u/succubus-raconteur

I would love to hear people's stories about wholesome or just purely human interactions with unhoused people here. I'm new to the city but have had a very pleasant interaction with someone asking for a light, as well as seeing some really touching affection between others of the unhoused community just as a passerby. Even among some of my recent less pleasant experiences I find myself wishing that these people were not being described as less than human (such as equating them with zombies who are brainless soulless murderers that are infectious pests to be eradicated).

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I have lived in several other big cities with high rates of homelessness and addiction. I've also had my fair share of scary and/or uncomfortable experiences. However the culture of how the unhoused are talked about in Anchorage feels unique to me, in that it feels harsher and less humane than what I have seen in other places. My speculation is in a smaller city surrounded by rural areas the problem is more visible and concentrated than perhaps in other places I've lived. I recognize that I am not well acquainted with this region and it's unique issues and scarcity of resources, and am open to other interpretations of these circumstances.

I posted this a little while back in r/askahistorian but didn't receive a response. I have always been very interested in this topic as someone passionate about sexual health and have a family member who experienced FGM (her preferred term) in the US as a child. In my research and following links in a post made on this page 11 years ago, the practice of genital surgery on women outside of Europe and America seems unknown. There is a note made of the practice being done since "prehistory" but this is not elaborated. Most sources focus specifically on the late 1900s when White people became extremely aversive to the practice by Africans. I have been reading a book on the history of neglect of female anatomy and other related issues in Vagina Obscura, and I am wondering. Do we not know how far back this practice goes because it was not well documented compared to male surgeries or because we've just never cared to ask? TIA!