Again on circumcision

Again on circumcision

I am writing in reply to Melly R's response to my earlier
letter regarding female circumcision.

Melly R, please accept my apologies for disturbing your senses
with my supposed arrogance in daring to criticize the plight of
children. Firstly, I am not an Australian as you have wrongly
guessed, so your anti-Australian historical lecture fell on deaf
ears.

I was also not criticizing the entire Indonesian nationality
as you stated, only defending the rights of Indonesian children
to be able to make their own choices regarding their own bodies.

My letter stating opposition to female circumcision as a
barbaric and outdated practice is well-supported throughout the
world by thousands of women who are fighting to have this
practice abolished.

The woman who recently single-handedly had this practice
outlawed in Egypt was herself a famous Sudanese international
model who had been circumcised at the age of eight (without her
consent) and wrote a book describing the horror of it and the
lifelong effects to her body. The practice of female circumcision
is banned in numerous countries as it is a violation of the
individual's human rights.

My criticism was in actual fact directed at The Jakarta Post
for putting this article on a travel page, advertising to people
that it was a tourist attraction. My worry was that this could be
read by the wrong sort of people such as pedophiles or sadists,
who might rush to indulge their perversions with this new
information. After all, if this "ritual" is so sacred, why
wouldn't it also be kept private? So the point is -- you missed
the point!

Yes, Melly, I have discussed this matter with many
Indonesians, both male and female, and so far I have yet to find
one who agrees with this practice. In fact, many of these people
were shocked to hear that this is still done in Indonesia. If my
concern for children is seen by you as "western arrogance" then
so be it, but believe me, the world can only change by open
discussion on subjects of this nature--no matter how it effects
people's sensibilities.

Indonesia's new era of reform is giving new freedom to the
underprivileged and I would hope to think that defenseless
children were to be included in these changes.

Slavery and persecution were all accepted as normal one
hundred years ago, even by arrogant westerners. Those colonial
countries fought to retain outdated and inhumane practices,
standing on their "high horse" preaching that it was their right
to do whatever they wanted, even though other people suffered.
These practices are now abolished much to the relief of those
formally oppressed minorities. If I am arrogant Melly, please re-
read your own letter, or is arrogance reserved only for
"foreigners" who dare to have an opinion that differs to yours?

NIGEL MASON

Legian, Bali