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Because this needs to be said...
Jun. 18th, 2010 03:07 pmI'm sure quite a few of you have already seen the rants on your f-lists. No, not the SPN fanfic stuff. I'm talking about the total uproar some people are making over the ALLEGED "female genital mutilation" taking place at Cornell University.
Personally, I find it mind-boggling how many people are ONLY reading the ranty, non-scientific, highly-biased, slant-angled BLOG POSTS about this, and not reading the goddamned MEDICAL RESEARCH PAPER to see what was actually done! I've seen rant after rant linking to blog-post after blog-post like a line of dominos, but nobody is referencing the actual research paper. Nobody is linking it! Everyone is just screaming their heads off without even going back to the actual research paper.
Fandom, I'm disappointed in you. For all that so many of you are well-read individuals who seem willing to dig up source material, you're awfully quick to jump on the bandwagon and scream bloody murder about this. I'd guess that some of the people ranting don't have enough of a biomedical background to understand the research paper anyway, but for those of you who are able to untangle the med-speak, you owe it to yourself to read the actual source material.
READ IT: The actual published research paper. Until you read it, with comprehension, shut up. And stop "boosting the signal" of something you don't even understand. That makes you no better than Tea Partiers parroting Glenn Beck.
I have seen people call this research the following things:
Female genital mutilation, rape, sex abuse, child abuse, homophobia, trauma, sexual assault, and even torture.
To those of you who have BLINDLY SWALLOWED THIS LOAD OF BULLSHIT, how about doing some research before you jump to conclusions? Otherwise, you're blindly following propaganda, which is a bad thing, whether it's conservative or liberal propaganda. So let's dig into the issue a little bit, shall we?
( What you should know and consider before jumping to conclusions )
So, here's my opinion, summarized:
1. I do not agree with physically testing nerve sensitivity on patients under the age of 16 for research purposes. (I think a 16-year old can consent. Many teenagers are sexually active, and they can make the decision of whether or not to participate in further research.)
2. This is NOT FGM.
3. This is not being perpetuated against women by men (an accusation I've seen on a couple of LJ's).
4. This is not rape.
5. This involves an actual medical condition, and as a biologist who works on a medical research campus who has been involved in the approval process of human research projects, I find the insults aimed at medical researchers to be off-putting at best, grotesquely insulting and libelous at worst.
6. While I do NOT completely agree that surgical intervention is the best or only approach to this condition, I believe that it's a legitimate approach, and is medically justifiable on a case-by-case basis.
7. My primary point is NOT about whether this procedure is a good one or not - it's all about the fact that too many people are jumping to conclusions, and really should read up before screaming about it.
Also, the brilliant and creative![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lizardspots posted about this issue, HERE. She's just about to finish up med school and has already been working directly with patients for a couple of years at this point, and quite sharp and fair-minded. Give her a listen, ok?
That's all I've got. If you want to argue with me, read the actual research paper first. If I decide to lock horns with someone over this, it would have to be a well-considered argument. I agree - the decision of whether to surgically "correct" genital malformations is a very touchy subject. The severity of the malformation different case to case, and only some girls have severe deformities. I think the decision is extremely personal to the individual if older, and the family if it's a baby, and can only be decided on a case-by-case basis. I'm not in those shoes, and I wouldn't dare to judge those decisions either way. There are valid arguments on both sides of the issue.
If you read the research paper itself and come to different conclusions from mine based on the facts, then I can fully respect that. That's the nature of debate in medical research, and there will ALWAYS be differing opinions. I welcome that discussion. There's a lot of gray area in this sort of thing, and that's why rational discourse is so important. However, if anyone wants to continue to scream that this medical procedure is rape, torture, FGM, or sexual abuse... back up your argument with medical science before you click "reply."
Personally, I find it mind-boggling how many people are ONLY reading the ranty, non-scientific, highly-biased, slant-angled BLOG POSTS about this, and not reading the goddamned MEDICAL RESEARCH PAPER to see what was actually done! I've seen rant after rant linking to blog-post after blog-post like a line of dominos, but nobody is referencing the actual research paper. Nobody is linking it! Everyone is just screaming their heads off without even going back to the actual research paper.
Fandom, I'm disappointed in you. For all that so many of you are well-read individuals who seem willing to dig up source material, you're awfully quick to jump on the bandwagon and scream bloody murder about this. I'd guess that some of the people ranting don't have enough of a biomedical background to understand the research paper anyway, but for those of you who are able to untangle the med-speak, you owe it to yourself to read the actual source material.
READ IT: The actual published research paper. Until you read it, with comprehension, shut up. And stop "boosting the signal" of something you don't even understand. That makes you no better than Tea Partiers parroting Glenn Beck.
I have seen people call this research the following things:
Female genital mutilation, rape, sex abuse, child abuse, homophobia, trauma, sexual assault, and even torture.
To those of you who have BLINDLY SWALLOWED THIS LOAD OF BULLSHIT, how about doing some research before you jump to conclusions? Otherwise, you're blindly following propaganda, which is a bad thing, whether it's conservative or liberal propaganda. So let's dig into the issue a little bit, shall we?
( What you should know and consider before jumping to conclusions )
So, here's my opinion, summarized:
1. I do not agree with physically testing nerve sensitivity on patients under the age of 16 for research purposes. (I think a 16-year old can consent. Many teenagers are sexually active, and they can make the decision of whether or not to participate in further research.)
2. This is NOT FGM.
3. This is not being perpetuated against women by men (an accusation I've seen on a couple of LJ's).
4. This is not rape.
5. This involves an actual medical condition, and as a biologist who works on a medical research campus who has been involved in the approval process of human research projects, I find the insults aimed at medical researchers to be off-putting at best, grotesquely insulting and libelous at worst.
6. While I do NOT completely agree that surgical intervention is the best or only approach to this condition, I believe that it's a legitimate approach, and is medically justifiable on a case-by-case basis.
7. My primary point is NOT about whether this procedure is a good one or not - it's all about the fact that too many people are jumping to conclusions, and really should read up before screaming about it.
Also, the brilliant and creative
lizardspots posted about this issue, HERE. She's just about to finish up med school and has already been working directly with patients for a couple of years at this point, and quite sharp and fair-minded. Give her a listen, ok?That's all I've got. If you want to argue with me, read the actual research paper first. If I decide to lock horns with someone over this, it would have to be a well-considered argument. I agree - the decision of whether to surgically "correct" genital malformations is a very touchy subject. The severity of the malformation different case to case, and only some girls have severe deformities. I think the decision is extremely personal to the individual if older, and the family if it's a baby, and can only be decided on a case-by-case basis. I'm not in those shoes, and I wouldn't dare to judge those decisions either way. There are valid arguments on both sides of the issue.
If you read the research paper itself and come to different conclusions from mine based on the facts, then I can fully respect that. That's the nature of debate in medical research, and there will ALWAYS be differing opinions. I welcome that discussion. There's a lot of gray area in this sort of thing, and that's why rational discourse is so important. However, if anyone wants to continue to scream that this medical procedure is rape, torture, FGM, or sexual abuse... back up your argument with medical science before you click "reply."
