Monday 15 April 2013

The Growing Epidemic Of Female Genital Mutilation

A young girl being operated on
I've learned about many barbaric and cruel procedures done against other human-beings - examples like lobotomy, trepanning to rid 'evil spirits', and blood letting. But there is a common pattern with these, with the exception of lobotomy, and it's that these were all done in medieval times. But then you come across 'female genital mutilation', an unnecessary operation done to girls of a commonly young age, all in the name of culture. Girls as young as five have a blade taken to their genitals having parts removed, usually without aesthetic, because it's 'tradition'. I'm all for respecting other people's cultures but I cannot understand how any person would believe this isn't wrong or some form of child abuse because that is exactly what it is.

It's incredibly saddening to hear that around 95% of girls living in parts of Africa, like Somalia, have had this disgusting operation done to them. When asked for reasoning for cutting children, many different 'justifications' were given, due to variations in culture, like 'it reduces a woman's libido' or 'it ensures sexual abstinence because the genital area is only opened up after marriage' - basically such procedure is, in most cases, done to oppress the girl's sexual activity in later life.
But they are just children for goodness sake. A mother's concerns should be whether they have enough toys or what primary school they are going to attend, not which doctor they're going to hire to cut up their child. I'm not a parent but common sense would indicate that a mother's role should be to protect their child at all costs and to sit there and allow and even encourage unnecessary pain and agony on your child is wrong.

What's more worry is that there's a growing trend in flying doctors from other countries into the UK so these operations can be conducted on the kitchen tables, and living-room floors of people's houses. This will never be accepted into the culture of the vast majority living in the UK and something must be done, some law must be past to make it a very serious criminal offence. In France they have already created a strong opposition to this sort of practice with one individual going to jail for eight years for their involvement in one case. I think it is wise to adopt the same strategy in the UK because you can dress it up any way you like, but it is and always will be child abuse.

My message? Simple. Female genital mutilation, without medical reasoning, is wrong. It's disgusting and must be stopped. We cannot and should not stand by and watch the children of our country be abused and do nothing to help them.

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Friday 12 April 2013

Hijacking For Your Own Personal Gain - Margaret Thatcher's 'Death Party'

Margaret Thatcher
Whilst the 'Margaret Thatcher death party' has not happened yet (as it is scheduled to take place on Saturday at Trafalgar Square, London) I am writing this in anticipation of the event. I do not wish to go into too much detail about those celebrating the death of the former Prime Minister, as Thatcher's reign has evidently split public opinion and I do not want that to be the main focus of this post. Instead I write about the speech vocalised by the London
Mayor - Boris Johnson discouraging any of those attending the 'party' from rioting, which will no doubt end in the destruction of property, looting and some individuals getting hurt or killed (as seen in the 2011 London riots). Why I write about this is because it annoys me that certain people would hijack an event or
cause (and I by no means condone the celebration of Thatcher's death - even though I was no fan of her's - I simply speak in general) for their own personal gain. Whether it be to deliberately cause social disorder or participate in looting, it is unfair to ruin the occasion for all the other attendees who are peaceful in their conduct.

Scenes during the London riots.
I saw this with the tuition fees protest in London about 2 years ago, when around 5% of those who attended, starting causing mayhem. Building windows were smashed, fires were started, flares were set off and in a few instances 'TORY SCUM' was spray-painted onto walls and poles. Of course, the media got wind of it and made it out to be that all the students who attended the event were violent hooligans. As a result, the actions of just those 5% of protesters caused the actual purpose of the march to be forgotten and the whole event seemed a waste of time.

So I use this upcoming event as a potential example of how a small minority's actions can effect the perception of an event, and I hope we will not see scenes similar to the tuition fees protest or the London riots. My message? Don't let the minority ruin it for the majority.

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Wednesday 10 April 2013

Football Is So Much More Than A Game.

Scott Parker tackling Juan Mata
To many, including myself, football is not 'just a game'. In those 90 minutes so much can happen, so much emotion can be felt - the joy of scoring a goal, the horror of conceding in the dying seconds, the relief of saving a penalty (obviously if you're a goalkeeper), the anxiety of defending that last minute corner when you're one goal up. It annoys me when people, who clearly do not enjoy the game, make ignorant comments like 'it's really easy', 'it's just 11 men kicking a ball back and forth'. By that point I just want to plonk them down in front of a TV and show them a competitive football match - Barcelona would be a good choice. Tactics are much more prevalent in the game nowadays that it's almost become like a chess game, you've always got to be one step ahead of your opponent - you either match them or better them. But when you hear the final whistle and you realise you've won the game (especially in important fixtures) no one can take away that feeling of euphoria and the slightly weird voice inside your head that's screaming 'OMG WE WON! DUDE, WE ACTUALLY WON! HOW CRAZY IS THIS!!' - (Just me?... just me). But hell, I don't care because every Sunday to me will always be 'game day' and the little butterflies in my stomach is just one of the feelings I experience every time that first whistle blows and I wouldn't have it any other way.

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Tuesday 9 April 2013

The First Youth Crime Commissioner Resigns



Paris Brown
To start off, I’ve never even heard of a ‘Youth Crime Commissioner’ but the appointment of Paris Brown has been an embarrassing affair for all the parties involved. What gets me is why was she appointed in the first place because she’s surely not the best our generation can offer? And it’s not like we’re getting enough positive press these days, what with the London riots and about a gazillion pictures of drunk students partying in the streets splashed all over the papers (DailyMail especially) with the headlines ABSOLUTE DISGRACE! The introduction of a well-educated articulate 17 year old with a passion to make a difference could have placed doubt in the minds of those believing  all teenagers are thick, drugged-up sex addicts  roaming the streets every night with a 2 litre bottle of cider in one hand and a knife in the other. Instead they appoint this girl – suggested to be racist and homophobic and stupid enough to brag about her drug and alcohol consumptions on Twitter, in the run up to her appointment. Way to perpetuate an already negative generalisation of our generation (!) If they do appoint another person (she recently resigned) then I hope it will be someone who fully deserves it and has worked hard for it.

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