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namakurhea's review against another edition
4.0
Some memoirs are written like a rags-to-riches story. However, this one is a survival story.
Waris Dirie is an author and an activist. Prior to that, she was a model working with people like Naomi Campbell and Terence Donovan. Many years before that, Waris is a young girl living a carefree life in the deserts of Somalia. She was doing what any five year old kid does: playing, having fun, being a kid. But one thing happened to her, which also had happened to 200 million women alive today: female genital mutilation.
Taking some passages from FGM Wikipedia page: “[FGM] is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia . . . They include removal of the clitoral hood (type 1-a) and clitoral glans (1-b); removal of the inner labia (2-a); and removal of the inner and outer labia and closure of the vulva (type 3). In this last procedure, known as infibulation, a small hole is left for the passage of urine and menstrual fluid; the vagina is opened for intercourse and opened further for childbirth.” And lastly: “The practice is rooted in gender inequality, attempts to control women's sexuality, and ideas about purity, modesty, and beauty.”
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Her book did describe her survival story and her journey to chart her own path. But it also gives us a first hand look of FGM/C practice. I will let passages of the book speak for themselves. To say that it is horrific is an understatement. Parts of Indonesia still practice FGM/C. We had a readers’ gathering recently and have people from medicine and NGO joining it. And daaang, the stuff that they see and hear on the ground is really shocking. Props to Waris for her indomitable spirit and for her activism to help other women and girls. She’s one of the lucky ones though…since not everybody survive this.
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Kudos to @transit_bookstore and @krishnaaditama for curating this book. This book is a reminder that women have come a long way… and we have a long way still.
Waris Dirie is an author and an activist. Prior to that, she was a model working with people like Naomi Campbell and Terence Donovan. Many years before that, Waris is a young girl living a carefree life in the deserts of Somalia. She was doing what any five year old kid does: playing, having fun, being a kid. But one thing happened to her, which also had happened to 200 million women alive today: female genital mutilation.
Taking some passages from FGM Wikipedia page: “[FGM] is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia . . . They include removal of the clitoral hood (type 1-a) and clitoral glans (1-b); removal of the inner labia (2-a); and removal of the inner and outer labia and closure of the vulva (type 3). In this last procedure, known as infibulation, a small hole is left for the passage of urine and menstrual fluid; the vagina is opened for intercourse and opened further for childbirth.” And lastly: “The practice is rooted in gender inequality, attempts to control women's sexuality, and ideas about purity, modesty, and beauty.”
.
Her book did describe her survival story and her journey to chart her own path. But it also gives us a first hand look of FGM/C practice. I will let passages of the book speak for themselves. To say that it is horrific is an understatement. Parts of Indonesia still practice FGM/C. We had a readers’ gathering recently and have people from medicine and NGO joining it. And daaang, the stuff that they see and hear on the ground is really shocking. Props to Waris for her indomitable spirit and for her activism to help other women and girls. She’s one of the lucky ones though…since not everybody survive this.
.
Kudos to @transit_bookstore and @krishnaaditama for curating this book. This book is a reminder that women have come a long way… and we have a long way still.
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