Is piercing considered FGM?

[minkajane]

* Type IV - pricking, piercing or incising of the clitoris and/or labia; stretching of the clitoris and/or labia; cauterization by burning of the clitoris and surrounding tissue;

I have had two genital piercings - does that mean that technically I've undergone Type IV FGM? I know, I know, consenting adult, blah, blah, blah, I'm just asking technically speaking. A consenting male adult who undergoes circumcision has technically undergone MGM, right? Just willingly.

[Fyrestorm]

IMHO yes...any type of body modification from ear piercing to tatoos can be considered mutilation.

Consenting adult is the key phrase here.

[Quirky]

My understanding is that Type IV is the most severe type and that most of the tissues of the external vulva are removed. I don't think just a piercing with everything else left intact would be considered Type IV. You're not removing anything, just putting a new hole in it, right?

[minkajane]

Read the Type IV description at the top. It pretty much encompasses all the random stuff people do to female genitals. Piercing, stretching, burning, whatever. Type III is what you're thinking of.

[oneKnight]

You chose it, right? As a consenting (hopefully informed) ADULT

You can choose to pump your body full of poisons (like smoking) or mutilate it however you wish - have fun with that one
Just don't let anyone tie you down and do things that you don't approve of.

*The opinions in this post come from a pierced poster*

[Arduinna]

I haven't read the official description of what includes mutilation but I don't believe the typical genital piercings would meet my personal definition of it. mainly because piercings can and are removed usually with little or no long term effect. Unlike most things we think of as mutilation.

[Piercedboy]

Main Entry: mu·ti·late
Pronunciation: 'myü-t&-"lAt
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): -lat·ed; -lat·ing
Etymology: Latin mutilatus, past participle of mutilare, from mutilus truncated, maimed
1 : to cut up or alter radically so as to make imperfect <the child mutilated the book with his scissors>
2 : to cut off or permanently destroy a limb or essential part of : CRIPPLE
synonym see MAIM

I'm not mutilated by the definition. What I have done to cut or radically alter my genitalia did not make it imperfect. Quite the opposite, it made it perfect for me.

[kldliam]

All genital piercing/modification is a form of GM.

Both body piercing and tattoo are body mutilations. The ideals of beauty are based on different cultural perceptions, but they still remain, from a sociological point of view, body mutilation.

[minkajane]

According to the definition, a piercing isn't mutilation. It doesn't radically alter the appearance of my genitalia (when the jewelry's out you can't even see it) and it doesn't change the function in the slightest.

[phatchristy]

I think some would consider genital piercings as "genital modifications." However, most countries which ban female genital modification on unconsenting minors would also consider piercing to be part of those as well.

I think the key here is that you're a consenting adult. You have the right to cut/clip/pierce whatever you want .

I personally REGRET getting my ears pierced as a minor. Sadly, I have some abnormal scarring as a result of it, and at this point haven't done plastic surgery to correct it (though I could afford to...on one ear it causes pain so I've been told it may be covered by insurance). I got my ears pierced to go with the middle school trend, though wasn't aware that there can be complications.

[kldliam]

Minkajane:According to the definition, a piercing isn't mutilation.

Piercing is not mutilation? According to whose definition? Researchers and mental health professionals have not even agreed upon the definition, so why should we?

Ask 100 different people to define a word, any word, and they will all give you something different. I define mutilation (self or otherwise) as the deliberate alteration or destruction of normal, healthy body tissue. Therefore a body piercing, in my book, is a less severe form of body mutilation.

[minkajane]

Read the rest of the posts, Kldiliam. There was a dictionary definition posted. Mutilation, by this definition, cuts or removes a significant or important part of the organ or alters it radically. Piercing does neither of these.

[Piercedboy]

Originally Posted by kldliam

Piercing is not mutilation? According to whose definition? Researchers and mental health professionals have not even agreed upon the definition, so why should we?

Ask 100 different people to define a word, any word, and they will all give you something different. I define mutilation (self or otherwise) as the deliberate alteration or destruction of normal, healthy body tissue. Therefore a body piercing, in my book, is a less severe form of body mutilation.

Theres a quote from Webster's Dictionary above. We're using that rather than asking 100 people.

[kldliam]

curious

does this fine American dictionary source that you are all using, define MGM?

How does it define Genital Mutilation in general?

If it doesn't define either GM (on both the male and female) or MGM in any regard, I am not too interested in its broader definition of mutilation.

[Piercedboy]

Originally Posted by kldliam

does this fine American dictionary source that you are all using, define MGM?

How does it define Genital Mutilation in general?

If it doesn't define either GM (on both the male and female) or MGM in any regard, I am not too interested in its broader definition of mutilation.

In fact it does!!!

Dictionaries are amazing things!

Main Entry: gen·i·tal
Pronunciation: 'je-n&-t&l
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin genitalis, from genitus, past participle of gignere to beget -- more at KIN
1 : GENERATIVE
2 : of, relating to, or being a sexual organ
3 : of, relating to, or characterized by the stage of psychosexual development in psychoanalytic theory during which oral and anal impulses are subordinated to adaptive interpersonal mechanisms

Main Entry: mu·ti·late
Pronunciation: 'myü-t&-"lAt
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): -lat·ed; -lat·ing
Etymology: Latin mutilatus, past participle of mutilare, from mutilus truncated, maimed
1 : to cut up or alter radically so as to make imperfect <the child mutilated the book with his scissors>
2 : to cut off or permanently destroy a limb or essential part of : CRIPPLE
synonym see MAIM

[Piercedboy]

I think you can see from the above definitions that piercing does not constitute genital mutilation, as it does not make anything "imperfect." Now I do say that, however, if you have a really bad piercer, it might end up being mutilation, so always make sure you go to an APP aproved shop and tip your piercer well.

[kldliam]

Nice try Piercedboy. I believe your post reflects 2 separate entries that don't relate at all to one another. Now, please post the entries to these 3 phrases

Femal Genital Mutilation

Male Genital Mtilation

Genital Mutilation

Wait! I'll save you the time. There IS NO entry for MGM or GM. That stupid dictionary (like most of American society) only recognizes Female Genital Mutilation.

The dictionary (that we are all depending on to guide us here) does does not know how to define mutilation, as it has left out all cut-up penises!

[minkajane]

Most dictionaries do not define phrases - it would be unreasonable to attempt. I don't know why you're so upset that the phrase "genital mutilation" is not defined when genital and mutilation are. Putting them together doesn't change the meaning. Genital still means the same thing and mutilation still means the same thing. So there's no reason for the phrase to be listed. It's like saying the phrase "car door" should be listed because they're used together. Putting the two words together doesn't change the meaning of each word, so they're listed separately.

You seem to be so personally offended by the fact that the dictionary definition of mutilation doesn't include everything that you personally consider to be mutilation.

[kldliam]

Most dictionaries do not define phrases - it would be unreasonable to attempt.

see: Female Genital Mutilation (FGM):
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/female...l%20mutilation

I don't know why you're so upset that the phrase "genital mutilation" is not defined

That's sorta of the reason that GM still persists...people/dictionaries don't/wont recognize it on paper or in their minds.

I don't know why you're so upset that the phrase "genital mutilation" is not defined when genital and mutilation are. Putting them together doesn't change the meaning.

Gee, it certainly does change the meaning when you put 2 words together. Genital does not define GM, and mutilation does not define that of the genitals. The phrase FGM is in the dictionary, why do you suppose that MGM or GM is not? That's kinda worth thinking about.

You seem to be so personally offended by the fact that the dictionary definition of mutilation doesn't include everything that you personally consider to be mutilation.

I am offended as an Intactivist, that the dictionary that you are all touting here as the great authority on words- leaves out a critical phrase that is pivotal to this human rights movement. That is why i can't recognize their definition of 'mutilation'. It is obviously incomplete.

[Piercedboy]

At this time I think I've realized that you are just angry and want to fight, so I'm going to bow out gracefully. You don't really have a leg to stand on and are just arguing semantics at this point.

I thought it would be nice to have a spirited conversation with rational adults, but I guess this thread wasn't the best place to find that.