By Hayley White

Reading time: 12 minutes 

There are very few cultural practices and traditions that cause harm to a portion of the people, but those that do are controversial. For the Western world, bodily autonomy is a fundamental right, and women have fought hard for equality and the freedom to have control over their own bodies.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a procedure in which the external female genitalia are partially or totally removed and/or other injuries to the genital area are inflicted. FGM is internationally recognised as a violation of human rights and is seen by WHO as an extreme form of gender discrimination against girls and women. Despite this, literature exists that discusses the role female genital mutilation plays in different communities where many view the practice as a positive expression of sexuality and womanhood.

There are four different types of female genital mutilation. Type one is when the clitoral glands (the external and visible parts of the clitoris) and/or the clitoral hood (the fold of skin surrounding the clitoral glands) are partially or totally removed. Type two is the partial or total removal of the clitoral glands and the labia minora (the inner fold of the vulva). This can be with or without the removal of the labia majora (the outer folds of the skin of the vulva). Type three, also known as infibulation, is the narrowing of the vaginal opening. This is done by creating a seal over the vaginal opening by repositioning the labia minora or majora, sometimes through stitching. This type of FGM can be done with or without the removal of the clitoral hood and glans. Type four includes all other harmful procedures for non-medical purposes like pricking, piercing, incising, scraping, and cauterising the genital area (WHO, 2020).

Female genital mutilation has been around for millennia, and historians have discovered various Greek, Roman, and Egyptian literature on FGM as a standard procedure. Greek geographer Strabo (64 B.C.-23 A.D.) wrote about it, saying: “This is one of the customs most zealously pursued by them [the Egyptians]: to raise every child that is born and to circumcise the males and excise the females” (Knight, 2001, p. 318). Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria (20 B.C.–50 B.C.) also made reference to FGM in ancient Egypt, saying: “The Egyptians by the custom of their country circumcise the marriageable youth and maid in the fourteenth (year) of their age when the male begins to get seed, and the female to have a menstrual flow” (Knight, 2001, p. 318). A Greek papyrus dating from 163 B.C. recorded FGM and male circumcision. It is said that the Romans practised it to prevent their slaves from getting pregnant (Akin-Tunde, Ayodeji, Bosede & Oluwasomidoyin, 2017).

While in these cultures female genital mutilation was a traditional practice based around keeping women pure and chaste, the Western world was using clitoridectomy (the removal of the clitoris) for medical purposes. In Europe and North America, gynaecologists were removing the female clitoris as treatment for a variety of conditions from the 19^th century and well into the 20^th century. In 1813, it was suggested by a British doctor that the removal of the clitoris could cure nymphomania or hypersexuality. In 1822, peer-reviewed journal The Lancet spoke about a clitoridectomy performed on a 15-year-old girl who was masturbating excessively. This was seen again in the mid to late 19^th century when a wave of clitoral excisions was performed across North America and Europe, specifically in Germany, France, and England. This was a direct attack on female sexuality. Female pleasure was demonised and seen as something that needed fixing.

According to English gynaecologist Isaac Baker Brown, masturbation caused disease and death in the following eight stages: hysteria, spinal irritation, cataleptic fits, epileptic fits, idiocy, mania, and death (Elchalal, Ben-Ami & Brzezinski, 1997). He later published his findings and received a huge amount of backlash from other medical colleagues. Although medical clitoridectomies died out quickly in England, they continued in the United States well into the 1900s to treat hysteria, erotomania, and lesbianism. Despite this, clitoridectomy never became very popular in the U.S., and the last alleged case was performed in 1927 (Elchalal et al., 1997).

Female genital mutilation persists in many cultures to this day and is particularly prevalent in Middle Eastern and African communities. Nigeria accounts for nearly one-quarter of the estimated 130 million female genital mutilation procedures in the world. Women make up just over half of the population in Nigeria. 41% of them have undergone FGM. 37% of women who have undergone FGM do not want the tradition to continue and 61% of those women say it is a harmful tradition (Anyaehie, Ezenyeaku & Okeke, 2012).

However, FGM does not mainly affect grown women, rather, the procedure is usually undertaken on young girls. In 50% of those countries spread across the Middle East and Africa, half of the young girls have had an FGM procedure by the age of five, and the other half between the ages of five and 14 (UNICEF, 2013). A Yemen health survey indicated that 76% of girls had undergone FGM within two weeks of birth.

The reasons for female genital mutilation vary within these diverse communities, and all come with differing acceptance. In some communities, the procedure is performed for reasons of propriety, hygiene, and aesthetics. The belief persists that female genitals are dirty and unsightly and should be flat and dry. In other communities, sociological beliefs dictate that the removal of the female genitals will curb sexual pleasure and guarantee a women’s fidelity and chastity, while even increasing male pleasure (Martinelli, Ollé-Goig, 2012). And for almost all of these communities, FGM is just one part of the long-standing coming-of-age traditions that are perceived essential to the development of womanhood and propriety.

In 1999, a young African scholar living in the U.S. spoke out about the controversy surrounding female genital mutilation. Fuambai Ahmadu belongs to the Kono people of Sierra Leone, West Africa. At 22-years-old and sexually experienced, Ahmadu travelled to Sierra Leone to undergo what they call female circumcision. She says that it is common practice for Kono girls and women to be circumcised and that women feel empowered by the initiation ceremony that welcomes them into womanhood (Schweder, 2000). This is something that most Western literature boils down to ‘social conditioning’. This means that as the practice is so prevalent in these communities, members grow up accepting it because it is the only thing they know.

There has been additional research into cultures that partake in female genital mutilation – for medical reasons as well as traditional practice – though these researchers always make a point that their studies do not mean they support FGM. A study conducted by Obermeyer (1999) found insufficient evidence surrounding the medical consequences of FGM on women’s sexuality and health. They say that the powerful discussions and information surrounding the idea that FGM causes death and ill health is not supported by what they found, claiming that severe complications are infrequent (Obermeyer, 1999).

Some researchers have gone so far as to consider the sociological views that these communities have on female genital mutilation. They even suggest caution in calling the procedure ‘mutilation’. Lane and Rubinstein (1996 as cited in Schweder, 2000) say that many societies that still practice ‘female circumcision’ see it as an improvement of the female genitalia. In fact, upon learning that the female researcher was not circumcised, the interviewee’s “response was disgust mixed with joking laughter” and they wondered how she was married when her mother had neglected such an important part of womanhood (Lane & Rubinstein, 1996 as cited in Schweder, 2000, p. 215).

Even suggesting that someone’s mum or dad is uncircumcised is very offensive in these communities. As for whether or not FGM affects women sexually, Edgerton (1989 as cited in Schweder, 2000) was told by Kikuyu men and women of Kenya in 1962 that women were still orgasmic once they were circumcised.

In contrast with this research, the global discourse of FGM portrays very stark differences. Female genital mutilation, also known as female circumcision, has been subject to intense public scrutiny for years since the Western world caught wind of it. To us, FGM is a violation of a woman’s and girl’s basic human right to live a life free of torture and bodily harm. As the Western world tends to do when it observes tribal traditions that do not fit in with our specific ideals, female circumcision or genital mutilation is seen as barbaric. But that is our world view until it changes to suit our culture’s needs, as reflected in our own sordid history of clitoridectomy.

I will never forget the moment in one of my university classes where the lecturer posed the question of whether female genital mutilation should be stopped. Almost everyone in the class said yes; it is a horrific and invasive procedure that should definitely cease. We were pretty solid in all our answers until the lecturer said this: “It is a part of their culture and their traditions; at what point do we disregard other cultures’ practices and beliefs because it does not align with our Western values?”

 

Sources: 1. Female genital mutilation/cutting in Africa. Translational Andrology and Urology 2. Ritualistic female genital mutilation. Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey 3. An Overview of Female Genital Mutilation in Nigeria. Annals of Medical and Health Sciences Research 4. What about “Female Genital Mutilation”? And Why Understanding Culture Matters in the First Place. The MIT Press 5. Female genital mutilation, World Health Organization

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