For the most part, I will usually post a small section of an article or blog with a link to the entire piece. I am doing this because while all of my articles are posted on Natural Mothering and are, obviously, mine to post as I wish, many of the other authors that I writing about regularly deserve to have their name and sites made known..... we all like to receive our dues and accolaids, right?
And so to begin.....
"What about our Sons"
By, Dani Arnold-McKenny
In what could be a ground breaking announcement, on Nov 12 Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, announced the release of a new citizenship study guide to help newcomers and Canadians better understand Canada. In a section called "Equality of Women and Men" the guide states, that "barbaric" cultural practices such as female genital mutilation are illegal in Canada.
While the vast majority of Canadians will applaud the fact that the minister and our government are insuring that the fundamental rights of our female children are being protected by federal laws, we need to ask a serious question:
What about our sons?
Canada is a nation that is world renowned for its humanitarian efforts and its Charter of Human Rights. We are a diverse multicultural country, who's citizens live secure in the knowledge that our fundamental rights are protected by the highest level of our legal system. In 1982, the Federal Government modified Canada’s Constitution in order to better reflect the human rights goals and standards set by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Government enacted a statute known as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
This Charter is a binding legal document that protects the basic human rights of all Canadians and provides a list of the rights to which all Canadians are entitled and outlines the Government’s responsibility in upholding those rights. It prohibits discrimination on the grounds of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, gender, age and mental or physical disability.
We are a Nation with the supreme right of EQUALITY.
So again I ask: What about our sons?
As the horrifying act of female genital mutilation is considered a "barbaric" cultural practice and legally banned in our country, we need to ask ourselves why the equally horrifying practice of male genital mutilation is still considered a social norm and one that parents are legally given the freedom to inflict on their newborn sons?... Here to read the entire article
