The idea of female circumcision, or female genital mutilation (FGM), as it is referred to by many, sets off waves of revulsion in Westerners and brings out the forces of women's liberation to fight for the rights of these poor women who are suffering this "barbaric" practice in Africa by so-called "unenlightened" tribes. Yet, few of those objecting to the practice really know anything about it, how it is performed or why, and how the women who undergo it really feel about it. Anthropologists are supposed to study different cultural and ethnic groups and report their findings, but many of them are now trying to moralize and change the ways of those they are supposed to be studying (Salomon, 1997, 364).
As Shweder points out, on the subject of FMG, though horrific stories have come out to the public about the unsanitary way the practice is performed, the untold numbers of women dying from the practice, the thousands of others mutilated and suffering infections and other medical problems for the rest of their lives, there is no scientific proof of these facts (Shweder, 2000, 213). He reports on a study by Obermeyer, a medical anthropologist and epidemiologist at Harvard University, who carried out an extensive review of the existing medical literature on FGM in Africa. Obermeyer found that by just applying the most basic scientific standards for research, such as sample size, the published observations did not support widespread medical complications following FGM, and that it was not incompatible with sexual enjoyment or reproduction. In fact, the practice is controlled by women, performed by women, and women gladly submit their daughters to the practice, rather than FMG being an effort by men to control women. There are considerable differences in the way it is performed, and the reasons for its practice. The vast majority of women who have undergone FMG have no regrets and believe it has made them more beautiful, their life...