Note that this page is out of date and may be deleted at any time (August 20, 2007). Please refer to the current Key Resources for African Studies website.
A resource guide for university students with academic research
paper assignments on topics related to female circumcision, clitoridectomy,
female genital mutilation or cutting, infibulation and related health, legal,
cultural and religious issues.
Please visit a local reference librarian if you wish to pursue these topics further.
Female genital mutilation is the medically unnecessary modification of female genitalia. Female genital mutilation typically occurs at about 7 years of age, but mutilated women suffer severe medical complications throughout their adult lives. Female genital mutilation most frequently occurs in Africa, the Middle East, and Muslim parts of Indonesia and Malaysia, and it is generally part of a ceremonial induction into adult society. Recent political and economic problems in these regions, however, have increased the numbers of students and refugees to the United States. Consequently, US physicians are treating an increasing number of mutilated patients. The Council on Scientific Affairs recommends that US physicians join the World Health Organization, the World Medical Association, and other major health care organizations in opposing all forms of medically unnecessary surgical modification of the female genitalia (Council on Scientific Affairs of the AMA, 1995).
Current feminist campaigns may not recognize the continuities, but their rhetoric depends on arguments and images that were also central to colonial and missionary projects, complete with implicit evolutionary scales and notions of "progress" defined by their own criteria and values (Kratz 1994:342).
I don't "like" the idea of clitoridectomy any better than any other woman I know. But I like even less the Western 'voices of reason'...on this topic coming from clinically applied medical anthropologists, male or female. In the long run--as Jomo Kenyatta warned in 1938 with reference to the colonial, Christian opposition to the traditional practice of female circumcision in Kenya--the attention given to the subject by outsiders (even the most balanced and well-intentioned ones) may do more harm than good (Scheper-Hughes 1991:27).
The Nigerian feminist and literary critic, Molara Ogundipe-Leslie, in her provocative and insightful text, Recreating Ourselves: African Women and Critical Transformations (AWP, 1994), wonders at the growing popularity of "narratives of victimhood" about African women, in Euro-American discourse, over and above their other experiences-a discourse totally isolated from the "violence" done to women's bodies in Western cosmetic surgery and disembodied from the roles and activities of African women in other non-sexual domains (Emeagwali 1996).
AFROL News. n.d. "Fighting female genital mutilation in Africa." http://www.afrol.com/Categories/Women/backgr_fighting_fgm.htm Site visited Dec. 17, 2001.
Amnesty International, USA. 1997. Female genital mutilation: A human rights information pack. New York: Amnesty International, USA. LIBRARY WEST: GN484 .F46 1997
Angier, Natalie. 1999. Woman: An intimate geography. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
[Chapter 4, pp. 76-81 refers to clitoridectomies in the US and
traditional practices in Africa]. LIBRARY WEST: QP38 .A54 1999
Also available to UF affiliated patrons via NetLibrary.
Bastian, Misty and Jane Parpart (eds.). 1999. Great ideas for teaching about Africa. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner. [A Choice Outstanding Academic Title in Education. See Kratz's "Contexts, controversies, dilemmas: Teaching circumcision."]. LIBRARY WEST: DT19.9.U5 G74 1999
Beguin Stockli, Dominique. 1993. Female genital mutilation: A bibliography. Bern, Switzerland: Universitat Bern, Institut fur Ethnologie. Arbeitsblatter des Instituts fur Ethnologie der Universitat Bern; n. 8. LIBRARY WEST: GN484 .B441 1993
Blackwell, Deanna M. 1997. Female Genital Mutilation: A Bibliographic Guide to Resources and Discourse. Urbana/Champaign, IL: Typescript.
Bocci, Marisa M. 1995. "FGM compiled bibliography." http://hamp.hampshire.edu/~mnbF94/books.FGM.html Site visited Dec. 17, 2001. [Site not functional May 27, 2204].
Boddy, Janice P. 1989. Wombs and alien spirits: Women, men and the Zar cult in northern Sudan. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press. [Includes a chapter on circumcision practices in Sudan]. LIBRARY WEST: HQ1793.5 .B64 1989
Castledine, Jacqueline. n.d. "Female genital mutilation: An issue of cultural relativism or human rights?" http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/jc.htm Site visited Dec. 17, 2001.
Center for Reproductive Law and Policy. 2000. Publications: "Female circumcision/female genital mutilation (FC/FGM): Global laws and policies towards elimination." http://www.crlp.org/pub_fac_fgmicpd.html Site visited Dec. 17, 2001.
Cloudsley, Anne. 1984. Women of Omdurman: Life, love, and the cult of virginity. New York: St. Martin's Press. [See Ch. 8 "Female circumcision, excision and infibulation" pp. 101-128 and Appendices pp. 174-180]. LIBRARY WEST: HQ1793.5.Z8 O453 1984
Council on Scientific Affairs of the American Medical Association. 1995. "Female genital mutilation." Journal of the American Medical Association 274(21):1714-1716.
Davis, Anne J. 1998. "Female genital mutilation: Some ethical questions." Medicine and law 17(2):143-148.
Dorkenoo, Efua. 1994. Cutting the rose: Female genital mutilation; the practice and its prevention. London: Minority Rights Group. ISBN: 1873194609. LIBRARY WEST: GN484 .D671 1994
----- and Scilla Elworthy. 1992. Female genital mutilation: Proposals for change. Rev. and updated ed. London : Minority Rights Group. Minority Rights Group international report; 92/3. [Rev. ed. of McLean & Graham. Includes bibliographical references, p. 42]. LIBRARY WEST: GN484 .F44 1992
Emeagwali, Gloria T. 1996. "Editorial: Female Circumcision in Africa." Africa Update Vol. III, Issue 2 (Spring). Special Issue: Female Circumcision in Africa.
Female circumcision: Human rites. 1998. Journeyman Pictures Production. Princeton, NJ : Films for the Humanities and Sciences. VHS (41 min.). Reporter/producer, Marion Mayer-Hohdahl. [Documents the ritual of female genital mutilation (female circumcision), practiced among some African groups. This video also explores its roots in myth; and discusses movements underway to ban the practice]. LIBRARY WEST: GN484 .F36 1998
"Female genital mutilation and political asylum." Nightline. Narrator, Ted Koppel. New York: ABC News, May 2, 1996. [The case of Fausiya Kasinga, transcript and video/DVD available from http://www.abcnewsstore.com/].
Fernea, Elizabeth Warnock (ed.). 1985. Women and the family in the Middle East: New voices of change. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. LIBRARY WEST: HQ1784 .W65 1985
Frost Library. 2001. "Pathfinder/Guide: Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)" http://www.info.library.yorku.ca/depts/frost/links/pathfgm.htm Last update: Dec. 10, 2001. Toronto, Canada: York University. Site visited Dec. 20, 2001.
Ginsburg, Faye. 1991. "What do women want?: Feminist anthropology confronts clitoridectomy." Medical Anthropology Quarterly 5(1):17-19.
Gordon, Daniel. 1991. "Female circumcision and genital operations in Egypt and the Sudan: A dilemma for medical anthropology." Medical Anthropology Quarterly 5(1):3-14.
Grise, Martha. 2001. "'Scarred for life?' Representations of Africa and female genital cutting on American television news magazines." pp. 249-260 In: Images of Africa: Stereotypes & realities. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press. LIBRARY WEST: HM1096 .I42 2001
Hale, Sondra. 1994. "A question of subjects: The 'female circumcision' controversy and the politics of knowledge." Ufahamu 22:26-35.
"A Healing journey, Waris Dirie." 20/20. Narrators Barbara Walters, Hugh Downs. New York: ABC News, June 20, 1997. [Waris Dirie, a fashion model active in campaign against female circumcision, was later appointed special ambassador to the UN Population Fund; transcript available from http://www.abcnewsstore.com/].
Hicks, Esther K. 1993. Infibulation: female mutilation in Islamic northeastern Africa. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. LIBRARY WEST: GN650 .H53 1993
Hosken, Fran P. 1995. Stop female genital mutilation: Women speak; facts and actions. Lexington, MA: Women's International Network News. ["Based on...The Hosken report"]. LIBRARY WEST: GN645 .H66 1995
-----. n.d. "Female Genital Mutilation(FGM)." Women's International Network NEWS. http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/inter/fgm.htm Site visited Dec. 20, 2001.
Jaramillo, Canéla Analucinda. 2001 "Beyond Comfort (Editorial)" Standards International Journal for Multicultural Studies 7(2) [Spring-Summer]. http://www.colorado.edu/journals/standards/V7N2/EDITORIAL/edfgm.html Electronic journal visited Dec. 17, 2001.
Kirby, Vicki. 1987. "On the cutting edge: Feminism and clitoridectomy." Australian Feminist Studies 5:35-55.
Kopelman, Loretta M. 1998. "Female circumcision and genital mutilation" In Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Kratz, Corinne A. 1994. "Initiation and circumcision" In Affecting performance: Meaning, movement, and experience in Okiek women's initiation. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. [Appendix A, pp. 341-347 provides a helpful context in which to consider cultural and activist perspectives]. LIBRARY WEST: DT433.545.D67 K73 1994
-----. 1999. "Contexts, controversies, dilemmas: Teaching circumcision." Chapter 9, pp. 103-118 In Bastian and Parpart. Great ideas for teaching about Africa. [An illuminating discussion by a woman who has conducted field research related to these issues and has taught US college students how to consider them in context. Excellent bibliography pp. 116-118]. LIBRARY WEST: DT19.9.U5 G74 1999
Lacey, Marc. 2002. "In Kenyan family, ritual for girls still divides." The New York Times. Sunday edition, January 6, 2002. International section. Electronic access via http://www.NYTimes.com (updated January 7, 2002). Site visited January 7, 2002.
Mackie, Gerry. 1996. "Ending Footbinding and Infibulation: A Convention Account." American Sociological Review 61(6):999-1017.
-----. 1998. "A Way to End Female Genital Cutting." http://www.fgmnetwork.org/articles/mackie1998.html Site visited Dec. 17, 2001.
McLean, Scilla and Stella Efua Graham (eds.). 1985. Female circumcision, excision and infibulation: the facts and proposals for change. 2nd ed. London : Minority Rights Group. LIBRARY WEST: GN484 .F451 1985
Morison, Linda, Caroline Scherf, Gloria Ekpo, Katie Paine, Beryl West, Rosalind Coleman and Gijs Walraven. 2001. "The long-term reproductive health consequences of female genital cutting in rural Gambia:
A community-based survey". Tropical Medicine and International Health 6(8):643-653 (August).
[This Medical Research Council (UK) study compares long-term reproductive health consequences of circumcised (Mandinka and Fula) and
uncircumcised women (Wolof and Fula) in The Gambia. Over 1,300 women (ages 15-54) were interviewed,
had a physical examination and lab
tests. As a result of their findings (no differences between circumcised and uncircumcised
women concerning infertility, pain associated with sex, cysts, menstrual problems, etc.) the
authors caution activists not to exaggerate claims about health consequences]. Recent years of this journal available to UF patrons in electronic format via Blacwell-Synergy.
Moussette, Kris Ann. 1999. "Female genital mutilation and refugee status in the United States." Boston College International and Comparative Law Review 19(2):353-396.
Murray, Jocelyn M. 1974. The Kikuyu female circumcision controversy, with special reference to the Church Missionary Society's "sphere of influence." Ph.D. Dissertation (UCLA, History). Ann Arbor, MI: UMI. LIBRARY WEST: DT433.575 .M7x
-----. 1976. "The Church Missionary Society and the 'female circumcision issue' in Kenya." Journal of Religion in Africa 8:92-104.
National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers (NOCIRC). 2001. [Web site including publications, articles, links, etc. Revised January 06, 2001.]. http://www.nocirc.org Site visited Dec. 17, 2001.
Neuwirth, Jessica. 2001. "Female genital mutilation: A guide to laws and policies worldwide (review)." Human Rights Quarterly 23(3):836-840.
Obiora, L. Amede. 1997. "Bridges and barricades: Rethinking polemics and intransigence in the campaign against female circumcision." Case Western Reserve Law Review 47(2):275-378.
Ogbu, M. A. 1997. "Comment on Obiora's 'Bridges and barricades'." Case Western Reserve Law Review 47(2):411-422.
Rahman, Anika and Nahid Toubia (eds.). 2000. Female genital mutilation: A guide to worldwide laws and policies. New York: Zed Books, 2000. [Includes bibliographical references (p. 242-244) and index]. LIBRARY WEST: K5304 .F46 2000
Research, Action, and Information Network for the Bodily Integrity of Women (RAINBO). n.d. http://www.rainbo.org Site visited Dec. 18, 2001.
Rising Daughters Aware. n.d. "FGM Network and Message Board." http://www.fgm.org/ Site visited Dec. 17, 2001. [Site not functional May 27, 2004].
Rites (American Anthropological Association). 1991. New York, NY: Filmakers Library. VHS (52 min.). Penny Dedman, producer/director; Rody Bristo Jones, production manager. [Routine mutilation has been fiercely attacked by Western observers, although such attacks have themselves been the subject of accusations of cultural imperialism]. HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER LIBRARY Audio-Visual (Restricted Circ.): WP 200 R611 1991
Sanderson, Lilian Passmore. 1986. Female genital mutilation, excision and infibulation: A bibliography. London: The Anti-Slavery Society for the Protection of Human Rights. LIBRARY WEST Reference (Non-Circulating): GN484 .S36 1986
Scheper-Hughes, Nancy. 1991. "Virgin territory: The male discovery of the clitoris." Medical Anthropology Quarterly 5(1):25-28.
Shell-Duncan, Bettina and Ylva Hernlund (eds.). 2000. Female "Circumcision" in Africa: Culture, Controversy, and Change. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner. [Contains a particularly useful bibliography]. LIBRARY WEST: GN484 .F443 2000
Shweder, Richard A. 2000. "What about 'female genital mutilation'? And why understanding culture matters in the first place." Daedalus 129(4):209-233.
Strayer, Robert W. 1978. The making of mission communities in East Africa: Anglicans and Africans in colonial Kenya, 1875-1935. London: Heinemann Educational Books. [Chapter 8 "The CMS and female circumcision" was written in conjunction with Dr. Jocelyn Murray and deals with the circumcision crisis of 1929, pp. 136-155]. LIBRARY WEST: BV3625.K4 S77
Thomas, Lynn M. 1996. "'Ngaitana (I will circumcise myself)': The gender and generational politics of the 1956 ban on clitoridectomy in Meru, Kenya." Gender and History 8(3):338-363.
-----. 1998. "Imperial concerns and 'Women's Affairs': State efforts to regulate clitoridectomy and eradicate abortion in Meru, Kenya, c. 1910-1950." Journal of African History 39(1):121-145.
Toubia, Nahid. 1985. "The social and political implications of female circumcision: The case of Sudan" In: Fernea. Women and the Family in the Middle East.
-----. 1993. Female genital mutilation: A call for global action. New York: Women, Ink. LIBRARY WEST: GN484 .T681 1993
----- and S. Izett. 1998. Female genital mutilation: An overview. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization. HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER LIBRARY: WP 200 F3291 1998
Trueblood, Leigh A. 2000. "Female genital mutilation: A discussion of international human rights instruments, cultural sovereignty and dominance theory." Denver Journal of International Law and Policy 28(4)437-468.
Waciuma, Charity. 1969. Daughter of Mumbi. Nairobi, Kenya: East African Publishing House. [Autobiographical account of a Christian Kikuyu girl coming of age during the 1950s]. LIBRARY WEST: DT429 .W3
Walker, Alice and Pratibha Parmar. 1993. Warrior marks : female genital mutilation and the sexual blinding of women. New York: Harcourt Brace. [Bibliography: pp. 371-372]. LIBRARY WEST: GN484 .W35 1993
Westley, David M. 1999. "Female Circumcision and Infibulation in Africa" Electronic Journal of Africana Bibliography 4 http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/ejab/4/index.html Site visited June 25, 2002. [I was greatly remiss in neglecting to include Westley's EJAB bibliography in my earlier version of this guide. African Bibliographer at Boston University, Westley has brought together a comprehensive and indexed set of 568 resources in one place, along with a helpful, analytical preface].
World Health Organization. 1997. Female genital mutilation: A joint WHO/UNICEF/UNFPA statement. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO. HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER LIBRARY: WP 200 F31 1997
-----. 1998. "Female Genital Mutilation: An overview" http://bookorders.who.int:8080/newaccess/anglais/detart1.jsp?codlan=1&codcol=15&codcch=469 Site visited March 6, 2003.
See Kratz (1999:103-118) for an excellent, more developed teaching guide. The following questions and issues are simply based on my own reactions to reading some of the resources listed above:
Subject terms for further research in U.S. library catalogs (Library of
Congress headings):
Subjects, general (in Library Catalog):
Abused women--Africa.
Africa, Northeast--Social life and customs.
Circumcision--History.
Circumcision--Nigeria.
Circumcision--Religious aspects--Christianity.
Circumcision--Religious aspects--Islam.
Circumcision--Social aspects.
Circumcision--Sudan.
Circumcision--Congresses.
Circumcision--Moral and ethical aspects--Congresses.
Clitoridectomy--Africa.
Clitoridectomy--Bibliography.
Clitoridectomy--Middle East.
Clitoridectomy--Sudan.
Family violence--Africa.
Female circumcision--Africa.
Female circumcision--Bibliography.
Female circumcision--Congresses.
Female circumcision--Law and legislation--Criminal provisions.
Female circumcision--Middle East.
Female circumcision--Moral and ethical aspects--Congresses.
Female circumcision--Nigeria.
Female circumcision--Sudan--Khartoum (Province).
Igbo (African people)--Rites and ceremonies.
Infibulation--Africa.
Infibulation--Africa, Northeast.
Infibulation--Bibliography.
Infibulation--Middle East.
Infibulation--Sudan.
Initiation rites--Africa.
Initiation rites--Sierra Leone.
Muslim women--Africa, Northeast.
Sex customs--Africa.
Sex discrimination against women.
Women--Sudan--Khartoum (Province)--Social conditions.
Women--Crimes against--Africa.
For the following, use "Subject Keyword(s), Medical" in "Advanced Search" mode in the Library Catalog):
Anthropology, Cultural--Africa.
Anthropology, Cultural--Sudan.
Circumcision.
Circumcision--bibliography.
Circumcision--Congresses.
Circumcision--trends--popular works.
Circumcision, Female--Congresses.
Clitoris--surgery.
Genitalia, Female--surgery.
Genitalia, Female--surgery--bibliography.
Genitalia, Female--surgery--popular works.
Islam.
Women--bibliography.
This document was created on December 18, 2001.