Two Different Worlds

In my culture it is traditional for children to get their ears pierced at a young age. In all of my family's photo albums my sister, my cousins and I are all seen eating food from our high chairs or drinking milk from our bottles with glimmering gold studs poking out the sides of our delicate little ears. It should be obvious that I don't remember the process of getting my ears pierced, being that I was just under a year old. However, I do remember that I didn't enjoy all the times my parents would have to hold me down to slip the earrings through my earlobes, while I would bounce and fidget; wanting to get away because I never did enjoy that particular type of jewelry.

I know, poor me for having to sit there and endure my parents trying to bejewel my infant head, that must have scarred me forever. First world problems at it's finest. But believe it or not, there was a point to my little story.

You see, much like my culture's tradition of infant ear piercing, there are plenty of other cultures around the globe that partake in a form of bodily piercing and such, but on a much more brutal scale. The issue I'm leading into is one that takes place everyday and forever ruins the lives of many young girls and women. It goes by two names; The first is what one would call "politically correct," and that is Female Circumcision. The second name is what everyone should really be addressing it as, not the socially approved name we're tricked into using:

Female Genital Mutilation.


Female genital mutilation, or "FGM" for short, is the removal/alteration of parts of the female genitalia. It is often mistaken to be a religious custom, even though there is no mention or acknowledgement of the act in any religious texts (such as the bible, or the Qur'an). It is prominent mainly in Muslim countries such as Egypt, Somalia and Pakistan, though there are cases where women are subjected to circumcision in Western countries as well.

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Women/girls who undergo circumcision are led to believe that the operation will make them more "smooth and beautiful," and that it will "purify" them. Unfortunately for them, they are not informed of the horrors they will need to endure in order to become the ideal, smooth and beautiful woman;

The health risks, the complications it could cause in the future, the emotional trauma..

Traditions come in many variations depending on how in touch you are with your culture, the country you come from, the religion you believe in, etc. You won't always agree with some of the customs that are practiced in your culture, and it's fair to say that sometimes you'll probably complain, fuss and try to shy away from it, much like me with my earrings. But before you do, stop and think; Is it really so bad? I hated my earrings, and because I stopped wearing them I now have two strange little marks on my earlobes, but that is nothing compared to the scars that millions of women have etched into their bodies, and engraved in their souls.
We both have traditions, but we come from two different worlds, and the world I am from has taught me to believe that the practice of female genital mutilation is wrong, and this blog is here to raise awareness for this social injustice, and aid in the process of putting a stop to it.