For the same reason Christians and Jew do it to their boys.
No, it is absolutely not for the same reason and certainly not at the same age. You cannot compare a days old infant’s less developed nerve response to an older child’s more developed nerve response, not to forget an older child’s more developed awareness, and you cannot compare medical and hygienic reasons to non-medical and sexual-response limiting reasons. Add to that, that adult men who get circumcised are usually the ones who decide whether or not they want the procedure; young girls are not allowed to decline and are unlikely to be informed of the negative consequences.
http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2145.html is just one of the sites that explain some of the differences.
“For the same reason Christians and Jew do it to their boys.”
No, the male and female genital circumcision practices, are not, and have never been done “for the same reason”.
Also, while the terms used, such as “circumcision”, could imply a similar procedure, the actual procedures are in no way similar.
In male circumcision some portion or all of the foreskin covering the penis is removed, at least to a point that leaves the glans (head) freely exposed. The penis itself is not damaged. While opinions differ on whether the procedure is “more healthy” or not, there is little opinion that any ill health results from it or that the sexual experience of the male is seriously affected.
Female “circumcision” while practiced mostly by Muslims, in some countries is not a practiced required by Islamic teaching. Those Muslim countries where it is practiced are predominately in North Africa and the Middle East, and in countries where it is most dominant it is practiced by non-Muslims as well. It is not practiced by most Muslims who live outside those areas. Its major source of social demand is cultural, not religious, even though some give religious excuses for it.
Female “circumcision” is mutilation of the clitoris; or mutilation of the clitoris and the labia minora; or mutilation of the clitoris, labia minora and labia majora; or total removal of the clitoris; or total removal of the clitoris and the labia; or even more extensive alteration of the external female genital area.
The major affect of all the procedures - in addition to many health and safety issues with the performance of the procedures - is severe reduction or elimination of pleasure in sexual intercourse and under the procedures most frequently carried out sexual intercourse is a very painful experience.
Of course in societies where women are second class and always supposed to be under the control of their fathers or their husbands, female genital mutilation amounts to nothing less than a surgical procedure that is part of that social system to control the female’s sexual life.
Women have a smagma problem?