S/R #7 "Choice"

*I tried to find pictures that were not very graphic*


I have been racking my brain trying to think of a simple way that all of these readings are connected. For some reason it has been hard. I mean how does one connect circumcision, sex trafficking and sterilization and put it in one nice bundle? Then it hit me they are all connected by choice or lack of. These girls who are being circumcised have no choice in the matter. These girls and women who are in the prostitution business really don’t have a choice either. Women who are facing sterilization hardly have a choice no matter what people say.

Female circumcision is a tradition that still continues. Typically a girl will be circumcised between the ages of six and eight. The type of circumcision can vary. A girl’s clitoris will be cut off, a girl’s clitoris and inner vagina lips will be cut off, or a girl’s clitoris and inner vagina lips will be cut off and her outer lips sewn together with the exception of a small hole.



This small hole will serve the purpose of letting body fluids out and in theory provide much more pleasure for a woman’s husband. Female circumcision is one I would not be looking forward to. Included with this glorified act girls can expect a variety of medical problems that can include pain, lack of sexual drive, pain during intercourse, infections of the cut off parts, urinary infections, miscarriage, and death.

What really struck me while reading this day’s reading was how these girls really have no choice in the matter. In the reading a mother told her story about how she and her husband did not want their girls to be circumcised, but one day while both parents were at work the girl’s aunts took them to get circumcised. Imagine being a parent and having your family betray your wishes. What was really interesting to me about this story was that the girl’s uncle was very angry with his sisters for doing this to his nieces. There was a story of hope for one girl. Her mother actually helped her escape to a different country even though the mother was defying her family.

Wednesday’s reading talked about sex trafficking and “comfort women”. Both of these topics occurred in Asian countries. Though sex trafficking is very common “comfort women” are not. “Comfort women” existed predominantly during World War II. Women were take prisoner by the Japanese and forced to care for the Japanese soldiers in all ways, shapes, and forms. The majority of “comfort women” were Korean. These women had no choice they had to serve the Japanese or die. Either way the majority of them died and those that survived became outcasts.

Sex trafficking has had an interesting beginning. At first country girls were sold out of necessity. There were too many mouths to feed and not enough food or money. These girls did not have much of a choice and it seemed like they would have a better life if they left their family. Once they were sold into a brothel then the girls had no choice at all. They could not escape, they had enormous debts to pay off, and even if they were to be thrown out of the brothel they would die. They would not be able to work or find someone to take them in. As the years passed, selling girls to brothers became profitable for families. The girls were sold more for profit than out of necessity. For the girls the situation remained the same. They had no choice.

I first learned about “comfort women” this past summer during my trip to South Korea. There was a pamphlet at the Demilitarized Zone that described in detail what a “comfort woman” was. I was quite appalled. What was not mentioned in the reading was that the Korean women were often used as human shields when the Japanese would come across Korean forces. Imagine having to fire at and kill your mother, aunt, grandmother, sister, cousin, or child. Unimaginable.

Sterilization or rather forced sterilization is a rather disturbing topic. A women would be forced to have an operation where the surgeon would remove her reproductive organs so she would be unable to reproduce. The original reason behind sterilization is from “eugenics”. Eugenics is the idea of selective breeding. Even within a few decades ago sterilization was happening to Black women in the United States without their knowledge. They would go to the hospital to deliver their baby and with out the woman’s consent the doctor would remove the woman’s reproductive organs. Sterilization has also been used in countries with huge populations such as China and India to help control the populations. Even in these cases, the women have very little choice and face enormous pressure from the government should they not be sterilized.

Choice is important and is a basic right. In all these cases even men have a choice. They can say no. They can say “no” to female mutilation and choose to do something to change it. They can say “no” to sex trafficking and choose to do something to change it. They can say “no” to sterilization and choose to support their spouse in their decision.