Monthly Archives: April 2013

Female Circumcision in Cameroon

Male circumcision is obviously practiced all over the world and is legal. Female circumcision is a little more controversial, and in the village that I am from, females were previously circumcised—but this circumcision is not as bad as the ones that are usually heard about. This one is just cutting of a small tip of the clitoris, similar to the foreskin in a male, and this happens after the birth of your first child—no matter the sex—and why this was made was because proper women are not supposed to make sounds when they pee. It is seen as a very unfitting thing to do, and women feel empowerment because they are circumcised and they are part of a childbearing society, so women who go through the majority of their lives without ever having a child actually get circumcised so they are not looked down upon because it is like a rite of passage—once you have your first child you have really become a woman, meaning you have been circumcised so it is a really big deal. But this practice doesn’t happen anymore.

 

It is interesting to me that she cites this tradition as not very controversial. When I think of female circumcision I think of mutilation. There is no reason why a female needs to go through the process of circumcision. It does not improve hygiene in any way; it only robs them of a source of sexual pleasure. Humans are special creatures in that sex is not just a means of reproduction but also a source of great pleasure that is a large and important part of life. To strip someone of this ability is to reduce them to an animalistic state in which bearing children is their only sexual purpose.

 

This tradition also speaks to the idea of womanhood and the process by which one achieves it. In this village, it seems that having children gives one that stamp of approval. Coco did say that the practice of female circumcision in her village no longer exists, but the emphasis on motherhood still remains—an emphasis that seems very outdated (at least in American society). Gone are the days in in which women are confined to a domestic prison—their only duty to rear children, tend to the hearth and home, and pamper the husband. Women are no longer getting married and having children at 18. They have been emancipated in a sense. However, the women in this African village seem to be stuck in that domesticity.

Her aching knees will bring the rain

Whenever one of my grandmother’s or one of my grandmother’s sisters’ knees would hurt, we would always say that it was gonna rain the next day.

 

The interesting thing about this story is that every time her knees did hurt it actually did rain the next day. Sergio says that he can’t remember a time when her knees would hurt and the weather would be clear the next day.

 

Another friend of mine, Katya, who is a swimmer and had surgery on her left knee, once told me that when it is about to rain her knees also begin to hurt. She says that during her surgery they had to put a screw in and that the metal may have something do with her ability to also predict the rain. Perhaps the change in magnetism affects the metal in her knee somehow. I asked Sergio whether or not his grandmother’s sister ever had surgery on her knees, and he told me that she never has had surgery but that she does suffer from moderate arthritis.

 

Sergio also says that his father doesn’t trust his mother’s sisters’ knees because they haven’t always predicted the weather as accurately as Sergio remembers. Before Sergio was born, his father said that on various occasions her knees would hurt but nothing would happen after. Thus, he came to distrust her “powers” of foresight.

 

 

Caution: Fencing Ahead

J: So what kind of traditions do you do as a member of the fencing team?

W: When we’re facing our rivals, we basically always dress up in a specific way, but the coaches, about 10 years ago, I think, started this thing where when we’re away – or even when people come to our tournaments at home. Basically, we dress completely in black for that day and put caution tape on us. And, then, we, well, if we don’t have caution tape, we still wear all back, but it’s supposed to show, you know, “Warning, we’re dangerous, we’re gonna take you out.” That type of thing.

J: How’d it get started?

W: Um, it kinda got started, when the people who were in charge were like, “Hey, we should dress up and show the other team how intimidating we are!” So it’s not like, the coach per se, but more so the people who are in charge – the heads, or the captains. And they’re like, “Hey people, this is what we’re doing!” And it’s carried on through the years, even though, some of the captains have left.

 

To mix things up, I wanted to include some occupational folklore into the collection so I decided to ask my suite mate, who is from New Jersey, about one of the traditions of his fencing team back home. It’s very interesting that fencing would be found there, but I suppose the sport is becoming ubiquitous at this point. Also, it is fascinating to note that instead of the traditional garb, caution tape and black outfits are used as a ritual to form team unity and also intimidate the opposing team. I see this amalgamation of a traditional sport, mixed with ingenuity, that is also carried out year to year as an evolution of folklore that the world is going to see more of. People tend to think of folklore as traditions that were started years in the past, but as proven by this collection piece, new traditions can start everyday!

Pico y Pala

Ok, so we have another saying in Spanish that is, when you’re trying to, like, go out with a girl—or a guy, it doesn’t matter—and that girl doesn’t wanna go out with you, the thing that we do is called “pico y pala” which refers to pickaxe and shovel, and it just means that you have to, like, break down the rock before you move it. That’s basically what the saying says.

 

 

This saying basically says that dating someone you like may not always come so easily—you may have to “break down the rock” or work hard to crack the proverbial shell to win the heart of a particular woman or man of interest (especially if she/he plays hard to get, you will have to toil to get what you want). Sergio had to break down the rock a lot when he was younger, as many girls were either very shy or pretended like they didn’t like him.

 

Sergio says he learned this phrase at a very young age from his father—perhaps around eleven or twelve years old—which shows a big difference between American and European culture when it comes to dating and sex. Most American parents shelter their children from sexual/dating related content as it is considered more adult.

 

I have never heard of an American equivalent to “pico y pala” but I have heard about women playing hard to get and having to work to win her heart. My parents never spoke to me about such things when I was eleven or twelve. I learned most things about dating and sex on my own or from friends.

Skimming the Scum

This saying also comes from the dining hall of West Point Military Academy. Every meal, there was one plebe in charge of many of the menial tasks such as distributing food and filling empty glasses. One such task was that before he passed the gravy to the rest of the cadets, the individual had to say memorized verse. The verse,m according to the informant, is as follows:

“Sir, the scum-skimmer reports that the scum has been swiftly and successfully skimmed.  Scum-skimmed gravy to the head of the table for inspection, please, sir”

If this was not said perfectly, the officer in charge would not accept it for inspection. The informant recalls cadets with heavy accents stumbling over the words multiple times, delaying the dining process severely. In the military, there are many situations in which you will need to perform under pressure. Most of the exercises in training are designed to prepare for this. Having to say a memorized line perfectly under the scrutiny of  superior helps cadets to get over their fears of being put under pressure. The informant told this story to his friends family after leaving the academy and it has become a joke to recite the saying whenever gravy is being passed at dinner.