Parker, Rethinking FC

International African Institute
Rethinking Female Circumcision

Author(s): Melissa Parker
Source: Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 65, No. 4 (1995), pp.
506-523
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the International African Institute
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Africa 65 (4), 1995
RETHINKING FEMALE CIRCUMCISION
Melissa Parker
Female circumcision is a subject which arouses great interest and concern in

the Western world. This is reflected in a multitude of ways, including a sub-
stantial and growing body of biomedical and social research; the regular
appearance of newspaper articles, reports and television documentaries;
and discussions within human rights organisations such as Amnesty Interna-
tional as to whether it is appropriate to see the practice of female circumci-
sion as an abuse of human rights. There is also an increasing tendency
among UN agencies and international development agencies (such as the
IDRC and the ODA) to give higher priority to the issue. Indeed, one of
the conditions of a recent loan by the International Monetary Fund to Bur-
kina Faso was that the government should agree to further its activities to
bring the practice to an end.
To many academics and policy-makers, this continuing interest and concern
are well placed. Female circumcision is practised in more than twenty Afri-
can countries as well as a number of countries in the Middle East, and it
has been estimated that at least 100 million females have been circumcised
worldwide (Toubia, 1994). It is striking, however, that much more concern
has been expressed about female circumcision than other operations or infec-
tions which adversely affect the reproductive health of women. In the aca-
demic arena it is also interesting to note that gynaecologists, epidemiologists
and anthropologists have tended to focus on a relatively small number of ques-
tions, and these have rarely been investigated in any depth.
This article focuses on the work of researchers from Europe, North
America and Canada in order to show that intense emotions underlie
this interest and concern. Amidst growing interest in the anthropology
of emotions it is suggested that greater attention should be paid to under-
standing the source of the emotions and the way in which they influence field-
work and data analysis. Our understanding of female circumcision will remain
partial unless this occurs, as data will continue to be collected and interpreted in
an inadequate way. Moreover, researchers run the risk of lending credence to
fierce moral judgements and campaigns aimed at remaking other cultures in
their own image if they continue to be unwittingly influenced by the emotion-
ality of Euro-American-Canadian culture. This, of course, runs counter to the
avowed aims of academic research, which seeks to conduct investigations in a
'scientific', 'neutral' or 'relativistic' way.
The article is divided into four parts to illustrate these points. Part one
briefly outlines the fieldwork that I undertook in northern Sudan; part two
describes one of the circumcision ceremonies I attended, as well as some of
the discussions I had with friends and colleagues when I completed my field-
work. Part three reflects on the ceremony and discussions, with reference to
the biomedical and anthropological literature on female circumcision. The
fourth and final section of the article discusses some of the ways in which
emotions associated with sex, sexuality and the self have influenced the
type of research undertaken by Western investigators into female circumcision
CIRCUMCISION IN THE SUDAN 507
FIELDWORK IN NORTHERN SUDAN
Fieldwork took place in Omdurman aj Jadida, a village in the Gezira/M

irrigation scheme, Sudan. The village is located in the Managil south-w
extension area and it lies approximately 240 km south of Khartoum be
the Blue Nile and the While Nile. It has a population of 1,115. The Hasa
and the Mohamadeer are the two most numerous and dominant ethnic
in the village. They are Muslims, who speak colloquial Sudanese Ara
their social and economic activities are characterised by a marked d
segregation between the sexes.
Most of the land surrounding Omdurman aj Jadida is owned by the
ment and irrigated by a complex network of canals which transports
from the Blue Nile. It has been divided into tenancies by the Sudan
Board, and the most senior male in each household usually rents a
at a nominal rate. Responsibility for the tenancy generally passes from
most senior male to one of his sons (preferably the eldest) at death an
is, therefore, kept within the patrilineage. Lineage endogamy is the pr
form of marriage, at least for a first marriage, and considerable bride
is paid by the groom to the bride's family.
Field-based research took place between April 1985 and May 1986.
that period I lived in the village with an extended family of sixteen an
colloquial Sudanese Arabic. I did not pay rent but I gave the female
the household items such as sugar, oil and pulses on a regular basi
four to six weeks I went to Khartoum to buy some of this food, t
mail and to give them and myself a break. These breaks usually lasted
five to ten days but illness and other problems occasionally prolonged
Throughout my fieldwork I behaved, wherever possible, in ways tha
considered appropriate for a single woman living in a segregated Muslim
in northern Sudan. I ate and socialised with women in their compou
slept in female quarters. I rarely crossed the village without my female a
as young unmarried women are not meant to be seen in public space w
female chaperon.'
Research investigating the nature and extent of disability among
infected with Schistosoma mansoni (bilharzia) took place against th
ground. It entailed the collection of blood, stool and urine sample
as anthropometric measurements from forty-six women at regular in
over a period of twelve months, to monitor changes in their nutrition
infectious status. In addition, women were observed on a minute-by-m
basis to record the type and duration of activities undertaken on a dai
The period of observations varied but some women were observed
many as eleven continuous hours for two consecutive days. Ethno
information acquired during this period of fieldwork (as well as
other studies undertaken in Gezira over a period of ten months
and 1983) influenced the collection and analysis of these quantita
data; and the most important results were subsequently presented as a
thesis in biological anthropology (Parker, 1989).
It would have been extremely difficult to undertake this work w
living in the village and behaving, wherever possible, as a partic
observer fieldworker. This type of research is, after all, intrusi
508 CIRCUMCISION IN THE SUDAN
demanding. A couple of women in the study had had the opportun

to primary school but none of them was familiar with the idea of
Moreover, they had never met or talked to an Englishwoman
Requests to analyse as many as five consecutive stool sam
record every aspect of their daily activities seemed nothing if
It was not too surprising, therefore, when initial references to m
as 'the beautiful study' and 'the sweet study' shifted to some
more ambivalent.
Acutely aware of the material hardship of women's lives and the additional
demands I placed upon them, I tried, wherever possible, to contribute to
life in Omdurman aj Jadida. The activities included collecting water
from the canal, picking cotton, administering drugs to people in the village
and surrounding villages, and analysing stool and urine samples for intestinal
parasites from men, women and children not participating in the research.
My status as a foreign visitor diminished with time, and this was undoubtedly
facilitated by participating in these types of activities. Indeed, I was
increasingly expected to join in a wide range of activities such as negotiating
a girl's bridewealth and attending circumcision ceremonies. It was not until I
returned to England to write my doctoral thesis that I realised how affected I
had been by life in Omdurman aj Jadida. To some extent this is epitomised by
my feelings about female circumcision, to which attention now turns.
FEMALE CIRCUMCISION IN OMDURMAN AJ JADIDA
All girls are circumcised in Omdurman aj Jadida. Indeed, pre-puber

circumcision is a feature of life among the majority of Muslim pop
speaking colloquial Sudanese Arabic in northern Sudan (el Daree
This may not be immediately apparent from the description of a y
circumcision ceremony presented in this section.3 It has been taken
field notes, and it is quite a raw account, as it was written a few ho
had attended my first circumcision ceremony. I have resisted the t
to alter the account and to offer 'explanations' for the practice of cir
Boddy (1982, 1989), Constantinides (1985) and Hayes (1975), amo
have analysed the issues and themes surrounding the practice of cir
in northern Sudan. Instead I shall use the thoughts and feelings gen
this description and another section of my field notes to make som
observations about some of the ways in which attitudes to sex,
and the self have influenced the collection and interpretation o
female circumcision.
Journal extract. Nijat's circumcision, November 1985

'The knife is above her, the knife is above her - come quickly! Come!' Selwa and I were
drinking tea one morning when a young girl placed her head over the wall and
shouted these words. We upped and left, and walked at a quick pace to her brother's
house (Abass Mustaffa), where his 7 year old daughter was about to be circumcised.
Together we entered a crowded mud-built room and greeted some fourteen
women gathered. A little later we were joined by an old woman who, taking an
axe head, began to dig a small hole - six inches by five inches - in the middle of
the floor. Next to this she placed a cushion. Then Ziyarra picked up her daughter,
placed her on this cushion and, with her arms around her waist, held her ti
other women held her legs - straddled open above the hole. The blade was t
its sharpness, and while we all looked on the old woman began to cut. Slow
surely, she took the girl's clitoris and all other loose flesh.
The blood flowed and the girl screamed. And as she screamed, she tried
herself free. But the women held her tight though anxious at any further
she might do, they called on others to hold her to the ground.
The job was not yet done. More blood flowed. The woman cut, and cut
she cut, young children - largely girls, but some boys - beat drums, s
danced outside. Inside, the women looked anxiously on. Had she removed
enough? Was there anything left? And then it was announced 'Aiewa, maa fii
eeyi shi ...' Yes, there's nothing left.
They flushed the wound with [hot] water, bound and strapped her legs with
cotton cloth and lifted her from the ground to a low-lying 'angarib (a low-lying
wooden bed strung with cattle hide). Her mother held her head, comforting her
as best she could. 'Don't cry, don't cry,' she said. But the girl wept and wept, for
an hour or more. The flesh had since been buried and dampness on the ground
was the only sign of the blood which had flowed so freely.
Tea and later coffee were brought for the women gathered. We drank - partly
in celebration and partly to seal the event. The girl, Nijat, was given a glass of
sugared water - a treat, for the harshness of the pain endured.
The conversation turned my way. ... keef El Arab? As if to say: 'How is the
Arab life with you?' Harr, I said. But I could not look them in the face, and
mumbled the words to the ground. Harr carries a multitude of meanings, but
for the moment it seemed sufficient: hard, hot, severe in every sense. They all
agreed. Yes, it is hard, very hard.
At this point, the old woman relaxed and lay outstretched on an 'angarib
opposite. She smoked a (manufactured) cigarette and the conversation wended
its way to a discussion of past circumcisions. Everyone agreed that bit Ali Ali's
daughter, had been done well. Samha khalaas ... but there were problems with
Sakeina's. The midwife had come from another village, and she had not taken
enough. Perhaps it should be done again. But Allaweeya, the midwife, insisted
that she would charge an additional ?S 5.00 (?1.00) if she had to do it again.
When a girl is pharaonically circumcised in a village such as this, there is no
anaesthetic, no sterilisation of the knife and no use of antiseptic to help heal
the wound. Simply, the cut is made and the girl's legs are strapped together so
that she can do no more than lie or sit with her legs outstretched for fifteen
days - waiting and hoping for the wound to heal. Many, of course, run the
risk of contracting tetanus and other infections. In fact Ziyarra, knowing full
well the dangers at hand, came up to me a little later to ask for Dettol. This I gave
her, and she was glad - greeting me with the word mushkoora (kind) when I brought
a small bottle to her house later that day. For Dettol, like other disinfectants, is not
available in the markets and is well beyond their means.
Several hours later, with time to sit and think about all that happened - I am
struck by how little was actually said. One woman, who came a little late, greeted
us all and congratulated Ziyarra with the words mabrouk 'alek - meaning 'congra-
tulations to you' - no more, no less. Others simply greeted the women gathered as if
it was any other occasion: salaam 'alekum (peace be upon you), etc., drank coffee
and sat down to chat. So apart from the moment when the old woman cut, and
the women gathered grimaced at the pain, there was a sort of calmness about it
all. I cannot put my finger on it, but it somehow didn't seem wrong.
People clearly sympathised with the girl's pain - for they themselves had all been
pharaonically circumcised - and everyone was gentle with her. In fact Ziyarra never
left her daughter for the two hours or so that I was there. Mat guum
'Don't leave, don't leave', the girl kept saying, hanging her arms a
mother's neck. And she held her tight, gently assuring her that she wo
Yes, she seemed calm and at ease with all that was going on.
If there was panic, fear and anxiety, then it was vivid and clear among t
dren who had sung outside the house and drowned the girl's cries. Man
boys and girls (aged between 3 and 5 years) continued to cry intermittent
eral hours afterwards. Incidentally, no men were in sight. They were all o
in the fields and when they returned they did not come to the house.
A little later I was pressed further about my thoughts on circumcision. Bu
say was that it was not something familiar to my own culture and that I w
had understood what had happened. But just as I struggle to understan
necessary to remove a young girl's genitalia, so they appear mystified and
that the operation is not performed on girls in England ... How can a girl
band and achieve the transition to womanhood if she has not been circumcised?
How these women look on me now I do not know. I hope it hasn't made much
difference and that what matters is the things I do and the way I behave. And I ...
do I see them differently? I'm not sure. I think I'm in too much of a state of
shock to really think straight and I'm struggling to adjust to the normalness of events.
For just now I'm in Mohamed al-Tyib's house. It's 3.00 p.m. and nearly lunch-
time. A group of men sit outside the house discussing the price of grain in the mar-
ket. Amna is washing clothes and Khadiga - still in her state of seclusion after
giving birth to her second child - is cleaning some pots and pans. And me? I'm sit-
ting in Seinab's shop, scribbling away. Yes - everything is as normal, but I don't feel
at all 'normal'. And I don't feel able to discuss this morning's events with the
women around me. That said, I am sure of one thing: there is an awful lot more
to say about female circumcision than to state that it involves physical mutilation.
Journal extract: December 1985.
A month has passed and I have attended several other circumcision ceremonies in
the village. A couple of times I did not respond in the expected way, as I did not
congratulate the mother and remained fairly quiet. I was struck by how astonished
the women seemed to be. Bakhritta, sensing that my interpretation of events was
not hers, could not believe it. 'Don't you believe it's a good thing to do, Melissa?'
And she said this with amazement rather than aggression. Similarly, Khadiga said,
'don't you think its fine and lovely?' genuinely surprised that there could be any
other interpretation.
Hannan, describing how a knife had been used to tear her vagina open before she
had given birth (to deinfibulate her), also used the work 'good' to described the
practice. In common with other women, she had been reinfibulated after she had
given birth. While she did not deny the pain or any of the other problems which
are frequently associated with circumcision, there was no question of it being any-
thing other than kwaiys (good), tahir (pure), nazif(clean) and smooth (na'im). And
I felt humbled. My questions were so useless, so utterly irrelevant to that which was
seen as being important. Of course women do not circumcise their daughters to create
problems for them later on. They do so to protect them. An uncircumcised girl is
unmarriageable and would bring undying shame to her and her family. People would
call her kaaba (bad), waskhan (dirty) and nigsa (unclean). Her life would be intoler-
able, as she would be taunted by friends and relatives wherever she went. In brief,
the practice of circumcision is bound up with beliefs of honour, shame, purity and
cleanliness. It is these beliefs which need to be examined and interrogated if any
headway is to be made in bringing an end to such a custom. It seems almost comical
that Western and Sudanese feminists have spent so much time tackling it simply at the
level of female oppression when it is rooted in so much else as far as those wo

experience it are concerned.
Thinking back to my reactions to female circumcision in the 1980s.

I had not thought very much about female circumcision before I atte
ceremonies but I suspect I would have viewed it as an example of
men oppress women and, more particularly, the way men control
sexuality. The fact that women allow their daughters to be circumcise
have been an indication of little more than false consciousness. Many
friends were surprised, therefore, when I expressed doubt about that
interpretation.
There had been very little time for reflection during my fieldwork
was not until I discussed some of the issues surrounding female circum
(on my return to England in 1986) that I realised how affected I had b
life in the village. There had, of course, been several signs of distress
comfort. Shortly after attending Nijat's circumcision, for example, I
across the village to give her mother some Dettol. I knew that I shoul
my assistant or some other woman to accompany me but there w
around and I was far too upset to wait. To my mind a blunt razor blad
ried a multitude of risks and I was convinced that Nijat's life was in d
simply did not care what type of reaction I provoked, as I felt I had to
Dettol to Ziyarra, whatever the cost. This was the first time that I co
and defiantly challenged expected codes of behaviour in Omdurm
Jadida.
My distress was manifest in a number of other ways. There were several
occasions, for example, when I struggled to congratulate women on their
daughter's circumcision and, more importantly, to probe more deeply into
the rationale of the practice. As time progressed, the distress was mixed
with a certain amount of confusion. It became increasingly difficult to attend
a ceremony without actively participating in the events which followed (such
as singing, dancing). I frequently wondered whether I should have witnessed
these circumcision ceremonies and whether my presence lent tacit approval
to something I found disturbing and abhorrent. However, the portrayal of
female circumcision in a positive light was disarming and a sharp reminder
that it can take a long time to acquire an understanding, however partial,
of a world that is different from one's own. At times like this I was glad
that my research on schistosomiasis had such a tight focus but I continued
to attend circumcision ceremonies in the village. As one diary entry said, 'I
came here to learn and if I close my eyes to those things I do not like or
do not understand I will simply add to the distorted picture I already have'.
Anthropological fieldwork in a setting such as Omdurman aj Jadida is
never easy. There are many expectations and pressures to act out roles and
support activities which extend over, and above, one's responsibilities as a
research worker. The difficulties and conflicts they create were compounded
by ambivalence about attempting long-term participatory investigations in
the context of severe economic problems, and I often felt in danger of lapsing
into voyeurism. Some of these conflicts became apparent over the issue of
female circumcision.
On the one hand I had longed to develop an understanding of a world I did
not know, and I felt flattered, even honoured, to be able to

important events. I had no intention of betraying trust and conf
deriding the practice of female circumcision. By the time I h
the ceremonies I had been living in the village for a sufficie
time to establish warm and friendly relations with a number
and, if anything, I felt in awe of the way many of them led the
fact that I felt disturbed and unsettled by participating in these e
drew my attention to how much I had to learn about women's liv
man aj Jadida.
On the other hand, I felt so disturbed by the events I had witn
rarely took the opportunity to explore the issue in greater d
sense the relativism which imbued the way in which I carr
of my work also became a means by which to avoid addressin
and conflict-ridden area. Other concerns also cushioned me fr
the issue in more depth. I was, of course, living in Omdurm
with the principal intention of exploring the impact of S. manso
activities. Analysing stool, urine and blood samples and conductin
minute observations was an exacting and time-consuming task
I wished to use local insights to interpret the biomedical and
information (and in this sense everything was relevant), I was
undertake a detailed study of female circumcision. Moreover, I felt
able position, as I was dependent on the goodwill of people in the
my research and did not wish to generate unnecessary conflict.
I thus continued to participate in a wide range of activities for
reasons and, retreating into a world of relativism, managed to avo
about female circumcision with women (as well as friends and
Khartoum). With hindsight, it is easy to see that I lost sight
that participant observation does not, or should not, entail id
with every aspect of life in Omdurman aj Jadida; or to put it ano
understanding does not preclude judgement.
By the time I returned to England I found it difficult to be critical
about social relationships in Omdurman aj Jadida and I felt m
talking about life in the village in a relativistic way. I remember
raged and distressed when I met a social anthropologist who
returned from doing some research in southern Sudan. He espous
plicated views on circumcision. It was, to his mind, an abhorr
and he had no compunction about applying an array of dero
insulting adjectives to the women who carried it out and the men
allowed it to happen. I was flabbergasted. How could an anthro
a social anthropologist at that, be so sure of the difference betwee
'wrong' and 'good' and 'bad'? Why did he reify an individual
female) sexual enjoyment over and above the other issues acc
the practice of female circumcision? To what extent was the
gave to sexual enjoyment mixed up with his own identification w
ern Sudanese who openly hated the Muslim, Arab-speaking p
the north?
The abhorrence of female circumcision and the reification of sexual
enjoyment were widespread among friends and colleagues. I was shocked
by the number of people who felt able to describe female circumcision as
'disgusting', 'revolting', 'obscene', 'abusive' and 'inhumane' with

enquiring about the meanings ascribed to the practice. One collea
read the description of Nijat's circumcision and commented 'General Gordo
should have murdered the lot of them.' It was difficult not to resent the fact t
very few people appreciated the importance of thinking about the issu
circumcision in terms other than physical mutilation and the denial of sex
pleasure. Their views became increasingly offensive and the confidence wi
which they espoused them was, it seemed to me, little short of racist. The
were times when their views appeared to amount to the following: "Circum
sion is a barbaric practice. It is carried out by simple and uncivilised peopl
they were sophisticated and educated like 'us' in the West they would real
that there are new, different and better ways of behaving. The solution is sim
They should behave like 'us'."
The issue never died. The reactions of friends and colleagues to the issue
female circumcision and the desire to know more about the topic led m
the biomedical and anthropological literature. Here again I was struc
by the ferocity of feeling expressed in a variety of academic journals and
narrow range of questions which research workers sought to address
following section focuses on the biomedical and anthropological literat
with particular reference to research undertaken in Sudan.
BIOMEDICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON FEMALE CIRCUMCISION
Clinical research
A number of gynaecologists have published case material (e.g. Abu Shama et
al., 1949; Huddleston, 1944; Dewhurst and Michelson, 1964; Verzin, 1975)
and results from hospital-based surveys (e.g. Shandall, 1967; Aziz, 1980).
These clinical data have revealed a number of problems associated with
female circumcision. With reference to pharaonic circumcision, the
immediate problems include shock, haemorrhage, injury to adjacent
organs, retention of urine and infections (such as septicaemia, tetanus,
abscesses, urethritis, cystitis), and some of the longer-term problems include
scarring and keloid formation, recurrent urinary infection, retention of
menses at menarche, vulval cysts and abscesses, and pelvic inflammatory
disease (infection of the uterus and fallopian tubes).
Child-bearing can also be hazardous. Accumulated scarring, for example,
may contribute to a protracted and painful labour and haemorrhage may
result from tearing through scar tissue or through the cervix or perineum.
Moreover, women have to be disinfibulated to enable the newborn to pass
out and there is an increased risk that the infant in fact will be brain-damaged
or suffer malformations.
All these findings are grounds for concern but data collected in clinical set-
tings do not, of course, convey any information about the proportion of
females in northern Sudan who experience gynaecological problems from
pharaonic or any other type of circumcision. Epidemiological research is
crucial if we are to acquire a detailed understanding of the overall effects
of female circumcision for female morbidity and mortality.
Epidemiological research
The first and most important piece of epidemiological research to e
consequences of different types of female circumcision on the phy
of girls and women in northern Sudan was undertaking by El Daree
between 1977 and 1981. A total of 3,210 women and 1,545 men w
viewed from five provinces in northern Sudan. The response rat
(95 per cent) and some of the most important findings include the
First, over 98 per cent of women participating in the study had be
cised (2-5 per cent with sunna procedure, 12-17 per cent intermedi
per cent pharaonic). Second, 75 per cent of pharaonically circum
had parents who had not received any school education (and t
and intermediate types were more likely to be undertaken in h
where the women had received at least some education). Third,
90 per cent of operations were performed by midwives who had no
any biomedical training. Fourth, few women related the complicati
cumcision to the operation, since it was generally believed to be ha
Dareer points out, however, that only twelve women agreed to
physical examination and it was not possible to corroborate a lot of
mation elicited from the interviews.
El Dareer's research is a substantial and useful piece of work but it is
interesting, nonetheless, that investigators have not subjected her work to
the usual interrogation of the design, methods and interpretation of the
results. Indeed, it would be fair to say that there has been a blanket accep-
tance of her findings, which have been quoted and requoted in a variety of bio-
medical and anthropological books and journals (e.g. Sami, 1986; Gruenbaum,
1988; Gordon, 1991). This raises two questions. How accurate is El Dareer's
research? Why have research workers accepted her findings uncritically? These
questions are answered below.
How accurate is El Dareer's research? A considerable part of El Dareer's

research examines the relationship between the severity of the operation
and the subsequent experience of infection and disease. As mentioned
above, three types of circumcision are identified but it is not clear whether
the interviewers explained their understanding of the differences between these
types of circumcision to the study participants. It is possible that they did not
and, if this is the case, it is most unfortunate as the term 'intermediate cir-
cumcision' is not an indigenous category throughout northern Sudan. In
those parts of Sudan where 'intermediate circumcision' is performed it is
possible that women had ideas as to what it involved different from those
of the researchers'.
It is also likely that many females do not fall neatly into the three cate-
gories. A gynaecologist working in Nigeria, for example, recently observed
considerable variation in the severity of the operation among women from
the same region and ethnic group. That is, some women had been excised
while others had been partially excised but still had their clitoris intact (Murray
Last, personal communication). It is reasonable to suppose that many females
in El Dareer's study transgress the three types of circumcision identified in
her study, as a substantial number of operations were performed, without
an anaesthetic, by midwives who had never received any formal biomedical
training. It is also worth noting that it is difficult to cut with surgical

when a girl is kicking and screaming and blood is flowing freely.
The difficulties of assessing El Dareer's research are compounded
fact that she does not tell us how she selected and trained her field staff
(who presumably carried out most of the interviews). It is thus not clear
whether women interviewed women and men interviewed men and the extent
to which interviewers and interviewees were matched for ethnicity, etc. It is
likely that the answers elicited from the questionnaire were influenced by
the views of the field staff as well as by the way in which they were perceived
by the study participants.
In addition, many of the questions asked by field staff were rooted in biomed-
ical conceptions of infection, illness and disease. Unfortunately, El Dareer does
not tell us how, if at all, she set about translating biomedical terms into col-
loquial Sudanese Arabic, nor does she offer any information about how
participants may have interpreted the questions. This is unfortunate, as
a substantial number of participants (43 per cent) had never been to
school, let alone attended medical school, and it is not clear how they
will have interpreted some of her questions. The following question is parti-
cularly daunting: 'Have you ever suffered from any of the following: keloid at
site of circumcision; vulvar abscesses; inclusion cysts; recurrent urinary tract
infection; chronic pelvic infection; difficult or impossible sexual penetration;
pain during intercourse; difficulty in passing menses; infertility; vaginal
deposits/stones; nervous troubles; none of these; others, specify; don't
know' (El Dareer, 1982: 113).
In sum, El Dareer's research has drawn attention to the large numbers of
females in northern Sudan who have been circumcised and the circumstances
under which the operation is performed. There are, however, a number of
reasons to be cautious about some of her data, particularly those examining
the associations between different types of circumcision, infection and dis-
ease. The difficulties of assessing her findings are exacerbated by her dearth
of other biomedical data which would enable a detailed understanding of
the effects of female circumcision on overall morbidity and mortality to
be achieved. This brings us to the second question.
Why have research workers suspended their criticalfaculties and accepted El

Dareer'sfindings? The question is difficult to address but there appears to be a
link between researchers who have uncritically accepted El Dareer's data and
those who have explicitly stated their thoughts and feelings in their 'scientific'
articles. The latter response is illustrated in an article by an English male gynae-
cologist, Allan Worsley, in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in
1964. Worsley had worked in Khartoum in the 1930s and his article demon-
strates the intense feelings aroused and the extent to which they can distort bio-
medical approaches to the study of female circumcision. At one point, for
example, he comments on the fact that men are never present at female cir-
cumcision ceremonies. He then goes on to describe in great detail what
happens at one of these ceremonies. To quote:
The naked girl is laid across a bed, being securely held by the arms and ankles, while
the midwife, with a deft sweep of the razor, removes the anterior two-thirds of one
of the labia, together with the clitoris. The unfortunate girl's shrieks a
by loud shouts of 'That's nothing to make a fuss about' - and the midw
to remove the other labium in the same way. There is always a sadis
delight upon the face of the operator, and the whole business is thoroug
by the privileged spectators. [1964: 687]
Worsley goes on to say 'One hopes that, with the passing of the old
tion, this evil may cease to be the curse of a splendid and lovable r
690).
It is, of course, unusual for a biomedic to wander so freely from his remit,
and it is not at all clear whether the attitudes expressed in the article reflect
an outlook that is held by obstetricians nowadays. It is likely, however,
that there is some overlap. A general statement by the Royal College of
Obstetricians in 1982, for example, referred to female circumcision as 'barbaric,
futile and illogical' (Kouba and Muasher, 1985: 101).
There are, no doubt, a variety of reasons which lie behind the ferocity of
feeling. They may include anger and hatred for the needless damage to the
health, frustration at failing to appreciate the rationale for the practice, racism
and paternalism. Whatever the reasons, they should be seen in the context of a
second, more common, attitude to the study of female circumcision - namely,
concern and horror, resulting in an apparent inability to apply one's critical
faculties to clinical and epidemiological data. This attitude probably accounts
for the uncritical acceptance of El Dareer's research. The links between
researchers who have explicitly allowed their thoughts and feelings to influence
their writing and researchers who have failed to draw upon their skills and
training to critique the limited work which has been done are discussed in
the fourth part of this article.
Anthropological research
The anthropological literature draws attention to different but equally
interesting issues affecting the study of female circumcision. Several
research workers from the Middle East have commented on the social
and cultural aspects of female circumcision (e.g. El Saadawi, 1980; Toub
1988) but this part of the article confines its attention to the work
anthropologists in the Western world (such as Barclay, 1964; Haye
1975; Constantinides, 1985; Gruenbaum, 1982, 1988; Boddy, 1982, 1989
Kenyon, 1991).4 Their research has been informed and influenced by so
movements in England, the U.S.A. and Canada and not surprisingly th
has affected their findings.
In the 1970s, for example, the women's movement had a profound impact
on anthropological writing. Feminists frequently emphasised the fact th
female circumcision denied women the right to a full and satisfying sexual
life, and several popular academic writers drew attention to the asymmetri
power relations between men and women (Daly, 1978; Hosken, 198
Daly's article encapsulates attitudes which had a currency among radical fem
inists in the United States and Europe. The following passage is particularly
illuminating:
I have chosen to name these practices for what they are: barbaric rituals/atrociti
Critics from Western countries are constantly being intimidated by accusations
'racism', to the point of misnaming, non-naming, and not seeing these

The accusations of 'racism' may come from ignorance, but they serve only
ests of males, not of women. This kind of accusation and intimidation
an astounding and damaging reversal, for it is clearly in the interest of B
that feminists of all races should speak out. Moreover, it is in the interest
of all races to see African genital mutilation in the context of planetary
of which it is but one manifestation. [1978: 154]
While not necessarily aligning themselves with the women's mov

alone its more radical element (such as SCUM, the Society for C
Men), anthropologists also emphasised these asymmetrical powe
ships. Several writers had no compunction about viewing female cir
as a manifestation of oppression by men (Hayes, 1975; Constantinid
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, however, increasing publicity w
given to the need to protect children from abuse and particula
abuse, in the Western world. A variety of papers began to discu
female circumcision was a form of child abuse, and this is begin
reflected in anthropological as well as sociological and legal writ
cumcision (LeVine and LeVine, 1981; Slack, 1988; Forward, 198
Kwaak, 1992).
The nature and depth of anthropological interpretations of femal
cision in Sudan vary a great deal but, in common with many oth
pologists writing about female circumcision, the authors share one
common: sex is rarely, if ever, mentioned. In fact anthropolo
tended, until recently, to avoid discussion of sexual behaviour and,
the relationship between sexual behaviour and sexuality (O
Whitehead, 1981; Lindenbaum, 1991). This reticence can be
to a variety of reasons, including unconscious anxieties and p
the part of the ethnographer (Devereux, 1967), as well as the
methodological and ethical difficulties of directly observing, or
reliable information on, sexual behaviour (Tuzin, 1991).
With reference to circumcision, Lyons (1981: 507) has also po
that the publication of The Rites of Passage (Van Gennep, 1909)
anthropologists to 'look beyond the "genital" in genital mutilations
them in relation to other social and cultural forms'. Whatever the
great deal of the anthropological literature on female circumcision
and other parts of Africa and the Middle East misleadingly suggest
cumcision is 'a physiologically trivial but socially important p
mainly concerned with establishing clan membership and adu
(Lyons, 1981: 508). It thus appears that many anthropologists ar
to admit that 'the genital is not a nose' (Vizedom, 1976: 23)
The exception which proves the rule is Janice Boddy (1982,
perceptive writing about female circumcision in a small villag
Khartoum suggests that women are not so much denying thems
pleasure by removing their external genitalia (though that is p
an effect) as enhancing their femininity. It is an assertive an
act, controlled by women, which emphasises 'the essence of f
morally appropriate fertility, the potential to reproduce the lin
found a lineage section' (1982: 696).
The apparent dissociation of femininity from sexual pleasure amo
in northern Sudan is challenging and provocative. Boddy's sub

observation is apposite:
For the female ethnographer, one message rings clear: though her sex may
greater access to women in an alien society, it guarantees no privileged
what it means to be a woman in another cultural context; she and her
may share a common biology: they do not share a common gender. [1
That said, it would be interesting to know how Boddy's interpret

female circumcision relate to the historical spread of genital mu
Sudan and to more recent observations about the tendency am
ethnic groups inhabiting the southern borders of northern Sudan to
their daughters. These groups appear to be adopting the practice of
circumcision as a way of affirming their identity with dominant A
Muslim populations of the north (Tim Allen, personal communi
PRESENT REFLECTIONS
Ten years have passed since I attended Nijat's circumcision ceremon

have the reading of the literature and reflections on past events led m
guities in my position remain, it nevertheless seems clear to me th
emotions often underlie popular scholarly discussion of female circ
Among Western researchers this fact often prohibits rigorous a
discussion of the topic. The question which follows from this o
is: why does female circumcision generate such powerful e
responses? There is no simple answer to this question, as resear
influenced by different ideas, outlooks and social movements o
Nevertheless, several trends can be discerned among research
from the Western world. First, it is possible, if not probable,
of my reactions to witnessing the removal of female genitalia in O
aj Jadida convey a great deal about European and North Amer
ceptions of sexuality, including a tendency to define the self
terms.
Readers will recall, for instance, that a few hours after attending Nijat's
circumcision I walked across the village, without a female chaperon, to
give the young girl's mother some Dettol. Nijat had been cut with a blunt,
contaminated razor blade, and I 'knew' the consequences could be fatal.
Several years later, however, it dawned on me that the bluntness and con-
tamination had been a fiction of my own making. I had seen the razor blade
only at a distance and I could not, therefore, have had any way of knowing
whether it was in fact rusty and blunt. This simple 'error' draws attention to
the powerful associations I had made between pharaonic circumcision, the
death of the young girl's sexual life and the denial of pleasure integral to
her future well-being. Indeed, the distress and anger aroused by the event
had been so powerful that I had, unwittingly, exaggerated the risk to her life.
It is likely that frequent, but undocumented, references by Western jour-
nalists and academics to mortality from circumcision also convey an associa-
tion between circumcision, sexual death and the denial of self, rather than death
itself. An article about female circumcision in the Guardian (16 February 1993),
for example, says 'death from blood loss or shock is not uncommon'. The
association is, however, assumed, as Mohamud (1991) is the only inv

tor to have examined the impact of female circumcision on mortality
was unable to confirm any such relationship.5
The association between female circumcision and the death of a female's
sexual life is not surprising. Several academics (e.g. Duffy, 1963; Sheehan,
1981) have shown that American and European surgeons in the nineteenth
century sought to cure physical, mental and moral disturbances by practising
clitoridectomy. Masturbation, for example, was considered to be a physical
as well as a moral evil, and its practice was supposed to cause specific ill-
nesses. Clitoridectomy was thus advocated as a 'cure' by many surgeons,
since it was unthinkable that a respectable woman should derive pleasure
from sex.
Most of the research cited in this article was undertaken between 1960
and 1990, and there is no doubt that the social changes which have taken
place during that time have profoundly influenced the responses of Western
(and probably many non-Western) researchers. In particular, the 'sexual
revolution' which took place in the 1960s implied a separation of sex from
reproduction. It involved an increasing willingness to talk about sex publicly,
accompanied by the widespread availability and use of contraceptives such as
the pill and condoms. These changes contributed to the emerging tendency to
define the self in sexual terms.
Political and social changes in the 1970s and 1980s reinforced this trend.
The 'sexual revolution' was increasingly seen to have been 'a revolt of young
men. It was about the affirmation of young men's masculinity and promiscuity;
it was indiscriminate, and their sexual object was indeterminate (so long as
she was a woman)' (Campbell, 1987: 21). The Women's Liberation move-
ment (and a variety of other political movements) emerged, in part, as a cri-
tique of the sexual revolution. It focused on the quality of the sexual act and
hence, perhaps, a shift of emphasis from the vagina to the clitoris in the repre-
sentation of women's sexuality. Indeed, if Hite's investigation of female sexu-
ality in North America is anything to go by, female orgasm by clitoral
stimulation became a prerequisite of 'good' sexual intercourse and, even,
of 'good' sexual relationships. To quote: 'there is a social pressure [in North
America] that says a woman who has an orgasm is more of a woman, a "real"
woman' (Hite, 1976: 131). Similarly, Germaine Greer, drawing attention to
the oppressive pressures on women, has written, 'the state of being inorgastic
is sometimes described as being out of touch with oneself ... or not into one's
body ... women in this contemptible state feel as much guilt as once they felt
for experiencing spontaneous sexual desire' (1984: 201).
Against this background it is understandable that the removal of female
genitalia, an integral part of a woman's being, is such an emotional issue.
It may also be the case that men too have begun to define their success in
terms of inducing orgasm in others. Thus female circumcision generates
fears and anxieties about castration, not only on account of the women
whose genitalia have been removed but because of the attack on masculinity.
A man is not a 'real' man unless he can satisfy a woman sexually, and the
chances of a man sexually satisfying a circumcised woman (that is, enabling
her to become a 'real' woman) are much diminished. Such fears may well
have been enhanced by the declining birth rate in Europe and North America
and the fact that masculinity is no longer so closely tied to reproduct

wess. In other words, female orgasm by clitoral stimulation has taken t
of procreation as the manifestation of male virility.
The apparent need for many people in the West to make sense of them
in terms that emphasise particular aspects of their sexuality, and to r
particular kinds of sexual gratification for their well-being, is not, of
universal. In other parts of the world, and indeed for some peopl
West, such ideas seem immoral, amoral or bizarre. It is likely that
research investigating the biomedical and social aspects of female circu
sion would benefit a great deal by not only acknowledging this
accepting that intense emotions aroused by the subject among W
researchers are, to a large extent, influenced by Euro-American di
and debates which have little or nothing to do with the study pop
When such strong emotions are brought to bear in unreflexive ways,
standings of female circumcision will continue to be inadequate a
leading.
NOTES
Inevitably, my presence and work challenged some of their expectations and this gave ris
number of problems during my fieldwork. Five weeks after arriving in Omdurman aj Jadi
example, I expressed a desire to travel to Khartoum to collect my letters. It is inconceiv
an unmarried woman should travel alone, and several senior men in the village (includin
the Sheikh's) forbade me to leave until permission had been granted by officials working f
Ministry of Health in Khartoum or El Gorashi (the administrative centre of the Managil
I had been introduced to the people of Omdurman aj Jadida by some of these officials but t
renowned for the irregularity of their visits to such villages. I thus negotiated a situation that a
male of the village should accompany me to the Ministry of Health's nearest offices in El G
Permission was granted and several days later I travelled to Khartoum. It was possible to tr
Khartoum at regular intervals thereafter but I continued to seek female company before I
across the village to visit other women. Needless to say, there were many other occasion
behaved in a confusing or conflicting way, but, generally speaking, it was unavoidable. Never
it was possible to establish friendships with a number of villagers over time.
2The term 'female circumcision' describes 'all operations involving mutilation of the
genitalia' (Verzin, 1975: 163). There are several kinds of circumcision, and investiga
not always draw the same distinctions in their research. Nevertheless the following thr
of circumcision identified by Shandall (1967) are increasingly referred to by research
in northern Sudan: sunna, intermediate and pharaonic (also known as infibulation). The
type involves the removal of the prepuce or head of the clitoris; the intermediate type invol
removal of the prepuce and glans of the clitoris with all or part of the labia minora; ph
circumcision involves the removal of the clitoris, the whole of the labia minora and mos
labia majora. the two sides of the vulva are then brought together with acacia thorns and
place with catgut or sewing thread. Alternatively the vulva is scraped raw, but, either w
girl's legs are tied together for fifteen to forty days until the wound heals and there is only
hole usually the size of a matchstick) to allow for the passing of urine and menstrual b
3The names in the text have been altered to preserve anonymity.
4The work of El Saadawi (1980) and Toubia (1988) is not discussed, as one of the pr
concerns of this article is to explore the different ways in which responses to female circu
by western investigators have been influenced by their own attitudes to sex and sexuality a
extent to which these have hindered and distorted understanding of female circumcision. It
also be argued that their work tells us more about their relationship with western fem
thought than about female circumcision. Leila Ahmad, for instance, criticises Saadawi's
for being 'grounded in "modern" or "Western" medical and feminist thought' (1989: 41
5The tendency to exaggerate, twist and distort, however unconsciously, may also be
with the researcher perceiving female circumcision as an attack on their own complex
tions between sexuality, femininity and reproduction. Whatever the reasons, judgement
impaired. Hayes, for example, suggested that attempts to prohibit female circum
alter the rate of population growth. To quote: 'an analysis of the available literatu
ject, combined with the data I collected in 1970, shows that infibulation has funct
several factors slowing population growth in the Sudan. Its sharp curtailment cou
demographic consequences unless other practices are introduced to suppress f
619). It is not clear what 'available literature' Hayes is referring to. In 1992, let al
were references to a possible link between circumcision and infertility in a number
journals but none of the authors refers to case material, and an association betwe
cumcision, pelvic inflammatory infections and infertility is simply assumed.
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Ahmad, L. 1989. 'Arab culture and writing women's bodies'. Feminist Issu
41-55.
Aziz, F. A. 1980. 'Gynaecologic and obstetric complications of female circumcisio
International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics 17, 560-3.
Barclay, H. 1964. Buuri al Lamaab: a suburban village in the Sudan. Ithaca, N. Y
Cornell University Press.
Boddy, J. 1982. 'Womb as oasis: the symbolic context of pharaonic circumcision
rural northern Sudan, American Ethnologist 9 (4), 682-98.
1989. Wombs and Alien Spirits: women, men and the zar cult in northern Sudan
Madison. Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press.
Campbell, B. 1987. 'A feminist sexual politics: now you see it, now you don't' in
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Constantinides, P. 1985. 'Women heal women: spirit possession and sexual segreg
tion in a Muslim society', Social Science and Medicine. 21, 685-92.
Daly, M. 1978. 'African genital mutilations: the unspeakable atrocities', in Gyn/eco
ogy: the metaethics of radicalfeminism. London: The Women's Press.
Devereux, G. 1967. 'The irrational in sexual research', in G. Devereux (ed.), From
Anxiety to Method in the Behavioural Sciences. The Hague: Mouton.
Dewhurst, C. J., and Michelson, A. 1964. 'Infibulation complicating pregnanc
British Medical Journal. 2, 1442.
Dorkenoo, E., and Elworthy, S. 1992. Female Genital Mutilation: proposals for
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Duffy, J. 1963. 'Masturbation and clitoridectomy: a nineteenth-century view
JAMA., 3, 166-8.
El Dareer, A. 1982. Women, why do you weep? Circumcision and its consequence
London: Zed Press.
El Saadawi, N. 1980. The Hidden Face of Eve: women in the Arab world, trans. Sheri
Hetata. London: Zed Press.
Forward, 1989. Report on the First National Conference on Female Genital Mutilation
unsettled issues for health and social workers in the UK. London: Foundation for
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Gordon, D. 1991. 'Female circumcision and genital operations in Egypt and the
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Greer, G. 1984. Sex and Destiny: the politics of human fertility. London: Secker &
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Economy and Class in Sudan. Aldershot: Avebury.
Hayes, R. O. 1975. 'Female genital mutilation, fertility control, women

the partrilineage in modern Sudan: a functional analysis', American E
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Hite, S. 1976. The Hite Report on Female Sexuality, London: Pandora P
Hosken, F. and F. P. 1982. The Hosken Report: genital and social mu
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am grateful to Tim Allen, Charlie Davison, George Davey-Smith, Georgia Kaufm

Kilmister, Murray Last, Anne Murcott, Minouche Shefik and Carol Vlassoff for thei
on the draft of this article. I am also grateful to Betty Kirkwood for encouraging m
while I was working at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Th
supported by the Royal Anthropological Institute and the Health and Population
the Overseas Development Administration.
ABSTRACT
Female circumcision is practised in more than twenty African countries as w

number of countries in the Middle East, and it has been estimated that at le
million females have been circumcised worldwide. It is striking, howev
much more concern has been expressed about female circumcision than
other operations or infections which adversely affect the reproductive
women. In the academic arena, it is also interesting that gynaecologists, epi
gists and anthropologists have tended to focus on a relatively small number
tions, and even these have rarely been investigated in any depth. This artic
on the work of researchers from Europe and North America in order to sh
intense emotions underlie this interest and concern. Amidst growing intere
anthropology of emotions it is suggested that greater attention should b
understanding the source of these emotions and the way in which they influen
work and data analysis. Until it is, our understanding of female circumci
remain partial, as data will continue to be collected and interpreted in an in
way.
RESUME
La circoncision feminine est pratiquee dans plus de vingt pays africains ainsi que d
un certain nombre de pays du Moyen Orient, et il a ete estime qu'au moins 100 mill
de femmes ont ete circonsisees dans le monde. I1 est frappant, cependant, que bea
coup plus de preoccupations aient ete exprimees au sujet de la circoncision feminin
qu'a propos de la sante reproductrice des femmes. Dans le milieu intellectuel, il
aussi interessant de voir que les gynecologues, les epidemiologues et les antropolog
ont eu tendance a se concentrer sur un nombre de questions assez limitees, et enco
celles-ci ont ete rarement examinees en profondeur.
Cet article examine le travail des chercheurs en Europe et en Amerique du Nord a
de montrer que des emotions intenses soulignent cet interet et ces preoccupations.
milieu de l'int6ret grandissant porte a l'antropologie des emotions, il est sugg
qu'une plus grande attention devrait etre pretee a essayer de comprendre la sou
de ces emotions et la maniere dont celles-ci influencent l'enquete de terrain et l'ana
des donnees. Jusqu'a ce que cela se produise, notre comprehension de la circoncis
feminine restera seulement partielle comme les donnees continuent a etre rassemb
et analysees de fa9on inadequate.

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International African Institute

Rethinking Female Circumcision

RETHINKING FEMALE CIRCUMCISION

Female circumcision is a subject which arouses great interest and concern in

FIELDWORK IN NORTHERN SUDAN

Fieldwork took place in Omdurman aj Jadida, a village in the Gezira/M

demanding. A couple of women in the study had had the opportun

FEMALE CIRCUMCISION IN OMDURMAN AJ JADIDA

All girls are circumcised in Omdurman aj Jadida. Indeed, pre-puber

Journal extract. Nijat's circumcision, November 1985

Journal extract: December 1985.

level of female oppression when it is rooted in so much else as far as those wo

Thinking back to my reactions to female circumcision in the 1980s.

not know, and I felt flattered, even honoured, to be able to

'disgusting', 'revolting', 'obscene', 'abusive' and 'inhumane' with

BIOMEDICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON FEMALE CIRCUMCISION

How accurate is El Dareer's research? A considerable part of El Dareer's

training. It is also worth noting that it is difficult to cut with surgical

Why have research workers suspended their criticalfaculties and accepted El

'racism', to the point of misnaming, non-naming, and not seeing these

While not necessarily aligning themselves with the women's mov

in northern Sudan is challenging and provocative. Boddy's sub

That said, it would be interesting to know how Boddy's interpret

Ten years have passed since I attended Nijat's circumcision ceremon

association is, however, assumed, as Mohamud (1991) is the only inv

and the fact that masculinity is no longer so closely tied to reproduct

Abu Shama, A. O, et al. 1949. 'Female circumcision in the Sudan', Lanc

Hayes, R. O. 1975. 'Female genital mutilation, fertility control, women

I am grateful to Tim Allen, Charlie Davison, George Davey-Smith, Georgia Kaufm

Female circumcision is practised in more than twenty African countries as w

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