April Joy S.

Mendoza
BSED 1101

CASE ANALYSIS

Lily, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

Lily endured female genital mutilation at the age of 8. This is considered

as female circumcision which is done in some places in Africa. In Lily’s case
she got cut and her mother allowed it to happen since it is thought to help
women in avoiding having sexual pleasure. Her mother insisted that it would
help Lily to bear children.
Due to this genital mutilation, Lily suffered great pain while having
menstruation and peeing. Another thing is that when she got married, her
husband forced her to sleep with him which caused her excruciating pain in
her genitals. Sadly, she was not able to bear a child which resulted for her
husband to leave her.
Lily became a victim of the culture and society that she belonged to. It is
common for them to do it since it is a practice done as part of their culture. I
feel sorry for Lily since she did not deserve it and she suffered not just
physically and sexually, but also psychologically.
In terms of sexual self, her role as a woman was dictated by her society.
It was fixated that she would only take care of her household and bear
children. If in case she does not perform these two tasks given, the society
could then determine if her role as a woman is fulfilled or not.
The case of Lily helped me realize the reality that your role is always
affected by how a society wants you to act. Her parents could just not do FGM
if they never wanted to. However, if they do this, their society would then
think that they are disobedient to the practices conducted as a norm. Lily’s
fate has been sealed and her role as woman is already set. She would be, just
like any other woman before her, would be cut, married, give birth to her own
children who would then be victims of the same repetitive process.
 There have been moves done by the World Health Organization (WHO)
in stopping these odd practices which do not just risk the lives of women, but
also abuse and reduce their sexual quality of life.