Cultural Transformation: Sociocultural Aspects of Female Circumcision among the Gusii People in Kenya

抄録

Although several aspects of female circumcision (FC), a well-known type of female genital surgery, have been discussed by scholars in various fields of study, several anthropologists have argued that FC has not been sufficiently examined (Shell-Duncan & Hernlund 2000). FC, which carries different labels in different contexts, including female genital mutilation (FGM), female genital cutting (FGC), and FC, became an international concern in the early 1920s and 1930s, when Western campaigns against this practice focused on infibulations and its consequences for childbirth. By the 1970s, emphasis had shifted to clitoridectomy and its consequences for sexual fulfilment (Hernlund & Shell-Duncan 2007). Since the 1970s, international organizations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), have condemned FGM/FGC/FC because it violates human (children’s) rights and negatively affects women’s reproductive health/rights. Despite these international movements and changes in associated rituals and procedures, this practice remains culturally significant in certain areas, including the Sudan, according to Boddy (2007) and other researchers. This paper does not aim to contribute to these types of discussions about FGM/FGC/FC; instead, as Shell-Duncan suggested (2000), it examines a specific case. Specifically, I describe the case of the Gusii people living in the western part of Kenya, the area with the highest prevalence of FC in this country.