Mutilation

In this article, circumcision of Egyptian females is discussed. I think circumcision is disgusting. And inhibiting a woman's sexuality like that while risking her life just to make sure she can't have premarital sex is inhumane.
As a European who have grown up in a society where sex isn't such a big deal, where you can do as you please with your body as long as you feel good about it (to a certain extent of course. There are always idiots who are afraid of sexuality and will try to make you feel bad about your sexuality) apart from prostitution, it is really hard to understand why someone would like to do something like this to people they love. I mean, how can a parent give a doctor permission to mutilate their daughter's sex organ? Especially when they know how much pain and suffering this will cause them, not to mention the risk of the child dying.
It's all about the patterns and behaviour that they have been taught by society. This is very difficult to break, and often you don't even know it's not really your choice, but it's a choice that has been made for you by society. Females have been circumcised for generations, and it's not likely to stop now. This is what they know and what they have known since birth, and long before that.
It's appalling. And what's even more appalling is that many of the girls agree that this circumcision is necessary in order to get a husband. Although what really worries me is when they say something like this (my translation):
"In Egypt there is peace and safety because of circumcision."
I can't really claim to be an expert on Egypt and the society there, but I have a really hard time to believe that a vagina has anything to do with homeland security in any country. And if it does, that's just sick.
Please, leave these girls alone. Sexual organs have been there since we grew out of being one-celled organisms, and they're not impure, they're not ugly and there's nothing wrong in having them. Just let them be.

Rosita

Today I found an article on DN.se that really broke my heart. The world isn't fair, and there are a lot of things that have gone wrong, but some days some things just really break my heart.
This article made me want to cry. It's about a 14-year old girl in Nicaragua who has been sexually abused and raped for several years. 19 months ago, when she was 12, she gave birth to a child as a consequence of a rape that her step father is believed to have gone through with.
Nicaragua apparently has a law that forbids abortion and therefore this 12-year old child, who has already been through more than a lot of other people have at her age, has to live with a reminder of this every day. All because of some Catholic people who reckon that being able to choose what is done to your body is insignificant. It's horrible and it really makes me want to weep.
It's because of these days and because of everything horrible I read in the news papers that makes me want to study politics and work against it. No one should ever have to go through things like these. I know it's impossible, there is no way to create a utopia and the world will always be unfair, cold and cruel. But I think that the smallest change you can do for someone's life, the smallest step in the right direction to human rights is worth it. Imagine what it means to that individual.
So start making a difference today even if it means just to keep a debate alive. Never, ever give up, and if you ever stop caring, think of Rosita.