Fatima Said, of Americas Top Model, defiantly put female genital cutting in the minds of Americans and people around the world. She opened up a topic that many people had no idea about, and now are very interested in knowing more about. This essay will give a brief history of Somalia (Fatima’s home country), and then it will go into female genital cutting in Somalia.

Somalia is a country in eastern Africa. The countries of Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Kenya surround it. Somalis are thought to have been decedents from Africans and Arab people. The main languages in Somalia are Arabic, Italian and English. Islam is practiced through out the region. The majorities of Somalis are livestock herders and cultivate the land that they have. (www.cia.gov). Somalia became independent and its own country in 1960, when it got independence from England and Italy. Somalia has not had a stable government between 1991 and 2000. However, during 2000 a parliamentary government was formed but later on expired in 2003. In 2004, a new parliament was organized and a president was elected- Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed. Since 1991, Somalia has been overwhelmed with chaos and anarchy. Somalia had gone through a difficult time in 1992 when a drought happened in Africa and was combined with a civil war. Somalia went through an intense famine that killed approximately 300,000 people. (www.cia.gov). There were many efforts done by the United Stated and the United Nations to help Somalia get through the drought and civil war. However, there was a negative reaction from some Somalis with “outside intervention”. In 2006, Somalia went through its worst outbreak of violence in 10 years. The fights were between Islamist militias called the Somali Islamic Courts Council (SICC) and rival militias. The Islamic militias gained control of the capital, Mogadishu, on June 6, 2006. Since then there have been many efforts to negotiate with the Islamic Courts Council but it was unsuccessful. In January 2007, the United States launched air strikes on Islamists in Somalia. This is because they were thought to have been members of Al-Quaeda and were suspected in the involvement in the 1998 American embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar el Salaam. (www.bbc.co.uk). Somalia has been overwhelmed with chaos and anarchy.

Female genital cutting (FGC) is very prominent in Somalia. There are four types of circumcisions. The World Health Organization (WHO), classifies them as such: Type I — Partial or total removal of the clitoris and/or the prepuce (clitoridectomy). Type II — Partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora (excision). Type III — Narrowing of the vaginal orifice with creation of a covering seal by cutting and appositioning the labia minora and/or the labia majora, with or without excision of the clitoris (infibulation). Type IV — All other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, for example: pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterization. (www.who.int). The most common form of FGC practiced is Type III (infibulation). “Almost 100% of its female population has undergone some form of circumcision. The majority of girls undergo the operation irrespective of economic class, education, or urban/rural background” (Abdalla). Approximately, 100% of the women in Somalia have had Type III circumcision done. Type I (also called “Sunnah”) is mostly practiced in the costal towns of Somalia. It has been noted that more than 90% of Somali women have been circumcised, and the numbers are growing. Type III is being done to roughly 91% of the women, while Type I is being done to 9% of the women. (US State Department). It is commonly preformed on girls as young as six or seven years old. (Abdalla). People have different beliefs on many different things in general. Especially for female genital cutting, different cultures, countries, and even tribes have different reasons to why they undergo this procedure. In Somalia, a big portion of the population sees that female circumcision is necessary because it is a religious obligation. “Orthodox Islam has made its mark on this society, defining to a regulating gender relations in matters pertaining to women’s personality and behavior is shaped by combination of the Quran and Muslim teachings with indigenous customs and beliefs.” (Abdalla). It is also seen as a necessity to be done to ensure a family’s honor. This is because a girl’s virginity and family honor are basically seen as one thing. That is why female circumcision is necessary and is stressed on in Somalia. “ Fear of women’s sexuality has led to the imposition of strict codes of virginity and chastity as appropriate of conduct” (Abdalla). As stated earlier, pharonic circumcision (type III) is the most commonly done in Somalia. One reason to why it is looked as a good thing is because “pharonic circumcision is said to enhance the possibility that girls will behave like “good girls”, and so to make sure that no children without fathers are born within one’s family” (Johnsdotter). Male dominance is also a major thing in Somalia. Male supremacy is part of Somali customs and tradition. “Male superiority is intricately woven into customs and local interpretations of Islamic traditions” (Abdalla). Circumcision is also seen as necessary because it “guarantees their virginity and to prevent their independent sexual pleasure and excitability” (Abdalla)

The Somali Women’s Democratic Organization (SWDO) was established in 1977. The main purpose of SWDO is to completely abolish female genital cutting in Somalia and to educate Somali women about health issues that are caused because of female circumcision (Abdalla). In 1988, the Somali government also launched a national campaign to inform the public that female circumcision is dangerous to women’s health and that it is not a requirement in Islam. It was also stressed in the campaign that female circumcision does not guarantee a girl’s virginity (US State Department).

Fatima Said is a 22-year-old Somali woman and a New York University student. She is also a contestant on Tyra Banks’ Americas Next Top Model. During the first episode of the show she came out very bluntly and said, “When I was seven, I was circumcised. It’s a very traditional positive thing where I’m from. Female genital mutilation is removing the entire clitoris and sewing the two labia together. I’m going to dedicate my life to making sure no one goes through what I went through. As we are talking right now, young girls are being circumcised and some are dying in the process.” (www.youtube.com) Saying that it is a “positive” thing may have struck some people in a way that she might have been for this. However, I feel that she might have seen it as a cultural and necessary thing for her at the time, but she doesn’t want it to be for other girls in Somalia. She states that she will dedicate her life to stop the action of female circumcision. Since Fatima came out and said that she was circumcised in front on millions of people, it has been a big controversy. However, the only negative thing about it is that some might see it as a religious practice and some people might just automatically think that it is only done in Africa. I personally do not see it as a complete controversy because now people are now interested in knowing more on the topic and are willing to do something to stop the action. People now can ask, research, and read more on the topic. I feel that Fatima did an amazing thing by telling people her “secret”. She is now allowing people to be educated and well aware of the world. She also was able to introduce a new country and new culture to the American people. Somalia is a country that is not talked about a lot. Not a lot of people can identify it on a map nor know any basic information about it. When I read Fatima’s name on the list of topic for this final paper, I was extremely excited about it. She is truly a person that did well in the world by letting people know and educated about female circumcision. In my opinion, she is a very strong and brave woman. For a person to stand in front of millions of people and say that she underwent female circumcision is amazing.

Works Cited
Abdalla, Raqiya D. ""My Grandmother Called It the Three Feminine Sorrows": the Struggle of Women Against Female Circumcision in Somalia." Female Circumcision. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania P, 2006. 187-204.
"Classification of Female Genital Mutilation." The World Health Organization. 5 May 2008 <http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/fgm/terminology.htm>.
"Country Profile: Somalia." BBC News. 02 May 2008. 5 May 2008 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1072592.stm>.
Fatima ANTM Cycle 10. Perf. Fatima Said, Tyra Banks. 2008. YouTube. 5 May 2008 <http://youtube.com/watch?v=sBCtDU7FW8E>.
Johnsdotter, Sara. "Persistence of Traditional or Reassessment of Cultural Practices in Exile?" Transcultural Bodies: Female Genital Cutting in Global Contex. New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 2007. 107-134.
"Somalia: Report on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) or Female Genital Cutting (FGC)." U.S Department of State. 01 June 2001. 5 May 2008 <http://www.state.gov/g/wi/rls/rep/crfgm/10109.htm>.
"Somalia." CIA- the World Factbook. 15 Apr. 2008. 5 May 2008 <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/so.html>.