The Politics of Female Circumcision in Egypt: Gender, Sexuality and the Construction of Identity

ISBN-13: 9781784531577 / Angielski / Twarda / 2016 / 256 str.

Malmstrom; Maria Frederika Malmstrom

Opis

The percentage of women aged 15-49 in Egypt who have undergone the procedure of female circumcision, or genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) stands at 91%, according to the latest research carried out by UNICEF. Female circumcision has become a global political minefield with Western interventions affecting Egyptian politics and social development, not least in the area of democracy and human rights. Maria Frederika Malmstrom employs an ethnographic approach to this controversial issue, with the aim of understanding how female gender identity is continually created and re-created in Egypt through a number of daily practices, and the central role which female circumcision plays in this process. Viewing the concept of agency as critical to the examination of social and cultural trends in the region, Malmstrom explores the lived experiences and social meanings of circumcision and femininity as narrated by women from Cairo. It is through the examination of the voices of these women that she offers an analysis of gender identity in Egypt and its impact on women s sexuality."

Spis treści

Chapter 1: The Politics of ‘Female Genital Mutilation’ in Egypt Chapter 2: Women’s Voices Chapter 3: Moral Sexuality: Creating Female Subjects as Wives and Mothers Chapter 4: Bearing the Pain: The Moral Lesson of Womanhood Chapter 5: The Continuous Making of Womanhood: Cooking, Depilating and Circumcising Conclusion: The Embeddedness of Female Circumcision