Bloody

Mexico finally bans a 500 year tradition of bullfighting. But not the total ban animal rights activists rabidly fought for. Still a giant leap, the bullied bulls will no longer be repeatedly stabbed by lances, spears and the thin sword for the final lethal blow within plain view of a euphoric crowd.

One step is good enough, if it is the first step to better humanity. But the political dynasty prohibition in the youth elections is just that, a first step. Lawmakers are not expected to define and enable the constitutional prohibition and apply it to regular elections. Congress cannot afford to legislate themselves out of public office. Its members cannot legislate against their class interest.

Mexico now only allows matadors to use capes to provoke the bulls to charge them. Virtually bloodless, but it doesn’t mean not violent. No one will ever know how the bulls feel violated about the entire spectacle. For half a millennium humans celebrate when bulls are triggered and killed. Just like in boxing where fans demand a knockout and knockdown in the canvas and celebrate when a fighter bleeds and his face swells. Savagery. This is not what any sport was intended for.

Or maybe it was, and so the tradition must continue. While animal rights advocates celebrate this initial victory, devotees to bullfighting fear the harm against a sacred tradition more than against a sacred life. Ancient cultures dictate the gods wanted sacrifices and blood enriches the earth. Culture. Tradition. But it is not necessarily right. Including religion.

Female genital mutilation is still practiced in at least 30 countries. It persists among immigrant populations in other parts of the world. Thus, a universal issue. It was, it is and it will always be a human rights issue. Girls who underwent this savage, crude, unsafe and sometimes deadly procedure suffer short and long term complications.

Initially, they suffer severe pain, shock, excessive bleeding, infections and difficulty urinating. In the long run, it compromises their sexual, reproductive and mental health. Such cruelty, even today. Millions of girls are still lined up to be misaligned. Thousands of cases happen everyday, even right now.

But the efforts of the United Nations have slowly paid off. It reports that today, a girl is one-third less likely to undergo such brutality than thirty years ago. Another big leap. But while the struggle continues, the life, safety and dignity of the girls on the line could not wait. Despite urgency, it is not easy to change, much less abandon deeply-embedded tradition. Thus, cockfighting in the country would have to wait longer, hopefully shorter than forever.