MEDICAL FRAUD and the criminal assault of boys
What's wrong with female circumcision?
Derek Nelson
In what is officially a multicultural society such as Canada's, why should female circumcision be made illegal, as federal Justice Minister Allan Rock is now considering? Again in the land where all cultures are equal, why should Canada's "refugee" policies allow avoiding female circumcision to be a legitimate reason for gaining entry here?
On what grounds does a country that declares itself non-judgmental of cultures suddenly decide that some other culture isn't doing things the way it likes? Is this, perhaps, an ethnocentric stance by the Canadian authorities - something they would, in other circumstances, call racism, intolerance and bigotry?
After all, the homeland of the practices is in African countries like Somalia, and most of the practitioners are black. And if opposition to female circumcision does not arise from ethnocentric prejudice, then from where does it come? On what basis is Rock considering banning the practice?
It can't be simply an objection to the mutilation of a child's sexual organs per se. After all, male circumcision is legal in Canada and it too is a form of sexual mutilation that is medically questionable and that varies in its impact on the victims. In short, it too is a cultural affectation.
If Rock doesn't believe this, perhaps he should check with one or more of the following organizations devoted to ending what they consider a barbaric and primitive ritual: Remain Intact,, Men's Rights, ETHIC (End the Horror of Infant Circumcision) or ReCap (Recover a Penis).
Rock's objections are reserved solely for female mutilation. If Rock, perhaps, expressing gender bias here, acting in the old patriarchal and condescending manner of so many men who saw women as their property and objected to them doing anything independently?
After all, in Somali culture, for example, it is women who determine the nature and extent of female circumcision, not men. But perhaps it is simply that the minister is a "white male in a suit" (as the saying goes nowadays) and therefore, by definition, lacking in the ability to understand or have empathy with other cultures.
Then again, maybe not. when a federal civil servant pointed out some other undesirable characteristics of Somali culture - such as its extreme clannishness and the lack of respect for Canadian law and custom that flows from such a perspective - he was repudiated by Rock's government.
Criticism of other cultures is a no-no in Canadian political eyes. All cultures have equal merit and, as a result, it doesn't matter what cultures immigrants come from. They can all bring their values and be accommodated here.
Some of this acceptance is understandable. If Canada is going to allow two men to marry each other (as it apparently is), it shouldn't be surprising that the laws against polygamy, for example, are already winked at in the case of immigrants from lands like Somalia, where the culture permits it.
The puzzle is why female circumcision should be such a major exception, why repression rather than respect for diversity should be the thrust of Rock's words spoken on this issue. He is a firm defender of multiculturalism, isn't he?
Reprinted from Cape Breton Post COMMENT Wednesday, March 16, 1994. Derek Nelson was an international affairs columnist for Thomson News Service at the time of publication.
Editor's Note: ReCap in now NORM - National Organization of Restoring Men. There are a number of these organizations serving males who wish to restore. See links on NOCIRC or NOHARMM. Alan Rock was Minister of Justice for Canada at this time. Obviously the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms had very little significance to Allan Rock who passed legislation to protect females - but permitted males to become victims of this dehumanizing act.