Prisoners of Ritual

8/12/2019 Prisoners of Ritual

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;ompared to penis mutilation, the couvade, and male circumcision, whose

ubiquity give testimony to the antiquity of those practices, therefore, therelative spatial restrictiveness of female circumcision argues for its more

recent innovation.

$he rationale for female circumcision seems to be consistent in most African

societies, and is based for the most part on myth, an ignorance of biological

and medical facts, and religion. $he clitoris is perceived variously as

repulsive, filthy, foul smelling, dangerous to the life of the emerging newborn,and ha4ardous to the health and potency of the husband.

As is also the case with male genital mutilation in our own culture, femalegenital mutilation is often believed to carry with it a persuasive array of health

benefits. It is believed to ma+e conception and childbearing easier, to prevent

acutely dreaded malodorous vaginal discharges, prevent all manner ofsic+ness, vaginal parasites and the contamination of mothers mil+.

;ircumcision, and specifically infibulation, is believed to reduce the se"ual

drive 7they do not8, and to protect women not only from aggressive males7they also do not8 but from her own rampant se"uality and irresistible inborn

drive toward total promiscuity.

It is believed in the &udan that the clitoris will grow to the length of a gooses

nec+ until it dangles between the legs, in rivalry with the males penis, if it isnot cut. $his concept engenders so much revulsion and an"iety in men that

they would not under any circumstances consider marrying an uncircumcisedor arious authors have shown that female circumcision was practiced

as well by early ?omans and Arabs. In some groups it appears to have been a

mar+ of distinction, in others a mar+ of enslavement and sub)ugation.


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From its probable origins in 'gypt and the Nile >alley, female circumcision is

thought to have diffused to the ?ed &ea coastal tribes, along with Arabtraders, and from there into eastern &udan. 71odawi, &., 2!9@8

$here are various reports on the practice of infibulation by a number of 2th

century travelers, who observed its performance on slave girls by slave traders

along the Nile. 7-idstrand, 2!6: ;loudsley, 2!38 Niebuhr, the sole

survivor of the first 'uropean scientific e"pedition to Arabia and 'gypt

reported on female circumcision in 2969. &ir ?ichard =urton, the noted=ritish 2!th century e"plorer, lectured e"tensively on the sub)ect of se"uality

among what he described as primitive eoples. %e noted that while the intentof the custom was to dampen the female se"ual drive, its effect was often

quite the opposite. %e came to the conclusion that e"cision of the clitoris and

labia rendered women more lascivious but far less easily satisfied.


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&imilarly, in presentday African patriarchal societies, female circumcision is

carried out on their daughters and granddaughters, by those same women whohave themselves suffered the mutilation in childhood. 1oreover, it is

staunchly defended by women as a rite that is absolutely essential to the

physical health and deportment if these girls, and to the social standing of thefamily in the community. $hey tenaciously adhere to these same practices,

even in those countries where they are now forbidden by law, such as &udan,

'gypt and *enya.

Dlayin+a *oso$homas 72!98 observation on the current status of the

practices in most regions of Africa is pertinent here. &he declares that


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+eep her se"uality in chec+, and limit her se"ual relations to only one man,

who had to be her husband. $his is the reason for the implacable enmityshown by society toward female se"uality, and the weapons used to resist and

sub)ugate the turbulent force inherent in it. $he slightest leniency manifested

in facing this potential danger meant that woman would brea+ out of theprison bars behind which the marriage confined her, and step over the steely

limits of a monogamous relationship to a forbidden intimacy with another

man, which would inevitably lead to confusion in descendence andinheritance, since there would be no guarantee that a strange mans child

would not step into the waiting line of successors. ;onfusion between the

children of the legitimate husband and the outside lover would mean the

unavoidable collapse of the patriarchal family built around the name of the

father alone.

%istory shows clearly that the father was +een on +nowing who his realchildren were, solely for the purpose of handing down his landed property to

them. $he patriarchal family therefore came into e"istence mainly foreconomic reasons. It was necessary for society simultaneously to build up a

system of moral and religious values, as well as a legal system capable ofprotecting and maintaining these economic interests. In the final analysis we

can safely say that female circumcision, the chastity belt and other savage

practices applied to women are basically the result of economic interests that

govern society. $he continued e"istence of such practices in our societysignifies that these economic interests are still operative. $he thousands of

dayas, nurses, paramedical staff and doctors who ma+e money out of femalecircumcision naturally resist any change in the values and practices which are

a source of gain to them. In the &udan there is a veritable army of dayas who

earn a livelihood out of the series of operations performed on women either to

e"cise their e"ternal genital organs, or to alternately narrow and widen the

outer aperture according to whether the woman is marrying, divorcing,

remarrying, or having a child.iviani, 2!8

$he older, traditionridden generation of women is generally blamed for this

failure to accept change. %owever, since the intellectual climate appears to

show some small beginnings of a shift, at least among that handful of the elite

that has been e"posed to 'uropean university educations, one might

reasonably hope for the stirrings of a modest change within the ne"t decade or

two, after the older generation has died out.

Get will a ma)or change actually ta+e placeM And how long will it ta+e before

this happensM -ill this as yet only hypothetical innovation of leaving girlsse"ually intact filter down to the uneducated and to the more remote places in

&udan, as the recircumcision practice has doneM $hings being what they are,

it is difficult to have much faith that a rapid change for the better is in thewind. In areas of Africa such as &udan, where there are few schools, no paved

roads, no electricity, no functioning telephone systems, even less food and

water and many, many far more pressing problems, change, whatever itsnature may be, happens at a maddeningly slow pace, if it happens at all.

In the absence of such horrendous handicaps, in our own technologicallyadvanced and advantaged country, our own setbac+s and frustrations in our

fight to abolish routine male circumcision in the Bnited &tates, provide usonly with the dimmest concept of the difficulties that must be overcome in

Africa

-e can hardly afford to flatter ourselves into believing that our earnest efforts

so far have created a populist movement among the peoples of Africa to

abolish female genital mutilation. As yet, the only evidence of opposition to

the practice comes from a minute, albeit dedicated group of African healthprofessionals that are wor+ing bravely toward abolishing these cruel and

destructive blood rituals. $heir highly laudable efforts are certainly the first,courageous steps in the right direction, and they deserve our heartfelt support.

As far as those of us, who labor in behalf of this worthy cause in the -estern

world are concerned, we must loo+ at the situation realistically and to

recogni4e that we are very far indeed from having earned any laurels that we

can rest upon. $here is a long, hard and weary road yet ahead of us and the

end, at this point, is nowhere in sight.

LIST OF REFERENCES

Assaad, N., 72!9!8 Female ;ircumcision in 'gypt, ;urrent ?esearch and

&ocial Implications, American Bniversity in ;airo, ;airo, 'gyptBurton, R.72!:@8 5ove, -ar and Fancy Notes to the Arabian Nights.


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?imber, 5ondon.

Cloudsley, A. 72!38 -omen of Dmdurman, 'thnographica, 5ondon.Davis, E.G., 72!968, $he First &e", enguin =oo+s, New Gor+.

Dines, M.72!08, &ocial $ransformation of 'ritrean &ociety, aper presented

to the eoples $ribunal, 1ilan, C@C6 1ay, 2!0, ?ights and Justice, C62aFinchley ?d. 5ondon, N.- 3.Graham, B.,72!98, National ;onference on Female ;ircumcision, C

1arch, 5ondon.Crassivaro Galli, P. and Viviani F., 72!8 Female ;ircumcision in

&omalia, $he 1an+ind uarterly, p.26:2=D

Koso!homas, "., 72!98, $he ;ircumcision of -omen. A &trategy for

'radication, ed =oo+s, 5ondon.#erner, C. 72!6, $he ;reation of atriarchy, D"ford university ress, New

Gor+.

#i$ht%ootKlein, &., 72!!8 risoners of ?itual An odyssey into Femaleenital ;ircumcision in Africa, %aworth ress, 20 Alice &t., =inghamton,

New Gor+ 23!0@.

Me$a%u, '., 72!38, Female ?itual ;ircumcision in Africa An Investigation

of the resumed =enefits among Ibos of Nigeria, 'ast African 1ed. Journal,

@07228 9!3DD.Moda(i, ).72!9@8, $he Impact of &ocial and 'conomic ;hanges in Female

;ircumcision, &udan 1edical Association ;ongress &eries, No. 2, &udan1edical Association, *hartoum.

"$iamien, !.B.E., 72!8, A 5egal Framewor+ to 'radicate Female;ircumcision, 1ed. &ci. 5aw, C, No. C. reat =ritain.

"$unmodede, F.7undated8 Female ;ircumcision in Nigeria, ;ompanion

Features, @ -innoc+ ?oad, Giewsley, -est (rayton, 1dd"., B.*.

)aada(i, N. el., 72!C8 ;ircumcision of irls, $raditional ractices affecting

the %ealth of -omen and ;hildren, -orld %ealth Drgani4ation, '1?D

$echnical ublication C7C8, Ale"andria, 'gypt.!a*a, A. &., 72!08, Female ;ircumcision, -orld %ealth.

+allerstein, F., 72!08, ;ircumcision An American %ealth Fallacy, &pringerubl. ;orp., New Gor+.

$i%&t'an%( C)C)72!6:8, Female Infibulation, &tudia 'thnographicaBpsaliensia, C0.

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Prisoners of Ritual