Kola Boof is...complicated. to put it mildly. i followed her on twitter for awhile; she could drip honey or spit fire, and you never quite knew what words would invoke either. still, she was nothing if not true to herself, and i sincerely respect folks that unabashedly speak their minds. at least you know who you're rollin with.
that said, i felt the points she made here about the Swedish cake controversy, particularly when she says that the voices of infibulated women have often been silenced.
i do not support "savior complex" solutions that roll all over cultural realities to make their points or save the "poor, defenseless womenfolk" of a particular place. ideally, it's better to have women and girls come to those realizations, and implement their visions and plans with support from others, if necessary.
even then, we should not assume that any community is a monolith. there will be a range of opinions and stories, and not everyone will see a "problem" to be solved.
it is, and is always, complicated.
would i want this to ever happen to any girl, anywhere? no. however, i do understand that not undergoing such procedures can have drastic effects--consequences i as an individual am not, at this stage in my life, able to mitigate in any real way, and that many organizations do not plan for.
often, the reality is: no husband means no food and no shelter. period.
should it be that way? no.
be wary of issue silos that neglect a holistic picture. given the artist's lack of vision and the lack of sensitivity from the folks consuming it, i'd say they fell victim to exactly that mentality.*
*there is a video of the "performance", but i found it a bit too unnerving to link to. you can easily find it via google.
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