I agree, and NOWHERE in any of my comments did I describe Nepalese culture as "worthless". Nor would I of any culture.

She really is unbelievably naive, if not worse. Notice she didn't post again after we poked her nonwatertight argument full of holes.

Aside from the fact that it's illegal and many Nepalis are fighting to eradicate the practice, even though it's "tradition" and possibly rooted in culture and religion (although I don't believe other Hindi cultures have this practice), it has the effect of making women appear to be alien, other, unclean. And that…

We are arguing against women being made to live in awful conditions during their menstrual cycles-in short, against women's suffering. She is arguing that we have no right to condemn portions of other cultures/traditions-in short, minimizing women's suffering on the grounds that it is less important than the culture…

Is she being deliberately obtuse, at best? Yes. Should she be made to live in appalling conditions as a means of learning empathy? No.

Well, if you're in Turkey, your culture is more advanced than the majority of Middle Eastern countries. I also corrected myself in a later post, acknowledging that Coptic women are subjected to FGM as well, but at a lesser rate.

Ok, this is just a tiny bit a bridge too far. Don't threaten people's bodily safety, even in jest. (Or am I imposing my Western, privileged view onto your cultural tradition?)

BINGO

...Theoretical discourse? That's so far deep into academic pseudoscientific babble that this lowly psych major had to look it up, and I'm still not sure I get it.

If you read two posts down, I correct myself.

It's not your issue to get involved in, clearly, and how dare you try to do any good in the world to try and stop suffering in other cultures.

Do I think the practice should be illegal? Not unless Nepali women want it to be. Do I think that "othering" women is harmful? Yes. Do I think it's bullshit that they're made to stay in cramped, inadequate facilities during their menstrual cycles? Yes. Do I think it's ABSOLUTELY bullshit that men somehow overcome…

No, I'm not being facetious apologizing to the Scottish people. I'm sorry that I used their country and culture as an example in a hypothetical situation to show why your argument is bizarre.

Obviously Nepali women and men should be the ones fighting this battle. That doesn't mean that I have to turn away and act like I don't support one side over the other.

"But you guys! Murder is a long-standing cultural tradition among the Scottish! It's simply one of many manifestations of a complex unified culture, and we can't decry it as bad and try to work to stop it without changing the culture as a whole, which obviously is a bad thing because making sure that the culture…

Really? A.) Your tone in the original post was clearly dismissive of this issue, and vilifying the awful colonialist feminists daring to speak out against it. and B.) Yes, we can criticize traditions that are built around nothing more than "othering" women and perpetuating the view that women are dirty. Traditions…

<<THIS.

There are health risks to this whole practice: improper sanitation, not being able to fully clean menstrual cloths in order to avoid later infections, oh, AND BEING FORCED TO CLUMP UP IN TINY SHACKS WITHOUT ELECTRICITY AND RUN THE RISK OF RAPE AND SNAKE BITE. But you go on, defending "traditions" that are just more…

Unfortunately, it's often tough to find women who oppose it within their own communities, because the practice is so engrained, at least in Egypt, that girls in rural areas are not "marriage material" (hate that phrase, but in this context it makes sense) unless they have it done.

I hope so too, but in a country where the army did this, I'm not holding my breath.