HIS102Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Peer Pressure, Hypersexuality, Female Genital Mutilation
Document Summary
Female circumcision in kenya: this history of female circumcision in the rest of africa has yet to be written, as gender is socially constructed, so too is sexuality. First, the clitoris was perceived as representing the masculine element in a girl, just as the foreskin represents the feminine in a boy to remove these elements, they have to be removed. Second, it was believed that the clitoris is an aggressive organ it is seen as threatening the penis and the baby alike they would argue that without an operation the woman would not have healthy children. In some societies, women were not seen as adults until they were circumcised they were not able to marry, own property, or take public office. Without circumcision they were subject to severe psychological torment and were outcast. Its worries about it were purely moral objections.