Subjugation of Women
Gerard Aquino
Dr. Dwight Delano Dorman
English Composition 101 015 October 19 2010
The Subjugation of Women Men have subjugated women by controlling their sexual impulses, requiring painful rites of passage into womanhood, using them as sex objects, and depriving them of independent wealth and status. Throughout recorded history, men have forced women to endure horrific tortures in an attempt to create the perfect woman, and to keep them compliant. In some African, Asian, and Middle Eastern cultures, men can kill their wives or daughters without impunity from the law. In these cultures, honor is more valuable than the lives of their women. In some cases, men have convinced the women that these horrific tortures are for their own best interest. Two extreme ways of subjugating women are Female Genital Mutilation, and Foot binding. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is the process of removing all or part of the external female genitalia; this practice started in Africa 2000 years ago. FGM pre dates Islam; the operation is usually performed on young girls from four to eight years old; some are done right after birth, and others up until their first pregnancy. There are three variations of FGM; the first is Sunna Circumcision. Sunna in Arabic means “tradition.” Sunna Circumcision consists of the removal of the prepuce, (the tip of the clitoris.) The second variation is a Clitoridectomy; this is the removal of the entire clitoris and adjacent labia. The third and extreme variation is Infibulation, (pharonic circumcision). Infibulation is a clitoridectomy, followed by the young girls’ wounds stitched together with catgut and her legs bound together for forty days. In Sudan and Somalia, they use acacia thorns to hold the two sides of the bleeding vulva together. The young girl is immobile until the wound of the vulva closes, except for a small opening created by inserting a splinter of wood. This opening is for the passage of urine and menstrual
Dr. Dwight Delano Dorman
English Composition 101 015 October 19 2010
The Subjugation of Women Men have subjugated women by controlling their sexual impulses, requiring painful rites of passage into womanhood, using them as sex objects, and depriving them of independent wealth and status. Throughout recorded history, men have forced women to endure horrific tortures in an attempt to create the perfect woman, and to keep them compliant. In some African, Asian, and Middle Eastern cultures, men can kill their wives or daughters without impunity from the law. In these cultures, honor is more valuable than the lives of their women. In some cases, men have convinced the women that these horrific tortures are for their own best interest. Two extreme ways of subjugating women are Female Genital Mutilation, and Foot binding. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is the process of removing all or part of the external female genitalia; this practice started in Africa 2000 years ago. FGM pre dates Islam; the operation is usually performed on young girls from four to eight years old; some are done right after birth, and others up until their first pregnancy. There are three variations of FGM; the first is Sunna Circumcision. Sunna in Arabic means “tradition.” Sunna Circumcision consists of the removal of the prepuce, (the tip of the clitoris.) The second variation is a Clitoridectomy; this is the removal of the entire clitoris and adjacent labia. The third and extreme variation is Infibulation, (pharonic circumcision). Infibulation is a clitoridectomy, followed by the young girls’ wounds stitched together with catgut and her legs bound together for forty days. In Sudan and Somalia, they use acacia thorns to hold the two sides of the bleeding vulva together. The young girl is immobile until the wound of the vulva closes, except for a small opening created by inserting a splinter of wood. This opening is for the passage of urine and menstrual
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