S06.E06: Episode 6

[OnceSane]

Quote

While the world anxiously awaits the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Valerie treats a pregnant Somali woman who has undergone female genital circumcision. The Nonnatus Team arrange for her to go into hospital, but she responds by going into hiding, and the situation is complicated further when it emerges that the woman's younger sister will soon go through the same process. Sister Mary Cynthia's depression is treated with electroconvulsive therapy, which she hopes will restore her faith.

[MissLucas]

That was as hard to watch as I expected - especially with the little sister involved. Every time she entered the frame I was wondering if she had already been cut or not *shudders* All in all they did an excellent job considering the issue. They made clear that it wasn't tied directly to Islam, that the cutting was done by women considering it an integral part of their identity which just underlined how hard it would be one day to fight the practice. I also appreciated Nurse Crane mentioning similar procedures being practiced in Western medicine to cure mental illnesses of the female mind (whatever the hell that was supposed to mean). And they kept the whole discourse period-appropriate - the focus was on the consequences the circumcision had for conceiving, giving birth and menstruating - sexual pleasure was not yet on the table. The birth was horrifying enough even from the little we've seen (I once saw a documentary where an actual birth was shown - I don't know how women can survive that not just once but several times - it's horrifiying).

Sister Mary Cynthia's plight continues and it's heart-breaking to watch. Bryony Hannah is really giving it all - her interactions with everybody who was desperate to help but couldn't in the end were terrific. 

As for the other plots:  I do hope Trixie comes clean to hot dentist about her drinking problem. We need a bit of happiness. When she wouldn't drink I remembered the scene where she made a desperate suicidal phone-call and it was Mary Cynthia who overheard it and rushed in to help. And that made the scene between the two of them in front of the bathroom even more poignant.

Yeah, even by this show's standards that was a downer of an episode -  the Turner's sweet ad-hoc camping and Sister Winifred's continuing quest to wrangle clutch, gas and breaks managed to bring some levity but all in all I hope for some lighter fare next week (oh, who am I kidding).

Edited February 27, 2017 by MissLucas
double typo - a mind is not a king, sheesh

[OnceSane]

30 minutes ago, MissLucas said:

I also appreciated Nurse Crane mentioning similar procedures being practiced in Western medicine to cure mental illnesses of the female king (whatever the hell that was supposed to mean).

I think Nurse Crane said "female mind", which is true.  They also used to do some interesting things for "female hysteria".  I know much more than I ever wanted to about FGM before watching this episode, so I had my cringe-meter ready.  There were some things I liked, like the new nurse hiding the scissors (& other implements) from the mother when it became apparent she'd be delivering in the ambulance.  And it was nice to hear that the mother decided against the circumcision for her own daughter--I just wish she had the epiphany when it might have done some good for her sister.

Sister Winifred for the win on the facial expressions, though!  I was laughing at her expression when Nurse Crane said they could resume their driving lessons.  And when Delia was trying to help her.  Just hilarious--and we needed that bit of humor.

Oh Trixie!  I can understand her not wanting to reveal her "deepest, darkest" secret,  but it's going to have to come out eventually.  And I'm not convinced the good dentist is stepping out on her already (based on the previews), it'll be his sister or a patient and a misunderstanding will ensue.   And poor Nurse Crane!  I don't know what she thinks she has done, but she appears quite torn up about it.

Sister MC going back to Cynthia?  Since this is the place Dr. Turner wanted to send her from the start, I'm hopeful for good things.  She seemed so lost until she arrived and was allowed to breathe.

[Gulftastic]

Three series, and Patsy and Delia aren't allowed an onscreen kiss.

Two episodes, and Trixe and her Dentist are snogging.

[vesperholly]

20 hours ago, Gulftastic said:

Three series, and Patsy and Delia aren't allowed an onscreen kiss.

Two episodes, and Trixe and her Dentist are snogging.

Even the good vicar is allowed. When (if?) Patsy returns from Hong Kong, they better right this wrong!!

[LadyChaos]

On ‎2‎/‎27‎/‎2017 at 2:23 PM, Gulftastic said:

Three series, and Patsy and Delia aren't allowed an onscreen kiss.

Two episodes, and Trixe and her Dentist are snogging.

I kind of thought it was intentional given the time.... I mean it they would have been super careful not to get caught because it would have cost them their jobs, housing, etc... I kind of figured it kind of showed the forbiddeness of their relationship by not showing something like a kiss, I mean look how far they went to be able to hold hands in public?

And also, we don't know their contracts... you would be surprised how many actors/actresses have things in their contracts like 'No actual kissing' 'Will not show legs onscreen'  or 'if back is shown, it must be a double' 

[Brattinella]

Egads, this topic chills me to the bone.  Female Genital MUTILATION is such a grotesque aberration, It distresses me so much!

[ptuscadero]

OK, nobody clutch your pearls, but......I have always found Sr Mary-Cynthia to be a whiny bore, even before she decided to join the sisterhood. I'm not sure if it's the way the character is written, or the actress overdoing the emotions, but her storylines always clog up the show for me. Toooooo much dramah.

Now, I guess I will pack my handbasket in anticipation of the trip I'll be taking to Hades.

[Ohwell]

Somali mom kind of annoyed me.  After having to be basically ripped apart to have the baby, she's complaining about how the doctor stitched her up?   

I'm tired of sister Monica Joan wandering off

2 minutes ago, ptuscadero said:

Now, I guess I will pack my handbasket in anticipation of the trip I'll be taking to Hades.

Make room for me.

[Brattinella]

8 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

Somali mom kind of annoyed me.  After having to be basically ripped apart to have the baby, she's complaining about how the doctor stitched her up?   

I'm tired of sister Monica Joan wandering off

Make room for me.

She wanted to be stitched up the way she was before, with a tiny little opening.  GAH!

If I was one of the nurses, I would have pulled up my skirt and showed her what a normal twat looks like!  Maybe she has never seen one!

Edited May 8, 2017 by Brattinella

[Ohwell]

1 minute ago, Brattinella said:

She wanted to be stitched up the way she was before, with a tiny little opening.  GAH!

Yes, that's why she annoyed me.  She could have died having that baby and the nurse (forgot her name) saved her life.  And she's complaining about how she was stitched up.  Go back to Somalia then.  

[Nordly Beaumont]

I love Phyllis. First she doesn't let Trixie's suitor feel a fool by walking away from the door with a bouquet. Then, as everyone spends meaningful moments preparing for a possible end of the world, she irons her uniform. If the world doesn't end, she'll be neatly pressed and prepared!

ETA, that baby was so very pretty!

Edited May 8, 2017 by Nordly Beaumont

[Primetimer]

Sister Mary Cynthia struggles with her recovery, even as her sisters remind her she was never out of the reach of love.

View the full article

[JeanneH]

I was distracted at the end. Obviously I know what happened with the Cuban Missile Crisis, and I heard the ending voiceover so I know what happened with the Somali family. What's up with Sister MC? Did she give up being a nun?

Speaking of the CMC, anyone here not from the US who lived through that? I'm curious about the viewpoints of it from other places. If you care to share, perhaps something in one of the chat areas of the forum would be mod-acceptable?

Edited May 8, 2017 by JeanneH

[Nordly Beaumont]

3 minutes ago, JeanneH said:

I was distracted at the end. Obviously I know what happened with the Cuban Missile Crisis, and I heard the ending voiceover so I know what happened with the Somali family. What's up with Sister MC? Did she give up being a nun?

She hasn't given up (at least, not yet) she just wanted to start again, from the beginning. She sort of hit the reset button.

[txhorns79]

Quote

If I was one of the nurses, I would have pulled up my skirt and showed her what a normal twat looks like!  Maybe she has never seen one!

And just like that, Call the Midwife became Red Shoe Diaries. 

Edited May 8, 2017 by txhorns79

[jschoolgirl]

Has the word "clitoris" been heard on television before?

Just wondering, not pearl-clutching ...

[Brattinella]

I had to look that up; an erotic story?  You cannot seriously take my comment as erotic, right?  I am just a realist.

[txhorns79]

Quote

I had to look that up; an erotic story?  You cannot seriously take my comment as erotic, right?  I am just a realist.

I was actually making a joke.  Sometimes, in light of disturbing plotlines, you just have to make your own fun. 

[Brattinella]

Okie-dokie! :)

[txhorns79]

Quote

Has the word "clitoris" been heard on television before?

Ask Jerry's girlfriend, Delores.  More seriously, I'm sure it has.  

Edited May 8, 2017 by txhorns79

[allonsyalice]

13 minutes ago, jschoolgirl said:

Has the word "clitoris" been heard on television before?

Just wondering, not pearl-clutching ...

A TV Show called UnReal used it in their first season. I remember actually being shocked at it. 

I was almost just as shocked with the use in this ep which, @ me why?  It's a part of the body!

[Blackie]

I did laugh out loud when Patrick said the only thing he found in his sleeping bag was the "faint whiff of weee"

The circumcision story was good.  I can't get into the Sister Mary Cynthia's story, I guess because I missed the episode where she was attacked/

On ‎2‎/‎27‎/‎2017 at 11:55 AM, MissLucas said:

When she wouldn't drink I remembered the scene where she made a desperate suicidal phone-call and it was Mary Cynthia who overheard it and rushed in to help.

I don't remember this scene, I think this is one of the ones they may have cut out to show on PBS  errrr!

Spoiler

 

Edited May 8, 2017 by Blackie
CMC does not mean Sister Mary Cynthia

[AZChristian]

Sister Mary Cynthia's story brings me to tears.  I went through a major depression about 15 years ago, and I remember well (although I wish I didn't) the sense of losing who I was.  I fully understood why she wanted to go have her postulant's dress to remind her of a time when she felt whole and clean.  

[jschoolgirl]

9 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

Sister Mary Cynthia's story brings me to tears.  I went through a major depression about 15 years ago, and I remember well (although I wish I didn't) the sense of losing who I was.  I fully understood why she wanted to go have her postulant's dress to remind her of a time when she felt whole and clean.  

Same here, same reasons. It's very hard to watch.

[attica]

I cannot imagine the cultural pressure brought to bear on women, so that they feel safer undergoing mutilation than not. Without it, I expect many husbands would shun a newly "corrected" woman as being unchaste. I'm also curious about how Somali women dealt with childbirth on the reg. Ah, the delights of the patriarchy! [/s]

[LadyNebula]

Seeing all that MC is going through makes me realize how lucky I am. I've struggled with depression and anxiety since my teens, and OCD since I was a small child. Medication does wonders. I shudder to think where I would've ended up 50+ years ago. 

Also, FGM is cringe-worthy (and still happening).  I imagine this episode was to us ladies what 75% of America's Funniest Videos are to men, only worse. Their nards will heal; women who undergo FGM could die. So difficult to watch... and I now have a whole new appreciation for my nethers. 

[Sew Sumi]

This episode drives home how I was conceived. I was a month early, but my bio parents were having a torrid affair, etc. 

I felt for the Somali woman. I hate patricarchal cultures like that; she thought that's how things should be "down there." :(

[LittleIggy]

2 hours ago, Ohwell said:

Yes, that's why she annoyed me.  She could have died having that baby and the nurse (forgot her name) saved her life.  And she's complaining about how she was stitched up.  Go back to Somalia then.  

Hope her adorable sister later rebuked her for not saving her from mutilation the way she did her own daughter. Her husband must have had a pencil dick in order to impregnate her.

[craziness]

CMC = Cuban Missile Crisis, not anything to do with the attack on Sister Mary Cynthia.

Felt sorry for the little sister who was going back to Somalia to be "cut". She seemed old enough that she would definitely remember it. I'm also wondering how women give birth when they only have a little hole left. 

And regarding hearing the word clitoris on tv, I think the first time I heard it was Dr. Ruth.

[GaT]

This show is just depressing the hell out of me this season, I need an uplifting, happy episode & soon.

How strange to hear Kennedy's voice on this show.

[NeverLate]

I love sister Monica Joan. She's  tremendous actress. This show really pulls at the heartstrings.

I like the dentist dating Trixie. I just hope she stays away from alcohol.

Next week looks good, but for me, they all are. Such boring TV, a show like this makes you think , and I'm always in tears by the end.

1 hour ago, Sew Sumi said:

 

I felt for the Somali woman. I hate patriarchal cultures like that; she thought that's how things should be "down there." :(

Isn't that terrible. I can't imagine trying to give birth, when this mutilation has taken place, the baby just tears you apart.

[Calamity Jane]

4 hours ago, JeanneH said:

I was distracted at the end. Obviously I know what happened with the Cuban Missile Crisis, and I heard the ending voiceover so I know what happened with the Somali family. What's up with Sister MC? Did she give up being a nun?

Speaking of the CMC, anyone here not from the US who lived through that? I'm curious about the viewpoints of it from other places. If you care to share, perhaps something in one of the chat areas of the forum would be mod-acceptable?

Although I'm American, at the time of the missile crisis I was twelve, living in Paris with my family.  It was scary, knowing that if everything started, the NATO and other military bases near us would likely be hit.  I don't remember the radio going non-stop, but I'd guess our parents were protecting us from at least some of it.  We'd just come through the Algerian crisis, when I awoke one morning to tanks rolling by outside my window, we drove around with escape route maps and extra gasoline in the car in case we had to bug out to Spain (where my dad's company would have us go), and bombs were regularly going off all around Paris, so maybe we kids were a little less terrified than we might otherwise have been. Nonetheless, I remember the incident as an event that frightened everyone, very somber, tense days.  

[movingtargetgal]

This mutilation does not only risk a woman's life when she gives birth.  With only a small opening remaining, urine and menstrual blood are not allowed to completely pass through leaving old urine and blood remaining inside the woman.  This has to cause massive infections which can be fatal.

These poor girls/woman are not only "cut" during the"procedure", they are often "cut" again so they can have intercourse on their wedding night.  They are "cut"again during child birth so the baby can be born.  

Edited May 8, 2017 by movingtargetgal

[NeverLate]

19 minutes ago, movingtargetgal said:

This mutilation does not only risk a woman's life when she gives birth.  With only a small opening remaining, urine and menstrual blood are not allowed to completely pass through leaving old urine and blood remaining inside the woman.  This has to cause massive infections which can be fatal.

These poor girls/woman are not only "cut" during the"procedure", they are often "cut" again so they can have intercourse on their wedding night.  They are "cut"again during child birth so the baby can be born.  

I just can't fathom the pain. Nothing is enjoyable.It makes me very angry.

[nokat]

Somali mom kind of annoyed me.  After having to be basically ripped apart to have the baby, she's complaining about how the doctor stitched her up?   

I'm tired of sister Monica Joan wandering off

  6 hours ago, ptuscadero said:

Now, I guess I will pack my handbasket in anticipation of the trip I'll be taking to Hades.

Make room for me.

Will pack my handbasket too.

[nokat]

I am horrified at the thought of genital mutilation, and even more horrified that women will do it to each other.

[ichbin]

8 hours ago, ptuscadero said:

Now, I guess I will pack my handbasket in anticipation of the trip I'll be taking to Hades.

Hope there's room in there for me too.

Also, I'd like to say it would be nice, just once in a while, to have the rare episode featuring only happy stories.  If there have been any at all like that, I can't remember.   Before watching a new episode I now find myself musing over what condition will be featured as the tragedy, or big drama of the week.

[Blackie]

7 hours ago, craziness said:

CMC = Cuban Missile Crisis, not anything to do with the attack on Sister Mary Cynthia

My bad for not interpreting the initials properly, I guess this is why on previous sites they did not promote the use of initial short forms.

[MissLucas]

10 hours ago, Ohwell said:

Yes, that's why she annoyed me.  She could have died having that baby and the nurse (forgot her name) saved her life.  And she's complaining about how she was stitched up.  Go back to Somalia then.  

It's just part of the horrifying practice and the underlying tradition. Women are made to feel dirty/incomplete/not fit for marriage when they're not cut/stitched up. The later refers to the most extreme form of FMG (infibulation or pharaonic circumcision) - the woman in this episode seems to have suffered that form. As for the question of how intercourse can take place, here's what Wikipedia has to say - just a link so those who'd rather not know the details don't have to read them.

[JudyObscure]

8 hours ago, F. M. said:

I like the dentist dating Trixie. I just hope she stays away from alcohol.

It's kind of a worry that she didn't tell him straight up that she didn't drink, at all,  and why. 

6 hours ago, nokat said:

I am horrified at the thought of genital mutilation, and even more horrified that women will do it to each other.

When Chinese women were having their feet bound it was usually their mother who called the foot binder and supervised the crushing of her little girls bones.  Same reason,  to make her better marriage material.  Of course, these days, I suppose the mothers who agree to let their teenage girls have their chests cut open for breast implants are just as complicit in the "anything to please men," area.  It's not just the patriarchy, it's also women's own willingness to do these things to themselves to satisfy the fetishes of men.

[JeanneH]

2 hours ago, Blackie said:

My bad for not interpreting the initials properly, I guess this is why on previous sites they did not promote the use of initial short forms.

I used the full term "Cuban Missile Crisis" earlier in the post so thought shortening it to CMC wouldn't cause confusion when I asked my question about that. I am sorry to everyone I did manage to confuse anyway.

[izabella]

I'm so horrified and appalled by the FGM story, I can barely remember anything else that happened in the episode. 

In every culture, it's always the women that are judged dirty or clean, never the men.  It's not unlike Cynthia judging herself as unclean, taking that burden on herself instead of laying it at the feet of the man who attacked her and moving on.

[NeverLate]

46 minutes ago, JudyObscure said:

It's kind of a worry that she didn't tell him straight up that she didn't drink, at all,  and why. 

When Chinese women were having their feet bound it was usually their mother who called the foot binder and supervised the crushing of her little girls bones.  Same reason,  to make her better marriage material.  Of course, these days, I suppose the mothers who agree to let their teenage girls have their chests cut open for breast implants are just as complicit in the "anything to please men," area.  It's not just the patriarchy, it's also women's own willingness to do these things to themselves to satisfy the fetishes of men.

Yes, I know. But don't think that awful female mutilation is confined to other countries.

 

http://www.newsweek.com/fgm-rates-have-doubled-us-2004-304773

33 minutes ago, izabella said:

I'm so horrified and appalled by the FGM story, I can barely remember anything else that happened in the episode. 

In every culture, it's always the women that are judged dirty or clean, never the men.  It's not unlike Cynthia judging herself as unclean, taking that burden on herself instead of laying it at the feet of the man who attacked her and moving on.

Women are chattel in many countries, objects to be covered from head to toe. They can't drive, or be alone. They walk behind the male, and, as I said, that's allowed in north America, it should not be allowed.

[attica]

8 hours ago, nokat said:

I am horrified at the thought of genital mutilation, and even more horrified that women will do it to each other.

There are enormous social benefits that accrue to women who enforce patriarchal dictates.

One of the most beautiful lines in the series was in this episode, but almost as a throwaway in the Redgrave voice-over: "The soul, being stronger than we think, can survive all mutilations and the marks upon it, make it perfect and complete.” Even being broken makes us perfect. That's a powerful, moving message. I'd like to think that perfection is a continuum, that however perfect we are today, we can be more perfect tomorrow. Which is aspirational, and shouldn't detract from being perfect today.

[anna0852]

36 minutes ago, attica said:

There are enormous social benefits that accrue to women who enforce patriarchal dictates.

Just read The Handmaidens Tale if you want a horrifying confirmation. 

[Brattinella]

I read that when it first came out, and it truly is horrifying.

[SunnyBeBe]

Where was Sister Monica Joan standing in the beginning of the episode when Fred came to her rescue?  It was a gate of some sort?  I wonder how many times she has to need rescuing before the House comes to terms with her need for a different level of care.

I recall the attack on Cynthia.  Does she now suffer from PTSD?  Have they tired medications for her?  What were the popular anti-depressants and anti-anxiety back then?  

Edited May 8, 2017 by SunnyBeBe

[anna0852]

In 1962 Sister MC *might* be given Valium or another sort of tranquilizer. Anti-depressants and anti-anxiety drugs are in the very far future. 

[caitmcg]

Quote

Where was Sister Monica Joan standing in the beginning of the episode when Fred came to her rescue?  It was a gate of some sort? 

She was at the asylum where Sister Mary Cynthia was being kept, because she was so disturbed by her being held there.