i’ve been debating all day whether to write about this article i read in the New York Times today or not.  i guess i decided to write about it.  but i still feel conflicted. 

here’s the problem, i’m a smart girl, i’m no genius but smart enough most days and while i’m more informed about worldly events than the average American (and apparently more educated considering i can point to not only North America but several other continents – not to mention actual countries too – on a map) i have been doing a piss poor job of keeping involved in current events, politics, world issues, etc.  i get my news mostly from the internet, clicking on stories that interest me.  i don’t regularly read any newspapers and i refuse to watch American news reports which we all know are really entertaiment news programs anyway.  as such i feel like my information is a bit limited and part of this is deliberate.   like many educated people i suffer from a strong desire to know these things and be involved, but also like many people i feel overwhelmed quickly.  i can only read about a war that i have no interest in (and if it were up to me we would not have ever gotten involved in) so many times before i give up in frustration. 

i think it’s a combination of things, but mostly there are not enough hours in the day for me to work my job, submit (and write) short fiction, submit my novel, re-write my novel, re-draw and re-tool my graphic novel, work out (which always seems to get lost in the shuffle), engage in my relationship, and also both care about and do something about things like female genital mutilation in Egypt (or anywhere else for that matter).  so all i end up feeling is frustration. 

on one hand it is my choice to not do anything about it, to instead focus my energy on becoming a “successful” writer.  on the other hand if people like me don’t care (there seem to be so few of us out there) then who will do anything?  *sigh*  it’s depressing.  in my mind there is always going to be ample time to care about such things when i quit my full time job and become a “full time writer” because then i will have all this magical free time that used to be used up on writing…but we all know that is a myth.  there will never be any extra time.  maybe this is why i get mad when people tell me they are bored.  please, give me your extra time that you have to be bored, because there are plenty of things i’d like to do with your “i’m bored” time.

okay, enough of the rant.  please read the article below, and if you’re a better person than me (i hope you are) consider getting involved.  there must be something that can be done.

these men are cowards.  they are afraid of change and more importantly they are afraid of the power of women.  they hide behind religion because it is hard to attack religion without being called all sorts of things, but what they are too cowardly to realize is that they are hiding behind man’s interpretation of God’s word and man gets things wrong all the time, this is no exception.

and speaking of getting things wrong…how is female genital mutilation the same as circumcision?  it’s not female circumcision it is female castration.  

it is female castration and it has to stop. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/20/world/africa/20girls.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin

this is a picture from the NY Times article of some of the men who defend the tradition of genital cutting with the words, “we support circumcision!”  you are cowards.  you are all cowards.