Ženska cirkumcizija: verska obveznost ali »najokrutnejši rez«?

Urank, Lucija (author), Zalta, Anja (mentor)

Diplomsko delo se ukvarja s problematiko obrezovanja ženskih genitalij ali t. i. posegom FGM (Female Genital Mutilation – pohabljanje ženskih spolovil). FGM je ritualno delno ali popolno rezanje klitorisa in sramnih ustnic deklice iz nezdravstvenih razlogov, ki lahko povzroči hude krvavitve, okužbe, neplodnost in celo smrt. Zmotno je prepričanje, da je praksa FGM zastarela ali nepomembna v današnji družbi, prav nasprotno – po WHO (2023) je bilo več kot dvesto milijonov danes živečih deklic in žensk v 30 državah v Afriki, na Bližnjem vzhodu in v Aziji, kjer se izvaja pohabljanje ženskih spolovil, podvrženih obrezovanju. Zaradi migracij afriških in nekaterih azijskih priseljencev se FGM vključuje tudi v kulturni prostor dežel t. i. »razvitega sveta«. Danes se s prakso FGM soočajo v ZDA, Kanadi in v mnogih evropskih državah, predvsem tam, kjer imajo veliko afriških priseljencev, ki še vedno sledijo tradiciji, četudi je obrezovanje žensk in deklic v nekaterih državah zakonsko prepovedano. OZN, UNICEF in WHO opredeljujejo FGM kot kršenje človekovih pravic in skušajo prakso že vrsto let izkoreniniti ali vsaj predrugačiti. Globalni sever zlahka označi FGM kot brutalno prakso in obsoja nasilje, vendar za tiste, ki prakso izvajajo, ta ni vredna moralnega obsojanja. Namesto tega gre za tisočletja star kulturno podprt obred, ki je za mlade ženske nujen obred prehoda (rite de passage). Deklico obrežejo, da bi bila bolj čista, bolj dragocena in bolj privlačna za bodočega moža. Obrežejo jo, da bi vedela, kaj pomeni biti ženska. Ta prehod naj bi dekle očistil, jo povzdignil v sakralno stanje ter naučil pravil in zakonov družbe. V pričujočem delu si tako v prvi vrsti z analizo dosedanje literature, ki prepleta področja religijskega rituala, bolečine in moralnega presojanja, skušamo odgovoriti na naslovno vprašanje: je ženska cirkumcizija verska obveznost ali »najokrutnejši rez«? Zares si na svoje raziskovalno vprašanje odgovorim z novim vprašanjem, ki služi kot lakmusov papir in se mi zdi ključno, da si ga vsak udeleženec rituala, ki vključuje telo, zastavi: Ali mi ta obred bolj pomaga kot škoduje?

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: obrezovanje, obredi iniciacije, religiozna izkušnja, klitoridektomija, (ne)prostovoljna bolečina, telo in nadzor
• Work type: Bachelor thesis/paper
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Year: 2024
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-154558
• Publication date in RUL: 21.02.2024

Secondary language

• Language: English
• Title: Female Circumcision: a religious obligation or the "cruellest cut"?

Abstract

The undergraduate thesis deals with the issue of female genital mutilation (FGM), the ritual partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons, which can cause severe bleeding, infections, infertility and even death. It is a misconception that FGM is outdated or irrelevant in today's society, on the contrary - according to the WHO (2023), more than 200 million girls and women alive today in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where FGM is practised have been subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM). Due to the migration of African and some Asian migrants, FGM is also being integrated into the cultural space of the countries of the so-called »developed world«. Today, FGM is seen in the USA, Canada and many European countries, especially where there are large numbers of African immigrants who still follow the tradition, even though circumcision of women and girls is prohibited by law in some countries. The UN, UNICEF and WHO define FGM as a violation of human rights and have been trying for years to eradicate or at least outlaw the practice.It is easy for the Global North to label FGM as a brutal practice and to condemn violence, but for those who carry out the practice, it is not morally reprehensible. Instead, it is a millennia-old, culturally-supported rite of passage essential for young women. A girl is circumcised to be more chaste, more valuable and more attractive to her husband-to-be. She is circumcised so that she may know what it means to be a woman. This passage is meant to purify the girl, to elevate her to a sacred state and to teach her the rules and laws of her society. By analysing the literature to date, which intertwines the fields of religious ritual, pain and moral judgement, the present work seeks to answer the question of it's title: is female circumcision a religious obligation or "the cruellest cut"? In order to provide an answer to my research question, I propose a new question, which serves as a litmus test and which I consider crucial for every participant in a ritual involving the body to ask: Does this ritual help me more than harm me?

• Keywords: circumcision, rites of passage, religious experience, clitoridectomy, (in)voluntary pain, body and control