Genre et commerce

This document presents a paper on Swedish Somalis’ narratives of female circumcision and avoiding submission to hegemonic political discourse-it’s only a tradition: making sens. This paper discusses the perspective and conclusions of an article in Critical Social Policy: ‘“It’s only a tradition”: making sense of eradication interventions and the persistence of female “circumcision” within a Swedish context’ (Ahlberg et al., 2004). In their analysis of Swedish Somalis’ narratives of female circumcision, the authors interpret the unwillingness of the interviewees to admit a persistence of tradition in terms of ‘denial’ and ‘avoidance’. The authors of this paper argue that an inadequate starting point makes their analysis biased, resulting in a violation of the interviewees’ point of view. There is a lack of contextualization and triangulation. Instead of persistence of tradition, as emphasized by Ahlberg et al., he see reasons to focus on processes of abandonment of the practice. Their article raises issues of the researcher’s position in a politicized context and of the importance of an awareness of how their preconceptions, as researchers, are formed by hegemonic political discourse

This document presents a paper on Learning from ‘‘Female Genital Mutilation’’: Lessons from 30 Years of Academic Discourse. At the intersection of feminism and postcolonial theory is an acrimonious debate over female genital cutting (FGC). The authors subject this debate to an analysis in order to separate productive from destructive discursive strategies. The authors find that both FGC and the literature about the practice are frequently mischaracterized in consequential ways. Especially prior to the mid-1990s, scholars frame FGC as an example of either cultural inferiority or cultural difference. In the 1990s, postcolonial scholars contest the framing of FGC as a measure of cultural inferiority. However, they often argue that Western feminist engagement with FGCs, writ large, is ‘imperialist’. The authors contend that both accusations of African ‘barbarism’ and of Western feminist ‘imperialism’ are empirically false and inflammatory. Furthermore, reifying ‘African’ and ‘Western’ perspectives erases African opposition to FGC and Western feminist acknowledgement of transnational power asymmetry. The authors conclude with a discussion of the role of outrage in academic scholarship.

This document presents a paper on long term of health consequences of femal genital mutilation (FGM). FGM comprises various procedures which remove or damage the external female genital organs for no medical reason. FGM has no health benefits and is recognised to cause severe short and long-term damage to both physical and psychological health. Although FGM is primarily performed in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, migration of FGM practising communities means that the health complications of FGM will have a global impact. It is important that health professionals worldwide are aware of the damage FGM causes to long term health. In some cases, it may be possible to offer interventions that will alleviate or improve symptoms. However, whilst there is some high-quality research on FGM and pregnancy outcomes, little is known about the effects on gynaecological, psychological and sexual function. Research is hampered by the problems of data collection on such a sensitive topic as well as the practical difficulties of analysis of studies based mainly on retrospect recall. Well planned hospital based studies of the impact of FGM on physical and psychological health are urgently need but are currently absent from the medical literature. Such studies could generate robust evidence to allow clinicians to benchmark clinical effectiveness and high quality medical care for survivors of FGM.

This document presents a study on Male complications of female genital mutilation. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is known to cause a wide range of immediate and long-term complications for women subjected to the practice. Male complications due to FGM have, however, not been described before. The objectives of this study were to explore male complications and attitudes with regard to FGM. A village in the Gezira Scheme along the Blue Nile in Sudan constituted the basis of the study. Interviews were carried out according to a pretested questionnaire, using structured questions withopen-answer possibilities. Married men of the youngest parental generation and grandfathers were randomly selected from up-to-date election lists. All respondents except one agreed to be interviewed. A total of 59 men were interviewed, 29 young men and 30 grandfathers. Male complications resulting from FGM, such as difficulty in penetration, wounds/infections on the penis and psychological problems were described by a majority of the men. Most men were also aware of the female complications. More young than old respondents would have accepted a woman without FGM to become their daughter-in-law (p50.03). A majority of the young men would have preferred to marry a woman without FGM. This proportion was significantly higher than among the grandfathers (p50.01). Female genital mutilation can no longer be considered to be only an issue for women. The acknowledged male complications and attitudes described may open new possibilities to counteract the practice of FGM.

This document presents a paper on Marriage and Family in the Arab Gulf States: Towards a Political Transition? Since the end of the 1970’s, marriage patterns have undergone tremendous changes in every Arab country. Most significant among them are the increase in the age at first marriage and the emergence of female celibacy, as experienced in the Arab Gulf. Yet, marriage in the Arab world is a rite of passage to adulthood, as well as an essential element in the process of reproducing sociopolitical institutions. This gives the marriage issue a political outreach which is the topic of the paper. After describing recent changes in the marriage patterns experienced in the six Arab Gulf States over the last four decades, the paper analyses the impact of such changes on the social dynamics characterizing the region (socioeconomic constraints put to marrying and spouses’ choice; male-female and intergenerational relationships; the evolution of family structures). Data emphasize that everywhere in the region, the ideal of early and universal marriages, as well as males’ and elders’ domination are fading. Therefore, the evolution of socio-demographic behaviors may challenge authoritarian and “neopatriarcal” powers in the region. As the matter of facts, the analysis of popular and political debates tackling the marriage issue in Saudi Arabia shows that the topic is instrumentalised within the reform process ongoing in the Kingdom, in order to counter the influence of some political forces.