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Post by beverley61 on Feb 28, 2017 12:44:54 GMT
That's a very simplistic view of FGM. The society the women live in expect them to have the Cut. Just as there are things women in Western societies have done to themselves for centuries. It's barely a 100 years ago that we stopped wearing corsets after centuries of squeezing our internal organs into unnatural shapes. And before you jump to any conclusions, no I don't condone it. I hate it. But I also know it's way more complicated a situation than you know. One HUGE difference Miranda if you don't mind me pointing it out, women were not MADE to wear corsets, they had a choice to follow the fashion of the day, stupid as we now know it to be. These babies and young girls have no choice, they are mutilated in the most inhumane way possible, causing the most devastatingly painful and psychological effects sometimes lasting a lifetime but then you know that. To somehow trivialise this with western women wearing corsets is quite frankly absurd and beneath you. There are lots of reasons why FGM is thought to have started but it sure as hell isn't relevant now, apart from the fact that some women still believe their daughters won't get a husband if they've not had the procedure done (So it's also down to men) . You say you don't condone it and yet find excuses for it still happening, it's not complicated it's very simple it's wrong, END OF! Changing a cultural practice that has gone on for centuries takes more than a couple of decades. Many of the countries involved have made this practice illegal but that doesn't stop people practising it. it is not considered a religious practice as such and may predate any recognised religions today. Changing the practice takes an incredibly long time. Wearing corsets may be an example of cultural practice in the west but if we suggest ear piercing of baby girls is a similar cultural practice and much more common in Western societies, people get up in arms about it, saying it is harmless etc., yet it is still cutting the skin and permanently changing the shape of a part of the body without that person's choice, cutting a boys foreskin is a similar issue. I understand that many hospitals and some countries have outlawed this until the boy is old enough to make the decision himself (around puberty), but it still doesn't stop people going off and having their boys foreskins cut off in another country. FGM was available in Harley Street in the 60s/70s and I can remember an old doctor insisting that at least if he did it, the girl would not be permanently damaged, I also remember that old matron almost coming to blows with him in the lecture theatre and warning him that if he so much as thought about it she wouldn't phone the police she would stitch his penis to his scrotum!!! I think that got the point across. Knowing this I was surprised that the midwives were not aware of it, it had been a known practice for quite some time and even if they had not seen it they would have known about it. They do work in a part of London that would have brought them into contact with many cultures even then.
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Post by beverley61 on Feb 28, 2017 12:49:17 GMT
Whenever Timothy stuck his head round the door I told him to **** ***. He is so ghastly! I think Mrs Turner said there were only three homes like that one in the whole of the country so maybe it is an accurate portrayal and they were just unbelievably lucky to get a space for Reggie. That poor Sister Mary Cynthia! Not very caring of the Mother House just to bung her in there is it? I think that shock therapy is a lot different now from what it was then. A friend of mine had it some years ago and it was very successful for her. I was horrified when I heard but it all went OK. Re Timothy, there was a nano second when I was rooting for Khrushchev to go for it and point the missiles at Poplar, then I thought better of it because after all the poor lad is only repeating the inane script he has been given. I don't see whey he needs to be in every episode, the mysteriously disappeared Angela isn't. |
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Post by Miranda on Feb 28, 2017 12:53:55 GMT
Thanks Beverley.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2017 14:34:14 GMT
Whenever Timothy stuck his head round the door I told him to **** ***. He is so ghastly! I think Mrs Turner said there were only three homes like that one in the whole of the country so maybe it is an accurate portrayal and they were just unbelievably lucky to get a space for Reggie. That poor Sister Mary Cynthia! Not very caring of the Mother House just to bung her in there is it? I think that shock therapy is a lot different now from what it was then. A friend of mine had it some years ago and it was very successful for her. I was horrified when I heard but it all went OK. Re Timothy, there was a nano second when I was rooting for Khrushchev to go for it and point the missiles at Poplar, then I thought better of it because after all the poor lad is only repeating the inane script he has been given. I don't see whey he needs to be in every episode, the mysteriously disappeared Angela isn't. If the BBC hear we're moaning about Timothy he'll only appear more each week, in fact I think he does now.  |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2017 8:00:16 GMT
The American journalist Negley Farson wrote about the FGM procedure that he witnessed in Kenya in 1940. He was horrified .If you can stomach it , read "Female Circumcision of the Masai".It appears in the book "Behind God's Back". He wondered why the colonial powers in Africa would do nothing about the practice and was told that it would cause upset with the tribes. I hate to think of the hundreds of thousands of victims who have been mutilated over the decades. It is barbaric but unstoppable even today in 2017. Also a few weeks ago , on BBC Radio 4 "From Our Own Correspondent" The procedure was described at length by a correspondent from Sierra Leone. It was a terrible thing to listen to at a Saturday Lunch time. In the same edition there was an item about men in South Korea taking indecent photos of women and suggesting that the women should dress more modestly to avoid the harassment. No mention was made of trying to make the men mend their ways. It was awful.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2017 23:30:41 GMT
Glad they've carried on with the Thalidomide baby theme, it's been a universal scandal for years and shame on the drug companies who've made it so hard for people to get proper compensation.  As for the road accident, my cousin years ago was in a similar situation, just driving down a road in town and a young boy racing to the shops ran across the road in front of her and he was killed. She was driving a sports car at the time and the father just berated her in the same way, she was devastated even though it was not her fault and more so because she and her husband had been trying for a child themselves for a long time. Bravely she went to his funeral and the boy's father apologised for his understandable outburst at the time, one can only imagine if it had happened to any of us and how you'd get over it even though innocent.  |
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Post by Miranda on Mar 5, 2017 23:52:51 GMT
I ran out in front of a car when I was about seven. Didn't mean to. I was knocked unconscious so don't know what happened with the driver. My mom did say that she was really shocked and sat in the car for quite a while, grasping the steering wheel.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2017 5:56:51 GMT
How awful Miranda. I am glad that you survived being knocked over. I don't think that I would be able to drive again if I had hit someone. As it is, I failed my driving test eight times and gave up. I wonder about the drivers. I would imagine that many have flash backs. I also wonder about the mental welfare of train drivers and tube drivers who run over suicidal men and women. My late father was a police surgeon and he had to deal with the aftermath of such events.
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Post by vicky on Mar 6, 2017 12:16:44 GMT
It happened to us once when my husband was driving. We had just pulled away from red traffic lights on a busy main road so luckily were only moving very slowly. It was the end of the school day with kids milling about on the pavement when one child of thirteen or fourteen years old, spotted her bus coming on the other side of the road. She ran out sideways on with her back to us right into our car. My husband slammed on the brakes but couldn't avoid her and she hit the windscreen in front of me. It was the most shocking thing ever to happen to us: we were both in shock, especially my poor OH. The bus driver, teachers from the school and other kids who had seen it happen all gave statements to say he was in no way to blame. Fortunately the girl wasn't badly hurt but it was awful waiting to hear what had happened to her. I will never forget the sight of her laying in the road. It all came back watching Call the Midwife last night.....and once again I cried over this programme, what with that and the thalidomide story. Once the awful replacement nun had gone this series has got back on track again.
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Post by beverley61 on Mar 6, 2017 12:50:11 GMT
It happened to us once when my husband was driving. We had just pulled away from red traffic lights on a busy main road so luckily were only moving very slowly. It was the end of the school day with kids milling about on the pavement when one child of thirteen or fourteen years old, spotted her bus coming on the other side of the road. She ran out sideways on with her back to us right into our car. My husband slammed on the brakes but couldn't avoid her and she hit the windscreen in front of me. It was the most shocking thing ever to happen to us: we were both in shock, especially my poor OH. The bus driver, teachers from the school and other kids who had seen it happen all gave statements to say he was in no way to blame. Fortunately the girl wasn't badly hurt but it was awful waiting to hear what had happened to her. I will never forget the sight of her laying in the road. It all came back watching Call the Midwife last night.....and once again I cried over this programme, what with that and the thalidomide story. Once the awful replacement nun had gone this series has got back on track again. I once sent my oldest to the corner shop for bread (about age 11). She went and came back a few minutes later and put the bread on the table. Almost immediately there was a knock on my door. A man and his son were outside and began asking if my daughter was alright. It seems she had come out of the shop, run across the road, been hit by his car, rolled across his bonnet and onto the floor. He was going very slowly due to traffic lights ahead still on red. She got up grabbed the bread and ran up the road, his son followed her to my house. All this was confirmed by my daughter who said she hadn't told me because it was her fault and she didn't want me to shout at her. She had incidentally broken her arm, but thought it was just a 'bit' hurt. The poor man was beside himself and I needed gin very quickly, well actually several hours later after our return from A&E. I often wonder about that poor man, he was shaking and so upset to think he had done this, even though I assured him it was not his fault so the story rang true with me. My daughter still often grabs a hand when crossing the road though! |
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Post by Miranda on Mar 6, 2017 13:53:34 GMT
I don't remember a thing about it due to the concussion.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2017 14:49:59 GMT
Ian McNiece who played the role of Winston Churchill saw his brother knocked down and killed outside the family home. The sad story is related by Ian in one of the Doctor Who Special edition Magazines. It was a terrible trauma and led partly to Ian over-eating after his mum became very protective of him . I think that his brother was 12 when it happened. I was in tears when I read the item.
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Post by janne on Mar 6, 2017 17:33:45 GMT
I ran out in front of a car when I was about seven. Didn't mean to. I was knocked unconscious so don't know what happened with the driver. My mom did say that she was really shocked and sat in the car for quite a while, grasping the steering wheel. I did the same! Every year my parents and us children went on holiday to Ostend in a modest hotel, run especially for the (lower?) middle class who could not afford a holiday. So it was always packed full with parents and kids. One day, you had to cross a busy road to get to the embankment, we were on the beach and I had to go to the toilet. Will you manage on your own, my mum asked. Of course I said and all went well going but not returning. I miscalculated the speed of a red sportscar and was hit, fell and lost consciousness. I came round in the ambulance that took me to the hospital for a cut. I had a severe concussion but in those days, you were not admitted to hospital for that. I remember sleeping a lot the first days. If it is an accident, people are not at fault but feel guilty nevertheless. Vicky, your poor OH and you. And your cousin, Holly. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2017 20:32:42 GMT
Poor you Janne. I looked after a couple who had crashed into the house where my sister lived. They hadn't knocked anyone over but the accident was a shock to them. I have sympathy with you.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2017 15:15:29 GMT
Just caught up with last Sunday's episode and OMG what a powerful one it was ? I was thoroughly enthralled for the hour ... and how well they tackled all those topics ? Glad they've edged out the girl couple as their story was weak and unbelievable but the issues raised re mixed rave and thalidomide were tackled brilliantly. Excellent ! Tissues needed in abundance !
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Anymore to come?
