I ran across a story about the Pokot Girls of Kenya on
http://www.bvblackspin.com/ and it made me cringe to say the least! The girls over there are facing a lot to become recognized a women in there tribe. I am familiar with debutant balls and even the recognition of a menstrual cycle as a sign you are crossing over into womanhood, but never did Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) cross my mind. Well this is a method some African tribes/villages use to introduce their daughters to womanhood. Ouch! I would be so scared to enter womanhood, this mess is even required before you can even be married. I would rather stay single, I would runaway. Gosh this makes growing up sound scary. Well somethings are changing in Pokot, Keyna and some of the girls are saying NO to the KNIFE! There is no surprise that majority of the women that undergo the ritual get pelvic and urinary infections, so the pain continues on after the cut. I am so shocked and amazed that this ritual is still going on, I mean really does cutting off the clitoris and labia majora and then leaving a small hole to urinate make me any more of a woman? And the sad part about it the girls are held down by their mother's and other close family members as the ritual is completed. How is that for entry into womanhood? I'm glad these girls are speaking up and standing up for themselves, this is a dangerous procedure that should be BANNED & OUTLAWED! I just don't see the logic behind destroying anothers body as a rite of passage.
Does this look like a rite of passage to you? Looks like a cruel punishment for becoming a woman.
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