to be rather euphemistic; “mutilation” seems much more accurate. According to the World Health Organization, there are 4 different kinds of FGM practiced around the world, and they are as follows:
1. Clitoridectomy: partial or total removal of the clitoris (a small, sensitive and erectile part of the female genitals) and, in very rare cases, only the prepuce (the fold of skin surrounding the clitoris).
2. Excision: partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora (the labia are "the lips" that surround the vagina).
3. Infibulation: narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal. The seal is formed by cutting and repositioning the inner, or outer, labia, with or without removal of the clitoris.
4. Other: all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, e.g. pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterizing the genital area.
FGM has absolutely no health benefits, and violates the most fundamental basic human rights to security and integrity of person agreed upon by all 197 member states of the United Nations. And yet, it continues at an alarming rate. The age range of victims of FGM is roughly from infancy to about 15 years old; we should never forget that we are talking about children here. In Africa, about 3 million girls undergo FGM every single year. The WHO estimates that roughly 100 to 140 million girls and women worldwide are living with the physical repercussions of FGM, not to mention the psychological trauma caused by such a horrific procedure, the kind of emotional scar that I would imagine never really heals.
I call this blog “The Lotus Still Blooms” for a very specific reason. The lotus is a water flower that begins its life in total darkness, at the bottom of a pond or a river, rooted in mud. Over its lifetime, the lotus grows upward from the darkness as it seeks the light just above the surface of the water. When it finally breaks the surface, it blooms into a beautiful flower. When I think of the lotus, I think of perseverance. I think of inner beauty emerging from the darkest places. I think of the divine feminine in all of us, and I think of the obstacles overcome as the lotus strives to reach the light throughout its entire life. The lotus reminds me that the light is still attainable, even when our beginnings originate in the darkest of places.
With this blog, my intention is not to overwhelm the reader with horrific facts about FGM, or stories of pain and heartache. My intention is to remind women of the world (and men!) of our common humanity, and to appeal to that sense of compassion, to appeal to them not to turn away in fear or helplessness, but to move forward with hope and conviction, in partnership with others, to try to bring real change. For now, we will leave some of the more gruesome details out of this story, and in my next post, we will look at why FGM persists and where it occurs. You may be surprised to learn that is has likely happened in your own backyard.
UN Women’s official name is the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. My hope is that groups like UN Women will make it possible for women and girls around the world, especially the youngest and most vulnerable females, to continue moving ever closer to the light - to freedom, to equality, to security, and to a life of love and self-worth.
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