# Genital mutilation of young girls. But it's a religious thing! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 23, 2017, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genital-mutilation-of-young-girls-but-its-a-religious-thing/785057 "2017-04-23T11:44:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 24
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genital-mutilation-of-young-girls-but-its-a-religious-thing/785057/462 "2018-12-06T12:03:54Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Easy there. There is nothing wrong with being a stay-at-home parent and homemaker whether one’s male or female, and it’s a separate issue from being a lazy pseudo intellectual bullshitter. yeah, this offended me, too. My husband was a stay at home dad for several years, and it was awesome for the kids and for me. That’s a useful job. > [@Thing\_Fish](#): > > Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever encountered an anti-circumcision zealot who WASN’T a raging narcisstic asshole? It’s, like, a requirement, I think. I don’t believe I’ve ever met one in real life. > [@CarnalK](#): > > No, I won’t keep digging. I am not happy I went over that edge. Can’t really take anything back because I’d be lying if I said I didn’t kinda really think it. But what I said was unseemly in a way I don’t like, so I apologize for that rudeness. okay, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genital-mutilation-of-young-girls-but-its-a-religious-thing/785057/463 "2018-12-06T12:29:51Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I don’t believe I’ve ever met one in real life. “Hi, this is **Vinyl Turnip**. I don’t know if you remember me… yeah! I know, long time. Listen, the reason I looked you up is, you were always a raging narcissistic asshole, and I was just curious how you feel about circumcision. I know it sounds weird… hello? Hello, can you hear me?” ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genital-mutilation-of-young-girls-but-its-a-religious-thing/785057/464 "2018-12-06T13:26:22Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > [https://twitter.com/slackerinc/status/1070512758855213056?s=21](https://twitter.com/slackerinc/status/1070512758855213056?s=21) > > 😛 Ooh, a picture on the internet! Well, I’m convinced. No one ever fakes pictues on the internet! (Cue for you to go to even more elaborate means to supposedly “prove” [hint, random internet crap is never proof of anything personal] how awesome you are IRL) Well adjusted, well liked, and intelligent people understand that 1) it’s impossible to prove online that one is “well adjusted, well liked, and intelligent”, and 2) when you’re well adjusted, well liked, and intelligent, _you have absolutely zero need for affirmation of these qualities by internet strangers_; thus 3) trying to prove these qualities online to internet strangers demonstrates, at best, that you don’t meet these qualities yourself. But please continue, governor – continue to demonstrate your patheticness to us all. ---
**Author:** ![catflea12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f6c823/32.png) [@catflea12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catflea12)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genital-mutilation-of-young-girls-but-its-a-religious-thing/785057/465 "2018-12-06T13:40:01Z")
Going back to jackhammering when choking the chicken, in 50+ years of sexual activity, this has ALWAYS involved the shaft of the penis, whether cut or uncut. I’m pretty sure if you’re going off the end you’re doing it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genital-mutilation-of-young-girls-but-its-a-religious-thing/785057/466 "2018-12-06T13:57:07Z")
Oh jeez, now I’m faking screenshots? Whatever, dude. :rolleyes: BTW, I happened across a blog post on “purity leftism” and “allyship” that describes you to a T: [http://mattbruenig.com/2012/05/10/purity-leftism/](http://mattbruenig.com/2012/05/10/purity-leftism/) > [@](#): > > In theory, allyship refers to those with privileged identities being deferential to and supportive of those with oppressed identities without telling them what to do. In these privileged student circles however, allyship is a competitive social justice sport where people try to rack up what I would call ally points. Allies buzz around learning how to be the best ally, chiming in about this or that privilege, this or that erasure, this or that marginalization. Self-appointed allies do this stuff never, it seems, to actually push things forward in meaningful ways, but generally just to salve their own discomfort, and purify themselves of badness. You’ll of course want to dismiss this guy as an “alt-righty” as you usually do. But a look at one of his other posts shows that he is not conservative at all, just the opposite: > [@](#): > > Ultimately, conservatives will never come around on the utility of basic labor market regulation, even as they somewhat comically grasp in the dark towards that obvious conclusion. This is because a major constituency of the conservative coalition is very affluent people whose interests are best served by ensuring managers have as much discretion to hire and fire as possible. ETA: Catflea, I’m really not clear on what you are trying to say there, but I think it probably involves another misunderstanding of some kind. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genital-mutilation-of-young-girls-but-its-a-religious-thing/785057/467 "2018-12-06T13:57:35Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > “Hi, this is **Vinyl Turnip**. I don’t know if you remember me… yeah! I know, long time. Listen, the reason I looked you up is, you were always a raging narcissistic asshole, and I was just curious how you feel about circumcision. I know it sounds weird… hello? Hello, can you hear me?” lol, thanks for that image. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genital-mutilation-of-young-girls-but-its-a-religious-thing/785057/468 "2018-12-06T14:12:09Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Oh jeez, now I’m faking screenshots? Whatever, dude. :rolleyes: Are you? How could I possibly know? But if you think that posting random images online is evidence for anything personal, or that it’s anything other than pathetic to try and prove this kind of stuff to internet strangers, then you’re very, very dumb. Seriously. Why do you care so much that you actually go to all this effort to try and prove the unprovable – that you’re (supposedly) well liked, well adjusted, and intelligent? Maybe you are, maybe you aren’t (although all this effort you go to to try and demonstrate it makes it far less likely, IMO), but I couldn’t possibly ever glean anything about this just because you post images online. > [@](#): > > BTW, I happened across a blog post on “purity leftism” and “allyship” that describes you to a T: > > [Purity leftism – Matt Bruenig Dot Com](http://mattbruenig.com/2012/05/10/purity-leftism/) > > You’ll of course want to dismiss this guy as an “alt-righty” as you usually do. But a look at one of his other posts shows that he is not conservative at all, just the opposite: Silly fantasy nonsense. No idea who this guy is, what he believes, or what any of this has to do with me. Nor do I care what a random internet person wrote that is irrelevant to me. I understand that you have weird fantasies about what I actually believe (and these almost always have nothing to do with the truth), but you don’t need to share this crap with everyone. It’s just weird fantasy nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genital-mutilation-of-young-girls-but-its-a-religious-thing/785057/469 "2018-12-06T14:19:53Z")
If I weren’t so lazy (something I 100% cop to), I’d go back and dig up all the cringey comments you have made that show how deeply you are into that whole “allyship” business. Instead, I’ll just keep this in reserve for the next time you make one of those masochistic, genuflecting, virtue-signaling comments. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genital-mutilation-of-young-girls-but-its-a-religious-thing/785057/470 "2018-12-06T14:31:44Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > If I weren’t so lazy (something I 100% cop to), I’d go back and dig up all the cringey comments you have made that show how deeply you are into that whole “allyship” business. Instead, I’ll just keep this in reserve for the next time you make one of those masochistic, genuflecting, virtue-signaling comments. Why not just keep your evidence-free fantasies about me to yourself? Or even better, just consider that maybe some of the criticism you get is reasonable, and maybe even think to yourself “huh, perhaps I shouldn’t body-shame people, and maybe I shouldn’t insult them, and maybe it’s reasonable to oppose circumcision but this can be done without body-shaming and insulting people who are content with their bodies”. ---
**Author:** ![catflea12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f6c823/32.png) [@catflea12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catflea12)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genital-mutilation-of-young-girls-but-its-a-religious-thing/785057/471 "2018-12-06T14:31:56Z")
SklackerInc, you were the one who said cut men had to jackhammer to reach climax, then you said you were talking about masturbation. So what did I not understand? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genital-mutilation-of-young-girls-but-its-a-religious-thing/785057/472 "2018-12-06T14:38:42Z")
He’s right about masturbation. The only technique that gets me off is the “Wisconsin lame-duck power grab.” ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genital-mutilation-of-young-girls-but-its-a-religious-thing/785057/473 "2018-12-06T14:39:49Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > and maybe it’s reasonable to oppose circumcision Should have added “but only in a focused and appropriate thread, of course, and not in FGM threads”. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genital-mutilation-of-young-girls-but-its-a-religious-thing/785057/474 "2018-12-06T14:48:42Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > He’s right about masturbation. The only technique that gets me off is the “Wisconsin lame-duck power grab.” That sounds like fun but I’m never able to reach the Ws in my masturbation guidebook. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![catflea12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f6c823/32.png) [@catflea12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catflea12)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genital-mutilation-of-young-girls-but-its-a-religious-thing/785057/475 "2018-12-06T14:56:12Z")
Of course, I don’t have a penis myself, although I borrow one from time to time. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ramira](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ramira/32/344_2.png) [@Ramira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ramira)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genital-mutilation-of-young-girls-but-its-a-religious-thing/785057/476 "2018-12-06T14:59:09Z")
> [@catflea12](#): > > SklackerInc, you were the one who said cut men had to jackhammer to reach climax, then you said you were talking about masturbation. So what did I not understand? The objective to make people dance and be the center of the attention. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genital-mutilation-of-young-girls-but-its-a-religious-thing/785057/477 "2018-12-06T15:05:03Z")
> [@Thing Fish](#): > > Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever encountered an anti-circumcision zealot who WASN’T a raging narcisstic asshole? It’s, like, a requirement, I think. If holding the position that inflicting severe unnecessary pain on defenseless babies is morally wrong, and should be combated by every legal non-violent means possible is zealotry, then I plead guilty to being a zealot. I believe it’s one of the largest ongoing human rights violations occurring in the Western world. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genital-mutilation-of-young-girls-but-its-a-religious-thing/785057/478 "2018-12-06T15:29:06Z")
Ramira, what do you believe YOU contribute to the board? I’m honestly curious as to how you see yourself. > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Should have added “but only in a focused and appropriate thread, of course, and not in FGM threads”. So you’re just going to pretend you didn’t see Novelty Bobble’s post about this ([https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21350445&postcount=279](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21350445&postcount=279)) or the piece by Brian Earp (the Yale ethicist: [FGM and male circumcision: should there be a separate ethical discourse? | Practical Ethics](http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2014/02/female-genital-mutilation-and-male-circumcision-time-to-confront-the-double-standard/)), because you have no rebuttal for their points about why it is untenable to segregate these issues. Got it. (Actually, I have the feeling that if you really read the Earp piece, you might well end up feeling shamed into retracting your condemnation for FGM, although that is certainly not his intent.) > [@catflea12](#): > > SklackerInc, you were the one who said cut men had to jackhammer to reach climax, then you said you were talking about masturbation. So what did I not understand? I need to more fully understand what you were trying to say before I can really answer that. Were you claiming that uncut men need to be stimulated along the shaft to get maximal pleasure and/or climax? Because if so, I assure you that you are quite wrong about that. If that’s not what you were saying, then I just don’t know at all what you meant. > [@VinylTurnip](#): > > He’s right about masturbation. The only technique that gets me off is the “Wisconsin lame-duck power grab.” LOL! But those legislators are the voice of the people, don’tcha know. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genital-mutilation-of-young-girls-but-its-a-religious-thing/785057/479 "2018-12-06T15:36:53Z")
Back to the topic of _ **FEMALE** _ genital mutilation, [a report from England](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/nov/30/female-genital-mutilation-cases-more-than-double-in-a-year-in-uk) says that reported FGM cases over there have more than doubled in just a year. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genital-mutilation-of-young-girls-but-its-a-religious-thing/785057/480 "2018-12-06T15:39:11Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > So you’re just going to pretend you didn’t see Novelty Bobble’s post about this ([https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21350445&postcount=279](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21350445&postcount=279)) or the piece by Brian Earp (the Yale ethicist: [FGM and male circumcision: should there be a separate ethical discourse? | Practical Ethics](http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2014/02/female-genital-mutilation-and-male-circumcision-time-to-confront-the-double-standard/)), because you have no rebuttal for their points about why it is untenable to segregate these issues. Got it. (Actually, I have the feeling that if you really read the Earp piece, you might well end up feeling shamed into retracting your condemnation for FGM, although that is certainly not his intent.) This is just a discussion, and it’s perfectly reasonable to want to have a separate discussion for the two issues. If you want to have a discussion on both, that’s fine too, and you are free to start a thread on it. But when there’s a long and strong trend of barging into and derailing threads related to a women’s issue with “what about men?” hijacking, then it’s reasonable to criticize that and try to get it to stop in this one. I don’t need to read other posts or some blogger to make such a common-sense determination. It’s okay to have a thread about just FGM, or just circumcision, or both together. And it’s okay to want to keep a single-topic thread on that single-topic. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genital-mutilation-of-young-girls-but-its-a-religious-thing/785057/481 "2018-12-06T15:40:32Z")
So I’ve been reading up on [FGM in Egypt](http://www.spiegel.de/international/tomorrow/genital-mutilation-in-egypt-stop-taking-your-daughters-to-be-mutilated-a-1199322.html), and I found this passage particularly noteworthy: > [@](#): > > Despite these efforts, FGM still enjoys a high degree of approval among the population. According to studies, if a mother has undergone FGM, there is a greater probability that her daughter will also fall victim to it. Although it was originally used to limit the sexual desires of women, and control and subjugate them, FGM has long since fallen under the control of women themselves. “It is a form of violence that is transmitted from one generation of women to another,” says Mahmoud, “so it is in your power to end this cycle!” It seems that women themselves are often the ones who ensure their daughter is “circumcised” (the promoters of FGM don’t use the word “mutilation”, they use the word “circumcision”), without the involvement of the men. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genital-mutilation-of-young-girls-but-its-a-religious-thing/785057.md?page=23) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genital-mutilation-of-young-girls-but-its-a-religious-thing/785057.md?page=25)