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Finding Power in Vaginas In Islamic Ethics and Politics it is taught that when Muhammad was spreading the word of the Quran it spread so fast and so well because poetry was the icon of the time, and the Quran is page after page of poetry. Today global entertainment and mass media are the icons of our time. Television, film, dance, mp3 players, DVDs, the internet, art, and books are all forms of todays entertainment the latter not as prevalent. Activism through art is a way of sending people a message of justice, equality, and diversity by using the icon of the time. The effect of Feminist art and activism today is massive because art reaches a broader audience than rallies and bra burnings. One struggle for women that Feminist activism and art has brought to the publics attention is the struggle against female circumcision. Female circumcision consists of three different variations Type I: Clitorectomy involves the removal of the skin around the clitoris and/or the removal of part or the whole clitoris. Type II: Sunna is the removal of the entire clitoris and part of or the entire labia minora. Finally Type III: Infibulation is the removal of the entire clitoris and labia minora. Incisions are made in the labia majora to create raw surfaces then, the labial raw surfaces are stitched together to cover the urethra and vaginal introitus, leaving a small posterior opening for urinary and menstrual flow American Academy of Pediatrics.

Female circumcision dated back to Ancient Egyptians who believed in the bisexuality of the gods. According to this belief, mortals reflected this trait of the gods; every individual possessed both a male and a female soul. The feminine soul of the man was located in the prepuce of the penis; the masculine soul of the woman was located in the clitoris. For healthy gender development, the female soul had to be excised from the man and the male soul from the woman.

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Circumcision was thus essential for boys to become men and girls to become women History of Female Circumcision. In the early 20th century this practice was also used in America to stop masturbation, reduce mental illness, and avoid nymphomania in women, and continues to be a tribal rite of passage in Africa. Today because of Feminist movements like V-day female circumcision has been outlawed in sixteen African countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Le Cte dIvoire, Niger, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Togo. But, the fight is far from over. It seems that the work of activism is never done because while one atrocity is being overcome another arises. Today because of the belief that sex with a virgin will cure HIV infection children as young as a few months old are being raped or are victims of attempted rapes in South Africa. This region is facing a rape epidemic with women making up 30% of the population thats 14.4 million women in South Africa not only at risk of rape, but also HIV infection. Statistics say that one out of every three woman in the world will be raped in her life today it seems in South Africa especially this statistic could not be more real. Feminist art and activism aids the cause of these women by empowering them, allowing their voices to be heard, and their cries for help recognized. One way to help mend the violation of women and girls is to address not just the problem, but also its roots. Rape is by definition forced, unwanted sexual intercourse Oxford English Dictionary. In the world of psychiatry rape is not about sex, but power, rapist finds power in controlling others that they cannot find in their own lives. The desecration of the Black South African culture due to European colonization and slavery has left South African men socially impotent and seeking control in a land in which they once reigned. Thus, the respect for the fruits of their land like their women is foundering daily.

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When looking at the atrocities that plague South Africa we must first look at the atrocities these people are socialized into that make it so easy to rape and mutilate woman and children. In South Africa 79.6% of the population is black, in a nation where Blacks are the majority most of them live in tiny wooden shacks with little to no protection from the elements or each other. Conditions in South Africa are still today quite desperate fourteen years after the end of the segregationist apartheid regime induced by the European controlled government. These people experienced poverty and forty-one years of assaults against their culture, homes, and existence. It is easy for one to assume that such a burden is not an easy one to carry, but to the women, children, and men of South Africa no assumption is necessary. Sociologically there cannot be high social standards and vast amounts of morals when living standards are subpar and people are forced to live as though they are less than. In the idea of Eve Ensler when we fight for woman we confront other issues like poverty, hunger, and healthcare. Today in the poor rural regions of South Africa that is mostly filled with Black Africans there is a 71 percentage of poverty, 50% of South Africa overall is poverty stricken, and 38% of the people are unemployed About South Africa. There is also a shortage in doctors and high levels of H.I.V, Malaria, and Tuberculosis infection. Rape is a serious crime that South African men commit against their woman, but poverty, hunger, and inferior health care are results of the crimes committed against these people by the political dominant European nations that claimed their land in the early 20th century. Though the V-day campaign has not gone to South Africa it has visited many other African countries like Egypt, Jordan, Kenya, Morocco, Tanzanian, and Zambia. But, all is not lost; in South Africa there are many other feminist groups and organizations working to stop the violence against women. Groups like Norwegian Peoples Aid South Africa (NPA) and their partners since

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2005 Limpopo Network on Violence against Women (LNVAW) are there to stop the violence against women, support, educate, and provide refuge. They along with UNAIDS-led Global coalition on women and The NISAA Institute for Womens Development also provide AIDS awareness and prevention. These groups are all feminist groups that have made stopping the violence against women everywhere their number one priority. Change does not happen overnight: its a long winding road and these organizations are in a long fight to save the women of South Africa. Yet, even after all the feminist activism and all the donations how do we reverse centuries of oppression and destruction? Do we force the oppressor out and reclaim what the people of South Africa had taken away from them? How do we battle the monster without becoming one, without applying the same form of dehumanization to the conquerors that they once applied to the conquered? These are the questions that plague me when I think about righting the wrongs of humanity. I know that I will not live to see a world free of oppression, rape, and racism this fight is one I fight for future generations, but while fighting the good fight I cannot say I always believe this new world will exist. How does the weaker adversary fight back and truly make a change? Sometimes I believe that the good fight will always be just that; a fight, a struggle for whats right. Sometimes I feel that in this war against female brutality, poverty, oppression, hunger, HIV/AIDS, and racism there are no victory dances, no celebratory banquets only battles until the weak are no more or too few to continue fighting. I feel emotionally attached to this subject and not just because I am a woman, but because I am a black woman. I believe that my being black should not separate me from other women so much, and make me feel more connected to women in South Africa than many of the ones that live in my own country, but it does. I feel this way because even in America there was a time when

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black women could not be raped. This does not mean that they werent raped; it just means that by law because black women were property, it was not considered rape. I remember, not very long ago, in our class one of the ladies made a statement about male superiority and in this statement she said we got the right to vote last referring to women. Almost instantly I thought to myself no we got the right to vote last thinking of black people. Though the 15th amendment gave Black Americans the right to vote before the 20th gave women the right to vote this country produced laws that were oppressive to blacks in regards to voting: the 3/5ths clause and the grandfather clause. People seem to forget about us; sometimes it seems like we are the invisible from North America to South Africa.

Bibliography
LoBaido, Anthony C. Child-rape epidemic in South Africa. WorldNet Daily December 26, 2001 <http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=25806>. About South Africa. Big Media Publishers (Pty) Limited. 2007. September 2007 <http://www.southafrica.info/ess_info/sa_glance/demographics/population.htm>. History of Female Circumcision. 2005. 13 December 2005. <http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~ehtoddch/politics/historyfgm.html>. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM): Prohibitions Worldwide. January 2008. Item: F027 <http://www.reproductiverights.org/pub_fac_fgmicpd.html>.

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Estabrooks, Elizabeth A. Female Genital Mutilation. <http://www.munfw.org/archive/50th/who2.htm>.