Female discourse analysis is a broad technique for understanding and critiquing the power of language and language power in many contests . It is also used to portray and denounce the differences inbetween the representation betweenof men and women . Female genital mutilation (FGM) is an international issue that has been declared a violation of human and girl rights . Female genital cutting (FGC) refers to any surgical process that includes the partial or complete elimination of the external sex organs or wound to the womanfemale sex areas, whether for cultural or chemical purposes (FULGIERI, 2017). While tThe occurrence and procedure of female circumcision depends on ethnicity, geography, and status . However, the processpractice is common amongst young girls in Nigeria and mostly amongst young girls. whichThis has raised a lot of perspectives concerning it . A recent image that has gone viral illustrates a black pregnant woman, which is uncommon in medical textbooks. By comparing the black image to a white-skinned pregnant woman, the black woman’s clitoris was cut off.
Images of black patients are rarely revealedincluded in a medical settings or even in textbooks. People in the medical field use white images when studying the human body and organs. Chiedebere Ibe, a Nigerian medical student and aspiring to become a neurosurgeon, has recently drewdrawn an image of a black pregnant woman that has gonehas gone viral (Meadows-Fern et al., 2021). The Nigerian student started drawing illustrations of black individuals during the covid pandemic, claiming that he had never seen images of a black fetus illustrated before. TheIbe’s image was an illustration of him sticking up and advocatingattempt to advocate for equality in healthcare through the creation of diverse medical illustrations (Meadows-Fern et al., 2021). The image also reveals the black woman without a clitoris. At first sight, the picture appears to be a regular drawing that could be found in a medical book or on the walls of a physician's office, but for one significant difference: it depicts a black woman without a clitoris. But it's a simple yet significant element that distinguishes the depiction of a fetus in the womb that recently attracted the internet's attention: its darker skin tone.
I will be using Postmodernism to support my argument because Postmodernism is a form of discourse that proposes that there are several objectives, relative truths of personal fabrication rather than a single basic reality (Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber, 2014). Subjective experiences shape these truths and what is available in the society, spoken, culture, and written word. Despite efforts to eradicate female circumcision, the operation is still common and ubiquitous in Nigeria (Gbadebo et al., 2021) . In Nigeria, FGC is practiced throughout infancy, especially within the first eight days after birth in some organizations, before weddings in others, mostly among the Ibo from the southern regions, and often before delivery of first kid in other communities (Gbadebo et al., 2021). With the help of a few healthcare professionals, it is mainly performed out by midwives and indigenous circumcisers who lack medical skills and utilize nonsterile equipment such as razors, broken glasses, and scissors.
The image, produced by Chidiebere Ibe, a Nigerian medical student and illustrator , resonated with many people on social media, with many saying they had never seen a Black pregnant mother or a black fetus shown in the past (Meadows-Fern et al., 2021). It also raised awareness of a wider problem: a lack of representation in medical drawings. Ibe told HuffPost UK that he certainly wasn't expecting such a positive reaction to his fetus design, which is one of several he's made as a medical artist, the most of which feature Black skin tones (Ceron, 2021). It did, however, highlight the significance of a task to which he has long been dedicated. Despite the continuing need for medical graphics to reflect the full range of human variation, medical illustrator Hillary Wilson told CNN that the discipline changed. It's critical that black people giving birth feel seen and safe in the medical system (Ceron, 2021). HisIbe’s images are particularly significant as we study more about the maltreatment of Black parents in search of prenatal and postpartum care, as it's critical that black people giving birth feel seen and safe in the medical system (Ceron, 2021) .
Female circumcision is used to suppress a young girl's sexual desire and ensure her dignity by removing the most delicate sexual organs. Female cCircumcision is viewed as a symbol of a woman's inferiority in other areas of life. Circumcision is used to suppress a young girl's sexual desire by removing the most delicate sexual organs in order to ensure her dignity. A country like Nigerian men is viewed as more powerful than females, denying them the right to deny FGM. Some of the cultures in the country still hold on to strict values which force females to undergo circumcision. Women's responses to female circumcision are influenced by their socioeconomic dependence on men (Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber, 2014). The contextuality of the forces within the communitycommunities that relate to and control women's sexuality is often overlooked in feminist representation ideologies (Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber, 2014ibid ). FUnfortunately , female circumcision will not be abolished through state legislation or international involvement unless the inferior status of females in the Nigerian society is addressed. We may begin by asking question such as: Why do women who endure an evidently detrimental and, in some cases, brutal treatment tend to safeguard and perpetuate their mutilation, based on these circumstances? Why do women compromise their own rights to "bodily integrity and autonomy" in order to demonstrate their servile respectability to potential spouses?
TheChiedebere Ibe's image of the black pregnant woman reveals a woman with a black fetus and with no clitoris, while the otherabove image is of a white woman who is carrying a white fetus and has a clitoris. Although the central message of the black image was to show the gap in the representation of black human organs in medical textbooks, it is unethical since not all Nigerian women have undergone female circumcision . The Nigerian image is a misrepresentation of a Nigerian human body since it only embraces the circumcised females, whereas, even though female circumcision in Nigeria is still high, not all women are circumcised.
Although female circumcision in Nigeria is still high, not all Nigerian women are circumcised. The image raises the question of why the white image has a clitoris, whereas the black image does not have a clitoris.
Although the central message of the black image was to show the gap in the representation of the black human organs in the medical textbooks, it is unethical since not all Nigerian women have undergone female circumcision. The fight against female genital mutilation is a political one; Aalthough this practice depends on various factors, there are various factors surrounding this practice, like ethnicity and culture, much of the world is still united in the fight against FGM. ; henceBecause Ibe's image reflects that female circumcision in Nigeria is still taking place despite the efforts to abolish it, the picture may be viewed as resistance against abolishing female genital mutilation. The current representation of this image, which fails to acknowledge and may even normalize FGM, is wrong and an unacceptable creation of knowledge.
The image reflects that female circumcision in Nigeria is still taking place despite the efforts to abolish it. The fight against female genital mutilation is a political one. Breaking the shackles of reliance and inherited forms of power is critical for females worldwide who are entangled in a web of subjugation (Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber, 2014).
Breaking the shackles of reliance and inherited forms of power is critical for females worldwide who are entangled in a web of subjugation (Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber, 2014). We need to create a shared oppositional awareness that demands that the state prioritizes women's training and education, equal participation in the workforce, availability of health and contraceptives services, constitutional protections, and political engagement in Nigeria., theseThis should give women voicesa voice and agenciesagency thatto will see to anbring about the end of oppressive behaviors against Nigerian women.
References
Ceron, E. (2021, December 17). Bloomberg - Are you a robot? Www.bloomberg.com. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-17/black-pregnant-woman-fetus-by-chidiebere-ibe-is-an-nft-selling-for-10-ethereum
FULGIERI, M. (2017). Perceptions of Womanhood: A Discourse on Female Genital Mutilation. Wp.nyu.edu. https://wp.nyu.edu/steinhardt-appsych_opus/perceptions-of-womanhood-a-discourse-on-female-genital-mutilation/
Gbadebo, B. M., Salawu, A. T., Afolabi, R. F., Salawu, M. M., Fagbamigbe, A. F., & Adebowale, A. S. (2021). Cohort analysis of the state of female genital cutting in Nigeria: prevalence, daughter circumcision and attitude towards its discontinuation. BMC Women’s Health, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-021-01324-2
Meadows-Fern, A. R., December 08, & 2021. (2021, December 8). Med School Student’s Illustration Shows a Black Fetus in Utero—Here’s Why It Went Viral. Parents. https://www.parents.com/kindred/med-school-students-illustration-shows-black-fetus-in-utero-heres-why-it-went-viral/
Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber. (2014). Feminist research practice : a primer. Sage Publications, Inc.