This article does not mean to endorse the practice of FGM but rather works to examine different understandings of the practice.
Some alternative interpretations of female genital cutting
Robertson and Thomas argue that female genital cutting can be interpreted as structuring relations between women. Indeed, “circumcision”, can be said to be a hierarchical system separating and maintaining age sets and the roles attached to them. “Circumcision” would thus act as an enactment of “intergenerational relations amongst different groups of women” (Robertson, 1996 and Thomas 1996 in Leonard, 1996: 174). The ceremony of circumcision itself would bound an age set in solidarity and garner support from a women-inclusive structure. By getting circumcised, women can also demonstrate their strength and courage as an age group. Kenyan girls even responded negatively and defied the ban of circumcision endorsed by the British government, as an effort to maintain this age-based system of organisation. This interpretation of female genital cutting thus presents female genital cutting as an act with positive connotations, that maintains and separates age sets and illustrates the support of an all-women ceremony.
Janice Boddy (1982 in Leonard, 1996), considers infibulation as a way for women to gain certain privileges in Sudan. Indeed, Boddy argued that circumcision was a symbolic ceremony used as the foundation for a woman’s fertility, by minimising her sexuality. By getting circumcised, a woman is considered as a potential mother, rather than a mere sexual partner. Consequently, by getting infibulated, a Sudanese woman safeguards her womb and is considered pure and clean. Women’s capability of bearing children and “cofounding a lineage section” gives them status in their community and the possibility of being considered as “socially indispensable” (Boddy 1982 in Leonard, 1996: 175). Consequently, getting an infibulation in Sudan is indispensable for women to acquire relative privilege and could thus be a strategic act for women to gain a certain status in their community.
Grassivaro Gallo and Viviani (1992 in Leonard, 1996) as opposed to Robertson and Boddy’s interpretations, consider infibulation as a practical survival strategy. Indeed, they suggest that thanks to infibulation, a woman would have her body odours under control, especial during menstruation. Aside from being what seems to be a hygienic improvement for Somali women, the control of menstrual blood odours becomes a survival strategy since these women live in poorly secured tents, easily attackable by wild animals attracted by the smell of blood when the husbands are away herding. Grassivaro Gallo and Viviani (1992 in Leonard, 1996) also seem to suggest that menstrual blood is disquieting to sheep and goats, that are crucial for the survival of Somali fem herders. By controlling body odours, infibulation would consequently be a practical survival strategy for the Somali female herders. These three alternatives about female genital cutting thus allow a understanding of the practice with rather positive connotations, as opposed to the feminist interpretation of “female genital mutilation”.
How do the Sara appear to contradict much of what is said about female genital cutting in Africa?
The “circumcision” practice amongst the Sara people seems to defer rather radically from what is said about female genital cutting in Africa, usually perceived as monolithic. As opposed to the belief that in Africa “circumcision” is an ancestral tradition forced upon young girls, in Myabé, the practice is a purely first-generation phenomenon and consequently is a very contemporary, recent practice, making the adolescent girls experimenters and innovators. As opposed to the assumptions made about female genital cutting in Africa, the practice is not forced upon young girls as a rite of passage. Indeed, the Sara people believe that the practice of female genital cutting benefits women very little, as the practice is not a pre-requirement for marriage, childbearing and men even seem to prefer uncircumcised women and mock women for “taking everything off” (Leonard, 1996: 184).
Moreover, the practice of female genital cutting in the Sara community is not imposed by either the parents, patriarchy or religious and spiritual leaders who are opposed to the practice and attempt to block its spread in the village. Parents indeed prohibit their daughters from undergoing female genital cutting and react with negative feelings such as anger, fear, confusion and even disgust. However, since the young girls organise the ceremonies on their own and ask for the help of outsiders since the women are opposed to the practice in the village, parents are forced to realise that they lost battle and are often resigned. As opposed to much of what is said about female genital cutting in Africa, the young adolescent girls thus practice female genital cutting in secrecy, as innovators and experimenters, and find the necessary supplies and help on their own. For the rest of the Sara community, rather than being a practice reinforcing a form of moral and social order, “circumcision” seems to be considered as an unwelcomed practice. Instead of being of “sexual, social or symbolic” (Leonard, 1996: 190) significance, “circumcision” seems to be more of a “fashion statement” (Leonard, 1996: 181) for the adolescent girls, who seem to seek popularity and modernity in practicing the ceremony and thus disregard traditions such as the lip plate, brought and approved by the ancestors, which is irritating to some of the villagers. Sara adolescent girls thus get “circumcised” because they want to, they are not oppressed by ancestral tradition and perform the ceremonies in secrecy as the villagers are opposed to the practice of female genital cutting.
What are the possible explanations for the spread of female genital cutting among the Sara?
Adolescent girls in Myabé do not show interest in the disappearing ancestral traditions of the Sara community, such as lip plate or body scaring. Instead, the girls replace these traditions and seek for the experience of new practices, such as the one of female genital cutting, in order to copy “modernism”. Indeed, adolescent girls in the Sara community seem to copy ceremonies and traditions that are popular outside the village, such as the one of “circumcision” in search of modernity and in search of belonging.
In addition to this search for modernity, the adolescent girls in the community seem to be subjects to peer pressure regarding the practice of “circumcision”. Most of them are “imitating their friends and neighbours” (Leonard, 1996: 183). In addition, an uncircumcised girl is prone to be called by negative epithets such as “koy, kara and sato” (Leonard, 1996: 183). Although the exact meaning of these words seems to be obscure to most women, all these epithets have negative connotations and illustrate despise, ignorance, disdain and marginality towards the person called as such. Adolescent girls can consequently feel pressured to do so or merely imitate the actions of the majority, which could explain the spread of female genital cutting among the Sara.
Moreover, a common practice after the circumcision of a girl, although not directly linked to the act of “circumcision” itself, is to take part in a public dance, highly popular amongst the villagers. The girls are dressed in colourful clothes and paint their bodies, which is considered attractive by men in the community: “when they come out and dance and wear kaolin they are beautiful” (Leonard, 1996: 183). The attraction boys have for the girls dressed as such and dancing may thus favour the spread of female genital cutting.
Finally, in some, girls seem to try and seek for material gain. Some girls indeed receive new clothes and money after their “circumcision”, even if the parents were opposed to the practice, which is in itself paradoxical. As formulated by Munikir, a circumcised woman: “We did it for pleasure only. For new clothes and oil on our bodies and people pay us I was happy” (Leonard, 1996: 185). The search for modernity, the sense of belonging and peer pressure, the attraction men have for girls dancing after the ceremony, and the pleasure of the material gain consequently seem to be some of the reasons explaining the spread of female genital cutting amongst the Sara community.
Reference:
Leonard, Lori. “Adopting Female “Circumcision” in Southern Chad: The Experience of the Myabe.” Female “Circumcision” in Africa: Culture, Controversy, and Change. Ed. Bettina Shell-Duncan and Ylva Hernlund. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2000. 167-91.
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