essay

'Had this been your face, would you leave it as it is?': Female circumcision among the Nubians of Egypt

Female circumcision : multicultural perspectivesPhiladelphiaPublished In 2006 • Pages: 27-46

By: El Guindi, Fadwa.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This study challenges unidimensional arguments that frame female circumcision in relation to "patriarchy" and other forms of male domination of women, proposing instead that in the context of rural Nubia the practice constitutes an important tradition that shapes the trajectory of women’s lives as they transition from childhood to womanhood. Nubian women interviewed for the study claimed that the main objective of female circumcision is to enhance beauty and sexual appeal by tightening the genitalia. To this effect, the author proposes that the practice is analogous to breast implants and other sexualized body alterations some women choose to undergo in contemporary Western societies.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Comparative evidence
Body alterations
Gender status
Sexuality
Sexual stimulation
Sexual intercourse
Sex training
Gender roles and issues
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Nubians
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Africa
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Northern Africa
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Anthropologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Teferi Abate Adem ; 2020
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1962-1963
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1962-1963
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
northern Aswan Governate, Egypt
NotesAdditional notes
Fadwa El Guindi
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
2005042362
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Female circumcision--Africa