--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How strange that excision – female…" description: "\"How strange that excision – female circumcision, with several languages using the same term for both kinds of mutilation – of little girls should revol..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e5/michel-onfray-17240_body_how-strange-that-excision-female-circumc_1545220.jpg" --- # How strange that excision – female circumcision, with… ![“How strange that excision – female circumcision, with several languages using the same term for both kinds of mutilation – of little girls should revolt the westerner but excite no disapproval when it is performed on little boys. Consensus on the point seems absolute. But ask your interlocutor to…” quote by Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e5/michel-onfray-17240_body_how-strange-that-excision-female-circumc_1545220.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e5/michel-onfray-17240_body_how-strange-that-excision-female-circumc_1545220.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e5/michel-onfray-17240_body_how-strange-that-excision-female-circumc_1545220.jpg) > “How strange that excision – female circumcision, with several languages using the same term for both kinds of mutilation – of little girls should revolt the westerner but excite no disapproval when it is performed on little boys. Consensus on the point seems absolute. But ask your interlocutor to think about the validity of this surgical procedure, which consists of removing a healthy part of a nonconsenting child’s body on nonmedical grounds – the legal definition of… mutilation.” [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote highlights a double standard where female genital cutting is condemned while male circumcision is socially accepted despite both involving non‑consensual removal of healthy tissue. **In simple terms:** Society treats similar procedures differently based on gender. Key Takeaway Question gender bias in medical ethics. Themes gender bias ethics cultural norms human rights Mood critical reflective Type ethical analytical When to use this quote - parental decision making - policy debate - public health campaigns - legal reform Key Concepts bodily autonomy consent medical ethics Questions to Reflect On - How does gender influence moral judgments about bodily integrity? - What criteria should determine acceptable medical procedures on children? A Different Perspective Cultural traditions often outweigh ethical concerns in public opinion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Boys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boys/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Circumcision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/circumcision/) [Consensus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consensus/) [Definitions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/definitions/) [Disapproval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disapproval/) [Excision Female](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/excision-female-5762620/) [Female](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/female/) [Female Circumcision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/female-circumcision-1802775/) [Girl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/girl/) [Healthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/healthy/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Kinds Mutilation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kinds-mutilation-5762619/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Little boys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-boys/) [Littles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/littles/) [Mutilation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mutilation/) [Procedures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/procedures/) [Revolt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolt/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Strange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange/) [Term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/term/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [I had to educate myself about female circumcision, about the clitoris, about sexology. We studied gynecology only. Pregnancy, maternal care, etc.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nawal-el-saadawi/i-had-to-educate-myself-about-female-circumcision-about-the-clitoris/) [Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/) > [“Why are so many Americans for male circumcision but against female circumcision? Both are equally cruel and barbaric traditions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-markus-malloy/why-are-so-many-americans-for-male-circumcision-but-against-female/) [Oliver Markus Malloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-markus-malloy/) > [Here the oppression of women is very subtle. If we take female circumcision, the excision of the clitoris, it is done physically in Egypt.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nawal-el-saadawi/here-the-oppression-of-women-is-very-subtle-if-we-take-female/) [Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/) > [“We are the circumcision, the ones who serve by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus, and do not put confidence in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/we-are-the-circumcision-the-ones-who-serve-by-the-spirit-of-god-boast/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [If circumcision has any justification AT ALL, it should be medical only. Parents' religion is the worst of all reasons - pure child abuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/if-circumcision-has-any-justification-at-all-it-should-be-medical/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“Theologically, the demand for “circumcision” can take many forms, even today. It appears whenever one thinks along these lines: “Faith in Christ is fine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leander-e-keck/theologically-the-demand-for-circumcision-can-take-many-forms-even/) [Leander E. Keck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leander-e-keck/) > [I believe the time has come to acknowledge that the practice of routine circumcision rests on the absurd premise that the only mammal in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/i-believe-the-time-has-come-to-acknowledge-that-the-practice-of/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [“Our revulsion towards cutting the genitals of girls should give us pause, however, for the themes the Western world abhors – removing part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-l-gollaher/our-revulsion-towards-cutting-the-genitals-of-girls-should-give-us/) [David L. Gollaher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-l-gollaher/) > [The struggle for world domination is between me and the Jews. All else is meaningless. The Jews have inflicted two wounds on the world:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/the-struggle-for-world-domination-is-between-me-and-the-jews-all-else/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [Circumcision is where sex and violence meet for the first time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannine-parvati-baker/circumcision-is-where-sex-and-violence-meet-for-the-first-time/) [Jeannine Parvati Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannine-parvati-baker/) > [Were we to still be circumcising the hood of the female clitoris, we would not have difficulty considering this a continuation of our tradition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-farrell/were-we-to-still-be-circumcising-the-hood-of-the-female-clitoris-we/) [Warren Farrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-farrell/) > [Circumcision stands for a religion of human achievement, of what man can do by his own good works; Christ stands for a religion of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stott/circumcision-stands-for-a-religion-of-human-achievement-of-what-man/) [John Stott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stott/) > [Every luxury was lavished on you - atheism, breastfeeding, circumcision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-orton/every-luxury-was-lavished-on-you-atheism-breastfeeding-circumcision/) [Joe Orton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-orton/) > [“...I asked a friend if he felt ‘different’ when he was the only uncircumcised man in the shower and he said,‘Yes, gloriously different.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-o-hara/i-asked-a-friend-if-he-felt-different-when-he-was-the-only/) [Kristen O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-o-hara/) > [“A woman used to perform circumcision in Medina. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to her: Do not cut severely as that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atiyyah-al-ansariyyah/a-woman-used-to-perform-circumcision-in-medina-the-prophet-peace-be/) [Atiyyah al-Ansariyyah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atiyyah-al-ansariyyah/) ## More by Michel Onfray > [Death is a false fear. When it is here, you won't be. When it's not, you are here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/death-is-a-false-fear-when-it-is-here-you-won-t-be-when-it-s-not-you/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [Philosophy is best practised by people in general and not by philosophers alone. Philosophy is too often a luxury now, but in ancient Greece,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/philosophy-is-best-practised-by-people-in-general-and-not-by/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [“For the first time (but how long will it take us to acknowledge this?) in the history of ideas, a philosopher had dedicated a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/for-the-first-time-but-how-long-will-it-take-us-to-acknowledge-this/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [I discovered philosophy in my youth when I read 'wildly,' and thus I was exposed to the world of ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/i-discovered-philosophy-in-my-youth-when-i-read-wildly-and-thus-i-was/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [I persist in preferring philosophers to rabbis priests imams ayatollahs and mullahs. Rather than trust their theological hocus-pocus I prefer to draw on alternatives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/i-persist-in-preferring-philosophers-to-rabbis-priests-imams/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [We can no more tolerate neutrality and benevolence toward every conceivable form of discourse, including that of magical thinking, than we can lump together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/we-can-no-more-tolerate-neutrality-and-benevolence-toward-every/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [I found it amazing people can think that art must be connected to religion. Religion may give art themes, but there would still be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/i-found-it-amazing-people-can-think-that-art-must-be-connected-to/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [Religion is like magic. It is all about tricks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/religion-is-like-magic-it-is-all-about-tricks/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [“I do not despise believers. I find them neither ridiculous nor pathetic, but I lose all hope when I see that they prefer the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/i-do-not-despise-believers-i-find-them-neither-ridiculous-nor/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [Camus believed in dialogue and diplomacy, and enlisted his work as a philosopher to the need to find nonviolent solutions, whereas Sartre called for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/camus-believed-in-dialogue-and-diplomacy-and-enlisted-his-work-as-a/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [God is a fiction invented by people so they do not have to face the reality of their condition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/god-is-a-fiction-invented-by-people-so-they-do-not-have-to-face-the/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [It's hard for me to imagine a philosopher disconnected from the world, indifferent to the cares of his country, unmoved by poverty, unemployment: I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/it-s-hard-for-me-to-imagine-a-philosopher-disconnected-from-the-world/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [I have a big problem with Islam.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/i-have-a-big-problem-with-islam/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [We are fashioned not by our genes, but by our environment - by the family and socio-historic conditions in which we evolve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/we-are-fashioned-not-by-our-genes-but-by-our-environment-by-the/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [The three monotheism share a series of identical forms of aversion: hatred of reason and intelligence; hatred of freedom; hatred of all books in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/the-three-monotheism-share-a-series-of-identical-forms-of-aversion/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) [Explore all 28 Michel Onfray quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) ## More Body quotes > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [The very purpose for being in this body, for every one of us, is to live and rejoice in that virgin area, that untouched,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/the-very-purpose-for-being-in-this-body-for-every-one-of-us-is-to/) [Sri Sri Ravi Shankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/) > [Because of the womb being a central phenomenon in the feminine body, the whole psychology of woman differs: she is non-aggressive, non-inquiring, non-questioning, non-doubting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/because-of-the-womb-being-a-central-phenomenon-in-the-feminine-body/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [I've used the Phoenix Centrifuge to replicate what the body's going to go through on the flight up. 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My work requires it - but I myself have no need or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsden-hartley/it-is-the-incongruous-thing-in-my-entire-life-this-isolation-my-work/) [Marsden Hartley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsden-hartley/) > [My friends, this body - perhaps more than any other gathering in human history - now faces that difficult task.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/my-friends-this-body-perhaps-more-than-any-other-gathering-in-human/) [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/) [Browse all 20,814 Body quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "How strange that excision – female circumcision, with several languages using the same term for both kinds of mutilation – of little girls should revolt the westerner but excite no disapproval when it is performed on little boys. Consensus on the point seems absolute. 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