Dualisms and female bodies in representations of African female circumcision: A feminist critique

The contentious topic of female circumcision brings together medical science, women’s health activism, media, and national and international policy-making in pursuit of the common goal of eradicating such practices. Referring to these diverse and heterogeneous practices as ‘female genital mutilation...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Feminist theory 2004-12, Vol.5 (3), p.281-303
Main Author: Njambi, Wairimũ Ngaruiya
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa
African Cultural Groups
Circumcision
Cultural Values
Dualism
Females
Feminism
Feminist theory
Gender studies
Genital Mutilation
Human Body
Infibulation
Sexuality
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:The contentious topic of female circumcision brings together medical science, women’s health activism, media, and national and international policy-making in pursuit of the common goal of eradicating such practices. Referring to these diverse and heterogeneous practices as ‘female genital mutilation’ (FGM), eradicators have then condemned them as ‘barbaric’ and medically harmful to female bodies and sexuality. In presuming that bodies can be separated from their cultural contexts, the anti-FGM discourse not only replicates a nature/culture dualism that has been roundly questioned by feminists in science studies and cultural studies, but has also perpetuated a colonialist assumption by universalizing a particular western image of a ‘normal’ body and sexuality in its quest to liberate women and girls. I use my own story as a circumcised woman to highlight the entanglements of body and culture as presented in these feminist theories of female bodies.
ISSN:1464-7001
1741-2773
DOI:10.1177/1464700104040811