Female Circumcision Case Study
Sofia Robinson
WGS 150
Irline Francois
February 26, 2014
Essay Question 1
When studying women cross culturally, it is a common mistake to unintentionally impose western traditions and progressive concepts upon other cultures. This ethnocentrism, from any cultural standpoint, is important to be aware of. The fine line between “international human rights” and cultural “norms” is tricky to distinguish (103). The boundary between human rights and cultural norms gets pushed back and forth because of the competing definitions of what women’s rights are. The focus of looking at women cross culturally should be on the “commonalities across cultures” (104). And from there, we can build a global base of what basic human rights women have.
As with any global civil rights issue, there are numerous cultural aspects that are blurred between being morally acceptable and culturally established. An example of one of these issues is the allowance of female circumcision. In many countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, female circumcision is …show more content…
Society may argue that these practices and stigmas have been in effect over several generations and are unremovable from the culture. And going along with ethnocentrism in mind, how far can societies over-step their limits? Female circumcision could be argued as beneficial to women so they are more attractive to men while stigmas against women could be argued as protecting women from getting raped or assaulted. Yet it does not excuse the fact that women are still being damaged. When to allow ethnocentrism to affect activism is a difficult morality call to make. But I do believe there are cases, like female circumcision, when it is necessary to have a foreign intervention. Female circumcision is not a temporary and superficial problem in other countries, it is a permanent, painful and evasive non-medicinal
WGS 150
Irline Francois
February 26, 2014
Essay Question 1
When studying women cross culturally, it is a common mistake to unintentionally impose western traditions and progressive concepts upon other cultures. This ethnocentrism, from any cultural standpoint, is important to be aware of. The fine line between “international human rights” and cultural “norms” is tricky to distinguish (103). The boundary between human rights and cultural norms gets pushed back and forth because of the competing definitions of what women’s rights are. The focus of looking at women cross culturally should be on the “commonalities across cultures” (104). And from there, we can build a global base of what basic human rights women have.
As with any global civil rights issue, there are numerous cultural aspects that are blurred between being morally acceptable and culturally established. An example of one of these issues is the allowance of female circumcision. In many countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, female circumcision is …show more content…
Society may argue that these practices and stigmas have been in effect over several generations and are unremovable from the culture. And going along with ethnocentrism in mind, how far can societies over-step their limits? Female circumcision could be argued as beneficial to women so they are more attractive to men while stigmas against women could be argued as protecting women from getting raped or assaulted. Yet it does not excuse the fact that women are still being damaged. When to allow ethnocentrism to affect activism is a difficult morality call to make. But I do believe there are cases, like female circumcision, when it is necessary to have a foreign intervention. Female circumcision is not a temporary and superficial problem in other countries, it is a permanent, painful and evasive non-medicinal