How free are we?

When Adam and Eve decided to partake of the forbidden fruit they bestowed upon the human race the curse or blessing of freewill depending on the depth of shit freewill has landed you in or riches that freewill has brought you. Humans are free to do whatever they want to do and face the consequences of their actions.

                Because freewill tends to infringe upon other people’s rights, the human race has over the centuries tried to implement a policing system that limits freedoms of fellow humans so that there can be a semblance of order. But to what extent and under what circumstances can humans limit the freewill of other humans? I asked myself this question after watching the documentary:

Cut, The:

Uganda, 2012, 24mins, Doc, DVD

The Kuria in Kenya and Tanzania are still practicing Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) as a ritual. It is painful and even dangerous. The older generation and peer pressure want to uphold the legacy of the ancestors, but the effect of generational practice has created a mixed feeling in the young generation in the 21st century.

Female genital mutilation is classified into four major types.

• Clitoridectomy: partial or total removal of the clitoris (a small, sensitive and erectile part of the female genitals) and, in very rare cases, only the prepuce (the fold of skin surrounding the clitoris).
• Excision: partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora (the labia are "the lips" that surround the vagina).
• Infibulation: narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal. The seal is formed by cutting and repositioning the inner, or outer, labia, with or without removal of the clitoris.
• Other: all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, e.g. pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterizing the genital area.

According to UNICEF, the top rates are in Somalia (with 98 percent of women affected), Guinea (96 percent), Djibouti (93 percent), Egypt (91 percent), Eritrea (89 percent), Mali (89 percent), Sierra Leone (88 percent), Sudan (88 percent), Gambia (76 percent), Burkina Faso (76 percent), Ethiopia (74 percent), Mauritania (69 percent), Liberia (66 percent), and Guinea-Bissau (50 percent).

Those who do it admit that they cut the young girls’ clitoris off to destroy their enjoyment of the sexual act. This is done for moral reasons, it is claimed: A woman who does not enjoy sexual intercourse is less likely to stray from her husband’s bed. When confronted with realities like this I ask myself who and under what circumstances should limit other humans’ freedoms. God gave women the clitoris for a reason and they should enjoy sex as much as they want. If a woman decides to stray from ‘her’ man’s bed; isn’t it her choice to do so?

            There have been many cases whereby men have gone out of their way to limit a woman’s freewill and choices; the woman who was forced to walk the streets of Entumbane, Bulawayo naked because she had been caught cheating, the case of the Kenyan man who got stuck to a married woman whilst having sex in a lodge, countless stories of men who lock their wives against adultery and the men who have suffered terribly for having sex with married women. Locking of women has been justified by many; ‘why would the women be cheating in the first place?’ has been a common retort. But shouldn’t this locking business be discussed by the husband and wife and an agreement to lock both husband and wife reached?

            This whole thing of freewill is a cumbersome burden to humanity because in trying to create order, in trying to create balance between humans having the freedom to do whatever they please and also ensuring that the said freedoms don’t infringe upon other people’s freedom, a lot of abuse has happened and still happens. The question that needs an urgent answer is: Who has the right and under what circumstances should other humans’ freedoms be limited?