I'm a 5' 5" 200 pound woman. I fight the body image battles every day.
Yes, both infibulation and liposuction are social constructs designed to
mutilate women. Yes, both are enough to elicit fury as a response. But
no-one woke me out of a peaceful sleep on my tenth birthday, forced my
legs apart, and dug out my external genitalia (or for that matter, removed
masses of tissue from my thighs). Yes, I agree that women in this
society are subtly and not so subtly encouraged to mutilate their bodies
to conform to some Barbie standard. But girls in societies that practise
infibulation are often forced, not just encouraged. You've said that you
see that as a matter of degree. I see it differently, and I'm content
with that difference. Seems to me we both agree on the *meaning* of both
acts.
-nalo
"He walked so far/On stilts of songs, of masqueraded story, that the
stars/Were near."
-Kamau Brathwaite, "Jou'vert"
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