Circumcision

Abstract

Genital cutting is a well‐researched bodily practice in anthropology, often associated with the formation of gender, personhood, and self in different cosmologies. Early anthropology focused on male initiation rituals, blood sacrifices, and masculinity. As more women anthropologists conducted fieldwork on reproductive health, practices that male anthropologists were previously precluded from, the attention moved progressively to female genital cutting and modifications. Diverging ethical discussions on human rights and health, as well as a range of religious, political, and medical stances, invest the two practices, which should be considered together. They are also at the center of opposite global health strategies and interventions by international health organizations, for example the World Health Organization. Recent developments highlight the issue of bodily integrity also for male children. The topic becomes politicized in relation to migration health, gendered violence, and worldviews in the new country of residence. Circumcision calls into question our ability to claim cultural relativism.