Female Circumcision

I think this article was written extremely well, and I liked how we were able to grow and learn through the writer, as though we were learning ourselves.  Honestly I don't really know much about female circumcision except that it can be used to torture, and most females in the english speaking world are un-circumsized.  I understand why the UN wants to ban circumcision but in cases of religious/cultural practice, I disagree with the stipulations.  Who is the UN or anyone else for that matter to say what you want to do for your body?  It's part of tradition, and isn't done with an intent to harm.  One could argue that when performed as in the article the child is too young to defend her right, but I think this is a bunch of bullshit because this is how her parent's chose to raise her.  Children's rights as far as choosing what to believe in for themselves can get a little ridiculous at points because parents also have a right to raise them.  And if they want to raise them in a religion where circumcision is a step in that, than so be it.  Abuse and torture and mutilation are different stories, however a lot of this is just the skewed point of the American opinion, and this opinion is very obnoxious and egocentric.