She has argued that the critics of the procedure exaggerate the medical dangers, misunderstand the effect on sexual pleasure, and mistakenly view the removal of parts of the clitoris as a practice that oppresses women.

She has lamented that her Westernized “feminist sisters insist on denying us this critical aspect of becoming a woman in accordance with our unique and powerful cultural heritage.”

In another essay, she writes:

It is difficult for me — considering the number of ceremonies I have observed, including my own — to accept that what appears to be expressions of joy and ecstatic celebrations of womanhood in actuality disguise hidden experiences of coercion and subjugation.

Indeed, I offer that the bulk of Kono women who uphold these rituals do so because they want to — they relish the supernatural powers of their ritual leaders over men in society, and they embrace the legitimacy of female authority and particularly the authority of their mothers and grandmothers.   more »

Keywords: circumcision, imperialism, culture, genital, africa, women

Were he able to miraculously return today, King – who paid knowledgeable attention to detailed racial disparity data in his time – would certainly be displeased with Obama’s “appeasement".

He would question the Senator’s embrace of “absolute equality” only “in terms of people being treated on the basis of their color or gender.”

What, King would want to know, about economic and class inequality, which he knew to be intimately and dialectically related to the living and central problem of racial oppression?

King would worry that the success of people like Obama and Oprah is part of the problem for black America.   more »

Watch US network television, scan the by-lines in the mainstream US newspapers, and count the women.

They are "allowed" to report, especially if they look good, and one woman is accommodated on most talk shows. This is, after all, the 21st century.

But political punditry remains a man's game – an establishment man's game, what is more. And when the front-runners are identified, it is the (usually male) "stars", who follow the bandwagon.

This year's Democratic primaries are male-female contests, in which the coverage is disproportionately filtered through the lens of male experience and expectations.   more »

Obama's fairy tale is the idea that we can get beyond disagreement. Democracy is about disagreement, not agreement.

We have real arguments in this country, and the political arena exists for us to hash them out peacefully.

The thrust of Obama's -- and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's -- "post-partisan" snake oil promises to take the disagreement out of democracy. You can't do that.

What if you disagree with Obama's ideas? Are you suddenly against hope? Given recent events, it seems that if you're not with the Obama program, you're fair game for tarring as a crypto-racist.   more »

First, it was a good night for the Democrats and a bad night for the Republicans. The Democratic debate has been a love fest. The candidates have all (for very good reasons) decided to pull back from the mutual kamikaze tone of the past few days.

Their discussion constituted a repudiation of the old Boss Daley of Chicago, who famously said that politics ain’t beanbag.

Apparently politics is beanbag, because that’s all the Democrats threw at each other tonight. I’ve seen more conflict at a pacifists’ stir-fry.

Meanwhile, the Republican prospects in the fall just got even dimmer. I say this not only because a weak general election candidate won a primary, but because Mitt Romney’s win pretty much guarantees a bitter fight for the nomination.   more »