Women have no control over their genitals, according to Georgia lawmakers.
Published March 25, 2004
In the past two days, I've gotten no more than six hours sleep. I am also fighting a nasty cold/flu. I have been working non stop on a project for a client of mine that has been an emergency job.
But this was brought to my attention and it just begs to be blogged
Georgia House bans genital piercings for womenThe Associated Press - ATLANTA
Genital piercings for women were banned by the Georgia House Wednesday as lawmakers considered a bill outlining punishments for female genital mutilation.
The bill would make such mutilation punishable by two to 20 years in prison. It makes no exception for people who give consent to have the procedure performed on their daughters out of religious or cultural custom.
An amendment adopted without objection added "piercing" to the list of things that may not be done to female genitals. Even adult women would not be allowed to get the procedure. The bill eventually passed 160-0, with no debate.
Amendment sponsor Rep. Bill Heath, R-Bremen, was slack-jawed when told after the vote that some adults seek the piercings.
"What? I've never seen such a thing," Heath said. "I, uh, I wouldn't approve of anyone doing it. I don't think that's an appropriate thing to be doing."
The ban applies only to women, not men. The bill has already been approved by the Senate but now must return to that chamber because of the piercing amendment. Both chambers of the Legislature must agree on a single version of a bill before it can go to the governor for final approval.
Okay, before the rant, let's have another lesson in "alternative lifestyles and culture" with Tek.
There are many kinds of genital piercings for both men and women. Most of these piercings are in fact aids for increased pleasure during sexual intercourse. I'm not going to get into a long discussion about the different kinds of piercings for men and women, their names, and their purposes. What I will address quickly is the common genital piercings for women.
The most common piercings would be the labia majora, the labia minora and a clitoral HOOD piercing. There are some people who claim to have a "clit piercing" when in fact it is a piercing that goes through the small piece of skin that is on the top of the clitoris. An actual clitoris piercing can in fact cause less stimulation during sexual intercourse, and I don't know of any reputable piercer who will perform them. It is important to understand a little bit about genital piercings before I go further. I suppose if you wanted to be really technical, a genital piercing is a "mutilation", just as an earring, or a tattoo is. There is a big difference however between something done to take away someone's pleasure (such a clitorectomy, a custom common to some parts of the African and Arab world) and something done to enhance pleasure. If you are interesting in seeing pictures of, or hearing about experience of genital piercings, may I suggest you check out the very excellent BME site.
- Women have no control over their genitals, according to Georgia lawmakers.
- Published: March 25, 2004
- Type:
- Section: Culture
- Writer: Ms. Tek
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Comments on this articleComments
this kind of thing reminds me of other recent law banning such things as gays and satan (the satan one was particularly disturbing AND funny).
...i just read about it and think "they're joking, right?"
Mark Saleski
Someone banned Satan? That's hilarious! Some lawmakers passed a law banning "Satan?" HAHAHA.
Where did you find this?
i'm not makin it up.
just do a search on "town ban satan"
it was some town in florida.
scary.
What I find even more disturbing, is the current broke condition of medicaid. Which many of Georgia's children depend on, a lot of them disabled. In the meantime, the state hires expensive computer consultants to hook them up with expensive computer services, which are never used.
Its all about the penis... I think maybe a law banning specific things for minors would be a better idea.
Still, what disturbs me is that not one person spoke up about this. The fact that the one sidedness of this never came up I find shocking. As if a law specifically targeted at women, no matter the spirit of it, just goes on and no one bats a lash.
Hello, men and women under the constitution are supposed to have equal rights and protections!
One thing I do know... I am glad that I don't live in Georgia and would never, ever, move there.
I don't think anyone will try to convince you to move here :0) Fortunately for those of us who do, we are about united (at least everyone in my sphere) on the fact that Sonny Perdue needs to hit the road.As for the piercings, this is the first I've heard about it.Yeah, I know, pathetic considering I live here.
I don't mean to be rude... its just the things that I hear from down South just leads me to believe that a person like me would find no joy there. Is this the same state that wanted textbooks that only teach creationism?
Peaches are nice however. =)
Yep. The idea was to substitute the word evolution with "biological changes over time".Which made no sense to start with, cause they both mean the same thing.
Speaking of peaches :0) a lot peaches sold at roadside stands here are from California.
Oh wow... That ruins my peach fantasy. =(
I have been through Georgia a few times... always going to somewhere else however. Now that I think about it, I am sure I have only ever been in Georgia at night.
Marky Mark, thanks for the tip! I owe ya, babe!
re: genital piercings - I love the fact that style and fashion have upped the ante to physical mutilation.
It's a lot harder to hammer a piece of steel through your dick than it is to buy an Abercrombie & Fitch T-Shirt.
Kinda separates the men from the...
hmm... I'll get back to ya on that.
I can't believe we fought a war to get states like that back into the Union.
I can't believe we fought a war to get states like that back into the Union.
JR, actually they got into the war just so they could ride through Georgia and burn it to the ground.
re: TEK: "I don't mean to be rude... its just the things that I hear from down South just leads me to believe that a person like me would find no joy there."
What do you hear?
Jeezus, I hate this South-bashing shit. The South's got nothing on the North, et al when it comes to ignorant m**f**kers.
People are people.
PS: DON'T MOVE HERE.
xxoo
Shark (another obnoxiously proud Texan)
And while I'm being nasty, [winky] quite frankly, someone who posits the idea that mangling your sex organ to enhance joy can turn around and talk about a LACK OF JOY in the South is too friggin' ironic to ignore.
...look, you guys deep fry your steak.
that's just wrong.
*checking between my legs* NOPE!! not a penis there. No need to go gettin' all territorial.
Jeezus, I hate this South-bashing shit. The South's got nothing on the North, et al when it comes to ignorant m**f**kers.
People are people.
PS: DON'T MOVE HERE.
Okay, fair enough.
My problem, though, is that but for the South, I'd have a different government right now. And I'd really like to have a different government right now.
JR, me no savvy re. different government. If yer going where I think yer going,
You could blame NADER, GREEN Party, and the Supreme Court before you blame "The South" for this President.
Um, he lost, btw.
Hmmmm. Maybe that really IS a tiny lil peni...SO. I'm part Native American Indian, of the Cherokee Nation, original to Georgia, made to walk on out o' here back there in 1838...'cept some of my folk had the audacity to escape and hide amongst the hills of North Carolina. They would be the ones whose blood runs thru my veins.So from my perspective, you can all get tha he** off my land and stay of 'n it.:0)
Sheri, re: that tiny little peni....
~ JPGS! JPGS!
lol...you're a real card , Shark ;0)
I am from Texas, so I feel I can comment about the South. I tend to get offended when a Northerner makes some disparaging comments, but there do seem to be some "systemic" problems. You just don't have Roy Moore, towns banning Satan, and this thing in Georgia occurring in New England. i tend to agree that there are idiots everywhere, but why are so many idiots running the show in the South? It personally embarrases me.
we don't really have anything against southerners.....heck we've even forgotten those "Drive Fast. Freeze a Yankee" bumper stickers so popular during the 70's oil crisis.
Shark, let me try to clarify this for you since I didn't make a broad statement like you just did. I've enough of people lying and misrepresenting in this place as it is. I didn't make this huge statement about how I think the south is bad, or sucks, or anything to that fact. I spoke in reference to ME or like me:
its just the things that I hear from down South just leads me to believe that a person like me would find no joy there
"mangling your sex organ to enhance joy "
Don't talk about something you have no clue about. Do you have a genital piercing? Have you ever screwed someone who did? How can you make a judgment then? I can make a judgment that I don't like the South because really wacky, behind the times stuff that keeps spewing from there. Mind you, I don't think everyone down there is bad, ignorant, nosy, a bible thumper,crazy, etc... But there are enough down there that I know that a woman of my background and interests would be a) miserable and b)unwelcome. Don't worry. I don't want to move to any part of the world that is still having issues with whether Confederate flags are appropriate to fly on federal property, homosexuals, satan, evolution, and apparently women's rights over their own body.
If you don't like, nor want to have sex with someone who has a genital piercings, fine. Great. No one told you to and no one is forcing you to. For you to say that "can turn around and talk about a LACK OF JOY in the South is too friggin' ironic to ignore" is just plain ignorant.
Perhaps you don't understand why there are lumps and bumps on sex toys? Or does the concept of "ribbed for her pleasure" really not make sense to you?
Furthermore, a genital piercing is not a "fashion statement" or a "style". I don't know where you hang out, but the last time I checked, I didn't see any penises nor vaginae commonly flopping out all over in public. If the genitals are covered, it would seem to dictate that the genital piercing is by nature a personal choice.
Not too sure why that is difficult to understand.
Do you have a genital piercing?
I could never get that drunk.
I can make a judgment that I don't like the South because really wacky, behind the times stuff that keeps spewing from there.
Been to Michigan, Chicago, or New Jersey lately?
But there are enough down there that I know that a woman of my background and interests would be a) miserable and b)unwelcome.
Visit Austin, probably the coolest city in America. (You'll fit right in.) [winky]
What I don't understand is why anyone would want to pierce ANYTHING in that area, either man or woman. As far as some piercings increasing chances of orgasms or better stimulation, what have you..please, these women are fighting the wrong enemy. Kick the inept bastard out of your bed or consult a doctor. GP and shrink.
Still, banning the thing for women is another case of double standards. Are the lawmakers in Georgia mostly male? It wouldn't surprise me. When creating the masterpiece that is-WOMAN, God clearly needed a rough draft first-MAN..therefore women generations over have suffered unnecessary double standards since time immemorial. It still continues in all areas of life as these Lawmakers have shown, as this blogcritics site has shown, as life has shown. Payback's a bitch I guess:)
Isn't tattoing illegal in Massachusetts?
Tattooing used to be Illegal in NY... or at least NYC. Not sure if that has changed.
we don't really have anything against southerners.....heck we've even forgotten those "Drive Fast. Freeze a Yankee" bumper stickers so popular during the 70's oil crisis.
Whoa, I never saw those. That was probably a response to that national 55-mph speed limit passed by northeastern Congressmen who never had to drive across Nevada.
I also understand that at one time California, Florida, Maryland, and New Jersey have considered piercing laws. It's suppose to also still be a "gray legal area" in Massachusetts. Unless things have changed since 1997.
From the "Damned If Ya Do -- Damned If Ya Don't" category:
More on the GA. Bill:
"The bill's main purpose is to make female genital mutilation, practiced in many African and Middle Eastern countries, a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Fortunate Adem contends that in 2001, her husband took their then 2-year-old daughter, Amirah, away from their home and circumcised her in a traditional African way that has been condemned by the United Nations.
The father, a 28-year-old Ethiopian immigrant who denies any wrongdoing, is accused of using a pair of scissors to remove his daughter's clitoris. The practice, commonly known in many African nations as female genital mutilation, is designed to suppress the sexual desires of girls so that they may be pure when they get married.
"It is a horrible act," Adem said. "It is painful, traumatizing and degrading."
Now divorced from her husband, Adem lobbied legislators to outlaw the practice and in February the Senate passed the Amirah Joyce Adem Act.
Nationally, the federal Prohibition of Female Mutilation Act was enacted in 1995 to prohibit the removal of certain sexual organs on girls under age 18 unless it is medically necessary and only then if performed by a licensed medical practitioner.
"I knew in general that this was an abuse," said Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), a lawyer who represented Adem in her divorce case. "But as an Episcopalian from Druid Hills, this is not something that I knew a lot about."
Worldwide, about 130 million women have experienced some form of genital mutilation. The act is somewhat common in 28 African countries and scattered spots in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. But in 1997, the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control an Prevention estimated that 168,000 females living in the United States have had the procedure done. It is not known how many were done in the United States."
=== end of article excerpt ===
JR, you're right; 1974-ish "gas crisis" period. BTW, aren't you glad we solved THAT PROBLEM in the ensuing 20 years!
re: bumper stickers -
some others indigenous to our liberal state:
"Welcome to Texas - Now Go Home!"
"Keep honking while I reload"
whoops, it's worse: "ensuing 30 years..."
...my how time flys...
"Welcome to Texas - Now Go Home!"
Hold on, I'm not sure that's indigenous to Texas; we used that line in California at least 25 years ago. (I always loved that sticker.)
The truth is probably that some print shop in Tijuana has been making one for each state for years.
Do you have a genital piercing?
I could never get that drunk.
I can make a judgment that I don't like the South because really wacky, behind the times stuff that keeps spewing from there.
Been to Michigan, Chicago, or New Jersey lately?
But there are enough down there that I know that a woman of my background and interests would be a) miserable and b)unwelcome.
Visit Austin, probably the coolest city in America. (You'll fit right in.) [winky]
1. If someone will pierce or tattoo you when you are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, they are irrepituable. No one who takes their art seriously will work on a person who is under drugs or alcohol.
2. Come now, the whole of the US has no more claim to the KKK or white supremacy than any other part of the USA much less the world. White power is a hobby of many people, worldwide. The Nazis didn't come from New Jersey and Klansman were started by the Scottish. The example does not work. BTW... I don't need to visit Chicago. I live there. ;)
3. Austin- One of these days I'll have to visit. The thing is one city out of a whole part of the country? I forgot where REM is from. That is supposed to be a laid back, "cool" southern city as well. Perhaps New Orleans as well... Hard to say as that when I was in New Orleans, I was mostly drunk, 22, and hanging out on Bourbon Street like a little idiot. Ah.. the folly of youth- wouldn't trade it for the world. ;)
As for post 31:
It is understandable that the idea of mutating the genitals of a child is abhorrent. Which actually further proves my case. It is illegal for you to take a child down to the butcher and have one of its fingers cut off. There are no specific laws on the books as far as I know, "YOU SHALL GO TO JAIL IF YOU POKE A CHILD'S EYE OUT". That is why this ruling is made even more absurd. Personally, I think circumcision is cruel. I don't think that anyone who is under the age of 18 should be allowed to get a tattoo. I think you need to be 16 with parents consent to get anything pierced (non-genital) other than your ears pierced. (If you are doing genital piercings on people under 18, you have an issue.) Genital Piercings are only for 18 and up. That being said, I cannot think personally of any piercer I know, here in the US or Abroad that if you brought in your 2 year old daughter and said "Hey, I want you to cut her clitoris off" would actually go do this. Moreover, I think most people would go to the back and call cops.
So who is performing these "operations"? And just because they are now illegal, what is to stop them? Are we now going to inspect the genitals of every female in the state of Georgia?!
REM- Athens, Georgia, home of UGA, and the best lil coffee house around..., Jittery Joes !
re: Austin- One of these days I'll have to visit. The thing is one city out of a whole part of the country?
(shark doing voice of "Liar Guy" from old Sat. Night Live)
Um, yeah..that's it...
uh huh... yeah... um...
yeah one city out of a whooooole part...
yeah ...uh huh..."
Kerrville (best singer/songwriter festival on earth)
Denton (Univ. N. Tx; best music school on earth)
Georgetown (SW U. - one of the best univ. on earth)
San Marcos - SWS - ditto
San Antonio (best place in the world to be Hispanic)
And there's Molly Ivins & Jim Hightower, two of the fiestiest liberal asskickers in Umerica;
Bill Moyers, smarter and more articulate than anybody north of the Red River.
The list goes on and on, but... um... nevermind...
And then there's ME!
Okay, so we're all just a bunch of drooling rednecks.
Yeah, that's it.
This is in keeping with the general tendency, most pronounced in Southern states, to ban anything weird. Witness the various state statutes banning sex toys.
Did I ever say that "you are a bunch of drooling rednecks" or are you jumping on the new "make up stuff Tek said" trend now?
I hear its the new "in" thing to do this year.
I think what Ms. Tek is complaining about is the unfortunate tendency of our people to elect rednecks, scoundrels, and demagogues.
let's have another lesion in "alternative lifestyles and culture" with Tek
I hear they have an ointment for that now. And you don't need a prescription. And in the future, use a condom.
Thank you Jim! I know I can always count on you when spell check fails me.
It has been corrected!
Don't thank me, thank Courtney Love for her recent PSA on "America's Sweetheart" on having "pills for my cootchie when it gets sore".
While politicians can draft any law they want, I wonder how they intend to enforce it? Will there be metal scanner checks at the airports? (Okay, it's a cucumber wrapped in tinfoil, happy?).
I can understand laws about public health (which is case with the ban on tats in NYC, a response to a hepatitis outbreak), but the creeping extension of laws just makes a mockery of the relevance of the rule of law.
As for disliking Georgia, everything I know, I learned from Harry Crews.
Great post. Someday I'm gonna get up the nerve to have my head pierced. You know. For sexual pleasure. It could be my knocker, for when people say to me, "Hello? Anybody home?" which they are prone to do, frankly, which is why I never go out anymore. Mabe a nice ring through the forehead, coming out the back. Then would I be popular? Tek, you're not pierced all over, are you? I'd think if you were, you'd have more typos.
Where have I seen this before? Oh, I know:
LANCE: I just hope I still have it.
Whaddya think of Trudi? She ain't got a boyfriend, wanna hang out an' get high?
VINCENT: Which one's Trudi? The one with all the shit in her face?
LANCE: No, that's Jody. That's my wife.
MsTek, I never thought you were trying to go out of your way to bash the south :0) Jumping to conclusions has a tendency to land me face down, rear end up, so I try not to.
Sheri: face down, rear end up...
Whoa! ~ JPGS! ~ JPGS!
Shark ma boy you try too hard.
The south has been exported to Washington, and Washington is now busily exporting the South to the rest of the country.
In four years, losing the right to have your genitals pierced will seem like the heady days of liberty- no pun intended.
| | = arms
/ = legs
0 = face
8= torso
the rest, well, I'm shy ;0)
Lomu, you ever have a point?
:):) Lomu. You are keen in discernment..you are without a doubt unrivalled on blogcritics.
^.^ Actually, if you ignore idiot politicians the south isnt bad (hence the fact that they didnt manage to actually Clear that law) and theres a large community of people who are into mods, rennies, gamers scifi and fantasy fanatics..all kinds down here, if you know where to look. Its jsut,a s with any group, the loudest, most ignorant, and most embarissing amoung us always somehow end up representing us to the public
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/14053)
Yet another example of a male-dominated entity (Georgia lawmakers) making decisions for women.
I think the ban on the clitorectomy for minors would be a good thing. Young girls and women shouldn't be forced into having one done. But that's different from the choices an adult woman makes.