Traditions... when do they cross the line?

I came across this article about female circumcision in Africa. It kind of got me thinking about all the so-called traditions that women have had to go through in the past. Bound feet, circumcision, it all sounds super barbaric and painful. I think it’s worse when they use religion as an excuse. =_=

About 15 percent of those who undergo genital mutilation, mainly women in the Horn of Africa, suffer the most dangerous and extreme version, infibulation. Isnino Shuriye, who was also at the Nairobi meeting, performed infibulations among the Somali community in northern Kenya. She would cut off the clitoris and all the labia of 7-year-old girls. She would sew up the girls to be totally smooth, with a pencil eraser-sized opening for menses and urine. Each girl's legs were bound together for weeks so scars could form. Ms. Shuriye used no anesthetic.

All types of female circumcision have huge psychological and physical dangers. Some girls bleed to death during the operation, or die of tetanus or infection shortly after. But for infibulated women, the dangers are even greater. Many infibulated women suffer constant infections and other health problems because urine and blood back up. Their husbands must bring a knife to their wedding night to cut them open. Childbirth often is fatal for infibulated women and their babies, and their wounds make them much more vulnerable to the AIDS virus.

I wonder why women in the past went through with it. It’s just unimaginable for me. And the fact that things like that is still happening in the present is shocking to say the least. I was cringing in pain when I read the article... thank goodness I was not born in Africa! >_<