Female Genital Mutilation and Cosmetic Surgery: Regulating Non‐Therapeutic Body Modification

Abstract

In the UK, female genital mutilation is unlawful, not only when performed on minors, but also when performed on adult women. The aim of our paper is to examine several arguments which have been advanced in support of this ban and to assess whether they are sufficient to justify banning female genital mutilation for competent, consenting women. We proceed by comparing female genital mutilation, which is banned, with cosmetic surgery, towards which the law has taken a very permissive stance. We then examine the main arguments for the prohibition of the former, assessing in each case both (a) whether the argument succeeds in justifying the ban and, if so, (b) whether a parallel argument would not also support a ban on the latter. We focus on the following arguments. Female genital mutilation should be unlawful because: (1) no woman could validly consent to it; (2) it is an oppressive and sexist practice; (3) it involves the intentional infliction of injury; (4) it causes offence. Our view is that arguments (3) and (4) are unsound and that, although arguments (1) and (2) may be sound, they support not only a ban on female genital mutilation, but also one on (some types of) cosmetic surgery. Hence, we conclude that the present legal situation in the UK is ethically unsustainable in one of the following ways. Either the ban on female genital mutilation is unjustified because arguments (1) and (2) are not in fact successful; or the law's permissive attitude towards cosmetic surgery is unjustified because arguments (1) and (2) are in fact successful and apply equally to female genital mutilation and (certain forms of) cosmetic surgery. The people of the countries where female genital mutilation is practised resent references to 'barbaric practices imposed on women by male-dominated primitive societies', especially when they look at the Western world and see women undergoing their own feminization rites intended to increase sexual desirability: medically dangerous forms of cosmetic plastic surgery, for instance....

The politics of female genital surgery in displaced communities

“…Typical descriptions involve the use of expressions such as 'barbaric', 'atrocious' procedures, and 'terrible violations against all humanity, kindness, respect and love' (Harding & Thomas, 1994;Sheldon & Wilkinson, 1998). It is the strength of this sentiment that has resulted in the relabelling of the procedures as female genital mutilation (FGM).…”

“…Services have been pioneered for the prevention of surgery and the management of women affected by surgery through the establishment of organizations such as the Foundation for Women's Health, Research and Development (FORWARD). Female circumcision in the UK is illegal under the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act (1985) (Sheldon & Wilkinson, 1998) whereby it is an offence to 'excise, in bulate, or otherwise mutilate the whole or any part of the labia majora or labia minora or clitoris of another person' or 'to aid, abet, or procure the performance by another person of any of these acts on that other person's own body' (Black & Debelle, 1995).While the Female Circumcision Act does not specify age, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNICEF, 1990) provides additional legislation to protect minors from the practice (Black & Debelle, 1995). In France, female genital surgery is covered by Article 312 of the Penal Code, related to 'grievous bodily harm to a minor under 15' (Gallard, 1995).…”

“…Sheldon and Wilkinson (1998) and Kerin (1998) comment on the peculiar lack of critical reflection in arguments of Western writers who condemn female genital surgery while failing to consider the implications of local cultural practices such as cosmetic surgery and tattooing. While the absolute number of cosmetically related labia operations presented here is low, these are only a proportion of similar operations performed in both public and private hospitals in Australia.…”

Fake breasts and power: Gender, class and cosmetic surgery

“…According to Bartky (1990: 26): 'a person is sexually objectified when her sexual parts or sexual functions are separated out from the rest of her personality and reduced to the status of mere instruments'. For some feminists, breast augmentation surgery is one of a number of cultural practices that is underpinned by and allows for the sexual objectification of women by men, and that expresses and reinforces a culture of gender difference and deference (Bordo, 2003;Morgan, 2009;Sheldon & Wilkinson, 1998;Wolf, 1991).…”

Normalisation and the Psychic Life of Cosmetic Surgery

“…Several commentators have pointed out that female genital mutilation (FGM) is sometimes sought after by women who see it as their only chance for a 'normal' life. It is interesting to consider, Sally Sheldon and Stephen Wilkinson (1998) submit, that FGM has now been made illegal in many jurisdictions on the grounds that fitting into a cultural milieu by using risky and potentially disabling surgery should not be permitted in the best interests of the individual, whose 64 CRESSIDA J. HEYES first-order desires need to be regulated, effectively, by the second-order values of the state.…”