‘Women must accept FGM to reduce libido and match sexually-weak men’ says Elhamy Agina, Egyptian MP at the parliament last week.
In 2008, Egypt banned all Female Genital Mutilation procedures, and has subjected punishment onto those who still force their daughters to undergo the process. However, our country still ranks amongst the top countries whose women have undergone FGM, with about 27.2 million women at the moment having been subjected to it. That’s about 9 out of 10 women in Egypt who are forced to be mutilated at a young age, for cultural albeit fictional beliefs that FGM will reduce their sexual drive and preserve their ‘honour’. Ultimately, leading to physical mutilations and possible dysfunctions that could lead to serious injuries or death.
Even if our men are sexually weak, let them be weak. Is physically mutilating the women and torturing them really going to help create a balance between the two? Are women really ever going to ask for more than what their men can give them, I think not. We live in a country where women have not been taught to ask for sex. The majority of women lack sexual education, and truly think that experiencing sexual desire is a disgrace, or something shameful that they need to repress. This is in itself a massive problem that needs to be treated.
So, when an Egyptian MP thinks women are going to be dissatisfied with what their men give them, because men are ‘sexually weak’, he obviously does not even comprehend the beliefs surrounding our society when it comes to sexuality.
Women’s lack of sexual education is an issue that definitely has not been tackled enough. The belief that they should not experience sexual desire is not only sexist, but also truly nonsensical. FGM can only reinforce that belief, with the horrific addition of mutilation and physical torture. 
Many Egyptian Women have fought for years on end against FGM and its regressed intentions. People such as Dr. Nawal El Saadawi, feminist writer and activist, for instance who has herself been subjected to it, and who has not stopped speaking out against it. People whose voices are so powerful, yet can go unheard next to people like Elhamy Agina who, instead of using his voice to good use, is actually taking what we are trying to achieve, and deteriorating it.
If men are sexual dysfunctional, they should probably go see a doctor. But to think that FGM is the solution for that is absolutely barbaric and ignorant.
So, please Mr. Agina, spare us your sexist insights. Our country has enough of those already.
