Talk:Female genital mutilation

Sylvia Tamale

I'm surprised by the prominence given to Tamale's views in this article--half a paragraph of the lead section seems like a lot of space to give any one scholar on an issue that thousands of commentators have chimed in on. Perhaps the lead section could be rewritten to summarize various trends of thought in the scholarship generally? I'm not knowledgeable enough on the subject to do this myself, unfortunately, but thought I'd put the suggestion out there. -- Khazar2 (talk) 17:17, 27 November 2012 (UTC)

Beating a Dead Horse: FGM?

First, let me state that I almost never edit Wikipedia and am just attempting to get into the habit, so hello! If I'm wrong here, please point it out, thanks. Secondly, I personally believe that FGM is just that - genital mutilation. However, I am of the opinion that the practice should be referred to as "female genital cutting." I know this has been gone over a million times, but skimming through the archive, I can't really see a point where this was resolved. If this shouldn't be brought up again, please let me know.

So, my reasoning is as follows.

1. FGM is very POV. It implies disapproval of the practice, and while I think many of us do disapprove, we should be a bit less biased.

2. FGC is NPOV - Multiple pages I've seen that aim for a more...clinical tone? use this term. Womenshealth.gov, for example (http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/female-genital-cutting.cfm)

3. FGC does not downplay the very real harms of the practice. I feel like, again, from skimming, a lot of the arguments for the FGM title come position of wanting to point out that this procedure is not medically needed and is quite harmful. While circumcision might downplay these things (since male circumcision has a pretty good public opinion track record in the US) I don't think FGC does.

Am I wrong? Anyways, if this shouldn't come up again, let me know. Thanks Wikipedians. Hopefully, I'll see you around again soon. 75.36.161.164 (talk) 04:59, 11 December 2012 (UTC)

Hello. To answer your question in general I'll point you towards the Wikipedia policy over NPOV: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view, the specific sections that clarify the meaning of NPOV in the Wikipedia sense, and that apply to this case more specifically, are the sections "Naming" and the section on "Due and Undue Weight". To sum them up, the goal of being purely neutral in wording is balanced against the need to have clarity and the need to give due weight to the sources. In this case, FGM is the predominant medical term used in the literature (for instance by the World Health Organization, which is the classification used in the article). For more info on the debates specifically you can read up on the Request for Comment that led to this page maintaining it's current name: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Female_genital_mutilation/Archive_6#RfC:_how_should_we_refer_to_the_practice.3F. Hope this is helpful info. Vietminh (talk) 18:27, 11 December 2012 (UTC)

the WHO calls it female genital cutting http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/86/4/07-042093/en/index.html edit article to be in accordance with reliable sources please. (also if you read the sources past their titles you'll find that circumcision is the most common name) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.218.249.191 (talk) 21:05, 14 December 2012 (UTC)

WHO search search engine results: "female genital cutting" 144 results "female genital mutilation" 1,990 results. BTW: no WHO association was given by the authors of your cited paper. Jim1138 (talk) 23:34, 14 December 2012 (UTC)

Rates of Ia/Ib, IIa/IIb?

Given that there are statistics on the distribution of the various types, are there ones available that estimate the rates within Type I and II, ie. for how much do the two respective "a" and "b" subtypes account within their types? -- 188.194.254.47 (talk) 15:08, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

Why is this called female genital mutilation and not female circumcision.

This process is done on cultural or religious grounds by certain groups living in Africa, there is no reason to slander this as 'female genital mutilation'. And if you are going to call this 'female genital mutilation' why is the article on male circumcision not called 'male genital mutilation'? We need to end this bigoted double standard. YvelinesFrance (talk) 22:12, 23 February 2013 (UTC)

You are correct the article on male circumcision should be called male genital mutilation.Theroadislong (talk) 22:15, 23 February 2013 (UTC)

We as Wikipedians do not unilaterally decide which term is used. We simply use the term used by the best quality literature on the topic at hand, thus the names of the two pages in question.Doc James (talk · contribs · email) (if I write on your page reply on mine) 22:19, 23 February 2013 (UTC)

"Best quality literature' is subjective. I don't put much value in the work of gender theorists, sociologists or feminists. In any case I will attempt to change the article title for male circumcision to 'male genital mutilation'. YvelinesFrance (talk) 23:16, 23 February 2013 (UTC)

I am sure that will go over equally well. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) (if I write on your page reply on mine) 23:33, 23 February 2013 (UTC)

You might want to review the talk page history. This has been discussed and decided on a number of time. I suspect that most would find FGM much more traumatic than male circumcision. Jim1138 (talk) 00:05, 24 February 2013 (UTC)

your suspicion about trauma is not NPOV. The "best quality literature" is also not NPOV. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.218.249.191 (talk • contribs)

"We need to end this bigoted double standard." "I don't put much value in the work of gender theorists, sociologists, or feminists." Thanks for that laugh. Have you considered a career in comedy? 68.100.138.56 (talk) 03:08, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

Evidence

Line is presented as fact when the source is merely postulating; "Gynaecologists in England and the United States would remove it during the 19th century to "cure" insanity, masturbation, and nymphomania.[30]"

The source says that "there is evidence" for the above statement; he does not say it is a fact, nor does he provide the evidence. Can we change this sentence to reflect the uncertainty? At the moment it sounds like it was standard procedure in the Victorian UK and USA.

Oh yes; the source also says the "UK" not "England", these terms are not interchangeable. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.220.70.14 (talk) 21:50, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

I read the source Momoh and the underlying source Momoh cites, which is a letter to the editor, and I actually can't find support in the source Momoh cites for this statement. How about removing the entire sentence? Zad68 22:09, 28 February 2013 (UTC)