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womb as oasis: the symbolic context of Pharaonic circumcision in rural Northern Sudan
Author(s) -
BODDY JANICE
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1525/ae.1982.9.4.02a00040
Subject(s) - context (archaeology) , female circumcision , continuance , value (mathematics) , male circumcision , gender studies , human sexuality , fertility , history , sociology , psychology , medicine , demography , social psychology , gynecology , population , archaeology , health services , machine learning , computer science
This paper represents an effort to understand why Pharaonic circumcision of females persists in the Sudanese village of Hofriyat despite numerous attempts to effect its eradication. After a brief consideration of the custom's proposed origins and functions, its rich symbolic context is examined in some detail. Here it emerges that female circumcision is intricately related to a wide variety of local customs and beliefs, all of which appear to be informed by several related idioms stressing the relative value of “enclosedness.” The paper suggests that for those who have undergone it and who advocate its continuance, Pharaonic circumcision is an assertive, highly meaningful act that emphasizes feminine fertility by de‐emphasizing female sexuality, [genital mutilation, circumcision, symbolism, women, Sudan, gender]