Female Genital Mutilation is like AngelFace said, "A way to stop women from cheating on their husbands"

does female genital mutilation really stop women from cheating?

I don't know...that's a good question. But an even better question is, why can't people just practice self control? You shouldn't have to have your genitals mutilated to "keep you from cheating". What about honor? Values? Etc. Make the penalty for cheating be exile or disownment or public shunning or something.

It's a battle of willpower versus the urges of the flesh. If you can't control yourself, you are weak-willed. But if people can train themselves to walk over hot coals without feeling pain, surely people can train themselves to refrain from doing something morally wrong.

Or how about this - if you feel you want to be with somebody else....GET A FREAKING DIVORCE because obviously that marriage is screwed. Oh that's right, the wives don't want to loose their entitlement. Well if you have the guts to cheat then you should also have the guts to be without alamony or spousal support. I think that's fair.

another double standart,how come no one speaks up against male genital mutilation ,a wide spread practice in the U.S.A. ?

Female mutilation stops women from feeling sexual enjoyment. She may still cheat in the search of intimacy. In my opinion it is a barbaric practice, often done with blunt instruments.

Rod, male mutilation, a lot of conscious parents are speaking out against and choosing not to opt for it. However, many religions enforces it, that are male dominated.In my country, many young men, between the ages of 15-20 has it done whe they undergo their initiation into manhood. I know young men who choose to do it without pressure. I myself am against it, however I also know that some boys feels self-conscious if they are the only one in group who has not had circumsition. It seems to me that the choice to end male mutilation lies with men themselves. With female mutilation there is no choice. Male mutilation, also does not affect the man's sexual enjoyment as it does with women.

Maybe women in Africa and in America need it. If it truly curbs their need to commit adultery then it could have stopped AIDs dead in it's tracks.

Do all tribes practice this in Africa? Or just the Muslim tribes, leaving the Christians free to prostitute, etc.?

Doormat, you give me cold shivers when you say that. It most certainly will not stop the spread AIDS. Do you know what percentage of women gets raped in Africa? In my country alone, one out of four women gets raped. In the war torn countries of Africa whole villages of women gets raped and severly mutilated. A huge amount of reconstructive surgery is needed for example in the DRC by women. If only you knew what life is like for women in Africa, you would never say such a thing. Female genetital mutilation, thank heavens is not practised most African countries, god knows, women here have enough horrors to face.

Sophia;

That's just what they said. I'm not sure it does anything of the sort, but something will need to be done. Their population is skyrocketing and there is something like 80% AIDS infection in Africa. I won't feel monetarily responcible for it either, no matter how much Ophra talks about it.

It is barbaric, but they knew that their culture would be so inclined as to misbehave and came up with this plan centuries ago. That does say something, we invented the condom instead. Mexico and Africa are two countries that have the worst economies on earth with the largest populations to control - that have absolutley no population control efforts underway. China has limits on how large there household may grow, America uses household economy to try to control it.

But when women have more children than their husbands can afford, the Government gives them a bonus in the form of subisidies and tax cuts. We reward illogical behavior because they 'Love each other so much'.

Whether there are health issues with it or not, problems are happening right now that weren't caused by just a dirty knife. People are starving, being shot to death, and just plain dying of AIDS. Add another crazy dictator to the list down there and we will just have to give up. Americans can't mother the whole world. Just Ophra can.

Doormat, I am African, and despite the troubles we face here, I am deeply grateful to be African. Here at least people have hearts, and life is real.

That's fine. Heritage wise I'm German, does it matter after 100+ years of being American? I don't like Germanies politics, but I'm in America so I'm not going to Germany or Africa.

They'd probably kill me in some dark alley in either of the two. I'm not even the kind of person the modern American would suffer to live through childbirth. That's the part of the Abortion issue Feminists have glossed over. What type of child is worth having and which aren't?

I am totally disgusted with the way Bush and Condi have been treating the Sudanese government with open arms and hugs and kisses. While their planes are dive bombing villages of people that were pretty sulf sufficient until then.

But as the Media will continue to portray lives in foreign countries being destroyed to raise ratings, we will have to harden ourselves to the reality that we are lucky to have a Constitution, and protect it from things like "The Patriot Act" all the more.

It's indeed terrible and very tragic, but I am not the President. Nor am I a Congressman or Senator, so I really have no business determining what to do in Foreign affairs - just local ones.

And America has plenty of very serious situations every day to worry about before dropping all our concerns and going to Africa, Germany, Korea, or even Iraq. Life is very horrible in many countries, but America, England, Australia, and many others are not the worlds' Government Police Force. The U.N. is.

We haven't even cured America's poverty stricken everywhere. We certainly haven't broached the issue of population control inteligently. That's why they don't care what we say about it.

Doormat, I must admit that I am a bit confused what you are trying to say. When I said I was African, I did not mean Afro-American. I live in Africa, my family have been here since 1668. South Africa to more specific. As for my origins, well yes ... I agree that charity begins at home.

"I'm not even the kind of person the modern American would suffer to live through childbirth." What do you mean by that? Every human being is precious in my opinion.

America either needs to provide sexual health education and contraceptives to Africa or shut the hell up. Either we are helping or staying out of it but just talking about it does no good.

But you know what? As educated as Americans are about these things, as widely available as condoms and such are, look at us! Our HIV/AIDS rate is still too high, seeing as how most of those cases could be prevented.

Genital mutilation is not the answer. Harming someone never is. If you teach young women to have moral values and stick by them, then the "problem" takes care of itself because they simply behave in accordance with their values. But by default, they, just like men by default, will be come slaves to their urges.

Some people know better than to diminish themselves with immorality. But many don't. You can't stop idiots from being idiots. All you can do is protect yourself from their stupidity and make sure it does not become contagious and spread to you.

Sophia;

I misunderstood you. Here in Americans people often define themselves by some foreign country. It only confuses the issue as you see and have experienced first hand now. Forever another nations citizen is really the way people talk sometimes. South Africa has been killing white farmers with armed militants I'm told, but every culture has chosen to abort deformed and ill children rather than take the pharmaceuticals to task and heal them. It's a case of monetarilywealthy and the uneducated vs. the afflicted. The spurious result has been proliferation of anti-illicit street drugs organizations and ignorance of the true facts of liability.

But as Ali says, I think we should shut up and stay out of a lot more things than we do. We talk birth control, but don't talk about population control because it irritates so-called minorities and various religious organizations.

As far as immorality, why isn't it illegal? Same reason as always, the elitists like to be immoral and may fear retribution of entrapment in immoral actions if they don't. A man or women can be entrapped in adultery, thus it's easier to just leave it as grounds for divorce.

But it should be illegal, not that breaking the law scares anybody I guess. Just that it would have more serious repercussions.

is it not the older females that perform the genital mutilation of the younger females? here is what it comes down to; any act comited on another human being with out theyr permission is imoral and a savagery comited by a savage unconscious being with an underdeveloped human brain unable to think for him or herself,relying on others beliefes and superstitions. the only argument against this can only come from some one who can not think for themselves and is relying on brain washing they received. prove me wrong please so that i can rest my brain.

The U.S. desperately needs to cut foreign aid. All the aid that we send is often used to either subsidize their economies, or line the pockets of tyrants. The tyrants use this money to either pay for their lavish lifestyles or give the money to the terrorists who want to kill Americans.

The aid that we send also takes away the incentives that other countries have to seriously address their own problems in terms of their economy, infrastructure, military, etc.

Our aid basically turns all these other countries into relief junkies. Don't take my word for it. Ask the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Also, the U.S. should not be providing military protection for any other country including Germany, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Israel, etc. Besides, these countries have all the resources necessary to protect themselves. It's not the job of the U.S. to protect other countries.

As far as the issue of genital mutilation goes, it is a disgusting and barbaric act committed by people with a sick and twisted mindset. Those people who practice this method are obviously stuck in the middle ages.

The U.S. desperately needs to cut foreign aid. All the aid that we send is often used to either subsidize their economies, or line the pockets of tyrants. The tyrants use this money to either pay for their lavish lifestyles or give the money to the terrorists who want to kill Americans.

The aid that we send also takes away the incentives that other countries have to seriously address their own problems in terms of their economy, infrastructure, military, etc.

Our aid basically turns all these other countries into relief junkies. Don't take my word for it. Ask the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Also, the U.S. should not be providing military protection for any other country including Germany, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Israel, etc. Besides, these countries have all the resources necessary to protect themselves. It's not the job of the U.S. to protect other countries.

As far as the issue of genital mutilation goes, it is a disgusting and barbaric act committed by people with a sick and twisted mindset. Those people who practice this method are obviously stuck in the middle ages.

Very true Tommy. We cannot pay and pay forever, and really have no reason to do so. Bush just wrote off massive debt off various African countries - all the while we owe China Billions at any moment should they decide to sell their Treasury notes.

Ophra likes to appeal to a global audience to raise her personal ratings and demand for her programming around the world. But isn't it strange that the real problems in America are generally ignored by her.

She'll put a prostitute on the show that enjoys her work to insult her on one day, then the next week it's featuring Human Trafficking and women that definitely do NOT like to be prostituting. Seems to me if the women that wanted to do so were left alone the illegal traffickers wouldn't have any business. That isn't the only politically directed programming we deal with either.

I read an article yesterday about the Irish Travelers. They are a Global group that have been synonymous with crime for decades at least. The Gypsies.

Shouldn't young girls getting married at ages like 6-10 years old, having children at ages as young as ten, and stealing from society all the time be an activity of concern? I've actually met a few of these women, they play the small town locals every year, sending different ladies in to rake the cash off single men in each and every instance.

Read Inside the World of Irish Travelers here at: http://www.rickross.com/groups/irish_travelers.html

And here at:

Fraud Tech - dedicated to beating cons at their own game.

http://fraudtech.bizland.com/traveler.htm

Oh my. Before anyone gets the wrong impression, let me say the Irish Travelers do not prostitute. At least not to anyone that isn't actually in their enclave.

They will steal, cheat, lie, and outright take everything you ever cherished. They are a very manipulative group of people, the only way to distinguish them from what you are familiar with is their low regard for education {the women} and their manuevering style of getting into your home and property {the men}.

They share the overjoyous but masculine style of the 'free-sex' women that are men haters. The difference is their reason for hating men. After all they gave birth as children.

The men are almost fanatic about friendship and trust qualities. Yet they will rob everyone blind when they descide to make their move, are gone very quickly and are difficult to catch.

Women who live in countries like that are most likely still considered less than human, and would not even think of cheating on their husbands in the first place! I think the fact that men have traditionally ruled over women as objects show that the tradition comes from male self-interest and their desire for control. The cutting and sewing rituals are just as barbaric as drawing and quatering was, and those same men would probably fight against such a tradition due to infringement on their human rights. It is hypocritical and it is a dark cloud of shame that still hangs over the common head of the human race because we allow it to continue. We need to apply pressure to the governments of those countries to repect and protect their own people.