Learning from “Female Genital Mutilation”: Lessons from 30 Years of Academic Discourse

Abstract

At the intersection of feminism and postcolonial theory is an acrimonious debate over female genital cutting (FGC). I subject this debate to an analysis in order to separate productive from destructive discursive strategies. I find that both FGC and the literature about the practice are frequently mischaracterized in consequential ways. Especially prior to the mid-1990s, scholars frame FGC as an example of either cultural inferiority or cultural difference. In the 1990s, postcolonial scholars contest the framing of FGC as a measure of cultural inferiority. However, they often argue that Western feminist engagement with FGCs, writ large, is ‘imperialist.’ I contend that both accusations of African ‘barbarism’ and of Western feminist ‘imperialism’ are empirically false and inflammatory. Furthermore, reifying ‘African’ and ‘Western’ perspectives erases African opposition to FGC and Western feminist acknowledgement of transnational power asymmetry. I conclude with a discussion of the role of outrage in academic scholarship.

Female genital cutting in the news media: A content analysis

“…Some argue that the use of the phrase 'female circumcision' is naive and should be replaced entirely with 'female mutilation'; with others contend that such a replacement is ethnocentric and imperialist (Wade, 2011). In attempts at neutrality, this article will use the term FGC.…”

“…Inspired by this idea of 'global sisterhood', the term 'female genital mutilation' was coined by Fran Hosken in 1976 when she began writing about the issue in her feminist newsletter, WIN News (Boyle, 2002;Gruenbaum, 2001). Hosken is widely considered responsible for mobilizing a generation of Western feminists for whom FGC symbolized the epitome of gendered oppression (Boyle, 2002;Gruenbaum, 2001;James, 1998;Wade, 2011). By 1997, the notion that FGC was a severe form of women's oppression and vitally represented the barbaric nature of African culture had become hegemonic in many Western feminist ideologies (Piot, 2007).…”

“…Scholars making a postcolonial critique argue that Western discourse about FGC frames the practice as a measure of cultural inferiority and positions African men and women as objects of intervention, not subjects in their own right (Wade, 2011). Additionally, scholars who portray FGC-supporting cultures as patriarchal have been accused of discriminatory cultural essentialism (Benhabib, 2002;Merry, 2006;Narayan, 1997Narayan, , 1998Phillips, 2007;Volpp, 2001;Warnke, 2005).…”

“…Female genital cutting (FGC), also referred to as female genital mutilation or female circumcision, refers to a set of physical changes to female genitalia that are 'permanent, sometimes extensive, and often debilitating' (World Health Organization, 2013). Usually performed at or before puberty, the degree of consent, health consequences, and the conditions of the procedure (how hygienic the environment, specialized the tools, and skilled the practitioner) vary tremendously (Wade, 2011). It is estimated that more than 100 million girls around the globe have undergone genital cutting (Wade, 2011).…”

“…Usually performed at or before puberty, the degree of consent, health consequences, and the conditions of the procedure (how hygienic the environment, specialized the tools, and skilled the practitioner) vary tremendously (Wade, 2011). It is estimated that more than 100 million girls around the globe have undergone genital cutting (Wade, 2011).…”