Tag Archives: female genital mutilation

Grab Those Snippers! San Francisco Judge Nixes Circumcision Ban On Ballot

Jessica WakemanJuly 29, 2011 //

Snip away, San Francisco! A judge ruled yesterday that the city cannot vote on whether to ban circumcision on the ballot next election. The ban, which was spearheaded by activist Lloyd Schofield, would have made “genital mutilation” of minors punishable by a $1,000 fine or a year in prison. The Jewish community was meshuggenah about the ban, as circumcising infants is part of their religious practice. But religious or moral reasons are not why Superior Court Judge Loretta Giorgi nixed the ballot initiative: she agreed there are compelling medical reasons for circumcision and laws regulating doctors and healing professions must be made on the state level. Schofield is expected to appeal. Keep reading »

What The Hell Is “Breast Ironing”?

Jessica WakemanJuly 22, 2010 //

Hold on to your girls before you read this, ladies.

There is a practice called “breast ironing” in the African country of Cameroon, a practice which involves flattening a girl’s growing breasts with hot stones to prevent her nipples from being firm and “enticing men.” The news network CurrentTV filmed a short documentary on “breast ironing,” specifically how mothers believe it will “protect” their daughters from teen pregnancy if men are not tempted by their pert breasts. Keep reading »

Pursuing The Perfect Vagina Has Plenty Of Problems

Jessica WakemanNovember 11, 2009 //

Vaginas! Let’s talk about them. Perhaps, like me, you don’t know much about what anyone’s vagina looks like, except for your own. But it turns out the lips of the labia can be “innies” or “outies,” just like belly buttons, and “outies” … well, they look just like they sound. Surely, women with “outies” can feel discomfort down there when riding a bike or wearing tight-fitting jeans. But the truth is, the majority of the time a woman gets labioplasty surgery on her vagina, she’s letting a plastic surgeon have a go at her hooda with a scalpel for aesthetic reasons. She wants the perfect vagina, but what the heck is that?

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