Gender a výzkum / Gender and Research 2019, 20 (1): 18-38 | DOI: 10.13060/25706578.2019.20.1.461

Ritual Modifications of Female Genitalia in the Diaspora: Towards an Effective Protection of Young Women

MariaCaterina La Barbera

This article focuses on the ritual modifications of female genitalia. It compares interventions in male and female genitalia on the one hand and ritual and cosmetic female interventions on the other in order to show the double standard used in Western countries. The main goal is to call for a more complex articulation of gender at the intersection with migration status, ethnicity, and neo-colonial relations and to argue in favour of more effective ways to abandon practices that are dangerous for young girls.

Keywords: female genital mutilation, African women-migrants in Europe, modifications to the female body

Published: March 1, 2019Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
La Barbera, MariaCaterina. 2019. "Ritual Modifications of Female Genitalia in the Diaspora: Towards an Effective Protection of Young Women." Gender a výzkum / Gender and Research 20(1):18-38.
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Abusharaf, R. M. 2001. "Virtuous Cuts: Female Genital Circumcision in an African Ontology." Differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies, Vol. 12, No. 1: 112-140. Go to original source...
    2. Adams, K. E. 2004. "What's Normal: Female Genital Mutilation, Psychology, and Body Image." Journal of the American Medical Women's Association, Vol. 59, No. 3: 168-170.
    3. Althaus, F. 1997. "Female Circumcision: Rite of Passage or Violation of Rights?" International Family Planning Perspectives, Vol. 23, No. 3: 130-133, http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/2313097.pdf. Go to original source...
    4. An-Na'im, A. 1994. "State Responsibility under International Human Rights Law to Change Religious and Customary Laws." Pp. 167-188 in Cook, R. (ed.). Human Rights of Women: National and International Perspectives. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
    5. Bell, C. 1997. Ritual: Perspectives and Dimension. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    6. Blackledge, C. 2005. Historia de la Vagina. Barcelona: Peninsula.
    7. Boddy, J. 1982. "Womb as Oasis: The Symbolic Context of Pharaonic Circumcision in Rural Northern Sudan." American Ethnologist, Vol. 9, No. 4: 682-698. Go to original source...
    8. Catania, L., Abdulcadir, O. 2005. Ferite per sempre. Le mutilazioni genitali femminili e la proposta del rito simbolico alternativo. Roma: DeriveApprodi.
    9. Catania, L., Abdulcadir, O. et al. 2007. "Pleasure and Orgasm in Women with Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C)." Journal of Sexual Medicine, Vol. 4, No. 6: 1666- 1678. Go to original source...
    10. Ciminelli, M. 2002. "Le ragioni culturali delle mutilazioni genitali femminili: note critiche sulla definizione di Mgf dell'Oms/Who." La Ricerca Folklorica, No. 46: 39-50. Go to original source...
    11. Coco, L. 1994. "Silicone Breast Implants in America: A Choice of the 'Official Breast'?". Kroeber Anthropological Society Papers, No. 77: 103-132.
    12. Davis, K. 2003. "Surgical Passing: Or Why Michael Jackson's Nose Makes Us Uneasy." Feminist Theory, Vol. 4, No. 1: 73-92. Go to original source...
    13. Davis-Floyd, R. 2008. "Ritual." In W. Darity (ed.). International Encyclopedia of Social Sciences. New York: Macmillan.
    14. Donato, K. et al. 2006. "A Glass Half Full? Gender in Migration Studies." International Migration Review, No. 40: 3-26. Go to original source...
    15. El Safti, M. 2007. "Mujeres egipcias en perspectiva żDerechos o práctica?" Quaderns de la Mediterrŕnia, No. 7: 143-148, http://www.iemed.org/publicacions/quaderns/7/e143_ElSafty.pdf.
    16. Erlich, M. 1986. La femme blessée: Essai sur les mutilations sexuelles féminines. Paris: l'Harmattan.
    17. Favretto, A., Mascherpa, F. 1994. "Le concezioni di salute e di malattia nell'interazione terapeutica interculturale." Dei delitti e delle pene, No. 1: 147-169.
    18. Foucault, M. 1973. The Birth of Clinic: An Archeology of Medical Perception. London: Tavistock.
    19. Fraser, N. 1990. "Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy." Social Text, No. 25/26: 56-80. Go to original source...
    20. Fusaschi, M. 2003. I segni sul corpo. Per un'antropologia delle modificazioni dei genitali femminili. Torino: Bollati Boringhieri.
    21. Grande, E. 2004. "Hegemonic Human Rights and African Resistance: Female Circumcision in a Broader Comparative Perspective." Global Jurist Frontiers, Vol. 4, No. 2: 1-21.
    22. Grassivaro Gallo, P., Tita, E., Viviani, F. 2006. "At the Roots of Ethnic Female Genital Modification: Preliminary Report." Pp. 49-55 in Denniston, G., Grassivaro Gallo, P. (eds.). Bodily Integrity and the Politics of Circumcision: Culture, Controversy, and Change. New York: Springer. Go to original source...
    23. Gruenbaum, E. 2001. The Female Circumcision Controversy: An Anthropological Perspective. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Go to original source...
    24. Halim, A. M. 2007. "From Bagadadji to Abu Hashim: New Approaches to Combat Female Circumcision." Review of African Political Economy, Vol. 34, No. 114: 719-725.
    25. Harris, A. P. 2010. "Beyond the Monster Factory: Gender Violence, Race, and the Liberatory Potential of Restorative Justice." Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law, and Justice, Vol. 25, No. 1: 199-236.
    26. Hart, M., Stevens, J., Lieberman, F. 1990. Drumming at the Edge of Magic: A Journey into the Spirit of Percussion. San Francisco, CA: Harper.
    27. Chambers, C. 2004. "Are Breast Implants Better Than Female Genital Mutilation? Autonomy Gender Equality and Nussbaum's Political Liberalism." Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, Vol. 7, No. 4: 1-33. Go to original source...
    28. Chelala, C. 1998. "An Alternative Way to Stop Female Genital Mutilation." The Lancet, Vol. 352, No. 9: 122-126, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(98)85042-3. Go to original source...
    29. Johansen, R. E., Diop, J. N., Laverack, G., Leye, E. 2013. "What Works and What Does Not: A Discussion of Popular Approaches for the Abandonment of Female Genital Mutilation." Obstetrics and Gynecology International, http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/348248. Go to original source...
    30. Johnsdotter, S. 2007. "Persistence of Tradition or Reassessment of Cultural Practices in Exile? Discourses on Female Circumcision among and about Swedish Somalia." Pp. 107-134 in B. Shell-Duncan, Y. Hernlund (eds.). Transcultural Bodies: Female Genital Cutting in Global Context. New Brunswick (NJ): Rutgers University Press.
    31. Jones, M. 2008. Skintight: An Anatomy of Cosmetic Surgery. London: Bloomsbury.
    32. Kaplan, A., López, A. 2010. Mapa De La Mutilación Genital Femenina En Espańa 2009. Bellaterra: Universitat Autňnoma de Barcelona, http://publicacions.uab.es/pdf_llibres/AAP0001.pdf.
    33. Kelly, J., Kaplan, M. 1990. "History, Structure, and Ritual." Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 19, No. 1: 119-150. Go to original source...
    34. Kenyatta, J. 1938. Facing Mount Kenya. The Traditional Life of the Giyuku. London: Secker and Warburg.
    35. Kershaw, G. 1997. Mau Mau from Below. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press.
    36. Kerzter, D. 1988. Ritual, Politics, and Power. New Haven: Yale University Press.
    37. La Barbera, MC. 2009. "Revisiting the anti-Female Genital Mutilation Feminist Discourse." Diritto & Questioni Pubbliche, No. 9: 485-507, http://www.dirittoequestionipubbliche.org/page/2009_n9/05_studi-03_MC_LaBarbera.pdf.
    38. La Barbera, MC. 2010. "Intervenciones sobre los genitales femeninos. Entre el bisturí del cirujano plástico y el cuchillo ritual." Revista de Dialectología y Tradiciones Populares, Vol. 65, No. 2: 465-488, http://doi.org/10.3989/rdtp.2010.16, SJR: Q2. Go to original source...
    39. La Barbera, MC. 2015. Identity and Migration in Europe: Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Dordrecht: Springer. Go to original source...
    40. La Barbera, MC. 2017. "Ban without Prosecution, Conviction without Punishment, and Circumcision without Cutting: A Critical Appraisal of Anti-FGM Laws in Europe." Global Jurist, Vol. 17, No. 2, http://doi.org/10.1515/gj-2016-0012. Go to original source...
    41. Laumann, E. et al. 1999. "Sexual Dysfunction in the United States: Prevalence and Predictors." Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 281, No. 6: 537-544. Go to original source...
    42. Le Jeune, G., Mackie, J. 2008. "Social Dynamics of Abandonment of Harmful Practices: A New Look at The Theory." Special Series on Social Norms and Harmful Practices, UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, Working Paper, No. 20, https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/iwp_2009_06.pdf.
    43. Little, K. 1949. "The Role of the Secret Society in Cultural Specialization." American Anthropologist, Vol. 51, No. 2: 199-212. Go to original source...
    44. Masters, W., Johnson, V. E., Kolodny, R. C. 1995. Human Sexuality. New York: Harper Collins.
    45. Melching, M. 2001. "Abandoning Female Genital Cutting in Africa." Pp. 156-170 in Perry, S., Schenck, C. (eds.). Eye to Eye: Women Practicing Development across Cultures, London: Zed Book.
    46. Mitchel, J. 1996. "Ritual." Pp. 490-493 in Barnard, A., Spencer, J. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology. London: Routledge.
    47. Moore, S., Myerhoff, B. (eds). 1977. Secular Ritual. Assen: Van Gorcum.
    48. Morinis, A. 1985. "The Ritual Experience: Pain and the Transformation of Consciousness in Ordeals of Initiation." Ethos, Vol. 13, No. 2: 150-174. Go to original source...
    49. Nader, L. 1994. "Controlling Processes." Kroeber Anthropological Society Papers, No. 77: 1-9.
    50. Njambi, N. 2007. "Irua Ria Atumia and Anti-Colonial Struggles Among the Gikuyu of Kenya: A Counter Narrative on Female Genital Mutilation." Critical Sociology, Vol. 33, No. 4: 689-708. Go to original source...
    51. Nnaemeka, O. 2001. "If Female Circumcision Did Not Exist, Western Feminism Would Invent It." Pp. 171-189 in Perry, S., Schenk, C. (eds.). Eye to Eye. Women Practicing Development across Cultures. London: Zed Book.
    52. Nolin, C. 2006. Transnational Ruptures: Gender and Forced Migration. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing.
    53. Nussbaum, M. 2000. Sex and Social Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Go to original source...
    54. Oba, A. 2008. "Female Circumcision as Female Genital Mutilation: Human Rights or Cultural Imperialism?" Global Jurist Frontiers, Vol. 8, No. 3: 1-38. Go to original source...
    55. Obermeyer, C. 1999. "Female Genital Surgery: The Known, the Unknown, the Unknowable." Medical Anthropology Quarterly, Vol. 13, No. 1: 79-106. Go to original source...
    56. Obermeyer, C. 2003. "The Health Consequences of Female Circumcision: Science, Advocacy, and Standard of Evidence." Medical Anthropology Quarterly, Vol. 17, No. 3: 394-412. Go to original source...
    57. Obermeyer, C. 2005. "The Consequences of Female Circumcision for Health and Sexuality: An Update on the Evidence." Culture, Health & Sexuality, Vol. 7, No. 5: 444-461.
    58. Okonofua, F. et al. 2002. "Association between Female Genital Cutting and Correlates of Sexual and Gynaecological Morbidity in Edo State, Nigeria." BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Vol. 109, No. 10: 1089-1096. Go to original source...
    59. Pedersen, S. 1991. "National Bodies, Unspeakable Acts: The Sexual Politics of Colonial Policy-making." The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 63, No. 4: 647-680. Go to original source...
    60. Peroni, L. 2016. "Violence against Migrant Women: The Istanbul Convention through a Postcolonial Feminist Lens." Feminist Legal Studies, Vol. 24, No. 1: 49-67. Go to original source...
    61. Presley, C. 1988. "The Mau Mau Rebellion, Kikuyu Women, and Social Change." Canadian Journal of African Studies/Revue Canadienne des Études Africaines, Vol. 22, No. 3: 502-527. Go to original source...
    62. Public Policy Advisory Network on Female Genital Surgeries in Africa. 2012. "Seven Things to Know about Female Genital Surgeries in Africa." Hastings Center Report 42: 19-27. Go to original source...
    63. Rappaport, R. 1999. Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Go to original source...
    64. Rosen, R. et al. 2000. "The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI): A Multidimensional SelfReport Instrument for the Assessment of Female Sexual Function." Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, Vol. 26, No. 2: 191-208. Go to original source...
    65. Sheehan, E. 1981. "Victorian Clitoridectomy: Isaac Baker Brown and His Harmless Operative Procedure." Medical Anthropology Newsletter, Vol. 12, No. 4: 9-15. Go to original source...
    66. Shell-Duncan, B. 2001. "The Medicalization of Female 'Circumcision': Harm Reduction or Promotion of a Dangerous Practice?" Social Science & Medicine, Vol. 52, No. 7: 1013-1028. Go to original source...
    67. Shell-Duncan, B., Wander, K., Hernlund, Y., Moreau, A. 2013. "Legislating Change? Responses to Criminalizing Female Genital Cutting in Senegal." Law & Society Review, Vol. 47, No. 4: 803-835. Go to original source...
    68. Shweder, R. 2002. "What about Female Genital Mutilation? And Why Understanding Culture Matters in the First Place." Pp. 216-251 in Shweder, R., Minow, M., Markus, H. (eds.). Engaging Cultural Differences. New York: Russel Sage Foundation.
    69. Spivak, G. C. 1988. "Can The Subaltern Speak?" Pp. 271-313 in Nelson, C., Grossberg, L. (eds.). Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture. Chicago: University of Illinois Press. Go to original source...
    70. Thiam, A. 1978. La Parole aux négresses. Paris: Denoël-Gonthier. Engl. transl. by Blair, D. 1986. Speak Out, Black Sisters: Feminism and Oppression in Black Africa. London: Pluto Press.
    71. Thomas, L. 2003. Politics of the Womb Women, Reproduction, and the State in Kenya. Berkeley: University of California Press. Go to original source...
    72. Tiefer, L. 2008. "Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery: Freakish or Inevitable? Analysis from Medical Marketing, Bioethics, and Feminist Theory." Feminism Psychology, Vol. 18, No. 4: 466-479. Go to original source...
    73. Tietjens Meyers, D. 2000. "Feminism and Women's Autonomy: The Challenge of Female Genital Cutting." Metaphilosophy, Vol. 31, No. 5: 469-491. Go to original source...
    74. Turner, V. 1967. The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu Rituals. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press; (trad esp. 1980. La selva de los símbolos. Madrid: Siglo XXI).
    75. van Howe, R. 1997. "Variability in Penile Appearance and Penile Findings: A Prospective Study." British Journal of Urology, Vol. 80, No. 55: 776-782. Go to original source...
    76. Walley, C. 1997. "Searching for 'Voices': Feminism, Anthropology, and the Global Debate over Female Genital Operations." Cultural Anthropology, Vol. 12, No. 3: 405-438. Go to original source...
    77. Wasunna, A. 2000. "Towards Redirecting the Female Circumcision Debate: Legal, Ethical and Cultural Considerations." McGill Journal of Medicine, Vol. 5, No. 2: 104-110.

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content