I said circumcision is equivocal to female genital mutilation in my college class. uh oh.

Sitting in a class at a University of California on political and moral philosophy. Discussing Nussbaum's "The Case of Female Genital Mutilation." I drew a parallel between circumcision and female genital mutilation. Received some glares, some got visibly angry.

I argued:

Both remove choice from person it is being performed on, for aesthetic, cultural, or religious reasons

Both inhibit sexual pleasure and have a high risk for complication if performed in a non sanitary environment.

Both have opened gateways for sexual predators or religious zealots to abuse power. (EDIT: I now realize the evidence behind the sexual predator claim is shaky. I will refrain from using it in the future unless i acquire more info.)

I swear, I thought I was going to be exiled, yelled at, everything. However, by calmly and firmly arguing my position, the class actually ADOPTED my point as a huge argument against the author! Even the Women's Studies major who was yelling at me earlier called it "the best argument why Americans can't forcefully intervene on this issue." I took a chance, a very risky one, at a University of heavy handed feminism and while discussing a feminist topic.

Thank you so much MR for helping me prepare my arguments, provide evidence, and calmly provide reasoning for these arguments. I feel that I changed people's minds in a way that made them really think about the issue.

Now to address the wage gap and divorce courts! Well... maybe later.

EDIT: Regarding the feminist arguing in my class: i consider yelling to be raising your voice, appealing to emotion, and attempting to downplay the issue of circumcision by saying "well, female genital MUTILATION has mutilation right in the name!" She was open minded to the issue, so I was pleasantly surprised.