Female Genital Modification Tumblr

Female Genital Modification Tumblr
Now Reading FGM Is A Problem In The U.S. Too
This post was originally published on March 8, 2017.
Elisabeth Ubbe was a young nursing student at a Swedish hospital back in the ‘90s when a doctor instructed her to place a urinary catheter for the patient in room one. She got right on it, heading into the private room where a girl, no older than 13 or so, was waiting in a gynecological exam chair. But as Ubbe got closer, she realized there was a problem.
“I didn’t understand what I saw between her legs,” Ubbe says. “I saw a smooth, tight surface, like the skin had been burned, and a tiny hole that did not in any way resemble a urethral orifice.” The girl had undergone female genital mutilation, also known as FGM or “cutting,” but at that time Ubbe had no idea what that was. She left the room to get the doctor, who had to come in to do the catheter himself. “I’m still ashamed I didn't know how to help this girl.”
Ubbe spent the next 15 years working as a nurse midwife, with the memory of the girl buried in the back of her mind, before going back to school for photography. Right before her graduation, controversy erupted when it was reported that 60 girls at a local school in Sweden had recently been subjected to FGM. The memory of the girl came rushing back to her, and that's when she started what many think is a shocking project: making portraits of the vulvas of women who’ve experienced cutting, to expose the practice of FGM.
According to the latest figures, upwards of 200 million women and girls across the world have been victims of FGM. And while westerners largely think of it as a problem in faraway communities in Africa and the Middle East, it is a growing problem in the U.S. and Europe. In America, it is estimated that more than 500,000 women and girls are at risk of or have been victims of FGM. That’s a three-fold increase from 1990. Another 180,000 are estimated to be at risk across Europe. These numbers are reflective of immigration changes, rather than an increase in the practice itself, but they show how, increasingly, this is not just a far-flung problem — but one that affects our friends and neighbors, too.
“Without a doubt the biggest misconception about FGM is that it doesn’t happen here,” says Amanda Parker, the acting executive director of the AHA Foundation, a group founded by the author and advocate Ayaan Hirsi Ali to end honor violence in the United States.
Parker adds that this absolutely doesn’t mean we should condemn immigrant communities. Studies done in Europe show that most immigrants do in fact abandon the practice when they arrive, but Parker stresses that the cultural pressures remain for some. “Unfortunately these harmful practices are not always left at the airport,” she says. “The message is: Bring your faith. Bring your food and your holidays and celebrations. But this is a practice we cannot tolerate.”
In 2013, Congress passed the Transport for Female Genital Mutilation Act , which made it illegal to bring girls back to her family’s native country for FGM (known as “vacation cutting”) in large part thanks to the AHA Foundation’s lobbying. “Making it officially illegal can go a long way in helping parents who are feeling pressure say no to it,” Parker says. But there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure girls’ safety, and it all starts with awareness projects like Ubbe’s.
In Sweden, where an estimated 38,000 women have undergone FGM and another 20,000 girls may be at risk, it took months for Ubbe to find participants for her project. “It felt like everybody disapproved of my idea,” she says — until after many phone calls and visits to organizations working with immigrants in Sweden, she found her first subject. “She was really happy. She said, ‘It’s fine by me. I’m not ashamed of what I look like. I didn’t do this to myself.’”
Ultimately, Ubbe found and photographed three women who were willing to share their stories and their bodies with her. Because of the intimate nature of the photographs and the extreme taboo that surrounds not just talking about cutting but also talking about women’s genitalia in general in these communities, each of them has chosen to remain anonymous.
Ubbe says that there were many times when she questioned her concept. “I had to find the women and see their reaction to the process to know that this is something good,” she says.
For all three women who were photographed, it was the first time they had ever shown their vulvas to someone (outside of midwives; it is even taboo for husbands to look directly) and the first time they had ever looked themselves.
Worldwide, women’s experiences of FGM can be different based on where they are from in terms of the severity of the cutting, the age at which it occurs, and the reasons for doing it. But in general, it is an entrenched practice in parts of 29 countries across Africa , as well as smaller areas of the Middle East and Asia. It is mostly carried out on girls sometime between infancy and adolescence.
The World Health Organization categorizes the procedures themselves into four types: clitoridectomy, which is partial or total removal of the clitoris; excision, which is the removal of the clitoris plus the folds of the labia minora and sometimes the labia majora; infibulation, which is the narrowing of the vaginal opening by cutting and stitching the labia majora. The final type includes all the less common tactics, such as piercing, scraping, or cauterizing (burning) the genital area.
There is no medical benefit to any type of FGM. It only causes physical harms, ranging from lingering pain, loss of sensation, infections, urinary problems, sexual dysfunction, and complications during menstruation and childbirth. It is also associated with long-term psychological trauma.
Although some advocates of the practice use religion as a justification, no religious teachings mention it. It is instead a product of social or cultural ideas. For some communities, clitoridectomy is performed because the clitoris is thought of as a “male” or “unfeminine” organ, and so girls without it are believed to be “cleaner.” In other cultures, cutting is performed as part of a marriage or coming-of-age ceremony, with the idea being that facing the pain of circumcision is how you become a woman. In still others, it is performed as a deterrent to pre-marital sex by making sex painful — and in the case of infibulation, impossible — but also by creating an association in young girls’ minds between their sexual organs and trauma.
As misogynistic as the practice is, it’s not necessarily men alone who perpetuate it. Many circumcisers are respected older women in their communities, for example. Mothers and grandmothers often see cutting as a way of doing the right thing for girls, who must be married off to succeed. “They are not evil,” cautions Anissa Mohammed Hassan, who sits on a Swedish task force dedicated to addressing FGM in migrant communities. “You have to understand they are doing it for their daughters because if she is not mutilated she will not have a secure future.”
Hassan, who was driven to anti-FGM activism through her own experiences with it, sees Ubbe’s project as a powerful form of protest against the silence and shame that make it so difficult to stop cutting. “Normally the vagina is hidden and you can’t see it, but you can see these pictures,” she says. “And you can see how they’ve been hurt.”
Click through to view Ubbe’s photographs. Note: These images are not safe for work. Please view them with care and be respectful in the comments.
Ed. note: An earlier version of this article used the word "vagina," rather than "vulva," the more accurate term.
Female Genital Mutilation, Women Circumcision Photos
These Octopus-Inspired Vibrators Don’t Have Tentacles, But ...
I’m all for trying out any and all new sex toys in the name of helping R29 readers find sexual confidence and pleasure — G-spot vibrators, bullets,
Your Horoscope This Week: July 17th to July 23rd, 2022
18 Products That Prove Nordstrom Cares About Your Vagina
Venus In Cancer Will Make You Crave Connection
The Planet of Love is moving once again, making our hot girl summer a more emotional one. On July 17, Venus is moving from its spot in flirty Gemini to gro
How Wellness Guru Queen Afua Is Saving Black Women — One Green Ju...
Long before everyone was all “green juice” this, and “namaste” that, Queen Afua devoted her life to wellness and teaching folks to harness the powe
TikTok’s ‘Knee Thing’ Is The Ultimate Foreplay Move
TikTok has become synonymous with incredible hacks. Looking for a ballet-inspired workout? Productivity tips? Or niche book advice? The app is your go-to.
Scoop Up Amazon Prime Day’s Best Sports Bras Deals ASAP
The Best Workout Clothes & Sneakers Flexing On Amazon
35 Sneaker Deals Worth The Final Amazon Prime Day Sprint
The Full Moon In Capricorn Encourages You To Respect Your Limits
To look at a full moon is to look for fullness in yourself, a glowing quiet in the spirit. To be with the full moon is to remember that our relationships c
Marianismo Taught Me Single Women Are Worthless (Spoiler: That ...
There are rumors in my family that my dad’s tía Petra never married because her standards were too high. “No one was ever good enough for her,” my m
It’s Your Last Chance To Put Your Aching Muscles Out Of The...
I don’t know about you, but I’ve spent the last two years developing some serious aches and pains (she writes, hunched over her laptop on the c

Gallery
IAM
Zine
Wiki
Ask
411
Store

All

Piercing

Tattoos

Scarification

Culture

Ritual

Surgical

Hard

791 / 1,384,211

7 / 10,230

95 / 54,916

While some women are adding metal to their genitalia to enhance pleasure and/or adorn their bodies, others are removing flesh from their genitalia to achieve the same objective. Female circumcision is a very controversial issue, for while some organisations campaign against girls having their genitals removed against their will, there are other groups dedicated to performing modifications on the genitals of consenting adult women. The vast majority of these will be for cosmetic reasons, some will be for medical conditions, and some will be to enhance pleasure.
It is strange how men seem to go for genital enlargement ops, while women go for genital reduction ops! Having come into contact with 3 women who underwent some form of genital modification for whatever reason, I research this topic from time to time. I apologise in advance for not providing references, though I have ploughed through as many books as I could that had something to say on the subject.
It is difficult defining exactly what female circumcision is. The word 'circumcise' means to 'cut around', and when applied to male circumcision is the removal of the foreskin or prepuce of the penis to expose the glans. A cursory glance at embryology, to study genital development in both sexes, reveals that the male penis and female clitoris both develop from the same embryonic tissue. Both organs have a glans, shaft and prepuce.
As a direct analogue of male circumcision, this would mean the removal of the female foreskin, the prepuce, or hood of the clitoris, leaving the glans permanently exposed. This is what I personally regard as female circumcision (this is only my opinion). An upside down U shaped incision is made in the hood of the clitoris around the glans. The remnant of the underside of the hood and its external remainder are stitched together.
This is a term I use derived from its male counterpart to describe the removal of part of the hood of the clitoris. This can be thought of as Hood Trimming for want of a better phrase. There will be a blurring with circumcision and hood slitting. Hood trimming is usually performed on women where the clitoris is covered by a large fleshy hood that protrudes and/or is long and difficult to retract thus making the glans inaccessible. The procedure may also be referred to as a clitoridotomy.
This can take several forms as there is some degree of overlap with circumcision and hood trimming. Normally, a vertical incision is made from the tip of the hood to above the glans. Sometimes a narrow triangular wedge of skin is removed. This is performed on women who want to make the glans of the clitoris more accessible without removing the hood, so keeping the glans covered and protected.
The removal of the entire clitoris. The hood, glans and shaft of the clitoris are excised and the remaining wound is stitched up. There is the very real possibility of death through Hemorrhaging, since the dorsal artery of the clitoris is severed as well as the corpora that makes up the shaft of the clitoris.
The procedure includes all of the above procedures from hood trimming, in its mildest form, right through to clitoridectomy at its most extreme. Sunna means 'blessing' and is usually used to describe the removal of the prepuce of the clitoris as practiced by female adherents of Islam. It is also sometimes performed on women who convert to Islam or marry moslem men. In Islamic countries this operation is sometimes called K'hita or K'hafd.
A form of female circumcision developed by Dr James C Burt to enhance the ability to experience orgasm. Dr Burt claimed that reconstructing the vulva to make the clitoris more accessible to direct stimulation enables women to have more frequent and intense orgasms. He even performed the operation on his wife to prove that Clitoridopexy worked. He claimed that his wife was only mildly orgasmic before the operation, but since has found it easier to reach orgasm and reaches it quicker and nearly all the time! He had performed this operation in all stages of evolution on over 4000 women by the time that Thomas Szasz cited this case report in Medical World News 17 April 1978.
The removal of the entire clitoris, labia minora and in some cases the labia majora also. In a milder form, Excision may mean the removal of part of the clitoris or labia minora, more like a trimming of excess flesh, rather than the removal of organs. In its severest form is referred to as a Vulvectomy, Pharonic Circumcision, or Female Nullification.
The stiching together of either the outer or inner labia (or remains of). This is usually perfomed immediately after an excision. Infibulation can take place without the removal of organs, for Roman men undergoing prolonged separation from their wives sometimes had them infibulated to ensure chastity. Today some women are infibulated by having multiple piercings in their labia minora or labia majora.
An upside down V shaped incision is made in the hood of the clitoris to expose the glans and two corpora that make up the shaft of the clitoris. Excess flesh from the hood is removed. The glans of the clitoris is then separated from the two corpora, and the excess part of the corpora is excised. The glans is then relocated and stitched back onto the remainder of the shaft. The remnant of the hood is then stitched to form a new hood to cover the reduced clitoris.
The tips of the labia minora are removed. Each lip of the labia minora is taken separately, the excess flesh is then excised. The sides of remaining part of the lip are then stitched together. The surgeon repeats the procedure on the other lip. Great care must be taken to ensure that the results aren't lop sided where one lip is noticeably longer than the other. The operation can take about an hour to perform, and costs about 2000 plus in the UK.
Labia trimming is often performed on women who have protruding labia minora and wish to look 'more normal' like their friends. Other women have one lip significantly larger than the other and wish to have this 'corrected', in which case, only the larger lip will be operated on.
One of the largest growth areas in cosmetic surgery is vulva modification. This covers a variety of procedures already mentioned, and is often requested by women who believe that their genitals are ugly, abnormal, or deformed in some way. The most common procedure is labia trimming, though this is also performed in conjunction with a hood trimming or in some cases circumcision.
For a significant number of women the vulva is damaged or deformed by the stretching of their genitals during childbirth. The obstetrician may also contribute to or cause this, either when performing an episiotomy on the woman, or stitching up the episiotomy after the birth. Many affected women seek vulva repair ops to restore the damage or modify the appearance of their genitals so that they look more aesthetic for themselves and/or their partners.
All we ever hear from the media is that female genital modifications of any kind are always mutilating experiences performed on girls and women without their consent to control their sexual desires, in the name of religion, ethnic identity, or tradition. We never hear any positive things. Anti FGM organisations never differentiate between the removal of the female foreskin by a consenting adult to better enjoy the pleasures of sex, and the removal of the external genitals of young girls without their consent or anaesthetics for that matter.
Just to show part of the other side of the fence, here is an extract from a letter sent by the husband of a circumcised woman to an Anti FGM organisation.
"My own partner has enjoyed unimaginable pleasure after the removal of an excessively large clitoral hood in 1976, but remains embarrassed by being made to feel odd when undergoing medical examinations."
Does this describe modification or mutilation? You decide!
In the past I have encountered 3 women who underwent some form of genital modification:
A woman I worked for was circumcised on medical grounds.
A cousin had a vulva tidy op after childbirth.
An ex girlfriend was circumcised to enhance sexual pleasure
The first 2 accounts are brief with vague details, but the last is obviously very personal and more detailed. I therefore apologise in advance for this indirect account from memory.
In 1981 when I was 16, I worked for Rita, a large woman with teenage children. I don't know how the subject came up but she told me that she had been circumcised. I didn't know what or where a clitoris was, so had no idea what it really meant. Rita offered to show me, and being a teenager thought all my birthdays had come at once because I was going to see a full grown woman's vulva!
She had black knickers on and pulled the gusset to one side to reveal a mess of gingerish pubic hair. I was initially disappointed that her slit was not in proportion to her build, and didn't really pay much attention when she spread her outer lips to show me. I can only remember her point to a bead type of thing and call it the clitoris. Rita had mentioned getting infections and the skin sticking, and that being circumcised cured it. This seemed familiar because as a child I had similar problems and was very close to being circumcised at 13. In hind sight Rita had probably suffered from Balanitis due to adhesions between the glans of the clitoris and the underside of the hood.
This account is second hand from an aunt and my mum. Back in the early 80's, a cousin had a difficult birth with her first baby and had an episiotomy. Once the baby was born, surgeon said he was going to tidy her up. Being a nurse she took that to mean that
Tess Fowler Tits
Pinky June Nude
Sarah Jeronimo

Female Genital Modification Tumblr

Report Page