In today’s world, society plays a huge role on feminine beauty. Depending on where you live, there is a different emphasis on certain aspects of what defines beauty in a person. This can range from the way you style your hair, how much makeup you wear, the size of your clothes, the amount you weigh and so on. Before watching the film on female genital cutting, I really had no idea that that was such a common thing. I guess in the united states I think I have heard more of getting plastic surgery like a boob, butt or nose job. I figured some people may have to get their private parts fixed for medical reasons or for a transition, but never because they were ashamed of how it looked. 

One thing I did realize while watching the film and reading the articles, was that all these procedures were mainly outside of the united states. Not saying that it doesn’t happen, but I thought it was interesting that the female genital cutting, and Chinese foot binding were so normal in other places. Personally, I have never even heard of Chinese foot binding before I read the article. I chose to google a picture and it was actually disturbing to look at, mainly because I could not imagine my feet being like and still doing all the things I do now on a daily basis, just to look proper and show status. In the 12^thcentury, any women that wanted to marry had to have their feet bound. The procedure involves bending the toes underneath the sole and ribbon that is wrapped around their feet and ankle to secure the foot in place. The process takes about 2-3 years for the feet to be stuck like that (Schiavenza, 2013). 

Plastic surgery on the other hand is actually fairly common here in the united states, however, the plastic surgery that I am referring to is genital plastic surgery. In Brazil, cosmetic surgery is rated the second highest worldwide and female genital mutilation is seen as a “normalizing practice” (Andrade, 2010). Internationally, it is frowned upon because it interferes with the development of children and young adults. In this article they used a good quote that I think summed up why other parts of the world don’t think it is okay. The quote is “They derive from the presumption that female bodies are in need of improvement and continuous monitoring; both enlist women as agents of their self-modification and enjoy them to self-surveillance and restraint; both work to instill in women a desire to conform, to become what they ‘ought’ to be”. This quote and practice are kind of frustrating to me because there is a reason, we are born with the bodies that we have, we shouldn’t ever feel the pressure from society and other people to alter it because we feel insecure or ashamed. It just seems like a way for people to make money especially if it is so normalized in places like Brazil. We need to be confident in our bodies and never shame other women for how they look. 

Female genital cutting is very similar to the plastic surgery I described above in terms of how society sees it in other countries. When I was watching the film done on this topic, I actually became very uncomfortable with even the thought of this. I feel like this would be such a painful experience and even watching it I felt pain and it wasn’t even me. In the film there were really young girls getting this done. That means media, friends, and even family influence this so much that teenagers don’t feel comfortable with how their genital area looks. At a point in time it used to be seen as a religious practice way back when, but now it is something women do to make themselves feel more beautiful. 

To us, these practices may seem crazy and outrageous, but in other parts of the world, it is a way for women to feel beautiful and express themselves. This week’s blog post really was eye opening and shows you how much of an impact other can have on the things we do to make ourselves fit in and feel good. If any of these practices were outlawed there would be issues all over the world. I’m sure women would still do these practices just illegally which can be dangerous for themselves and their health.  

Schiavenza, Matt. “The Peculiar History of Foot Binding in China.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 17 Sept. 2013, www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/09/the-peculiar-history-of-foot-binding-in-china/279718/.

 Andrade , Daniela Dorneles de. “Meet Google Drive – One Place for All Your Files.” On Norms and Bodies: Findings from Field Research on Cosmetic Surgery in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, Reproductive Health Matters , 2010, drive.google.com/file/d/1MHANftO1GjCcL5aWVMGBNAGbDwk6UQIP/view.

Film: 6.1. Leach, Heather “The Perfect Vagina”

Rodrigues, Sara. “From Vaginal Exception to Exceptional Vagina: The Biopolitics of Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery – Sara Rodrigues, 2012.” SAGE Journals, journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1363460712454073.