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female genital cutting |
Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.02 sec. |
female genital cuttingor female circumcision or female genital mutilation or clitoridectomySurgical procedure ranging from drawing blood, to removing the clitoris alone, to infibulation or Pharaonic circumcision—removing the external genitals, joining the sides and leaving a small opening. The practice dates to ancient times; usually performed on young girls and in a ritual context, it is purported by its practitioners to guard a girl's virginity and reduce her sexual desires. Because it is usually undertaken in unhygienic conditions, cutting may lead to severe bleeding, infection, debilitating pain, and death; long-term consequences can include an inability to urinate or expel menstrual blood, pain during sexual intercourse, and prolonged childbirth. In some cultures women are reinfibulated after childbirth, while others discourage this practice. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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How many thoughtful persons nowadays need to be convinced that genocide is monstrous, that clitoridectomy is horrible, or that Prohibition (like its offspring, the War on Drugs) was absurd. Although Laqueur quotes this document twice, it makes no sense because he has not discussed the vast nineteenth century literature on the value of circumcision as a disincentive to masturbation in boys, and of clitoridectomy to treat the problem in girls. In the novel Possessing the Secret of Joy, for example, Alice Walker's bold challenge to the tribal practice of clitoridectomy, or FGM (female genital mutilation), can be considered a trickster stance. |
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