Scandinavia Battles Genital Mutilation

Fault the Soviets, and other reasons for no medals since 1936

(NEWSER) - Though the Scandinavian nations generally fare well in the Winter Olympics, there’s a gaping hole in their success when it comes to figure skating (no medals since 1936), leading some bloggers to try to figure why. Some theories:

• Blame the Soviets. During the Cold War, the Eastern Bloc sunk untold money and energy into high-profile figure skating, writes Scott Beaulier —totally blotting out the Swedes, Finns, Norwegians, Danes, and Icelanders.

Controversial 'art' aimed to highlight genital mutilation

(NEWSER) - A Swedish culture minister is under attack for gleefully cutting into a cake made to look like a racist caricature of a black African woman. Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth defended the cake-cutting event, part of an art installation at Stockholm's modern art museum that was intended to highlight the issue of female genital mutilation. She began, as instructed, by slicing into the cake's "clitoris." Blackened-faced artist Makode Aj Linde posed as the head of the cake, and screamed every time someone cut it, eliciting smiles from cutters. Leaders of the African-Swedish Association, who are clamoring for the minister's resignation, ripped the event as "a racist spectacle," reports the Guardian. More»

Danish monikers on Swedish outfit's doormats, floor runners wound pride

(NEWSER) - Danes are hopping mad about a discovery that Swedish furniture giant Ikea uses Danish place names for its doormats and floor coverings, while reserving Swedish and Norwegian monikers for higher-end items, Der Spiegel reports. Some Danish academics argue that this reinforces Sweden’s perception of Denmark as a “doormat” for its larger, wealthier neighbor, and have accused Ikea of “Swedish imperialism,” however metaphorical. More»

Embassy surveillance program may have violated law

(NEWSER) - All five Nordic nations now suspect the US has been using its embassies to spy on their citizens: Iceland has joined Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland in launching a probe into whether American embassies acted illegally by carrying out surveillance of protesters without permission from national authorities, the BBC reports. Top prosecutors in the countries involved believe the embassies may have violated several laws. More»

Male procedure just as backward as reviled female version

(NEWSER) - Virtually everyone in the Western world seems to agree that female circumcision is horrible. It greatly reduces sexual pleasure, violates individual autonomy, and provides no discernible health benefits. Well, all that is true of male circumcision, too, writes Ethan Epstein, yet the CDC is considering a plan to “promote routine circumcision” for infant boys. It’s “as degrading as it is illiberal.” More»