Amnesty International's Campaign Against Female Genital Mutiliation

[_jeremiad]

I saw this on feministing.com this morning and I really like these. The flower imagery is especially powerful, I think. Possibly bordering on stereotypical (isn't the vulva as flower a classic literary trope?), but in this case, I believe it's more than appropriate.

What do you all think?

Here and Here

Comments

[futurebird]

This may seem like an odd response, but I'm a bit wary of any western organization that tries to carry the banner on this issue. I think FGM is poorly understood. But others have said it better than I have:

When African feminists charge that Western feminists should research and focus on analogous forms of abuse in their home countries instead of digging up causes in Africa, they are responding to the very real way in which FGM is often discussed, with western feminists in charge of the agenda, receiving the most press and recognition and having an influence on global organizations such as the United Nations, as well as the foreign policies of their respective countries.

In an article entitled "Female Genital Mutilation in Africa: Some African Views," Salem Mekuria points out that African women must be at the lead of any movement to eradicate FGM and to suggest or take measures against it, and that these women should be working as closely with local areas as possible.Diary of a Mad Kenyan Woman
The procedure depicted for these

[_jeremiad]

I don't think Amnesty International is attempting to replace grassroots organizations. The organization defines its primary target as governments on an international scale, and it's secondary target as public opinion. In addition, Amnesty International is one of the foremost non-governmental organizations doing research on subjects like female genital mutilation. Amnesty International does not neglect human rights abuses in the Western world either. Finally, grassroots organizations needs funds too. If campaigns like this motivate people to donate to grassroots organizations combating FGM, I think that's a good thing

[futurebird]

but I do believe public awareness campaigns like this are a good thing

Who is this campaign aimed at? Is it meant for people in the US? If so what is the point? awareness for what? Fundraising for A.I.? If it's not targeted for the west I have fewer concerns, but if it is I really need to know what they intended to do, and the quality of the local-level involvement.

"Damned if you do, damned if you don't"

No, you're not dammed at all if you do the right thing, which is find out what women from the country are most concerned about. In some cases there are more pressing issues than FGM.

I mean do they have posters in Dakkar of melons with silicone pads in them?

I guess I don't understand the agenda here.

[_jeremiad]

If you're comparing breast implants in America to Female Genital Mutiliation, I'd think there's a fundamental issue of consent there where many of the girls who undergo FGM don't consent and the women who get breast implants, do.

I'm of the opinion that consciousness raising and public awareness is a good thing. In addition, I don't think talking about FGM excludes the other pressing issues you're referring to...women can have more than one pressing issue.

Like I said, I'm not going to say that AI is the best thing ever, but I don't understand the problem with awareness campaigns like this. When people don't talk about women's issues, people complain. When people do talk about women's issues, people still complain. If both are evil, then talking about them is the lesser of two evils.

[futurebird]

Why is it important to raise "awareness" of this issue in the west? I'd rather have eduction and knowledge than just general awareness, in some ways this kind of "awareness" generates more ignorance than it eliminates. It's superficial loaded with shock value, a kind of "persecution porn" that makes it easier to ignore the everyday barbarism of our own cultures.

In the context of a poster I don't see the point. The intent at some level might be to bring a stop to FGM, but in western cultures still suffering from a colonial hangover it will just confirm notions of cultural superiority.

The more I think about it the less sense it makes.

[_jeremiad]

Hmmmm...

I hadn't thought about those points before.

[lovmelovmycats]

Well put. Thank you.

[kmd]

And that is part and parcel of what Amnesty International has *always* done. So, for instance, they are constantly recruiting the voices of all of their members outside the U.S. to pressure the U.S. government to end the death penalty.

[futurebird]

That's what I thought too. But, I'd rather see the call for money coming from local organizations, perhaps through the internet or in some other manner. Or perhaps amnesty could direct people towards some local organization rather than collect donations themselves

[kmd]

Woah! Amnesty doesn't collect money for donations, unless a LOT has changed. They engage individuals in letter-writing campaigns to place pressure on those in power to stop human rights violations.

[futurebird]

For some reason I'm on their mailing lists and I assumed they wanted me to send donations for something. I must have written a few letters at some point-- if they don't take donations how do they cover their administrative overhead?

But that aside, I don't get this campaign, it frames the issue in the wrong way. If I was a mother who was considering doing this for my daughter I'd just think it was insulting and stupid to make it seem like an operation that I thought was "good" is so awful-- What people need is information about why it's not good for ones health to do this.

I also think it's sort of hurtful to women who have had FGM to imply that they are "mutilated roses" --as if having an intact vagina was some kind of measure of a woman's self worth-- it's acutely a form of objectification, subtile, but just as irritating.

I mean, how would you feel about a campaign to stop domestic abuse that featured a bunch of bruised peaches?

[kmd]

I agree that the frame of "mutilated roses" is disturbing, and for all of the reasons you list. I don't like the posters. A poster to end domestic violence that featured a bunch of bruised peaches would piss me off. But I also don't know who designed the posters. Is it possible that it was a Sudanese woman? That matters, because if a domestic violence poster featuring a bruised peach was designed by a survivor, I would see that as a statement about how *she* feels about herself and what has happened to her. And I would not feel any right to tell her that her feelings and perceptions are wrong.

And I don't see the poster as the whole campaign. When I search Amnesty's website for info about FGM, I find some truly aggravating shrieking Western feminist voices, but I also find this:

http://www.rainbo.org/index.html

[kmd]

Why is it important to raise "awareness" of this issue in the west?

For the same reason that Amnesty International works hard to raise awareness of the racially oppressive nature of the U.S. death penalty all over the world. To throw the spotlight of international attention on a systemic problem and thus partner with those within the system who are otherwise marginalized.

That does not mean that they should act independently of the grassroots folks within the country where the problem exists.

[kmd]

I hear and appreciate the call to follow the lead of Africans on which issues are important to them, and how to fight for them.

That said, Amnesty International has ever been accused of being a meddling interloper, usually by the people whose power is being threatened.