Should Fauziya have stayed in Togo and accepted her country’s cultural practices? Why or why not?

Social Psychology (10th Edition)
10th Edition
ISBN:9780134641287
Author:Elliot Aronson, Timothy D. Wilson, Robin M. Akert, Samuel R. Sommers
Publisher:Elliot Aronson, Timothy D. Wilson, Robin M. Akert, Samuel R. Sommers
Chapter1: Introducing Social Psychology
Section: Chapter Questions
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  1. Should Fauziya have stayed in Togo and accepted her country’s cultural practices? Why or why not?

  2. Do you believe that there is an objective basis from which we can derive a moral standard? If so, how could we go about convincing people in a given society to apply this standard without improperly interfering in the cultural values of that society? Is there any reason to think that we should not affect a society’s cultural values?

  3. Can you find any basis for justifying the practice of FGM? Are there any objective moral values or principles that may support it?

  4. What are some reasons against practicing FGM? (You need not limit these to moral reasons.)

  5. Could a society’s cultural approval of FGM ever make such a practice morally right or even the moral duty of women in that society? Tie your response in with the discussion of relativism.

 

Step 1: Read Scenario
The practice of female genital mutilation (FGM), or female circumcision, is widespread in many African countries.
The procedure is most commonly carried out on young women who are about to be married; because the
procedure involves removing the clitoris, it greatly reduces the amount of sexual pleasure a woman might
experience during intercourse and thus is thought to help ensure the woman's faithfulness to her husband. As may
be imagined, the procedure can be exceedingly painful. Although it may be carried out using modern surgical
techniques in a clean environment, it is also often done by a relative with knives, razor blades, or even sharp rocks.
Many women suffer infection, bleeding, and other complications. Some women die as a result of the procedure. It
is estimated that between 100 million and 140 million young women have received FGM to date; Africa about
million girls are at potential risk for FGM each year. In January of 2008, the United Nations issued a statement in
support of abandoning the procedure.
Fauziya Kassindja, a young woman from Togo, Africa, was one of the few women in her society who expected to
escape the ritual, called kakiya in her country. Fauziya's father was a businessman who, contra to cultural norms in
Togo, thought that his daughters should choose for themselves the kind of life they would lead. He sent them to
school, and he protected them from kakiya. In 1994, however, when Fauziya was just seventeen, her father died
and his sister moved in with them. She soon had it arranged that Fauziya would be married to a forty-five-year-old
man and that she would have to undergo FGM. Because Fauziya, her sister, and her mother objected, her sister
quietly arranged for Fauziya to be smuggled out of Togo to neighboring Ghana. Using a false passport, she then
flew to Germany and on to the United States. Upon her arrival at Newark Airpot, Fauziya applied for asylum on
the basis of her father's death and her desire to avoid being married against her will. At the time, she did not
mention FGM because her English was limited and she was too embarrassed. She was told that a judge's decision
would be required to grant her asylum and that in the meantime she would have to either return to Togo or
Germany or go to prison. Fauziya chose prison. She was stripped, chained, and taken to a detention center. Later,
she was transferred to a regular prison, where she was held for over seventeen months.
Eventually, Layli Miller Bashir, Fauziya's lawyer, presented her case before an immigrations judge, who denied
Fauziya the request for asylum. At that point, the case was brought to the attention of the international news
media, and the New York Times featured the story on its front page. Thirteen days later, Fauziya was released and
granted asylum and now resides in the United States. Fauziya was the first woman to receive asylum for FGM in
the United States, thus making it possible for other women to obtain asylum for the same reason. As a result of the
international uproar over FGM, several African countries have since ruled FGM to be illegal, including Togo,
Fauziya's home country. There is evidence, however, that FGM continues to be quietly practiced in these
countries - and even (rarely, of course) in the United States.
Transcribed Image Text:Step 1: Read Scenario The practice of female genital mutilation (FGM), or female circumcision, is widespread in many African countries. The procedure is most commonly carried out on young women who are about to be married; because the procedure involves removing the clitoris, it greatly reduces the amount of sexual pleasure a woman might experience during intercourse and thus is thought to help ensure the woman's faithfulness to her husband. As may be imagined, the procedure can be exceedingly painful. Although it may be carried out using modern surgical techniques in a clean environment, it is also often done by a relative with knives, razor blades, or even sharp rocks. Many women suffer infection, bleeding, and other complications. Some women die as a result of the procedure. It is estimated that between 100 million and 140 million young women have received FGM to date; Africa about million girls are at potential risk for FGM each year. In January of 2008, the United Nations issued a statement in support of abandoning the procedure. Fauziya Kassindja, a young woman from Togo, Africa, was one of the few women in her society who expected to escape the ritual, called kakiya in her country. Fauziya's father was a businessman who, contra to cultural norms in Togo, thought that his daughters should choose for themselves the kind of life they would lead. He sent them to school, and he protected them from kakiya. In 1994, however, when Fauziya was just seventeen, her father died and his sister moved in with them. She soon had it arranged that Fauziya would be married to a forty-five-year-old man and that she would have to undergo FGM. Because Fauziya, her sister, and her mother objected, her sister quietly arranged for Fauziya to be smuggled out of Togo to neighboring Ghana. Using a false passport, she then flew to Germany and on to the United States. Upon her arrival at Newark Airpot, Fauziya applied for asylum on the basis of her father's death and her desire to avoid being married against her will. At the time, she did not mention FGM because her English was limited and she was too embarrassed. She was told that a judge's decision would be required to grant her asylum and that in the meantime she would have to either return to Togo or Germany or go to prison. Fauziya chose prison. She was stripped, chained, and taken to a detention center. Later, she was transferred to a regular prison, where she was held for over seventeen months. Eventually, Layli Miller Bashir, Fauziya's lawyer, presented her case before an immigrations judge, who denied Fauziya the request for asylum. At that point, the case was brought to the attention of the international news media, and the New York Times featured the story on its front page. Thirteen days later, Fauziya was released and granted asylum and now resides in the United States. Fauziya was the first woman to receive asylum for FGM in the United States, thus making it possible for other women to obtain asylum for the same reason. As a result of the international uproar over FGM, several African countries have since ruled FGM to be illegal, including Togo, Fauziya's home country. There is evidence, however, that FGM continues to be quietly practiced in these countries - and even (rarely, of course) in the United States.
Step 2: Answer Questions
1. Should Fauziya have stayed in Togo and accepted her country's cultural practices? Why or why not?
2. Do you believe that there is an objective basis from which we can derive a moral standard? If so, how could
we go about convincing people in a given society to apply this standard without improperly interfering in the
cultural values of that society? Is there any reason to think that we should not affect a society's cultural
values?
3. Can you find any basis for justifying the practice of FGM? Are there any objective moral values or principles
that may support it?
4. What are some reasons against practicing FGM? (You need not limit these to moral reasons.)
5. Could a society's cultural approval of FGM ever make such a practice morally right or even the moral duty of
women in that society? Tie your response in with the discussion of relativism.
Transcribed Image Text:Step 2: Answer Questions 1. Should Fauziya have stayed in Togo and accepted her country's cultural practices? Why or why not? 2. Do you believe that there is an objective basis from which we can derive a moral standard? If so, how could we go about convincing people in a given society to apply this standard without improperly interfering in the cultural values of that society? Is there any reason to think that we should not affect a society's cultural values? 3. Can you find any basis for justifying the practice of FGM? Are there any objective moral values or principles that may support it? 4. What are some reasons against practicing FGM? (You need not limit these to moral reasons.) 5. Could a society's cultural approval of FGM ever make such a practice morally right or even the moral duty of women in that society? Tie your response in with the discussion of relativism.
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