Female Genital Mutilation: If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It

It is common knowledge that it is not necessary to take the time to fix something that is not broken to begin with, hence the phrase, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Nobody would take time to fix a clock that already tells time, a car that runs great or a doorbell you can hear throughout the entire house. The reason why is also simple. If it already works and you try to fix it, you are just going to create problems. For instance, let’s say you take apart that car that was running great and go to put it back together only to find out that you lost a bunch of screws. Now you need screws and you have no way to get to Auto Zone to buy more. With this logic fresh in mind, it seems obvious that you would not want to take a knife to a young girl’s intact genitals and cut them up, however female genital mutilation is a commonly overlooked dilemma posing health hazards to thousands of defenseless young girls daily, and more effort needs to be made to educate cultures on it’s negative effects.

As mentioned, female genital mutilation is overlooked in our society. The name is pretty self explanatory, but, if you dig in deeper, there are four different kinds, labelled accordingly as types I, II, III and IV. Type one consists of the removing the covering of the clitoris and sometimes the clitoris as well. Type two involves the removal of the clitoris and some or all of the lavia minora. Type three is performed by removing all or part of the external genatalia. Finally, the type four procedure can be done by incising the clitoris and/or labia.

This all sounds pretty gruesome, so, one may wonder why someone would do this to their own daughter. One common reason is religion. Yes, there are religions that believe this must be done, similiar to religions that believe in the circumcisions of young boys. Some reasons are customary, for instance, some believe that it maintains cleanliness. Other societies claim that it cures females of psychological diseases. Another reason this is done is, in many cultures, one must be a virgin to marry, and this prevents her from having sex. Perhaps the most disturbing reason that a female may have undergone this procedure is because it is said to increase sexual pleasure for the male. These are just a handful of examples of the many excuses why female genital mutilation is practiced in many cultures.