Female Alteration Analysis
Richard Shweder’s article about female genital mutilation, or alteration, explores the cultural perceptions and meanings behind this custom, which is practiced among many societies globally (Shweder). The modern number of women undergoing this coming-of-age ritual varies wildly between eighty and two hundred million (Shweder). Shweder’s research investigated the vastly large gap in the extreme perceptions of female circumcision from culture to culture, focusing on the lack of knowledge and understanding presented when analyzing an aspect of another culture aside from one’s own (Shweder). The researcher’s thesis suggests that this lack of insight as well as failure to question the anti-FGM movement has cultivated an uneducated intolerance
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The Gikuyu see circumcision of both men and women as the ritual in order to learn the tribal law, religion, and mortality (Shweder, 2). Also, it is traditional that a man or woman should not marry or have sex with another who is not circumcised (Shweder). It is an essential step into adulthood for the Gikuyu people, similar to the American rites of passage into adulthood and responsibility, such as turning eighteen (Shweder). There are claims that even the educated Gikuyu people support the practice and will continue to defend it …show more content…
He includes, also, that the “mutual yuck” response when it comes to female genital mutilation is a particularly intense one, and “approaches a sense of mutual outrage or horror” (Shweder, 3). However, modifications such as these are seen as “normal” in certain parts of the world (Shweder). National prevalence rates of 80-98 percent have been seen in places like Egypt, Sierra Leone, Somalia, the Sudan, and many others (Shweder). As a general trend, ethnic group or cultural affiliation is a large indicator of whether one will participate in or forgo the procedure (Shweder). This further supports the idea that a lack of understanding can lead to hasty interpretations, when these alterations are incredibly prevalent in other parts of the world, whether the women are educated or uneducated
The Gikuyu see circumcision of both men and women as the ritual in order to learn the tribal law, religion, and mortality (Shweder, 2). Also, it is traditional that a man or woman should not marry or have sex with another who is not circumcised (Shweder). It is an essential step into adulthood for the Gikuyu people, similar to the American rites of passage into adulthood and responsibility, such as turning eighteen (Shweder). There are claims that even the educated Gikuyu people support the practice and will continue to defend it …show more content…
He includes, also, that the “mutual yuck” response when it comes to female genital mutilation is a particularly intense one, and “approaches a sense of mutual outrage or horror” (Shweder, 3). However, modifications such as these are seen as “normal” in certain parts of the world (Shweder). National prevalence rates of 80-98 percent have been seen in places like Egypt, Sierra Leone, Somalia, the Sudan, and many others (Shweder). As a general trend, ethnic group or cultural affiliation is a large indicator of whether one will participate in or forgo the procedure (Shweder). This further supports the idea that a lack of understanding can lead to hasty interpretations, when these alterations are incredibly prevalent in other parts of the world, whether the women are educated or uneducated