As we had learned in our lecture, different cultures define different beauty standards. This means that things that are socially acceptable in the United States may not be as socially acceptable in other cultures or countries. For example, female genital cutting is seen as less than acceptable in the United States, and even illegal if it occurs within the country. This goes for how other countries view our practices too, as circumcision of males would be seen as wrong and disgusting to Chinese women in the 1500’s (Lecture 6.1). 

To continue, footbinding is one procedure that is socially acceptable in some cultures, like in China, but not in the United States. In Chinease culture, this binding was seen as a symbol of high social standing, as it was mentioned in “Footbinding” by Lisa See, a pretty face will not get a women as far as tiny feet will. This being said, if a woman did not have tiny feet, she was viewed as less than and had a harder time marrying into a wealthier family (See 2005). Lisa See incorporates the interpretive theoretical perspective into this writing as she is telling a story from her own experience to really try and learn and explore the cultural meaning of this practice. She is giving us an inside look into the process of footbinding, including emotional and physical aspects. She makes it very clear that this practice takes an emotional toll on an individual because if they chose to not get this done or something goes wrong, like when she was told she should wait a year to start the process, their family may ignore them or treat them as less than (See 2005). In this writing, she accounts the feeling of being wanted by her mother only when it had to do with the footbinding process, this alone shows how this footbinding is so important to their culture; so important that if one chooses to deny this, they would be disappointing their family or even digging them into a deeper hole of lower standing. If this process was stopped abruptly, I believe this culture would become confused. This meaning, the elders would not know how to interact with women from a younger generation and would cause a huge rift that would eventually lead to women feeling as if they have no hope of becoming beautiful. 

Another cultural practice that is specific to certain cultures is genital circumcision. When people in the United States think of circumcision, they usually think of only male circumcision, but in this case, and within many cultures, both women and men are getting this genital circumcision. Circumsicion in Muslim cultures is a custom that allows the entry of a child into this religion, this in which both man and woman would also come to equal purity (Newland 2006). This being said, this procedure is so important within this culture that it is seen as a parental duty to assure this is done, and if there is a refusal to do so, they are accused of child neglect (Newland 2006). A common misconception about this procedure is that it is harmful and causes long term damage, like damage to sexual enjoyment (Newland 2006). This misconception is what forces people in the United States to hate on this procedure and deem it as oppressing women. However, Newland takes  different approach and interprets an interpretive theological perspective into his findings. She makes the argument that banning this procedure actually oppresses the culture and does not allow people to fully enter into their culture without these procedures (Newland 2006). This being said, if this practice was outlawed abruptly, these cultures that regularly practice this circumcision would be lost and would not know how else to help these children enter into their culture socially. As I had mentioned regarding footbinding, the older and younger generations would not know how to interact and this would cause a huge rift socially. Another perspective on genital mutilation is from Fuambai Ahmadu, in which they take a feminist theological perspective and also argues that western societies have made this procedure seem oppressive and dangerous, but by incorporating others stories regarding this procedure, she fights back at these assumptions that these women have less sexual dysfunctions and proves that this is not the case (Ahmadu 2007).

To conclude, women are always if not, often seeking approval of their bodies from their sexual partners or even of themselves, but due to this pressure from the media, friends, etc. This approval is becoming so hard to find that many are turning to plastic surgery to make them “beautiful” (Leech 2009). Whether it be foot binding, plastic surgery, or genital circumcision, women are always going to have a practice within their culture to ensure they are deemed beautiful. Keeping this in mind, I think it is harsh to judge any culture based solely on their practices without fully understanding what the practice is and what it means to these people. Banning these practices would essentially be the same as banning plastic surgery in the United States, as it would change our culture in a huge way regarding beauty standards. 

Works Cited:

Ahmadu, F. (2007). Chapter 12 – Ain’t I A Woman Too?. Challenging Myths of Sexual Dysfunction in Circumcised Women. Rutgers University Press.

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

Leech, H. (2009). “The Perfect Vaginia”. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/groups/145051/videos/4704237

Newland, L. (2006). Female circumcision: Muslim identities and zero tolerance policies in rural West Java. Women’s Studies International Forum.

See, L. (2005). Chapter 1 – “FootBinding” Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.