BIOETHICS, MOTHERFUCKERS!

[ink_n_imp]

So, there I was--freshly exercised, fed, and showered--catching up on internet things before I fell into the sweet arms of Morpheus, when this caught my eye on my twitter feed:

"DodgerofZion: @thelindsayellis Happening pretty close to your backyard: http://bit.ly/bz2nV8"

TRIGGER WARNING (because I didn't think to warn on my twitter, and my sincere apologies to one friend. RECAP: the links regard female genital surgery on very young children conducted AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY. And all because their clits were deemed by the doctors as too big. Oh, and without the consent of the ethics board (though, WTF what the FUCK sort of ethics board ok-ed the first part?!!?) the doctor wants to perform yearly examinations involving stimulation with a vibrating device and a Q-tip. And this research, though the head doctor is a man, the other two doctors whose names are attached to the report are women.)


I clicked the link. And then clicked on this article as well (Bad Vibrations).

I'm just going to let that sink in for a moment.

Ok.

Got it?

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

NO. REALLY.

The only thing these University of Mengele PhD holders deserve is to QUALIFY FOR A DARWIN AWARD. The basis and justification for this procedure and study is horrifying. I DON'T CARE IF YOU CLAIM BIG CLITS MAKE GIRLS AGGRESSIVE, TOMBOYISH, AND *GASP* LESBIANS! The psychological harm of just the physical examination of being sexually stimulated by your "Doctor" as your PARENTS watch has GOT to outweigh the harm of growing up with a clit that doesn't "Look Right".

HAVING GENITAL THAT DOESN'T LOOK "NORMAL" ISN'T AN ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO BE FIXED SURGICALLY AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE. AND UNLESS IT SOMEHOW SEVERELY DIMINISHES A PERSON'S QUALITY OF LIFE FOR EITHER HEALTH OR PSYCHOLOGICAL REASON, IT SHOULD NEVER BE AN ISSUE.

This study is bullshit, these doctors' are out of their fucking minds, and I'm mad as hell. Tell me I'm not crazy for thinking this. Please, tell me my outrage isn't misplaced this time.

Comments

[toddpage.livejournal.com]

holy fuckballs.

what a great way to fuck those kids up forever.

[puckling.livejournal.com]

This study is bullshit, these doctors' are out of their fucking minds, and I'm mad as hell. Tell me I'm not crazy for thinking this. Please, tell me my outrage isn't misplaced this time.

...I'm not going to click the link. This is mostly because I really don't want to. But if it's anything like what you're describing then no, no you are not full of misplaced rage.

What the fucking fuck people, it's the 21st century, not the 19th. We don't go around genitally mutilating children "for their own good". Jesus fucking christ.

[morgana.livejournal.com]

Wow. That... is fucked up beyond words and I feel sort of sick reading that first link. Even if I'm still trying to digest it, I can safely say your outrage is absolutely justified. WTF.

[mellacita.livejournal.com]

You're not crazy. I can't fathom how anyone would find this acceptable.

[ugasaiki.livejournal.com]

I actually saw this a few hours ago, but I was so angry I had to take a breather so as not to sound like a unstable lunatic, foaming at the mouth.

This pisses me off so damn much. No. Just. NO. There is absolutely no justification for it. "Normal" is just a term that gets slapped onto overall patterns. It serves as a guideline as to what to expect, not a fucking blueprint to die by.

Also, it's one thing to improve the quality of life, (i.e. circumcision, although controversial, at the very least it has the benefit of decreasing the rate of infection) but this atrocity has no medicinal purpose at all. None. It does NOTHING except cater to the chauvinism and homophobia of fuckwads who need to get a serious lesson on paternalism and butt out of things they have no business sticking their noses in.

Seriously, I hope the ethics committee will rip them to shreds over this. It's the least they deserve.

[gaslightgallows]

No, your rage is not misplaced. At all.

Clit... too big? What?! Excuse me, barfing forever now.

Since I refuse to click the link--are these parents from a culture where female circumcision is considered 'normal'? Or was this totally a decision of the doctor?

[ink-n-imp.livejournal.com]

The background of the parents is not mentioned. While they may be from cultures that encourage female circumcision, the fact that the "study" is being done really just for aesthetic purposes and to make the girls more socially and sexually "normal" without damaging the nerves (...I can't believe I just typed that, I need a moment. ... Ok.), a lot of the articles calling the alarm about these mad doctors question what the FUCK are they telling these parents to justify this!? On their website there is NO run down of the adverse side affects of UNNECESSARY SURGERY especially in an area so sensitive nerve-wise, only a run down of the perceived "benefits". The articles more question the doctors' ethics/'What the FUCK do they think they are doing and WHAT FOR?' more than the parents' reason for consent.

....You know, this entire debacle is full of such shit there aren't enough quotations in the world to express my sarcastic disgust.

[missdewey.livejournal.com]

My gut reaction is that there must be some part of this story that we're missing or that is being twisted to make it appear as something it isn't, because there's no way any ethics board in America would allow something like that.

... my secondary reaction is a violent urge to vomit.

[ink-n-imp.livejournal.com]

I know, right? It's like...this can't be real. This can't be. I mean, we have Ethics Boards for a reason. I want to be wrong. I really, really want this to be a horrible misunderstanding, that this is somehow a necessary procedure for the girls' health and well-being.

I'm going to keep hoping it's totally not legit. Because cultural female genital mutilation is horrendous, but this would just be--

No. Can't even.

[inamac.livejournal.com]

Part of the story is being missed - the surgery was carried out on 51 girls/women altogether, between the ages of 3 and 24 - so some (hopefully most) would have been consenting adults, and the clinical justification was to find an alternative less damaging form of surgery to correct a genuine harmful medical condition which is 'normally' corrected by complete excision of the clitoris.

BUT none of that justifies the actual procedure being carried out on ANY non-consenting child, OR on children/women who did not actually have the condition that the surgery is designed to alleviate.

Ethics boards should be a bit more careful about what they sanction. Heads are going to have to roll over this.

And, having now read the original research paper, I join you in the vomitorium.

[missdewey.livejournal.com]

Can I ask (since I refuse to read the study, it won't end well if I do) what the medical condition they're trying to treat is, and did all the patients have that condition or was this merely cosmetic surgery as many are suggesting?

[inamac.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I forget - and I'm not going to read that again - the point is that none of the women/girls in the 'study' had anything clinically 'wrong' - except for the misfortune of having been born with a clitoris 'between "one to two-and-a-half centimeters" long. So yes, purely 'cosmetic' from the POV of the 'subjects' - and 'experimental' from the POV of the butcher surgeon.

[utterlystrange.livejournal.com]

According to the study, There were 51 patients involved in this study. 46 of them had the condition Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia, 3 were male-to-female transgendered women, and 2 had other sexual development disorders.

[mellifluous-ink.livejournal.com]

What the bloody colicky fuck is wrong with girls who are tomboyish, aggressive, and lesbians?

Also I am quite glad I've got a big clitoris, thank you very much.

Also, I believe there is a commandment being broken. DO NOT SLASH UP OTHER PEOPLES GENITALIA. ESPECIALLY BABIES. DEAR GODS.

I have no words. I have frothing rage but no words.

[zekkass.livejournal.com]

jesus christ what is WRONG with people

I'll be over here, horrified.

[singingrain5.livejournal.com]

WHAT THE FUCKING HELL?! D< I read the whole thing with a growing sense of horror, even teared up, and now the rage is starting to sink in. WHAT THE FUCKING HELL IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?

[violetmint.livejournal.com]

I had a lover last year whose clit was removed for being too big. The rage of that..the unspeakable rage. She'll never get over it. Never.
I am going to click on the article, but the Q-tip vibrator aspect really is sending me right over the proverbial edge, as if it is possible to be sent further over the edge with a topic like female genital mutilation. Please tell me that this isn't still going on?!

[zekkass.livejournal.com]

Q: How on earth do I convince my Mom that these are legit sources, and this is a real problem? She's being skeptical. >:(

[utterlystrange.livejournal.com]

Here's the actual paper Yes, I realize that's hosted on the thestranger's website. this is a link to the gov website with the paper, though I don't believe non doctors can read the whole thing.

Here's a response from a almost doctor on livejournal.

Follow the Bad Vibration's link above, that's a rebuttal from some of the doctors who did the study.

Anything else? I can find anything