The Western approach to the Global South nations’ religious practice of Female Genital Mutilation.
Despite the enormous impact of globalization on multiple aspects of life in countries around the world and the cultural homogenization, the First and the Third worlds’ mentalities remain extremely different. The distinction between both worlds sometimes leads to serious controversies. With the dominance of the European model of gender equality and the lack of understanding due to cultural differences, Western representatives tend to criticize the traditions like female genital mutilation (FGM). Their main concern is that women in the countries of the Global South are oppressed by these practices. Thus, Western feminists are unable to get past …show more content…
Only few westerners have thus far made an analysis upon the cultural significance of female genital cutting. In her book “Civilizing Women: British Crusades in Colonial Sudan” Janice Boddy (2007) manages to explore the values of traditions for Sudanese people in the historical context of colonial influence. Despite the fact that British imperialism has put its prominent contribution into the formation of modern Sudanese ideologies, it was not powerful enough in order to modify the existed culture. Likewise, Boddy provides a clear argument by referring to parallels between critics of FGM and the British imperialists through a racial implication and tragedy of the colonized. She truly explains why the practice of circumcision is considered a spiritual celebration by the culture representatives, stating that “each sex is…ritually completed, made whole and pure…Yet the circumcised female body is more; it is a metonym and an icon for embattled local society, an oasis of reproductive continuity guarded by its own scar tissue…and the defensive efforts of local men” .(Boddy 2007:90) Thus, this interpretation gives an insight into the reasons and cultural context of the appreciation of FGM practice. Though the cultural value for the Sudanese people, the response of British men and women always remained predictable. The emerged organization nicknamed “The Wolves” as the organizations in Egypt believed that it is possible to end the practice of FGM in Northern Sudan by providing the education, hygiene and law. Yet, as the ineffectiveness of these measures shows, no law can end the cultural practices, because culture comes from people’s hearts and beliefs. In contrast to previously mentioned literature, Janice Boddy’s book not merely provides the facts and superficial argumentation, but delivers the value and a deeper perspective of female