Odds and ends

This explains so much

Putting this up early before my Sunday night nerd fix. They're showing the original Cosmos series and my daughters are watching it. One more check on the parental well done list. 
Earlier in the week, I saw an article that made me think. With all the stuff going on at my household, nearly a full week went by before I could address the issue.
The article in question is from the Huffington Post and it deals with female anatomy. Specifically it deals with the clitoris, so if you're uncomfortable reading about anatomy, now is your chance to opt out.
We're all here? Okay, here goes: Sophia Wallace, a New York artist is trying to raise the awareness of the population by talking about the most misunderstood organ in the female anatomy.
Back in 1998 Helen O'Connall, a urologist in Australia, published a paper in the Journal of Urology. In it, she describes the clitoris is capable of lengths up to 9 centimeters. Visual aid time:

The area in yellow is the clitoris

The part that we adults are somewhat familiar with is the tip of the iceberg... literally.

One of the facts I walked away with was how few doctors perform plastic surgery to repair the damage done by genital mutilation.

Certain cultures practice female circumcision. To me, calling it that is an understatement and it disgusts me.

Having never owned or possessed a set of female genitalia, I can only imagine the horror. If a tribal chief or shaman told me I had to cut the head on my penis off because God said so, I'd pack my bags and high tail it out of there. Because I have daughters, I would do my utmost to protect them from harm if the authorities wanted to do that to them.

Perhaps it's the perspective from being on the outside, but I think the human body is wonderful the way it is. There's no need to cut extra skin off, or make it impossible to do something that's supposed to be natural, such as peeing or giving birth... or yes, having sex.

Sophia Wallace says it better than I would. There is no need to be afraid of the clitoris and certainly no need to damage it simply to appease the male ego. This is one of those conversations we need to have with both our sons and daughters.

We need to teach our sons to respect women and our daughters need to be aware of their own body. This type of conversation might be awkward coming from me, the Dad, that's why I'm trying to encourage my wife to bring this to our daughters attention. Like the elephant in the room, we as a family should discuss it. I think that will go a ways toward our children's mental well being.