Projected Cultural Histories of the Cutting of Female Genitalia: A Poor Reflection as in a Mirror.
Current public debate on “female genital mutilation” often renders the impression that it is possible to draw an unambiguous line between acceptable and condemnable practices of female genital cutting. In this paper, the cultural histories of cutting of the female genitalia are presented and discuss...
| Published in: | History & Anthropology Vol. 23; no. 1; pp. 91 - 115 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Taylor & Francis Ltd
Mar2012
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=71860231&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 71860231 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 02757206 7VZ jtl: History & Anthropology issn: 02757206 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Mar2012 vid: 23 iid: 1 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 71860231 10.1080/02757206.2012.649270 ppf: 91 ppct: 24 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 156KB tig: atl: Projected Cultural Histories of the Cutting of Female Genitalia: A Poor Reflection as in a Mirror. aug: au: Johnsdotter, Sara su: Female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation laws Female genital mutilation in literature Women's history Women's health Women's health & Sociology Social control Imperialism & culture Imperialism & science Cross-cultural studies sug: subj: Female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation laws Female genital mutilation in literature Women's history Women's health Women's health & Sociology Social control Imperialism & culture Imperialism & science Cross-cultural studies keyword: Africa Europe Female Circumcision Female Genital Cutting Female Genital Mutilation ab: Current public debate on “female genital mutilation” often renders the impression that it is possible to draw an unambiguous line between acceptable and condemnable practices of female genital cutting. In this paper, the cultural histories of cutting of the female genitalia are presented and discussed. Available historical accounts of female circumcision practices in Africa reflect Western, mainly European, ideas and ideologies at certain points in time. In a sense, these descriptions have more to say about “us” than “them”. Further, the historical descriptions of female circumcision in Africa are intertwined with time-bound notions and cutting practices in Western countries in different epochs. Through retrospective reflections, it is possible to see how current commonsensical standpoints, among them the hegemony of a “zero tolerance” attitude regarding cutting of the female genitalia among Africans, are a product of a recently introduced perspective, and also how this generally accepted perspective may render it more difficult to present multi-faceted ethnographic accounts of lived experiences today. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of History & Anthropology is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: History & Anthropology holder: Taylor & Francis Ltd dt: @attributes: year: 2012 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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