It is understandable that if you take a step back and try to realize that these practices are a part of different cultural traditions. While I am still horrified of these gruesome practices, I am more horrified of the fact that women in these countries and in the United States are forced to feel like they are not pretty enough. It is horrible that they have to go through these invasive and painful procedures just to be thought of as pretty.
In America, things like having tan skin, wearing nice clothes, having a certain body type, and wearing makeup is considered beautiful. As someone who has never really worn makeup and whose usual attire consists of wearing soccer pants and crewnecks, I get told a lot that I would be prettier if I wore some or dressed in nicer clothes. Therefore, in some ways I understand what it feels like to be shamed for my decisions on my appearance. However, these decisions are my choice to go against the societal norms. The women in these readings and videos did not get a choice in their situations or they would be cast out of society.
After reading the “Footbinding” article, I am at a loss of words for how to accept that this is what women have had to go through for their lives to be considered meaningful. The Third Sister tried to fight back against the footbinding process and was called worthless and even died for wanting control over her own body (See, 2005). Therefore, while I do understand that different cultures have different traditions and different aspects of what defines beauty, I am mostly horrified that these women did not get a choice. Moreover, it was awful to see that the Third Sister, after all that she went through, did not even get a proper burial (See, 2005). I think that See (2005) uses the interpretive theory in her story because she talks about her own experiences with footbinding and she interprets the meaning of this tradition in her culture throughout her story.
Even after reading the female circumcision article and finding out that there is no significant harm that comes from the process later on in life, it still sickens me that there was no choice involved for the girls. They were only babies when the process happened to them and got no say in the matter at all. In Muslim culture, female circumcision is again used to gain desirable characteristics in their society (Newland, 2006). It also shocked me how strict the Sudanese villagers were on female circumcision. For example, children who are not circumcised in the Muslim community are not allowed to participate in prayers at the mosque (Newland, 2006). I respect their tradition and appreciate the fact that both men and women have to get circumcised in order to be considered Muslim, but it is not fair to those whose parents decided to go against tradition and not get their child circumcised. Either way, the child gets punished for a choice that was never theirs. Those who get circumcised have to deal with their genitalia being different than what they were born with and those who were not circumcised have to learn to accept their role as an outsider in Muslim society. Newland (2006) uses a feminist perspective because she points out the disparities of being a man and woman in Muslim culture. She mentions that while they both need to be circumcised, women have stricter dress codes, there are fewer female Muslim leaders, and women are also prevented from entering the mosques for greater periods of time (Newland, 2006).
Additionally, I believe that if these practices were to be outlawed abruptly, I believe that the lives of these women will be worse off. Decades of tradition cannot be so easily changed and the minds of the people cannot be so easily influenced. These beliefs have been around for so long and traditional elders do not approve of change. Therefore, I think that the women may feel pressured into continuing on these traditional practices and will continue to be forced to use them, even though they will be the ones that are in trouble if they get caught by the new law; they will continue to fight a losing battle where if they do not practice the tradition, they will be scorned, and if they do, they will be punished by the law.
Works Cited
Newland, L. (2006). Female circumcision: Muslim identities and zero tolerance policies in rural West Java. Womens Studies International Forum,29(4), 394-404. doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2006.05.005
See, L. (2005). Snow flower and the secret fan: A novel. New York: Random House.
I appreciate that this weeks readings had a strong connection with you, as a tomboy I have been told that I would be prettier if I dressed more feminine or wore make-up too. I see that you’re bothered by the lack of agency and the lack of control that these women have over their bodies, but I wouldn’t focus so much on that. Women, even in these situations where it looks like they don’t have control, are actually very much in control of their lives and they have a lot of influence in the practices and traditions that happen. One of my favorite articles to read was written by Abu-Lughod, in which she talks about how Bedouin women while they looked like they were oppressed and had no control over their lives actually had a lot of agency and power even if it wasn’t visible. In these accounts we may not be able to see how the women in Senegal, Kenya, or China used their agency to influence these practices or change what happens, but I’m sure if you looked you could find it.