Can you take the Culture out of Sex? Female Genital Mutilation.

September has just begun and all the kiddies at home are going back to school. My little brother (coolest lil’ bro in the world, I might add) has begun his first year of college. Miss Julia, my sister, is leaving the woods to embark on her next journey in the city for her first year of Uni, as well. I am super excited for them; and partially jealous… If only I knew the things I did now when I was their age.

 This past June, we took a beautiful 5 day train journey down to see Victoria Falls and then back up again through Malawi, where we relaxed by the lake and visited the awesome ‘museum’ of the Malawasaurus and a 1.5 million year old humanoid jawbone. Fun stuff! I highly encourage gazing upon the waterfall pictures on Facebook… more so, I definitely recommend the trip to visit this natural wonder… it’s hard to walk away from a sight like that without a deep feeling of appreciation for life.

My 23^rd and Michael’s 25^th birthdays were definitely unique this year. My birthday is on Nane Nane (8,8) a Tanzania holiday, so we had the day off of school. Our good Massai friend, Kisiyoki, took us to a huge Massai celebration.  This celebration was also a male circumcision and a female genital mutilation party (as it’s called back home). As you gasp, there are two things I should mention:

1.                          No, we did not witness these acts… the cutting takes place in the morning and the celebration is around the afternoon while the children are recovering.

2.                           Attending does not mean that we are condoning. FGM is still a ritual that is highly culturally engrained in many areas, our area happens to be one of them. In order to be critical and to hold a solid argument, it is important to first explore and discuss this issue with the actual people who perform them… as sociologists would say: Step outside of your cultural lens for a full interpretation. This was my goal.

Not every ritual is given the excuse of being globally acceptable because of its deep roots in that population. FGM is one of those practices where either way you look at it… it is a crime against human rights, it is stigmatizing against women, and it should be removed. However, instead of getting angry and deciding that the Massai in my area as woman-hating, primitive people; I asked why. Why, in the globalization era of the 21^st century, are females still having their external gentiles removed?

The answer, I believe, can be found through conversation. The Massai elders I have spoken with have said that the people who still practice female cutting simply do not know any better. So yes, ignorance can be attributed to the problem. I truly believe that the main driving force for FGM is not to intentionally diminish the status of women in their society with violence. Both female and male circumcision is their custom for determining when an adolescent (around age 13 to 15) is ready for marriage. And this has been the custom for many, many years. The ignorance surrounding this issue stems from the fact that the female cutting has been engrained in this society for so long, that they simple do not know that the female clitoris has a function.

From what I have gathered, they believe that the cutting of the female has the same affect of the cutting of the male… only a change of superficial looks, and not the voiding of a function. There is a big difference between the functions of the female clitoris and those of the male foreskin. Many of the Massai who practice FGM do not understand that much more is taken from the female. This thought was further proven by a conversation my friends and I had one night with an older Massai, at the village bar. He asked why he hears women shouting and moaning sometimes during the nights when he stays in the city hostel. We explained to him the female organism. He was confused. He simply did not know that the women in his culture do not do this because they do not have the tool to produce this intense arousal. Therefore the very long absence of the clitoris in this society has hidden its evolutionary purpose. Interesting, huh?

            Also, it has been made clear to me that female circumcision is not mandatory for acceptance into your tribe. This means that awareness is growing. If and when an adolescent girl is circumcised is the decision of the female elders in the tribe. The men have little to no say, although, stigma does play a part. They may not want a wife who looks “abnormal” (to them, that is).  Remember, the practice of circumcision is the ritual to signal the child’s coming of age. So, to them…if the men went through with their circumcision to become a man, than a girl who is not circumcised is not yet a woman.

            Now think of yourself as an uneducated Massai young woman. You can persuade your elders to excuse you from the ritual, but then you may lose your chance of marriage and be forced to marry outside your culture. Even if you have already discovered and enjoyed the stimulation yourself, is it worth it to forgo the procedure and sacrifice marriage and social status? For most, probably not, so they go with the flow. The ability to place yourself in another person’s shoes is very important to understand the full issue and all of its social strings.

            It is important to also note that FGM is illegal in Tanzania. The problem, as one can expect, is the implementation. How can the Tanzanian government trace the people who practice FGM without asking to violate some privacy? The one thing the Tanzanian government can do is increase probability of Massai children attending school. Education is the healer of all ills, and it the strength of education will only increase in time… and there will be a day when there is absolutely no excuse for FGM. Once you become educated, it is now your responsibility to act as a decent citizen of the world. I know this will happen.  I have discussed this with many Massai women, whose parents did not force circumcision upon them. ..These women are also college graduates.

            This was just one of the many thoughts provoked by my time in Peace Corps. Also, these are theories that I have inferred from my experience so far alone with the scope of the Kibaya Massai. They may not be the same for other population groups, and they may also change as I continue to grow with my people. Love and miss you all.