Title: Female Genital Mutilations: The Story of Kedra
Author: Dr. Getu Tadesse Mindaye
Publisher: Xlibrius UK
ISBN: 9781664112049
Pages: 128
Genre: Culture, Literature & Fiction
Reviewer: Rae Capri

Read Book Review

To be a young girl who has grown up in the Ethiopian country seems more of a curse than a blessing. There is a dangerous practice that takes place in every young girl’s life, a circumcision of the female genitals. The unfortunate dangers of this practice are deadly because many girls didn’t survive due to bleeding to death or suffered major health complications that limited their overall life experience. Love can overcome the struggles faced and live by every woman in the country, but one would always wonder if that is enough. Of course, some were minimally affected and went on to have semi-decent lives and created families. It is a major flaw that has not been addressed and discussed to prevent this from continuously occurring. Until things are re-negotiated, women will continue to die at the hands of the practitioner or from the act itself. It is not humane or humanitarian to cause harm to a group of individuals who will not have the fair advantage of the same group in other cultures.

In Female Genital Mutilations: The Story of Kedra, author Dr. Getu Tadesse Mindaye begins the story on the most beautiful and loving memory any child could ever experience. As short-lived as that memory was, we’re introduced to a six-year-old girl named Kedra, who has no idea what she would face in the days to follow. It is customary to have a circumcision ceremony in every young girl’s life, to prepare them for marriage later in life. The reason behind this tradition is to ensure girls stay pure for their future husbands, free from sexual desires, or the possibility of being raped. In any other culture or country, this is considered a form of mutilation and is prohibited. Kedra was another young girl who had to suffer at the hands of a designated member of their tribe to perform this traditional ceremony, Seida Omar. The interesting fact to note, Seida’s rate for her circumcision services is thirty birrs, the equivalence of $1.50 in the U.S! Once the circumcision is over, the real struggles begin and no woman is the bright and smiling little girl again. It is a demonstration of the many struggles women would face just by being born. Later into her adulthood, Kedra and her friends were curious to know more about their male counterparts, in terms of experiencing intimacy before awaiting their marriages arranged by their parents. One out of the group, Soraya, suffered the intensities of her mutilation throughout her short young adult life, and her parents felt guilt being the reason for their daughter’s suffering.

Kedra felt the influence to test the waters beyond her taught beliefs and met Ateib Abdullahi, a young gentleman whose heart was captured at first glance. The professed love he expressed to her felt straight from a romance novel and readers only wanted things to work out between these two. Of course, forbidden love did its greatest to keep them from being together, as her parents arranged her marriage with an older man, who already had three other wives. To experience love from a genuine place, no one would consider letting it go and would fight to the death to hold on to it. In this case, both Kedra and Ateib refused to let anything stand in their way. Love prevailed in the oddest of ways, along with guardian angels assisting this mission, these two lovebirds managed to begin what anyone would believe to be the greatest happily ever after. Life, on the other hand, had completely different plans for them and wasn’t going to work in their favor. Cherished moments are all that can remain as things were changed forever, life would never be the same, no matter the strength of their love.

I felt sorry throughout this entire book for all women who faced this dangerous mutilation, as many suffered more than only bleeding to death. There were many complications along their journey of trying to be a woman in their society and to have one more gruesome experience added to the already long list, is disturbing. Sure, there are many things other cultures might not agree on, but this one is one of them. As a woman, I wouldn’t ever want to fathom that as a possibility anywhere in the world, but I’m grateful to have learned what occurs in another country.

I highly recommend this book for more than educational purposes, but to also make awareness that this mutilation is not okay, instead, it causes unnecessary physical, emotional, and mental pain throughout one’s life before it even starts. Maybe with more people being aware, there would be a greater chance to defend and fight for the mutilations to end. This also provides more evidence of how women are oppressed in a patriarchal society.