Rethinking Female Circumcision

International African Institute

Rethinking Female Circumcision Author(s): Melissa Parker Source: Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 65, No. 4 (1995), pp. 506523 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the International African Institute Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1161130 . Accessed: 06/12/2014 08:10 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

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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 substantial 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 International as to whether it is appropriate to see the practice of female circumcision 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 Burkina Faso was that the government should agree to further its activities to bring the practice to an end. To many academicsand policy-makers,this continuing interest and concern are well placed. Female circumcision is practised in more than twenty African 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 infections which adversely affect the reproductive health of women. In the academic arena it is also interesting to note that gynaecologists, epidemiologists and anthropologistshave tended to focus on a relativelysmall number of questions, and these have rarely been investigatedin 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 understanding the source of the emotions and the way in which they influence fieldwork and data analysis. Our understandingof female circumcisionwill remain partialunless this occurs, as data will continue to be collected and interpretedin an inadequate way. Moreover, researchersrun 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 influencedby the emotionality of Euro-American-Canadianculture. 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 fieldwork. 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 researchundertakenby Westerninvestigatorsinto female circumcision.


CIRCUMCISION IN THE SUDAN

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FIELDWORKIN NORTHERNSUDAN

Fieldwork took place in Omdurmanaj Jadida, a village in the Gezira/Managil irrigation scheme, Sudan. The village is located in the Managil south-western extension area and it lies approximately 240 km south of Khartoum between the Blue Nile and the While Nile. It has a population of 1,115. The Hasaneeya and the Mohamadeer are the two most numerous and dominant ethnic groups in the village. They are Muslims, who speak colloquial Sudanese Arabic, and their social and economic activities are characterised by a marked degree of segregation between the sexes. Most of the land surroundingOmdurmanaj Jadida is owned by the government and irrigated by a complex network of canals which transports water from the Blue Nile. It has been divided into tenancies by the Sudan Gezira Board, and the most senior male in each household usually rents a tenancy at a nominal rate. Responsibility for the tenancy generally passes from the most senior male to one of his sons (preferablythe eldest) at death and land is, therefore, kept within the patrilineage. Lineage endogamy is the preferred form of marriage, at least for a first marriage, and considerable bridewealth is paid by the groom to the bride's family. Field-based research took place between April 1985 and May 1986. During that period I lived in the village with an extended family of sixteen and spoke colloquial Sudanese Arabic. I did not pay rent but I gave the female head of the household items such as sugar, oil and pulses on a regular basis. Every four to six weeks I went to Khartoum to buy some of this food, to collect mail and to give them and myself a break. These breaks usually lasted from five to ten days but illness and other problems occasionally prolonged them. Throughout my fieldwork I behaved, wherever possible, in ways that were consideredappropriatefor a single woman living in a segregatedMuslim village in northern Sudan. I ate and socialised with women in their compounds and slept in female quarters.I rarelycrossed the village without my female assistant, as young unmarriedwomen are not meant to be seen in public space without a female chaperon.' Research investigating the nature and extent of disability among women infected with Schistosoma mansoni (bilharzia) took place against this background. It entailed the collection of blood, stool and urine samples as well as anthropometric measurements from forty-six women at regular intervals, over a period of twelve months, to monitor changes in their nutritional and infectious status. In addition, women were observed on a minute-by-minute basis to record the type and duration of activities undertaken on a daily basis. The period of observations varied but some women were observed for as many as eleven continuous hours for two consecutive days. Ethnographic information acquired during this period of fieldwork (as well as in two other studies undertaken in Gezira over a period of ten months in 1981 and 1983) influenced the collection and analysis of these quantitative data; and the most important resultswere subsequentlypresentedas a doctoral thesis in biological anthropology (Parker, 1989). It would have been extremely difficult to undertake this work without living in the village and behaving, wherever possible, as a participantobserver fieldworker. This type of research is, after all, intrusive and


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demanding. A couple of women in the study had had the opportunity to go to primary school but none of them was familiar with the idea of research. Moreover, they had never met or talked to an Englishwoman before. Requests to analyse as many as five consecutive stool samples and to record every aspect of their daily activities seemed nothing if not bizarre. It was not too surprising, therefore, when initial references to my research as 'the beautiful study' and 'the sweet study' shifted to something a bit 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 surroundingvillages, 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. FEMALECIRCUMCISION IN OMDURMANAJ JADIDA

All girls are circumcised in Omdurman aj Jadida. Indeed, pre-pubertalfemale circumcision is a feature of life among the majority of Muslim populations speaking colloquial Sudanese Arabic in northern Sudan (el Dareer, 1982).2 This may not be immediately apparent from the description of a young girl's circumcision ceremony presented in this section.3 It has been taken from my field notes, and it is quite a raw account, as it was written a few hours after I had attended my first circumcision ceremony. I have resisted the temptation to alter the account and to offer 'explanations'for the practice of circumcision. Boddy (1982, 1989), Constantinides (1985) and Hayes (1975), among others, have analysed the issues and themes surroundingthe practice of circumcision in northern Sudan. Instead I shall use the thoughts and feelings generated by this description and another section of my field notes to make some general observations about some of the ways in which attitudes to sex, sexuality and the self have influenced the collection and interpretation of data on female circumcision. Journal extract. Nijat's circumcision,November 1985 'Theknifeis aboveher,theknifeis aboveher- comequickly!Come!'SelwaandI were drinkingtea one morningwhen a young girl placedher head over the wall and shoutedthesewords.We uppedandleft,andwalkedat a quickpaceto herbrother's house(AbassMustaffa),wherehis 7 yearold daughterwasaboutto be circumcised. Togetherwe entereda crowdedmud-builtroom and greetedsome fourteen womengathered.A little laterwe werejoined by an old womanwho, takingan axe head, beganto dig a smallhole - six inchesby five inches- in the middleof the floor.Next to this she placeda cushion.ThenZiyarrapickedup her daughter,


IN THE SUDAN CIRCUMCISION

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placed her on this cushion and, with her arms around her waist, held her tight. Two other women held her legs - straddled open above the hole. The blade was tested for its sharpness, and while we all looked on the old woman began to cut. Slowly but 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 to kick herself free. But the women held her tight though anxious at any further damage 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. And as she cut, young children - largely girls, but some boys - beat drums, sang and 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 'congratulations 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


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left her daughter for the two hours or so that I was there. Mat guum, mat guum 'Don't leave, don't leave', the girl kept saying, hanging her arms around her mother's neck. And she held her tight, gently assuring her that she would not go. 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 those children who had sung outside the house and drowned the girl's cries. Many of these boys and girls (aged between 3 and 5 years) continued to cry intermittently for several hours afterwards. Incidentally, no men were in sight. They were all out working in the fields and when they returned they did not come to the house. A littlelaterI was pressedfurtherabout my thoughts on circumcision.But all I could say was that it was not somethingfamiliarto my own cultureand that I was not sure I had understood what had happened. But just as I struggle to understandwhy it is necessaryto remove a young girl's genitalia, so they appear mystifiedand astonished that the operation is not performed on girls in England ... How can a girl find a husband 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 straightand I'm strugglingto adjust to the normalnessof events. For just now I'm in Mohamed al-Tyib's house. It's 3.00 p.m. and nearly lunchtime. A group of men sit outside the house discussing the price of grain in the market. 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 sitting 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 anything other than kwaiys (good), tahir (pure), nazif(clean) and smooth (na'im). And I felt humbled. My questions were so useless, so utterly irrelevantto that which was seen as being important. Of course women do not circumcisetheir daughtersto create problems for them later on. They do so to protect them. An uncircumcisedgirl is unmarriageableand would bring undying shame to her and her family. People would call her kaaba (bad), waskhan(dirty) and nigsa (unclean). Her life would be intolerable, 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 bringingan end to such a custom. It seems almost comical that Westernand Sudanesefeministshave spent so much time tacklingit simply at the



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levelof femaleoppressionwhenit is rootedin so muchelseas faras thosewomenwho experienceit areconcerned. Thinkingback to my reactions to female circumcisionin the 1980s. I had not thought very much about female circumcision before I attended the ceremonies but I suspect I would have viewed it as an example of the way men oppress women and, more particularly, the way men control women's sexuality. The fact that women allow their daughters to be circumcised would have been an indication of little more than false consciousness. Many of my friends were surprised, therefore, when I expressed doubt about that type of interpretation. There had been very little time for reflection during my fieldwork and it was not until I discussed some of the issues surrounding female circumcision (on my return to England in 1986) that I realised how affected I had been by life in the village. There had, of course, been several signs of distress and discomfort. Shortly after attending Nijat's circumcision, for example, I walked across the village to give her mother some Dettol. I knew that I should find my assistant or some other woman to accompany me but there was no one around and I was far too upset to wait. To my mind a blunt razor blade carried a multitude of risks and I was convinced that Nijat's life was in danger. I simply did not care what type of reaction I provoked, as I felt I had to get the Dettol to Ziyarra, whatever the cost. This was the first time that I consciously and defiantly challenged expected codes of behaviour in Omdurman aj 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


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not know, and I felt flattered, even honoured, to be able to attend such important events. I had no intention of betraying trust and confidences by deriding the practice of female circumcision. By the time I had attended the ceremonies I had been living in the village for a sufficient period of time to establish warm and friendly relations with a number of women and, if anything, I felt in awe of the way many of them led their lives. The fact that I felt disturbed and unsettled by participatingin these events merely drew my attention to how much I had to learn about women's lives in Omdurman aj Jadida. On the other hand, I felt so disturbed by the events I had witnessed that I rarely took the opportunity to explore the issue in greater depth. In this sense the relativism which imbued the way in which I carried out some of my work also became a means by which to avoid addressing a difficult and conflict-ridden area. Other concerns also cushioned me from pursuing the issue in more depth. I was, of course, living in Omdurman aj Jadida with the principal intention of exploring the impact of S. mansoni on daily activities.Analysing stool, urine and blood samples and conducting minute-byminute observations was an exacting and time-consuming task, and, while I wished to use local insights to interpret the biomedical and behavioural information (and in this sense everything was relevant), I was not there to undertake a detailed study of female circumcision.Moreover, I felt in a vulnerable position, as I was dependent on the goodwill of people in the village to do my researchand did not wish to generate unnecessaryconflict. I thus continued to participate in a wide range of activities for a variety of reasons and, retreatinginto a world of relativism,managed to avoid discussions about female circumcision with women (as well as friends and colleagues in Khartoum). With hindsight, it is easy to see that I lost sight of the fact that participant observation does not, or should not, entail identification with every aspect of life in Omdurman aj Jadida; or to put it another way, understanding does not preclude judgement. By the time I returnedto England I found it difficultto be criticalor objective about social relationships in Omdurman aj Jadida and I felt much happier talking about life in the village in a relativistic way. I remember feeling outraged and distressed when I met a social anthropologist who had recently returned from doing some research in southern Sudan. He espoused uncomplicated views on circumcision. It was, to his mind, an abhorrent practice, and he had no compunction about applying an array of derogatory and insulting adjectives to the women who carried it out and the men who tacitly allowed it to happen. I was flabbergasted. How could an anthropologist, and a social anthropologist at that, be so sure of the differencebetween 'right' and 'wrong' and 'good' and 'bad'? Why did he reify an individual's (male and female) sexual enjoyment over and above the other issues accounting for the practice of female circumcision? To what extent was the emphasis he gave to sexual enjoyment mixed up with his own identification with southern Sudanese who openly hated the Muslim, Arab-speaking populations in 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



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'disgusting', 'revolting', 'obscene', 'abusive' and 'inhumane' without enquiring about the meanings ascribed to the practice. One colleague read the description of Nijat's circumcisionand commented 'GeneralGordon should have murderedthe lot of them.' It was difficultnot to resent the fact that very few people appreciated the importance of thinking about the issue of circumcision in terms other than physical mutilation and the denial of sexual pleasure. Their views became increasingly offensive and the confidence with which they espoused them was, it seemed to me, little short of racist. There were times when their views appeared to amount to the following: "Circumcision is a barbaricpractice. It is carriedout by simple and uncivilisedpeople. If they were sophisticated and educated like 'us' in the West they would realise that there are new, differentand betterways of behaving. The solution is simple. They should behave like 'us'." The issue never died. The reactions of friends and colleagues to the issue of female circumcision and the desire to know more about the topic led me to the biomedical and anthropological literature. Here again I was struck by the ferocity of feeling expressed in a variety of academic journals and the narrow range of questions which research workers sought to address. The following section focuses on the biomedical and anthropological literature, with particular reference to research undertaken in Sudan. RESEARCHON FEMALECIRCUMCISION BIOMEDICALAND ANTHROPOLOGICAL

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 settings 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.


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Epidemiologicalresearch The first and most important piece of epidemiological research to explore the consequences of different types of female circumcision on the physical health of girls and women in northern Sudan was undertaking by El Dareer (1982) between 1977 and 1981. A total of 3,210 women and 1,545 men were interviewed from five provinces in northern Sudan. The response rate was high (95 per cent) and some of the most important findings include the following. First, over 98 per cent of women participating in the study had been circumcised (2-5 per cent with sunna procedure, 12-17 per cent intermediate, 83-13 per cent pharaonic). Second, 75 per cent of pharaonically circumcised girls had parents who had not received any school education (and the sunna and intermediate types were more likely to be undertaken in households where the women had received at least some education). Third, more than 90 per cent of operations were performed by midwives who had not received any biomedical training. Fourth, few women related the complications of circumcision to the operation, since it was generally believed to be harmless. El Dareer points out, however, that only twelve women agreed to undergo a physical examination and it was not possible to corroborate a lot of the information 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 acceptance of her findings,which have been quoted and requoted in a variety of biomedical and anthropologicalbooks and journals (e.g. Sami, 1986;Gruenbaum, 1988; Gordon, 1991). This raises two questions. How accurate is El Dareer's research?Why have researchworkers 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 interviewersexplained their understandingof the differencesbetween 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 circumcision' 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 categories. 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 partiallyexcised 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



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training. It is also worth noting that it is difficult to cut with surgical precision when a girl is kicking and screaming and blood is flowing freely. The difficulties of assessing El Dareer's research are compounded by the 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 biomedical conceptions of infection, illness and disease. Unfortunately, El Dareer does not tell us how, if at all, she set about translating biomedical terms into colloquial 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 particularly daunting: 'Have you ever suffered from any of the following: keloid at site of circumcision; vulvar abscesses; inclusion cysts; recurrenturinary 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 disease. 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. Whyhave research workerssuspendedtheir criticalfaculties and accepted El Dareer'sfindings?The question is difficult to address but there appears to be a link between researcherswho 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 illustratedin an articleby an Englishmale gynaecologist, Allan Worsley, in the BritishJournalof Obstetricsand Gynaecologyin 1964. Worsley had worked in Khartoum in the 1930s and his article demonstratesthe intense feelings aroused and the extent to which they can distort biomedical approaches to the study of female circumcision. At one point, for example, he comments on the fact that men are never present at female circumcision ceremonies. He then goes on to describe in great detail what happens at one of these ceremonies. To quote: Thenakedgirlis laidacrossa bed,beingsecurelyheldby thearmsandankles,while the midwife,with a deft sweepof the razor,removesthe anteriortwo-thirdsof one


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of the labia,togetherwith the clitoris.The unfortunategirl'sshrieksare drowned by loud shoutsof 'That'snothingto makea fussabout'- and the midwifeproceeds to removethe other labiumin the same way. Thereis alwaysa sadisticsmile of delightuponthe faceof the operator,andthe wholebusinessis thoroughlyenjoyed by the privilegedspectators.[1964:687] Worsley goes on to say 'One hopes that, with the passing of the older generation, this evil may cease to be the curse of a splendid and lovable race' (1964: 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 Obstetriciansin 1982, for example, referredto female circumcisionas '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, frustrationat failing to appreciatethe 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 epidemiologicaldata. This attitude probably accounts for the uncritical acceptance of El Dareer's research. The links between researcherswho have explicitlyallowed their thoughts and feelings to influence their writing and researcherswho 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. Anthropologicalresearch 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; Toubia, 1988) but this part of the article confines its attention to the work of anthropologists in the Western world (such as Barclay, 1964; Hayes, 1975; Constantinides, 1985; Gruenbaum, 1982, 1988; Boddy, 1982, 1989; Kenyon, 1991).4 Their research has been informed and influenced by social movements in England, the U.S.A. and Canada and not surprisingly this 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 that female circumcision denied women the right to a full and satisfying sexual life, and several popular academic writers drew attention to the asymmetrical power relations between men and women (Daly, 1978; Hosken, 1982). Daly's article encapsulates attitudes which had a currencyamong radical feminists in the United States and Europe. The following passage is particularly illuminating: I havechosento namethesepracticesfor whattheyare:barbaricrituals/atrocities. CriticsfromWesterncountriesare constantlybeingintimidatedby accusationsof



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'racism',to the pointof misnaming,non-naming,andnot seeingthesesado-rituals. Theaccusationsof 'racism'maycomefromignorance,but theyserveonlytheinterests of males,not of women.This kind of accusationand intimidationconstitutes an astoundinganddamagingreversal,for it is clearlyin theinterestof Blackwomen thatfeministsof all racesshouldspeakout. Moreover,it is in the interestof women of all racesto see Africangenitalmutilationin the contextof planetarypatriarchy, of whichit is but one manifestation.[1978:154] While not necessarily aligning themselves with the women's movement, let alone its more radical element (such as SCUM, the Society for Cutting Up Men), anthropologists also emphasised these asymmetrical power relationships. Several writers had no compunction about viewing female circumcision as a manifestation of oppression by men (Hayes, 1975; Constantinides, 1985). In the late 1980s and early 1990s, however, increasing publicity was being given to the need to protect children from abuse and particularly sexual abuse, in the Western world. A variety of papers began to discuss whether female circumcision was a form of child abuse, and this is beginning to be reflected in anthropological as well as sociological and legal writing on circumcision (LeVine and LeVine, 1981; Slack, 1988; Forward, 1989; Van der Kwaak, 1992). The nature and depth of anthropological interpretations of female circumcision in Sudan vary a great deal but, in common with many other anthropologists writing about female circumcision, the authors share one thing in common: sex is rarely, if ever, mentioned. In fact anthropologists have tended, until recently, to avoid discussion of sexual behaviour and, therefore, the relationship between sexual behaviour and sexuality (Ortner and Whitehead, 1981; Lindenbaum, 1991). This reticence can be attributed to a variety of reasons, including unconscious anxieties and prudery on the part of the ethnographer (Devereux, 1967), as well as the practical, methodological and ethical difficulties of directly observing, or obtaining reliable information on, sexual behaviour (Tuzin, 1991). With reference to circumcision, Lyons (1981: 507) has also pointed out that the publication of The Rites of Passage (Van Gennep, 1909) encouraged anthropologists to 'look beyond the "genital"in genital mutilations and to see them in relation to other social and cultural forms'. Whatever the reasons, a great deal of the anthropological literature on female circumcision in Sudan and other parts of Africa and the Middle East misleadingly suggests that circumcision is 'a physiologically trivial but socially important procedure mainly concerned with establishing clan membership and adult status' (Lyons, 1981: 508). It thus appears that many anthropologists are reluctant to admit that 'the genital is not a nose' (Vizedom, 1976: 23) The exception which proves the rule is Janice Boddy (1982, 1989). Her perceptive writing about female circumcision in a small village north of Khartoum suggests that women are not so much denying themselves sexual pleasure by removing their external genitalia (though that is presumably an effect) as enhancing their femininity. It is an assertive and symbolic act, controlled by women, which emphasises 'the essence of femininity: morally appropriate fertility, the potential to reproduce the lineage or to found a lineage section' (1982: 696). The apparentdissociation of femininityfrom sexual pleasure among women


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in northern Sudan is challenging and provocative. Boddy's subsequent observation is apposite: For thefemaleethnographer, one messageringsclear:thoughhersexmaygranther greateraccessto womenin an aliensociety,it guaranteesno privilegedinsightinto what it meansto be a womanin anotherculturalcontext;she and her informants may sharea commonbiology:they do not sharea commongender.[1989:56] That said, it would be interesting to know how Boddy's interpretations of female circumcision relate to the historical spread of genital mutilation in Sudan and to more recent observations about the tendency among some ethnic groups inhabiting the southern borders of northern Sudan to circumcise their daughters.These groups appear to be adopting the practice of pharaonic circumcision as a way of affirming their identity with dominant Arab and Muslim populations of the north (Tim Allen, personal communication). PRESENT REFLECTIONS

Ten years have passed since I attended Nijat's circumcision ceremony. Where have the readingof the literatureand reflectionson past events led me? If ambiguities in my position remain, it nevertheless seems clear to me that intense emotions often underlie popular scholarly discussion of female circumcision. Among Western researchers this fact often prohibits rigorous and detailed discussion of the topic. The question which follows from this observation is: why does female circumcision generate such powerful emotional responses? There is no simple answer to this question, as researchers are influenced by different ideas, outlooks and social movements over time. Nevertheless, several trends can be discerned among research workers from the Western world. First, it is possible, if not probable, that some of my reactions to witnessing the removal of female genitalia in Omdurman aj Jadida convey a great deal about European and North American conceptions of sexuality, including a tendency to define the self in sexual 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 contamination 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 journalists and academics to mortality from circumcisionalso convey an association betweencircumcision,sexual death and the denial of self, ratherthan death itself. An articleabout female circumcisionin the Guardian(16 February 1993), for example, says 'death from blood loss or shock is not uncommon'. The



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associationis, however,assumed,as Mohamud(1991)is the only investigator to have examinedthe impactof femalecircumcisionon mortalityand he was unableto confirmany suchrelationship.5 The associationbetweenfemalecircumcisionand the death of a female's sexual life is not surprising.Severalacademics(e.g. Duffy, 1963;Sheehan, 1981)have shown that Americanand Europeansurgeonsin the nineteenth centurysoughtto curephysical,mentalandmoraldisturbancesby practising clitoridectomy.Masturbation,for example,was consideredto be a physical as well as a moral evil, and its practicewas supposedto cause specificillnesses. Clitoridectomywas thus advocatedas a 'cure'by many surgeons, since it was unthinkablethat a respectablewoman should derivepleasure from sex. Most of the researchcited in this articlewas undertakenbetween 1960 and 1990, and there is no doubt that the social changeswhich have taken placeduringthat time have profoundlyinfluencedthe responsesof Western (and probablymany non-Western)researchers.In particular,the 'sexual revolution'which took place in the 1960simplieda separationof sex from reproduction.It involvedan increasingwillingnessto talkaboutsex publicly, accompaniedby the widespreadavailabilityanduse of contraceptivessuchas the pill andcondoms.Thesechangescontributedto the emergingtendencyto definethe self in sexualterms. Politicaland social changesin the 1970sand 1980sreinforcedthis trend. The 'sexualrevolution'was increasinglyseento havebeen'a revoltof young of youngmen'smasculinityandpromiscuity; men.It wasaboutthe affirmation it was indiscriminate,and theirsexualobjectwas indeterminate(so long as she was a woman)'(Campbell,1987:21). The Women'sLiberationmovement (and a varietyof otherpoliticalmovements)emerged,in part,as a critiqueof the sexualrevolution.It focusedon the qualityof the sexualact and hence,perhaps,a shiftof emphasisfromthe vaginato the clitorisin the representationof women'ssexuality.Indeed,if Hite'sinvestigationof femalesexuality in North America is anythingto go by, female orgasm by clitoral stimulationbecame a prerequisiteof 'good' sexual intercourseand, even, of 'good' sexualrelationships.To quote:'thereis a socialpressure[in North America]thatsaysa womanwho has an orgasmis moreof a woman,a "real" woman'(Hite, 1976:131). Similarly,GermaineGreer,drawingattentionto the oppressivepressureson women,has written,'thestateof beinginorgastic is sometimesdescribedas beingout of touchwith oneself... or not into one's body ... womenin this contemptiblestate feel as muchguiltas once they felt for experiencingspontaneoussexualdesire'(1984:201). Against this backgroundit is understandablethat the removalof female genitalia,an integralpart of a woman'sbeing, is such an emotionalissue. It may also be the case that men too have begun to definetheir successin terms of inducing orgasm in others. Thus female circumcisiongenerates fears and anxieties about castration, not only on account of the women whosegenitaliahavebeenremovedbut becauseof the attackon masculinity. A man is not a 'real'man unlesshe can satisfya woman sexually,and the chancesof a man sexuallysatisfyinga circumcisedwoman(that is, enabling her to becomea 'real'woman)are much diminished.Such fears may well havebeenenhancedby the decliningbirthratein Europeand North America


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and the fact that masculinity is no longer so closely tied to reproductiveprowess. In other words, female orgasm by clitoral stimulationhas taken the place of procreation as the manifestation of male virility. The apparentneed for many people in the West to make sense of themselves in terms that emphasise particular aspects of their sexuality, and to require particular kinds of sexual gratification for their well-being, is not, of course, universal. In other parts of the world, and indeed for some people in the West, such ideas seem immoral, amoral or bizarre. It is likely that future research investigating the biomedical and social aspects of female circumcision would benefit a great deal by not only acknowledging this but also accepting that intense emotions aroused by the subject among Western researchers are, to a large extent, influenced by Euro-American discourses and debates which have little or nothing to do with the study populations. When such strong emotions are brought to bear in unreflexive ways, understandings of female circumcision will continue to be inadequate and misleading. NOTES Inevitably, my presenceand work challenged some of their expectations and this gave rise to a number of problems during my fieldwork. Five weeks after arrivingin Omdurman aj Jadida, for example, I expressed a desire to travel to Khartoum to collect my letters. It is inconceivable that an unmarriedwoman should travel alone, and several senior men in the village (including one of the Sheikh's) forbade me to leave until permission had been granted by officials working for the Ministry of Health in Khartoum or El Gorashi (the administrativecentre of the Managil region). I had been introducedto the people of Omdurmanaj Jadida by some of these officialsbut they are renownedfor the irregularityof their visits to such villages.I thus negotiated a situationthat a senior male of the village should accompany me to the Ministry of Health's nearest offices in El Gorashi. Permissionwas granted and several days later I travelledto Khartoum. It was possible to travel to Khartoum at regularintervals thereafterbut I continued to seek female company before I walked across the village to visit other women. Needless to say, there were many other occasions when I behavedin a confusing or conflictingway, but, generallyspeaking,it was unavoidable.Nevertheless it was possible to establish friendshipswith a number of villagers over time. 2The term 'female circumcision' describes 'all operations involving mutilation of the female genitalia' (Verzin, 1975: 163). There are several kinds of circumcision, and investigators do not always draw the same distinctions in their research. Nevertheless the following three types of circumcision identified by Shandall (1967) are increasingly referred to by research workers in northern Sudan: sunna, intermediate and pharaonic (also known as infibulation). The sunna type involves the removal of the prepuce or head of the clitoris; the intermediate type involves the removal of the prepuce and glans of the clitoris with all or part of the labia minora; pharaonic circumcision involves the removal of the clitoris, the whole of the labia minora and most of the labia majora. the two sides of the vulva are then brought together with acacia thorns and held in place with catgut or sewing thread. Alternatively the vulva is scraped raw, but, either way, the girl's legs are tied together for fifteen to forty days until the wound heals and there is only a small hole usually the size of a matchstick) to allow for the passing of urine and menstrual bleeding. 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 principal concerns of this article is to explore the differentways in which responses to female circumcision by western investigators have been influenced by their own attitudes to sex and sexuality and the extent to which these have hindered and distorted understanding of female circumcision. It could also be argued that their work tells us more about their relationship with western feminist thought than about female circumcision. Leila Ahmad, for instance, criticises Saadawi's work 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 linked with the researcherperceiving female circumcision as an attack on their own complex associations between sexuality, femininity and reproduction. Whatever the reasons, judgement is often



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impaired.Hayes,for example,suggestedthat attemptsto prohibitfemalecircumcisionwould alterthe rateof populationgrowth.To quote:'an analysisof the availableliteratureon the subject,combinedwiththe dataI collectedin 1970,showsthatinfibulationhas functionedas one of severalfactorsslowingpopulationgrowthin the Sudan.Its sharpcurtailment couldhaveserious demographicconsequencesunless other practicesare introducedto suppressfertility'(1975: 619).It is not clearwhat'availableliterature'Hayesis referringto. In 1992,let alone 1975,there werereferencesto a possiblelinkbetweencircumcisionandinfertilityin a numberof biomedical journalsbut none of the authorsrefersto casematerial,andan associationbetweenfemalecirinfectionsand infertilityis simplyassumed. cumcision,pelvicinflammatory REFERENCES

Abu Shama, A. O, et al. 1949. 'Female circumcision in the Sudan', Lancet 1, 544-5. Ahmad, L. 1989. 'Arab culture and writing women's bodies'. Feminist Issues, Spring: 41-55. Aziz, F. A. 1980. 'Gynaecologic and obstetric complications of female circumcision', InternationalJournal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics 17, 560-3. Barclay, H. 1964. Buuri al Lamaab: a suburbanvillage in the Sudan. Ithaca, N. Y.: Cornell University Press. Boddy, J. 1982. 'Womb as oasis: the symbolic context of pharaonic circumcision in rural northern Sudan, American Ethnologist 9 (4), 682-98. 1989. Wombs and Alien Spirits: women, men and the zar cult in northernSudan. Madison. Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press. Campbell, B. 1987. 'A feminist sexual politics: now you see it, now you don't' in Feminist Review (ed.), Sexuality: a reader. London: Virago. Constantinides, P. 1985. 'Women heal women: spirit possession and sexual segregation in a Muslim society', Social Science and Medicine. 21, 685-92. Daly, M. 1978. 'African genital mutilations: the unspeakable atrocities', in Gyn/ecology: 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 BehaviouralSciences. The Hague: Mouton. Dewhurst, C. J., and Michelson, A. 1964. 'Infibulation complicating pregnancy', British Medical Journal. 2, 1442. Dorkenoo, E., and Elworthy, S. 1992. Female Genital Mutilation: proposals for change. London: Minority Rights Group. 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 consequences. London: Zed Press. El Saadawi, N. 1980. The Hidden Face of Eve: women in the Arab world, trans. Sherif Hetata. London: Zed Press. Forward, 1989. Report on the First National Conferenceon Female Genital Mutilation: unsettled issues for health and social workers in the UK. London: Foundation for Women's Health Research and Development. Gordon, D. 1991. 'Female circumcision and genital operations in Egypt and the Sudan: a dilemma for medical anthropology', Medical Anthropology quarterly 5, 3-14. Greer, G. 1984. Sex and Destiny: the politics of humanfertility. London: Secker & Warburg. Gruenbaum, E. 1982. 'The movement against clitoridectomy and infibulation in Sudan: public health policy and the women's movement', Medical Anthropology Newsletter 13 (2), 4-12. - 1988. 'Reproductive ritual and social reproduction: female circumcision and the subordination of women in the Sudan', in Norman O'Neill and J. O'Brien (eds), Economy and Class in Sudan. Aldershot: Avebury.


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Hayes, R. O. 1975. 'Female genital mutilation, fertility control, women's roles, and the partrilineage in modern Sudan: a functional analysis', American Ethnologist 4, 617-33. Hite, S. 1976. The Hite Report on Female Sexuality, London: Pandora Press. Hosken, F. and F. P. 1982. The Hosken Report: genital and social mutilation of females. Lexington, Mass.: Women's International News Network. Huddleston, C. E. 1944. 'Female circumcision in the Sudan', Lancet 1, 626. Kenyon, S. M. 1991. Five Women of Sennar. culture and change in central Sudan. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kouba, L. J., and Muasher, J. 1985. 'Female circumcision in Africa: an overview', African Studies Review 28, 95-110. Le Vine, S. and R. 1981. 'Child abuse and neglect in sub-Saharan Africa' in J. E. Korbin (ed.), ChildAbuse and Neglect. cross-culturalperspectives.Berkeley, Cal.: University of California Press. Lindenbaum, S. 1991. 'Anthropology rediscovers sex', Social Science and Medicine 33, 865-6. Lyons, H. 1981. 'Anthropologists, moralities and relativities: the problem of genital mutilations', Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 18, 499-518. McLean, S., and Graham, S. E. (eds.). 1980. Female Circumcision,Excision and Infibulation: the facts and proposals for change. Report No. 47. London: Minority Rights Group. Mohamud, O. A. 1991. 'Female circumcision and child mortality in urban Somalia', Genus 67, 203-23. Ortner, S. B., and Whitehead, H. (eds.) 1981. Sexual Meanings: the culturalconstruction of gender and sexuality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Parker, M. 1989. 'The effects of S. mansoni on Female Activity Patterns and Infant Growth in Gezira Province, Sudan', D. Phil. thesis, University of Oxford. Sami, I. R. 1986. 'Female circumcision, with special referenceto the Sudan', Annals of Tropical Paediatrics 6, 99-115. Shandall, A. A. 1967. 'Circumcisionand infibulation of females', Sudan Medical Journal 5, 178-212. Sheehan, E. 1981. 'Victorian clitoridectomy: Isaac Baker Brown and his harmless operative procedure', Medical AnthropolocyNewsletter 12, 10-15. Slack, A. T. 1988. 'Female circumcision:a critical appraisal', Human Rights Quarterly 10, 437-86. Toubia, N. 1988. 'Women and health in Sudan', in Nahid Toubia (ed.), Womenof the Arab World: the coming challenge. London: Zed Press. Toubia, N. 1994. 'Female circumcision as a public health issue'. The New England Journal of Medicine 331, 712-716. Tuzin, D. 1991. 'Sex, culture and the anthropologist', Social Science and Medicine 33, 867-74. Van der Kwaak, A. 1992. 'Female circumcision and gender identity: a questionable alliance?' Social Science and Medicine 35, 777-87. Van Gennep, A. 1909. The Rites of Passage, trans. M. Vizedom and G. Caffee, Reprinted Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Verzin, J. A. 1975. 'Sequelae of female circumcision', TropicalDoctor 5, 163-9. Vizedom, M. 1976. Rites and Relationships:rites of passage and contemporaryanthropology. Beverly Hills, Cal.: Sage Publications. World Health Organisation; 1979. Seminar report on 'Traditional Practices affecting the Health of Women and Children', Khartoum, 10-15 February. Worsley, A. 1964. 'Infibulation and female circumcision:a study of a little known custom', British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 45, 686-91.



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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am gratefulto Tim Allen,CharlieDavison,GeorgeDavey-Smith,GeorgiaKaufmann,Andy Kilmister,MurrayLast,AnneMurcott,MinoucheShefikandCarolVlassofffor theircomments on the draftof this article.I am also gratefulto BettyKirkwoodfor encouragingme to writeit whileI was workingat the LondonSchoolof Hygieneand TropicalMedicine.The workwas supportedby the Royal AnthropologicalInstituteand the Healthand PopulationDivisionof the OverseasDevelopmentAdministration. ABSTRACT

Female circumcision is practised in more than twenty African countries as well as in a number of countries in the Middle East, and it has been estimated that at least 100 million females have been circumcised worldwide. It is striking, however, that much more concern has been expressed about female circumcision than about other operations or infections which adversely affect the reproductive health of women. In the academic arena, it is also interesting that gynaecologists, epidemiologists and anthropologists have tended to focus on a relatively small number of questions, and even these have rarely been investigated in any depth. This article focuses on the work of researchers from Europe and North America 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 understanding the source of these emotions and the way in which they influence fieldwork and data analysis. Until it is, our understanding of female circumcision will remain partial, as data will continue to be collected and interpreted in an inadequate way. RESUME

La circoncision feminine est pratiquee dans plus de vingt pays africains ainsi que dans un certain nombre de pays du Moyen Orient, et il a ete estime qu'au moins 100 million de femmes ont ete circonsisees dans le monde. I1 est frappant, cependant, que beaucoup plus de preoccupations aient ete exprimees au sujet de la circoncision feminine qu'a propos de la sante reproductrice des femmes. Dans le milieu intellectuel, il est aussi interessant de voir que les gynecologues, les epidemiologues et les antropologues ont eu tendance a se concentrer sur un nombre de questions assez limitees, et encore celles-ci ont ete rarement examinees en profondeur. Cet article examine le travail des chercheursen Europe et en Amerique du Nord afin de montrer que des emotions intenses soulignent cet interet et ces preoccupations. Au milieu de l'int6ret grandissant porte a l'antropologie des emotions, il est suggere qu'une plus grande attention devrait etre pretee a essayer de comprendre la source de ces emotions et la maniere dont celles-ci influencent l'enquete de terrainet l'analyse des donnees. Jusqu'a ce que cela se produise, notre comprehension de la circoncision feminine restera seulement partielle comme les donnees continuent a etre rassemblees et analysees de fa9on inadequate.
