Customer Reviews

Warrior Marks: Female Genital Mutilation and the Sexual Blinding of Women

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

An incredibly intense book. It is not for the easily frightened. The modern-day atrocities detailed in this book overshadow anything Steven King might think up. YOU WILL NEVER FORGET WHAT IS WRITTEN IN THIS BOOK. I based my senior thesis on Walker's works, and Warrior Marks opens a window into her soul. I would recommend this book to all men and women, especially those who think the modern world is devoid of barbaric cruelty.

I first became aware of female genital mutilation (FGM) when reading "The Color Purple," and again when reading Fausiya Kassindja's "Do They Hear You When You Cry." These two books led me to read "Warrior Marks." Female genital mutilation is a crime, an outrage, a sin before God. How dare the originators of this heinous procedure presume that what God created is faulty or a mistake? "Warrior Marks" enhanced what I had already learned about FGM. Any man (or woman) who tries to uphold this procedure as something that benefits girls and women is of a criminal mind. There is no benefit to putting a woman through this torture. If men were required to experience a similar experience, we would soon see the end of FGM. Please read this book if you seek another point of view. The addition of Alice Walker's poetry and the sharing of her experiences as she and Pratibha Parmar traveled through Africa is an eye-opener, and the way the book is written gives the reader a personal view in the same way that Ms. Kassindja's book does. Ms. Walker gives the women that she writes about a certain dignity, and while the reader may not be able to identify with the physical pain, some of the emotions may be felt. This is definitely a 5-star book.

I am Kola Boof, often and truthfully billed as the nation of Sudan's top woman writer. I am also a woman who is "vaginally circumcised"--mutilated, if you will. In fact, Sudan is Africa's leading nation for "FMG" as Americans call it.

"Warrior Marks" is a superior work by a superior woman.

While so many reviewers here have claimed that there are BETTER books on this subject than Walker's "Warrior Marks"....I would remind them that with so very little written about this subject in the first place--we need to read and value EVERYTHING that is offered on the subject, especially when offered by a Black Woman (Alice Walker) whose obvious love, care and respect for African women...seeps like a healing oil from every page.

It's no secret that Alice Walker is one of the great inspirations of my own literary career and much of my work as an African woman from the Nilotic peoples of Sudan is distilled through the prism of her own American voice---as I struggled to find a way to tell my own stories with as much truth and bareness as possible.

"Warrior Marks" is a tribute to the WORTHINESS of African women...a book that gives us permission to embrace our sexuality, to value our black bodies and to insist that those bodies be healed. It also gives us the chance for "forgiveness". And through Alice Walker's willingness to lay bare her own personal reactions and observations and "empathies"....a larger story of womanhood is revealed and committed to word.

GOD bless both Alice and Pratibah, for such COURAGE.

"Female circumcision" or "female genital mutilation" is a hot topic. Unfortunately, there is "more heat than light" in most writings on this topic: this is a good example. The book and the movie are more about Alice Walker than about this ancient, puzzling, disturbing tradition. It is easy to confuse a topic such as this one with the book that covers it. Those whose first introduction to this subject comes through this book, will probably find it moving. Those who approach the subject seriously and professionally either as clinicians or anthropologists, will find this book a disaster: superficial, arrogant, condescending, ethnocentric, outraged, uninformed, manipulative, anecdotal, loaded with personal bias and without any serious research methodology. It is not a particularly useful contribution to the debate. If you are interested in this subject, the best thing you can do is move immediately beyond this book and come to grips with the real issues. Alice Walker is an intelligent, articulate woman; but she is hoplessly out of her depth here. Overall, a disservice to the women she wants to help.

Warrior marks was the account of all the time that Alice Walker and Pratibha Parmar spent in preparing for the documentary. They did not need to show how the mutilation is done because they painted a vivid enough picture. The book was about the emotional aspect of female genital mutilation. I must say that I commend them, especially Pratibha for the time that they spent preparing for the documentary. The book made me want to see the documentary. When Alice talks about herself in the book, she shows how her experiences were similar to that of the females in Africa. I recommend this book be read and the documentary seen.

While I understand the necessity some people feel to understand female circumcision, I find it unfortunate that Alice Walker's book and film have become the main resources on the topic. Walker is a talented, inelligent woman--but she did not do her research, treated African women with extreme condescension (except for those living in Europe), and distorted the topic entirely. The true issue is far more complex and cannot simply be called mutilation across the board. Examples of her errors in the compiling/writing of this information: saying that Wolof people didn't practice a form of circumcision and then interviewing a Wolof woman (she hadn't even taken time to recognize the language), ridiculing the most respected women in society, only defining one form out of 5 or more forms of circumcision, completely denying the validity of any African medicines/medical awareness. While one can be legitimately concerned with the treatment of women globally, and should be, we (especially as outsiders looking in) have to let ourselves be educated on the topic as much as is allowable by those who really understand before we can presume to make any judgements as Walker does throughout her book/film. I also think her use of "dance" perpetuated the making of African women's intellects into physical qualities, creating a sort of veneration in objectification (for those who saw the film).

Reading this book drives me to tears and anger.
How can people be so cruel for their own selfish means?
The book was written in sincerity and it is easy read (I finished it in one go) and one cannot help but ask deep questions? When can all these cruel practises to hurt women stop?
The opening quotation "Why is the child crying?" summs it up all.

I agree with previous reviews stating that there are much better resources out there. I was VERY disappointed in this book and think it is one of the most misleading titles/text I have ever read. This book barely touches on FGM with any detail or facts. It is 99% about her making the film and what they did on a daily basis. While that may be insightful to some, I wanted to know details about the issue. I have read Possessing the Secret of Joy by Alice Walker and this is a better book by far. I wouldn't waste the time to read or buy Warrior Marks and recommend you start with another book that actually deals with the topic. What a terrible follow up to Alice Walker's great start at educating us on FGM.

I had high hopes for this work, hopes that were dashed when reading how the authors wanted to travel and explore their topic first hand but were afraid that they'd be harmed in Africa. As if Jane Goodall worried about being eaten when she studied our primate cousins.
Then the authors chose to avoid personal contact and do their research in the library, reading the works of other people, thus presenting older second hand material as accurate without bothering to check the veracity or continuity of the material.
Finally, the authors personal bias came through often such as when they complained how combing the hair of a black girl was abusing and degrading and even torturing the girl.
At least Dr Godall had the guts to ask if the beliefs we had about gorillas were true and then seek the truth in their homes. Ms Walker and friend rarely left the library or their hotel and passed off the works of other researchers without question other than to blame men for all the ills that befall women.
FYI- It is women who choose to pierce their own ears, labia and clits, not men.

If you wish accurate information on the subject of genital mutilation, look elsewhere because all you will find here is second-hand data and personal bias and personal insults against anyone who disagrees with them.

I was very disappointed with this book. Alice Walker seems more intent on showcasing her own writing, poems, and emotion than drawing much needed attention to FGM in Africa. There are compelling real-life accounts of FGM--read Desert Flower or Do They Hear you When you Cry?