I think one of the best ways to start this post is by pointing out that our life is governed by culture. Whether we are conscious of these constraints placed on us since we were babies or not, it still influences everything about us. Our culture may feel widespread and universally accepted, but the fact of the matter is that it’s not. Sometimes, it’s hard to believe because most of our culture has been instilled in us since before we can remember. A lot of our traditions and habits come from a source that we can’t even remember, but we still replicate them and they still have influence on the way we live our lives and how we think about others.

                The readings and film we watched this week covered some of the different cultural practices that are often criticized by Westerners. In the Newland article, circumcision is viewed as a duty that parents must perform on their children. Any decision to not perform this ritual would be a form of neglect. (Newland, 2006, Pg. 401) The article discusses the way in which circumcision is tied into their Muslim community and is performed on the basis of religious beliefs. In this way, circumcision can be explained by interpretive theorists as a way to protect their child, as the act of circumcision is viewed as a ritual to signify separation from the child’s mother and incorporation of the Muslim community into their life. (Newland, 2006, Pg. 399) The methods in which they perform the circumcision and the types of tools they use also suggest that this ritual has been medicalized in many societies and is a form of biomedicine, which can be analyzed by medical anthropologists. Just as the medical act of circumcision is justified in Western culture and beliefs, part of the reason in which they perform circumcisions is due to cleanliness and a decrease in the risk of infection. (Newland, 2006, Pg. 400)

In the Ahmadu article, she discusses the different critiques that female circumcision receives by Western cultures and negates them by using personal encounters from people she has interviewed. She goes through all of the different myths that Western culture has associated with female circumcision. For instance, that women who are circumcised cannot enjoy or experience orgasms (Ahmadu, Pg. 286), That women will not enjoy sex (Ahmadu, Pg. 299-300), and that it destroys their genitalia and is found to be undesirable by men (Ahmadu, Pg. 304-305). I particularly found this article interesting because it negates all of the things that I commonly hear as an argument as to why these types of rituals should be banned. It was interesting reading about personal reflections on the matter from people who have had the ritual performed on them and are submerged in the culture. This article was written from a feminist perspective, I believe, by the way in which the author supports and encourages these women. She writes about all the ways in which they are portrayed as ‘normal’ by Western standards and how the problem lies mostly with men’s beliefs and our patriarchal societies.

To conclude, I cannot say that I believe in or am against female circumcision or any other form of genital mutilation. As was discussed in Lecture 6.1 and “The Perfect Vagina”, humans are often seeking for approval from their sexually preferred others. Whether it is in the form of genital mutilation to our children so they are not made fun of when they are older, or because we want our significant other to find our bodies attractive so we perform plastic surgery in an attempt to perfect or match some ideal form of beauty standard that our culture abides by. There are likely deeply imbedded beliefs and perceptions of beauty, social approval, and social value behind the purpose of these actions. I think eradicating or outlawing something in immediate fashion based entirely on the Western perception of it would be dangerous in many ways. For instance, in the case of female circumcision, it is tied directly to finding a mate and practicing religion. If we were to outlaw it, it could affect the ways in which women would continue to perform the surgery. Since outlawing the ritual would not change the perception of the image and cultural value of circumcision within that culture, it would most likely only change the ways in which they go about performing it—at least, for some period of time. Which will inevitably lead to unsafe medical practices, infections, and possibly death. Outlawing footbinding, circumcision, plastic surgery, and other forms of body mutilation could also lead to distorted personal images and self-esteem. Which could lead to both psychological and physiological stress and illness. I don’t think something should be outlawed because of misunderstanding. I think education on the warning signs for prevalent infection, diseases, and complications could be helpful to these communities, but I do not think outlawing something and expecting an entire community to change their beliefs overnight is realistic.

Sources Cited:

Film: 6.1. Leach, Heather “The Perfect Vagina” (58min)

Lecture: 6.1. The “Ideal” Feminine Body: Chinese footbinding, female genital cutting, and female genital plastic surgery

PDF: 6.2 Newland, Lynda. “Female circumcision: Muslim identities and zero tolerance policies in rural West Java”

PDF: 6.3 Ahmadu, Fuambai. “‘Ain’t I a Woman Too?’ Challenging Myths of Sexual Dysfunction in Circumcised Women”