Female circumcision is the term I use to describe varied practices of customary modifications to the external vulva for religious and sociocultural reasons. All societies that practice customary female circumcision also practice customary male circumcision. Both female and male circumcision predate the Abrahamic religions – Judaism and Islam - that have canonized male circumcision in the creation of a male God and Patriarchy. However, the ageless practice of circumcision originated in Africa thousands of years ago before the birth of Christ, and was a notable religious tradition in the matriarchal empires of Nubia and ancient Egypt. From the mythologies of these early female centered religious traditions we see that circumcision is synonymous with creation, especially the creation of sex and gender in humans, their social world and physical environment.
I have been fascinated by female circumcision from the time I was initiated into the traditional women’s sodality that is called Bondo or Sande in Sierra Leone. This ceremony took place in December/January 1991-92. I was a young adult (22 years to be exact) and in my final year at George Washington University in Washington, DC. Although I was born and raised primarily in the US, I lived in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, from the time I was a baby until I was about five years old. I had already started nursery in Freetown at an international school that still exists today. Importantly, I saw the large celebrations and dancing of the Bondo women’s masquerades as an awe-inspiring aspect of seasonal life in both rural and urban areas of Sierra Leone. I mention in my writings about the culture shock of returning to a land I hadn’t visited for many, many years and experiencing the pain and trauma of a physical operation I hadn’t quite expected. But what surprised and fascinated me more was the positive aesthetic and sexual results of my surgery: In the immediate aftermath of my operation, I hadn’t expected to see beautification and I certainly hadn’t expected to enjoy sex or have an orgasm ever again. Because of my mostly gratifying personal and physical experience and the clear joy and celebration of Bondo women about their tradition, I had to take a step back and rethink everything my western upbringing had taught me about sex, gender and most of all, the clitoris.
The Phallus: So, this website is a culmination and amalgamation of over twenty-five years of anthropological enquiry as well as a critical review of the medical and health evidence, the feminist and human rights literature and catalogues of anti-FGM (female genital mutilation) campaign data. The natural scholar in me led to some astonishing findings, which prompted further clarifications and ultimately to uncover different models of the world, human body and female sexuality that finally began to make sense of my observations and experience. These pages reflect my attempt to dig deep, to ask the scary questions, to search and rid my own brain of preconceived western biological and feminist assumptions. I needed to break the zero-tolerance to FGM global campaign taboo and listen to the voices of marginalized others – both the narratives of the living and mythologies of the dead. In taking this journey, some of my critics have said that I offend my very own African sisters who see themselves as victims of violence and mutilation. I do not take this chastisement lightly: I’ve heard the horrific stories of FGM victims and survivors; I know their pain. I too shed my flesh and blood. But beyond the physical agony and psychological confusion some of us experienced, lays an entire universe of knowledge that I have been after. Our bodies are testament to thousands of years of buried truths.
My Kono name Sia refers to the ancient Egyptian/Nubian birth of “knowledge”, the first born of creation who was created by the blood of circumcision. My “secret” name Nyoko means the “Spirit speaks”. So, beyond the pain and beyond the blood is the true story of my own origins as a Kono woman, a Mande descendant and a practicing, believing Christian. It is the story of the linkages my ancestors shared with the ancient Nubians and Egyptians. It is the story of the Mande gift of knowledge, of creation, of circumcision. Like the Abrahamic religious traditions, I believe the Mande story of circumcision is not really or originally about Patriarchy but the creation of Matriarchy as prior to and giving birth to Patriarchy. It’s finally time to revisit Herstory.
Standing for Knowledge and Truth,
Fuambai Sia Ahmadu, PhD
Founder, SiA Inc.
www.fuambaisiaahmadu.com
www.siamagazine.com
www.awafc.org
I have been fascinated by female circumcision from the time I was initiated into the traditional women’s sodality that is called Bondo or Sande in Sierra Leone. This ceremony took place in December/January 1991-92. I was a young adult (22 years to be exact) and in my final year at George Washington University in Washington, DC. Although I was born and raised primarily in the US, I lived in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, from the time I was a baby until I was about five years old. I had already started nursery in Freetown at an international school that still exists today. Importantly, I saw the large celebrations and dancing of the Bondo women’s masquerades as an awe-inspiring aspect of seasonal life in both rural and urban areas of Sierra Leone. I mention in my writings about the culture shock of returning to a land I hadn’t visited for many, many years and experiencing the pain and trauma of a physical operation I hadn’t quite expected. But what surprised and fascinated me more was the positive aesthetic and sexual results of my surgery: In the immediate aftermath of my operation, I hadn’t expected to see beautification and I certainly hadn’t expected to enjoy sex or have an orgasm ever again. Because of my mostly gratifying personal and physical experience and the clear joy and celebration of Bondo women about their tradition, I had to take a step back and rethink everything my western upbringing had taught me about sex, gender and most of all, the clitoris.
The Phallus: So, this website is a culmination and amalgamation of over twenty-five years of anthropological enquiry as well as a critical review of the medical and health evidence, the feminist and human rights literature and catalogues of anti-FGM (female genital mutilation) campaign data. The natural scholar in me led to some astonishing findings, which prompted further clarifications and ultimately to uncover different models of the world, human body and female sexuality that finally began to make sense of my observations and experience. These pages reflect my attempt to dig deep, to ask the scary questions, to search and rid my own brain of preconceived western biological and feminist assumptions. I needed to break the zero-tolerance to FGM global campaign taboo and listen to the voices of marginalized others – both the narratives of the living and mythologies of the dead. In taking this journey, some of my critics have said that I offend my very own African sisters who see themselves as victims of violence and mutilation. I do not take this chastisement lightly: I’ve heard the horrific stories of FGM victims and survivors; I know their pain. I too shed my flesh and blood. But beyond the physical agony and psychological confusion some of us experienced, lays an entire universe of knowledge that I have been after. Our bodies are testament to thousands of years of buried truths.
My Kono name Sia refers to the ancient Egyptian/Nubian birth of “knowledge”, the first born of creation who was created by the blood of circumcision. My “secret” name Nyoko means the “Spirit speaks”. So, beyond the pain and beyond the blood is the true story of my own origins as a Kono woman, a Mande descendant and a practicing, believing Christian. It is the story of the linkages my ancestors shared with the ancient Nubians and Egyptians. It is the story of the Mande gift of knowledge, of creation, of circumcision. Like the Abrahamic religious traditions, I believe the Mande story of circumcision is not really or originally about Patriarchy but the creation of Matriarchy as prior to and giving birth to Patriarchy. It’s finally time to revisit Herstory.
Standing for Knowledge and Truth,
Fuambai Sia Ahmadu, PhD
Founder, SiA Inc.
www.fuambaisiaahmadu.com
www.siamagazine.com
www.awafc.org