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Kevin
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rated it 4 stars
Feb 25, 2014 06:18AM
This is my favorite story of Megan Lindholm in this collection I think. It's certainly the most powerful one. Though imo you can find a lot of Lindholm's worldview in all of her writing (including Hobb) this is one of her few overtly political stories.
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I didn't mind this one even though I agree with Alex in that I too prefer fiction for fictions sake.But male circumcision and female circumcisions aren't really in the same ball park. One is a lot less superficial than the other.
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i'm fully against female circumcision, but i've never formed an opinion about male circumcision. i think they aren't on the same line indeed, but they're still impactful interventions for life.
I can't say I know any women who have been circumcised - but I do know a fair few males who have. None of them express and complaints or outrage against parents. Generally speaking, they're more amused that mine wears a hat - so to speak. Not that were all standing around the urinal making comparisons
This might be because I'm European (where, aside from in a few minor christian protestant churches, it's almost never done) but I never got the point of male circumcision. The only decent argument I've heard for it concerns hygiene, which might've made sense in some eras and areas, but nowadays you can just, you know, wash ...
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i remember being present at a talk a few years ago with a woman who had been cut, and the implication to the rest of her life was really big. i was surprised to hear how much impact it had
Female circumcision is a whole other issue, I agree. I first heard about it even existing during religious eduction in the senior year of our equivalent of high school. I've just read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_c... to get a bit back up to speed, and now I'm just depressed. The things people do to each other in the name of their belief ...
Ouccccch! I barely made it through this one.
Ouccccch! I barely made it through this one.
Ouccccch! I barely made it through this one.
(In comparing male and female circumcision, it's probably worth remembering that the things people describe as 'female circumcision' or 'female genital mutilation' are actual multiple different things happening in multiple cultures over a large geographic area. Some of them may have seriously negative effects; others may have minimal effect or even be considered positive. It's sort of like lumping all the ways people mutilate male genitals together in one category - everything from circumcision through to castration. It's also important to bear in mind the complexity of agenthood - one hazard of anti-FGM policies, for instance, is that it encourages desperate girls to self-mutilate in unsafe ways - when you're talking entire cultures, it's often difficult to distinguish compulsion from free will)((I also have to say I've always found the American attitude toward the genital mutilation of young boys creepy to the point of disturbing. It's not that I can show that it has terrible consequences or anything, it's just that people could even consider it, casually, and then after the fact say "well I'm not convinced it's actually BAD for them..." as though that actually addressed the real moral problem here... it's like learning that seemingly ordinary people are actually Martians who sleep hanging from the ceiling.))
Wastrel wrote: "(In comparing male and female circumcision, it's probably worth remembering that the things people describe as 'female circumcision' or 'female genital mutilation' are actual multiple different thi..."Oh hey, who do we have here. Albeit from couple years ago.
Just done with this story. Ouch. I'm too chicken shit to even contemplate a tattoo, so circumcision, mutilation, inserting metal studs under the skin... Ouch. I'm going to leave it at that, and sleep on it some more.
** EDIT 8/26/2016:
This particular story seems a little out of place with the rest. Most of which have some fantastical/sci-fi elements where there is no real world plausibility of any of it actually happening. Whereas, “Cut” has no SFF aspects and reads like a socio-political message with a semblance of a story loosely structured around it. As if Lindholm did a sly one slipping this story into the middle of the pack, so we would read it unsuspectingly and then at its end, ask “____?” In the introduction, Lindholm stated that she wanted to frame the story around a question, and in this case, about our bodies. Honestly, I don’t know what the answer should be for everyone, only that I have an answer for my own body.
The story reads like awkward conversations that other families might be having with a close female relative, usually younger, who is about to have her genitals cut. Voluntarily. The grandma’s horror over her granddaughter’s decision made me feel sick to the stomach wondering how this ends. Does it end with an answer? Yeah, in a way, but not one anyone should attempt. (view spoiler) So, not a real solution.
This also makes me think about people who have surgery for sex-change or to aesthetically modify their bodies and faces, or any other types of surgery causing permanent and irreversible changes for reasons other than for medical/health reasons. Not judging any of that at all. To each our own with our bodies. Just wondering out loud how these surgeries would differ from FGM, if say, FGM was done voluntarily in a sterile, medical environment and is not considered a human rights violation?
Damnit, Lindholm! I didn’t really like the story as a story that much, but you got me thinking about answers I don’t know. It makes me shudder to think if I have a sister, or daughter, or friend, who wants to have her genitals mutilated and is of legal age to what they want with their bodies (I don’t, but this is hypothetical). What can I do?
For that, 3.5/5 stars.
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[Briefly on male circumcision in the US. Admittedly, it is widely practiced with newborns and overwhelmingly implemented within the Jewish and Muslim communities, and probably other smaller religious groups too. Those who do it for non-religious reasons usually do it as a preventive health measure. There are established studies showing the benefits far outweigh the risks of future infections and other nasties later in life.
However, I get that it’s creepy. But it’s creepy with potential health benefits, has no negative effects in penile function and is done in a highly regulated, surgical environment. (Unlike FGM). So I get why people justify doing it to themselves and to their sons. Some Americans may have a casual attitude towards male circumcision, but they certainly do not represent all of America. If I have a son and the ability to afford comprehensive health insurance throughout my child’s life, I would opt out of circumcision at birth and put that choice in his hand when he’s old enough to decide for himself. Sorry, that wasn't as brief as intended!]
