Children Quote by David L. Gollaher
““Our revulsion towards cutting the genitals of girls should give us pause, however, for the themes the Western world abhors – removing part of the genitals to reduce sexual pleasure, carving children’s bodies to conform to certain social ideals, visiting pain on helpless children – are all fully present in the history of male circumcision.””
About This Quote
Source Article: Cultural Critique on Circumcision, 2019
Male circumcision shares harmful aspects with other bodily modifications imposed on children, prompting ethical concerns.
In simple terms: Both practices involve non-consensual bodily alteration.
Key Takeaway
Question the ethics of non-consensual modifications.
Themes
ethics
body autonomy
culture
Mood
critical
empathetic
Type
ethical
controversial
When to use this quote
- parental decision making
- health policy
- cultural tradition
Key Concepts
human rights
medical ethics
Questions to Reflect On
- Is it ethical to alter a child's body without consent?
- How do cultural traditions justify bodily modifications?
![“Were we to still be circumcising the hood of the female clitoris, we would not have difficulty considering this a continuation of our tradition to keep girls sexually repressed. America's reflexive continuation of [male] circumcision-without-research reflects the continuation of our tradition to…” quote by Warren Farrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/749/warren-farrell-1187_america_were-we-to-still-be-circumcising-the-hoo_255459.jpg)
![“After all, [female genital mutilation is] a key pillar of institutional misogyny in Islam: its entire purpose is to deny women sexual pleasure. True, a lot of us hapless western men find we deny women sexual pleasure without even trying, but we don't demand genital mutilation to guarantee it. On…” quote by Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f52/mark-steyn-1844_civilization_after-all-female-genital-mutilation-is-a_1656323.jpg)
