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The Female Circumcision Controversy: An Anthropological Perspective

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An anthropological viewpoint is vital to understanding FGM or female circumcision. Surprise, it isn't just an Islamic rite (some Christians in Africa adhere to this age old tradition) Surprise, it isn't mandated in the Koran. Surprise, strong village tradition makes it hard for parents to say no to the practice or even to marry off their daughters. Surprise, some women agree to have it done. It's important to have a researcher do the field work so that we can understand the origins, cultural background and practice of FGM for better understanding.

In "The Female Circumcision Controversy," Ellen Gruenbaum provides readers with a highly informative anthropological perspective on female circumcision that is not weighed down with anthropological jargon, making it highly accessible to the "average" reader. She takes on a cultural relativistic point of view, exploring female circumcision through the context of the different cultures in which it is practiced, highlighting how it can be affected by patriarchy, ritual, marriage, mortality, ethnicity, sexuality, and economic development. An important point that Gruenbaum stresses is that while female circumcision has been practiced by many cultural and ethnic groups, the practices themselves vary (i.e. what is removed in surgery, at what age circumcision occurs, etc.) and this point makes it hard to generalize and blame only one factor for female circumcision. She includes her experiences in the Sudan and at the end of the book discusses how female circumcision practices are changing and the how we in the international community can get involved.

Gruenbaum does not condone female circumcision but she believes that many anti-circumcision advocates have taken the wrong approach to fighting the harmful practice. She stresses the need for discussion (not one-sided lecturing) and the fact that other problems such as economic insecurity and education need to be addressed so women will not feel as compelled to continue female circumcision. While a lot needs to be done to ensure that women's rights are not infringed upon, Gruenbaum gives the reader hope by showing many cases of progress.

This book is a gem! It has also made me rethink some things that I thought were "normal" in my culture.

I had to read this book for an anthropology class in my freshman year at college. It's a real eye-opener. I had no idea before this book that FGM was practiced anywhere outside of Africa. The description of what can be done was enough to make me mildly uncomfortable (inserting a straw during the healing process to make an extremely small hole for urination and menstruation?) but I could not put the book down. I have a drastically different perspective of this practice now that I understand more of it's cultural significance, rather than seeing it as a cruelty carried out to keep women in a totally inferior state.

I bought this book for an ethics class research paper. I had looked at a lot of research regarding female circumcision and was prepared to write paper loaded with righteous indignation over the practice. But, before I had even finished the introduction, my viewpoint was changing. This book made me look at the practice of female circumcision with a much less biased perspective. I was made to see what people within the cultures that practice it think about it. Do I still think that it is a terrible thing to do? Of course! But, I can see why it is done and I can see why simply trying to end the practice by force will be counterproductive. My thanks to the author for helping me learn something.