I just got the most recent Jane magazine, and they have an article on women in the US and UK who are choosing to have their genitals mutilated. As in the labia and/or clitoris REMOVED. And the best part is that a lot of these women are having someone do it at home, like they're having a freaking bikini wax. Pain, the possibility of infection, no more orgasms... I am just gibbering at this article. Have some quotes:

Crazy-Ass Chick in England who has been dreaming about being circumcised (okay, a small rant quickly - I HATE that they consider this on par with circumcision. I realize I am not male and therefore I can't know what it's like to have or not have a foreskin, but you can't tell me that cutting out the entire clitoris is the same as skin only, especially as any study of physiology will tell you that the clitoris is basically the same as the penis in structure. Clitoridectomy is really the correct word here. Okay, rant done.) for 3 years: "I will be closer to who I want to be - a more compliant female." Okay, WHAT THE FUCK?!

Another freak decided to have her boyfriend circumcise her because "during intercourse, I want to be able to concentrate on my partner without being hindered by my own lust." O_O_O_O_O_O_O_O

Yet another woman has her husband remove her labia because they "protruded out further than any other girls'." Once hubby was down there cutting off bits, they decided they didn't like the way her clitoris looked either, so on a WHIM he cut that off, too. *speechless*

The article ends with this paragraph about second freak mentioned above:
After four intensely painful sessions, she seems to have gotten exactly what she wanted. Now, she says, having sex is "comparable to a French kiss." She continues, "I am convinced I will never again experience an orgasm. I am very happy with the results." *runs around screaming*

Just... just... AAAAAAARRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so disgusted and angry about this on so many levels. Sure, you can go ahead and argue that they are doing what they want to their own bodies, and yes, I'll buy that to a certain extent. But what happened in their psyches that made them decide that pleasure was such a horrific thing that they had to make sure it could NEVER, EVER occur again?? And when you think of all the women in the world who can't orgasm at all and wish they could, these women are even more shocking. Plus, I admit, the fact that they seem to be doing it for the men in their lives really bothers me. Yes, relationships take compromising and sometimes you do things you don't really want to, but there is a limit to what one person should do for another. And WTF is wrong with these men that they don't want the women they are involved with to have pleasure?!?! Why didn't they speak up and go, "Uh, honey? Maybe you should think this thing through. I happen to like it when you are experiencing pleasure," or whatever. Because if they don't feel that way, again with the WTF?!

The only thing that's somewhat reassuring is that if the people doing this are somehow caught (and granted, if it's just a couple doing it, it's probably unlikely unless the woman ends up needing medical treatment), they will go to jail in this country (can't speak for UK laws). It is against the law to perform FGM in the US, or to ask to have it done unless there is a medical reason to do so and it's performed by a physician. However, what I think these people need even more than jail time is some serious psychological help.

And I'm done.