Female Genital Modification

It is not my intent to take a stance on this subject but to show how diverse and complex this practice is when looked at from the lens of the local people concerned and in terms of their underlying and different rationales in relation to multi-stranded international debates surrounding the issue of female genital modification. I came across many different and conflicting viewpoints on the subject. In this paper, I argue that looking at the issue of female genital modification from only two angles of vision, as being either right or wrong, is overly simplistic. It can lead to the false dichotomy of "us" versus "them," First-World versus Third-World split that can further divide people, rather than bringing them together to seek a common ground. I intend in this investigative paper to provide a balanced overview of all the complex issues and standpoints involved in looking at the subject of female genital modification and to allow readers to come to their own positions.