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Is it the lack of consent?
These are the [[World Health Organization]]'s key facts on FEMALE genital mutilation:
<blockquote>
Female genital mutilation (FGM) includes procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
The procedure has no health benefits for girls and women.
Procedures can cause severe [[bleeding]] and problems urinating, and later cysts, infections, infertility as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths.
More than 125 million girls and women alive today have been cut in the 29 countries in Africa and Middle East where [[FGM ]] is concentrated (1).
FGM is mostly carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and age 15.
FGM is a violation of the [[human rights]] of girls and women.
[WHO] Immediate complications [of FGM] can include severe pain, [[shock]], [[haemorrhage]] ([[bleeding]]), tetanus or sepsis (bacterial infection), [[urine]] retention, open sores in the genital region and injury to nearby genital tissue.
[We] Immediate complications of circumcision can include severe [[pain]], [[shock]], [[haemorrhage]] ([[bleeding]]), sepsis (life threatening), [[urine]] retention, injury to nearby genital tissue (the glans, the shaft).
[WHO] Where [[FGM ]] is a social convention, the social pressure to conform to what others do and have been doing is a strong motivation to perpetuate the practice.
[We] "he will thank you later", "he will be made fun of in the locker room", "girls won't like him if he is not cut", "all males in my family have been traditionally circumcised", "all American boys are circumcised", "baby must match daddy"... Yup, social pressure. “The desire to conform is an important motivation for circumcision in places where the majority of boys are circumcised,” Dr Catherine Hankins.
[WHO] [[FGM ]] is often considered a necessary part of raising a girl properly, and a way to prepare her for adulthood and marriage.
[We] According to the [[AAP]]: "In the pluralistic society of the United States, where parents are afforded wide authority for determining what constitutes appropriate child-rearing and child welfare, it is legitimate for the parents to take into account their own cultural, religious, and ethnic traditions, in addition to medical factors, when making this choice."(The AAP issued its last statement on male circumcision in 2012. It was not renewed and expired in August 2017.)
[WHO] [[FGM ]] is often motivated by beliefs about what is considered proper sexual behaviour, linking procedures to premarital virginity and marital fidelity. FGM is in many communities believed to reduce a woman's libido and therefore believed to help her resist "illicit" sexual acts. When a vaginal opening is covered or narrowed (type 3 above), the fear of the pain of opening it, and the fear that this will be found out, is expected to further discourage "illicit" sexual intercourse among women with this type of FGM.
[We] It is necessary to remember that the original motivation behind medical circumcision in the [[United States ]] was to prevent and cure [[masturbation]]. Male [[infibulation]] (sewing the [[foreskin ]] with a silver thread) was also done at the time to prevent erections. Doctors today deny that there is any sexual harm, but they were [[circumcised ]] at birth themselves so they don't have a personal experience of [[intact ]] sex.
[WHO] [[FGM ]] is associated with cultural ideals of femininity and modesty, which include the notion that girls are “clean” and "beautiful" after removal of body parts that are considered "male" or "unclean".
[We] [[Circumcision ]] and masculinity: “Circumcision is also associated with factors such as masculinity, social cohesion with boys of the same age who become circumcised at the same time, self-identity and spirituality,” Dr [[Catherine Hankins]]. From the same article: "In some settings where circumcision is the norm, there is discrimination against non-circumcised men. For the Lunda and Luvale tribes in Zambia, or the Bagisu in Uganda, it is unacceptable to remain [[uncircumcised]], to the extent that forced circumcisions of older boys are not uncommon. Among the Xhosa in [[South Africa]], men who have not been [[circumcised ]] can suffer extreme forms of punishment, including bullying and beatings."
Circumcision and cleanliness: (from the same article) "In a study of US newborns in 1983, mothers cited hygiene as the most important determinant of choosing to circumcise their sons, and in Ghana, male circumcision is seen as cleansing the boy after birth. Improved hygiene was also cited by 23% of 110 boys circumcised in the Philippines"
Circumcision and female parts: (from the same article): "certain ethnic groups including the Dogon and Dowayo of West Africa, and the Xhosa of [[South Africa ]] view the [[foreskin ]] as the feminine element of the [[penis]], the removal of which (along with passing certain tests) makes a man of the child."
[WHO] Though no religious scripts prescribe the practice, practitioners often believe the practice has religious support.
[We] The Quran does not mention male circumcision. The [[Council at Jerusalem| New Testament ]] dismisses the old covenant of circumcision. Yet Muslims and American Christians would affirm that circumcision is part of their religions.
[WHO] Religious leaders take varying positions with regard to FGM: some promote it, some consider it irrelevant to religion, and others contribute to its elimination
[WHO] Local structures of power and authority, such as community leaders, religious leaders, circumcisers, and even some medical personnel can contribute to upholding the practice.
[We] Male circumcision was made massive in the [[United States ]] by the Army and the American medical community. The [[AAP]], the [[WHO]], [[UNAIDS]], [[UNICEF]], the [[CDC]] are contributors to the perpetuation of male circumcision.
[WHO] In most societies, [[FGM ]] is considered a cultural tradition, which is often used as an argument for its continuation.
[We] [[AAP ]] says "it is legitimate for the parents to take into account their own cultural, religious, and ethnic traditions, in addition to medical factors, when making this choice."
[WHO] In some societies, recent adoption of the practice is linked to copying the traditions of neighbouring groups. Sometimes it has started as part of a wider religious or traditional revival movement.
[We] (Again, from the UNAIDS article) "With advances in surgery in the 19th century, and increased mobility in the 20th century, the procedure was introduced into some previously non-circumcising cultures for both health-related and social reasons."
[WHO] In some societies, [[FGM ]] is practised by new groups when they move into areas where the local population practice FGM.
[We] (Again, from the UNAIDS article): "The desire to ‘belong’ is also likely to be the main factor behind the high rate of adult male circumcisions among immigrants to [[Israel]] from non-circumcising countries (predominantly the former Soviet Union)."