I realize it's important to consider multiple view points of an ethical issue but I don't know that there is any way to justify the common ritual of female circumcision in Kenya. One cannot succumb to cultural relativism and the misguided idea of "it's a different culture, who are we to say it's wrong". Simply put, the oppression and unfair treatment of women is universally wrong. The entire time I watched this video, I thought of the "One Billion Rising" event that was held last month. People like Kakenya recognize that some aspects of their culture are objectively wrong and actively strive to make a change. I am by no means attacking diversity or the value of multiculturalism but there are some cultural beliefs that violate universal human rights and cannot be protected. I enjoyed this TED talk and it's important that the public be made more aware of acts such as this.
I watched this last week and at first I had no idea how to respond. I was speechless, but I agree with Kyle that while cultural beliefs should not be completely disregarded they should still be held to objective moral standards. Even with the "One Billion Rising" event it shocks me that these things are still happening around the world. The most shocking aspect wast that Kakenya said what happened to her was actually illegal in Kenya. It is frightening to think that even though these practices are outlawed they still occur regularly without any interference.
This video made me cry. It pains me to think about all the people who are being oppressed and mistreated like this. Its wrong to do this to people. It is even illegal in her country yet people in the village are still doing it. Who in their right mind does something like this to people? i get that its part of their culture and that in some ways they don't know any better or know any different. But shouldn't these people have enough intelligence to know that a rust knife isn't the best tool? I guess i'm just assuming that everyone knows these things and that they can feel compassion or even understand that this is wrong. It is wrong to oppress people regardless of the culture, regardless or race or gender. No matter where you go, oppression is wrong. It takes courage to do what she did and go through this procedure and take the risk in order to gain the knowledge and skills to better the future for tons of other girls. Because of what she did and the bravery she showed, others are being saved, others are having the chance for a better life, others will know what it feels like to be able to go for their dreams. We need more people like her, more people who are as brave, courageous and strong to stand up and make a change.
i agree with Heather that its very wrong to do this to people. Since it being illegal in that country people would think twice about even performing such a surgery. i also agree that doing something such as this does require a great deal of courage in order for the gain of knowledge to better the life of other girls that may have to go through this very same procedure. The more people who are around to speak about how they feel will hopefully start to bring about changes that will allow other to change the way things are doen in that country.
I agree with what both of you are saying, the oppression of women around the world is something that needs to be changed. Even in the U.S. there are many many instances where women are still being oppressed and treated unfairly, but it is hard to imagine what ultimately goes on in places like Kenya where there are no institutions implemented to protect women. The female circumcision is wrong by all means but could just be the tip of the iceberg and it is disheartening to say the least. It's a terrible thing to think about and should't be going on, but the female circumcision is a practice that the people of Kenya believe and at the end of the day we don't have the right to try and change their religious beliefs. If another country came in and tried to change the way we did things it would be unsettling to say the least, I am not saying that I agree with what is going on by any means, but the "revolt" against a culture's beliefs must come from within, or we as a country, who believe in tolerance violate the rules to relativism.
I agree with Antonio that the need for change must come from within. In many ways the practice of female circumcision is similar to the old practice of sati in the Indian culure (widow throws her body on husband's funeral pyre). In both cases drastic harm is done to females following their respective cultures. To an outsider these practices are absurd, but the power of belief in one's culture/religion is a powerful thing that is difficult for outsiders to control. The practice and glorification of sati was legally banned by the Indian government in 1987. It will probably take another act like this by the Kenyan government to stop this horrific practice. The problem here is the rural nature and underdevelopment of Kenya. This creates many problems with enforcing any legal action against female circumcision.
The worst thing is that this practice was already technically illegal in Kenya when it happened to Kakenya. Even internal enforcement hasn't been able to stop it, because of what Michael said, the large rural population in Kenya. This in itself is a problem with its own ethical issues that will probably have to be dealt with before real action can be taken against thispractice. Reastically, though, reflecting on this, creating more developement in Kenya is a problem on a much larger scale like other developing countries around the world, and is part of a much larger discussion that has been going on for longer than most of us have been alive.
I agree women have been oppressed since the ancient times. I am surprised that still nothing has been done to completely eliminate this problem. I think institutions should be established in Kenya in order to prevent this problem. Today our culture is entirely different from theirs. The fact we should not be allowed to force any one against their will the ethical issues that are involved with this will more than likely need to be eliminated for any further progress to be made in stopping this harmful procedure. Just as we rebelled against the British back in the 1700's i feel the natives to Kenya will have to stand up for themselves in order for change to occur.
This is a terrible thing, and blows my mind that people do things like this in other countries. I feel blessed to be in the country that we live in where these things do not happen. I agree with Booker that we do not have the right to force anything on another culture, even though the U.S. trys to a lot. The only thing we can do is be an example by doing things the way we believe is right, and have equal treatment more everyone.
Watching this video made me realize how cultures can be so much different than ours. I can not believe there are still such barbaric traditions still occurring today. I agree with Booker also, that we cannot force traditions and cultures to change. However, like the woman in the video has done, we need to be able to reach out to those people being oppressed and give them a voice as she had done. We have to help and educate these cultures on what is right and what is wrong as she had done.
This video is so powerful. She is a great speaker, and I feel as if she was speaking directly to me. She is truly an inspiration to not only women but anyone you inspires to be something or someone. This video shows the importance of education and how just one person with an education can impact the entire community.
She has a lot of courage getting speaking in front of strangers about what happened to her. I do not think any sort of justification can be made for female circumcision. The fact this goes on i don't agree with it at all. We may not be able to change the traditions and cultures, but i think if more woman like her begin to speak out maybe reforms can begin to be made. I think no matter what oppression and forcing an individual to go through with something that may make them feel uncomfortable is wrong.
I agree that she has great courage Adam, not only for speaking up, but also for returning to her town. It took real strength to return to the people who hurt her, and she goes a step further by helping to improve their lives through building schools.
This video left me speechless at first. I agree with what many of you are saying, that it took immense courage for her to not only get up and talk about her experience but to have accepted the situation and still be able to go on and create a better life for herself. I also think that her actions are the beginning of a much needed change in the culture. I believe that one of the major issues is the fact that the people do not seem to be doing anything wrong. Like she was saying this is a right of passage, and a ceremony. It was something that seemed to be excited and almost looking forward to. That is where I think the culture really needs to change. This is not something to be celebrated; it needs to become a practice of the past.
I agree with Jamie this video is very shocking and she is very strong to speak out about it now against her culture. It is sad that this culture has made this "rite of passage" as something exciting that people look forward to because it says that they are now a woman. This culture does need to change, but it is hard to go somewhere and tell people that what they have been doing all along is totally wrong. If someone could go there with a person that is from the culture and explain everything that is wrong with this procedure, then maybe will listen and stop this!
I am with everyone else in that I am shocked. It is really hard to say what customs are right and wrong and we must respect the other cultures; however, we must first respect the individuals in that culture. I think this is a case to where the individual is above the group and her voice must be heard
I completely agree Brent. I would be interested to see everyone's opinions though if even after being educated and given an option not to go through with the ceremony, the girl still chose to do it for her own personal beliefs. Should there be a penalty on the girl and the girl's family sense female genital mutilation is against the state law in Kenya? Would this dissuade others from going through with it? Just to clarify, I am not for the abhorrent ritual myself and would argue that a person's autonomy is forfeited when they are at risk of severely harming themselves or others. Kakenya herself testified to how fortunate she was that she survived the procedure and that many girls are not that lucky.
This video and Kakenya is inspirational for changing her community. This video is hard to watch and made me cringe when she was talking about the ritual that happen to girls when they hit puberty. It takes a strong person to try and change what seems like a strict set of rules in her community. She is a strong person for doing that. It is hard to say that another culture's rituals are wrong because we are not a part of that culture, but I am not sure how you can justify this ritual at all.
This is a hard video to respond to in a sense that its deals with Cultural beliefs, laws and ethics. While I am a bigger believer in going out in making the world a better place I believe in this instance the best person to advocate and inform people that this is illegal are women in those societies. She had the opportunity to better herself and the ability to follow her dreams although it cam at the price of mutilation. It is sad that the only way she was able to find out about this and how illegal it really was in her home land was by coming to the US for college. She seems so optimistic even though she had been put through something she did not have to get done. Education is truly the fundamental in regards to knowing right and wrong. That she able to go back and teach girls in her village and stop the mutilation is a great thing. It is hard to balance culture with ethics but in a case like this no where should this be a ritual that girls must go through. You can't say someones culture is wrong because we aren't apart of it or believe in it's rituals, but in all honesty I am not sure how you can justify this topic at all. This is an example of some rituals other cultures have.... trust me it's a good read....
It's proof that culture is not justification for evil. The only defense this has is a chauvinistic justification that women can't control themselves, and it is part of culture. I remember once hearing of a case where a man killed his father in law for trying to have his daughter castrated, and the mother wanted it to happen as well. The father ended up pleading out for a reduced sentence, and the mother was denied custody. So this has legal precedent.
I'm glad that after the entire ordeal of female genital mutilation and the issues she had with continuing her education that Kakenya was able to maintain her sense of humor and vitality. It is a real testament to her character that she would have the strength to not only pursue her dream, but to insure that others would not have to endure the pain she had experienced in order to become educated. One of the most heart-warming moments of the video was seeing the smiles on the faces of the children whose lives she had touched. She learned that there was a great injustice being done to her people and actively took a stance against it, a bold move on her part, but worth it all the same. I think one of the greatest issues is spreading awareness to the native peoples about their personal rights while also respecting the culture that has been in place for generations. Education is the key to making the world a better place for everyone, and hopefully one day all people will experience the same liberties that we have in the US.
I realize it's important to consider multiple view points of an ethical issue but I don't know that there is any way to justify the common ritual of female circumcision in Kenya. One cannot succumb to cultural relativism and the misguided idea of "it's a different culture, who are we to say it's wrong". Simply put, the oppression and unfair treatment of women is universally wrong. The entire time I watched this video, I thought of the "One Billion Rising" event that was held last month. People like Kakenya recognize that some aspects of their culture are objectively wrong and actively strive to make a change. I am by no means attacking diversity or the value of multiculturalism but there are some cultural beliefs that violate universal human rights and cannot be protected. I enjoyed this TED talk and it's important that the public be made more aware of acts such as this.
ReplyDeleteI watched this last week and at first I had no idea how to respond. I was speechless, but I agree with Kyle that while cultural beliefs should not be completely disregarded they should still be held to objective moral standards. Even with the "One Billion Rising" event it shocks me that these things are still happening around the world. The most shocking aspect wast that Kakenya said what happened to her was actually illegal in Kenya. It is frightening to think that even though these practices are outlawed they still occur regularly without any interference.
DeleteThis video made me cry. It pains me to think about all the people who are being oppressed and mistreated like this. Its wrong to do this to people. It is even illegal in her country yet people in the village are still doing it. Who in their right mind does something like this to people? i get that its part of their culture and that in some ways they don't know any better or know any different. But shouldn't these people have enough intelligence to know that a rust knife isn't the best tool? I guess i'm just assuming that everyone knows these things and that they can feel compassion or even understand that this is wrong. It is wrong to oppress people regardless of the culture, regardless or race or gender. No matter where you go, oppression is wrong. It takes courage to do what she did and go through this procedure and take the risk in order to gain the knowledge and skills to better the future for tons of other girls. Because of what she did and the bravery she showed, others are being saved, others are having the chance for a better life, others will know what it feels like to be able to go for their dreams. We need more people like her, more people who are as brave, courageous and strong to stand up and make a change.
ReplyDeletei agree with Heather that its very wrong to do this to people. Since it being illegal in that country people would think twice about even performing such a surgery. i also agree that doing something such as this does require a great deal of courage in order for the gain of knowledge to better the life of other girls that may have to go through this very same procedure. The more people who are around to speak about how they feel will hopefully start to bring about changes that will allow other to change the way things are doen in that country.
DeleteI agree with what both of you are saying, the oppression of women around the world is something that needs to be changed. Even in the U.S. there are many many instances where women are still being oppressed and treated unfairly, but it is hard to imagine what ultimately goes on in places like Kenya where there are no institutions implemented to protect women. The female circumcision is wrong by all means but could just be the tip of the iceberg and it is disheartening to say the least. It's a terrible thing to think about and should't be going on, but the female circumcision is a practice that the people of Kenya believe and at the end of the day we don't have the right to try and change their religious beliefs. If another country came in and tried to change the way we did things it would be unsettling to say the least, I am not saying that I agree with what is going on by any means, but the "revolt" against a culture's beliefs must come from within, or we as a country, who believe in tolerance violate the rules to relativism.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Antonio that the need for change must come from within. In many ways the practice of female circumcision is similar to the old practice of sati in the Indian culure (widow throws her body on husband's funeral pyre). In both cases drastic harm is done to females following their respective cultures. To an outsider these practices are absurd, but the power of belief in one's culture/religion is a powerful thing that is difficult for outsiders to control. The practice and glorification of sati was legally banned by the Indian government in 1987. It will probably take another act like this by the Kenyan government to stop this horrific practice. The problem here is the rural nature and underdevelopment of Kenya. This creates many problems with enforcing any legal action against female circumcision.
DeleteThe worst thing is that this practice was already technically illegal in Kenya when it happened to Kakenya. Even internal enforcement hasn't been able to stop it, because of what Michael said, the large rural population in Kenya. This in itself is a problem with its own ethical issues that will probably have to be dealt with before real action can be taken against thispractice. Reastically, though, reflecting on this, creating more developement in Kenya is a problem on a much larger scale like other developing countries around the world, and is part of a much larger discussion that has been going on for longer than most of us have been alive.
DeleteI agree women have been oppressed since the ancient times. I am surprised that still nothing has been done to completely eliminate this problem. I think institutions should be established in Kenya in order to prevent this problem. Today our culture is entirely different from theirs. The fact we should not be allowed to force any one against their will the ethical issues that are involved with this will more than likely need to be eliminated for any further progress to be made in stopping this harmful procedure. Just as we rebelled against the British back in the 1700's i feel the natives to Kenya will have to stand up for themselves in order for change to occur.
DeleteThis is a terrible thing, and blows my mind that people do things like this in other countries. I feel blessed to be in the country that we live in where these things do not happen. I agree with Booker that we do not have the right to force anything on another culture, even though the U.S. trys to a lot. The only thing we can do is be an example by doing things the way we believe is right, and have equal treatment more everyone.
ReplyDeleteWatching this video made me realize how cultures can be so much different than ours. I can not believe there are still such barbaric traditions still occurring today. I agree with Booker also, that we cannot force traditions and cultures to change. However, like the woman in the video has done, we need to be able to reach out to those people being oppressed and give them a voice as she had done. We have to help and educate these cultures on what is right and what is wrong as she had done.
ReplyDeleteThis video is so powerful. She is a great speaker, and I feel as if she was speaking directly to me. She is truly an inspiration to not only women but anyone you inspires to be something or someone. This video shows the importance of education and how just one person with an education can impact the entire community.
ReplyDeleteShe has a lot of courage getting speaking in front of strangers about what happened to her. I do not think any sort of justification can be made for female circumcision. The fact this goes on i don't agree with it at all. We may not be able to change the traditions and cultures, but i think if more woman like her begin to speak out maybe reforms can begin to be made. I think no matter what oppression and forcing an individual to go through with something that may make them feel uncomfortable is wrong.
ReplyDeleteI agree that she has great courage Adam, not only for speaking up, but also for returning to her town. It took real strength to return to the people who hurt her, and she goes a step further by helping to improve their lives through building schools.
DeleteThis video left me speechless at first. I agree with what many of you are saying, that it took immense courage for her to not only get up and talk about her experience but to have accepted the situation and still be able to go on and create a better life for herself. I also think that her actions are the beginning of a much needed change in the culture. I believe that one of the major issues is the fact that the people do not seem to be doing anything wrong. Like she was saying this is a right of passage, and a ceremony. It was something that seemed to be excited and almost looking forward to. That is where I think the culture really needs to change. This is not something to be celebrated; it needs to become a practice of the past.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jamie this video is very shocking and she is very strong to speak out about it now against her culture. It is sad that this culture has made this "rite of passage" as something exciting that people look forward to because it says that they are now a woman. This culture does need to change, but it is hard to go somewhere and tell people that what they have been doing all along is totally wrong. If someone could go there with a person that is from the culture and explain everything that is wrong with this procedure, then maybe will listen and stop this!
DeleteI am with everyone else in that I am shocked. It is really hard to say what customs are right and wrong and we must respect the other cultures; however, we must first respect the individuals in that culture. I think this is a case to where the individual is above the group and her voice must be heard
ReplyDeleteI completely agree Brent. I would be interested to see everyone's opinions though if even after being educated and given an option not to go through with the ceremony, the girl still chose to do it for her own personal beliefs. Should there be a penalty on the girl and the girl's family sense female genital mutilation is against the state law in Kenya? Would this dissuade others from going through with it? Just to clarify, I am not for the abhorrent ritual myself and would argue that a person's autonomy is forfeited when they are at risk of severely harming themselves or others. Kakenya herself testified to how fortunate she was that she survived the procedure and that many girls are not that lucky.
DeleteThis video and Kakenya is inspirational for changing her community. This video is hard to watch and made me cringe when she was talking about the ritual that happen to girls when they hit puberty. It takes a strong person to try and change what seems like a strict set of rules in her community. She is a strong person for doing that. It is hard to say that another culture's rituals are wrong because we are not a part of that culture, but I am not sure how you can justify this ritual at all.
ReplyDeleteThis is a hard video to respond to in a sense that its deals with Cultural beliefs, laws and ethics. While I am a bigger believer in going out in making the world a better place I believe in this instance the best person to advocate and inform people that this is illegal are women in those societies. She had the opportunity to better herself and the ability to follow her dreams although it cam at the price of mutilation. It is sad that the only way she was able to find out about this and how illegal it really was in her home land was by coming to the US for college. She seems so optimistic even though she had been put through something she did not have to get done. Education is truly the fundamental in regards to knowing right and wrong. That she able to go back and teach girls in her village and stop the mutilation is a great thing. It is hard to balance culture with ethics but in a case like this no where should this be a ritual that girls must go through. You can't say someones culture is wrong because we aren't apart of it or believe in it's rituals, but in all honesty I am not sure how you can justify this topic at all.
ReplyDeleteThis is an example of some rituals other cultures have.... trust me it's a good read....
http://www.ohio.edu/people/thompsoc/body.html
It's proof that culture is not justification for evil. The only defense this has is a chauvinistic justification that women can't control themselves, and it is part of culture. I remember once hearing of a case where a man killed his father in law for trying to have his daughter castrated, and the mother wanted it to happen as well. The father ended up pleading out for a reduced sentence, and the mother was denied custody. So this has legal precedent.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that after the entire ordeal of female genital mutilation and the issues she had with continuing her education that Kakenya was able to maintain her sense of humor and vitality. It is a real testament to her character that she would have the strength to not only pursue her dream, but to insure that others would not have to endure the pain she had experienced in order to become educated. One of the most heart-warming moments of the video was seeing the smiles on the faces of the children whose lives she had touched. She learned that there was a great injustice being done to her people and actively took a stance against it, a bold move on her part, but worth it all the same. I think one of the greatest issues is spreading awareness to the native peoples about their personal rights while also respecting the culture that has been in place for generations. Education is the key to making the world a better place for everyone, and hopefully one day all people will experience the same liberties that we have in the US.
ReplyDelete