"Why do mothers still want their daughters to remain virgins for as long as possible? Don't they realize they are perpetuating the culture of patriarchy?" - Found @ The Guardian
"I had the birds and the bees conversation with my daughter when she was around four years old. I told her that sex is an act that two consenting adults choose to do and I stressed that nobody should touch her body in any way that makes her uncomfortable.
As part of my work with the Dahlia Project, a counselling service I founded for women and girls who have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM), I run sessions for refugee women where I talk about the cultures they grew up in.
The discussion always leads to sex, and a recurring theme is virginity. Many of the women are educated and considered liberal in their way of thinking. They say their daughters are equal to their sons. However, they also say they want their daughters to remain virgins to protect them from harm and so that future husbands will respect them.
What interests me about these conversations is that the women openly talked about being cheated on or beaten by their so-called respectful husbands. I nudged the women to reflect. “Did remaining a virgin work for you?” I asked. “Did it prevent the violence and betrayal he had caused you?” Many were baffled by my questions. By our second session some of the women were starting to realise that cultural patriarchy was alive and well in their homes, and they were complicit in committing the oppression they had endured against their own daughters.
Sadly I only had two sessions with these women, and they left me questioning this universal obsession with virginity......"
MUST Read entire article @: The Guardian - Leyla Hussein
