Circumcision

This article reads Megan Lindholm's short story ‘Cut’ alongside Judith Butler's work on legal structures as an intervention into debates about the relationship between the body and the state. Focusing on issues relating to female genital cutting, I argue that Lindholm's narrative draws attention to the ways in which pre-political conceptions of gender undermine attempts to establish women's rights over their bodies through legislation. By challenging the distinction between female genital cutting and cosmetic surgery, ‘Cut’ compels us to reconsider the ways and the purposes for which we make use of the law. The second half of the article will consider the ways in which ‘Cut’, much like Butler, frames its response to these tensions in primarily individual terms. I argue that the valuing of individual over collective action risks making effective activism appear impossible and leaves both writers unable to explore crucial means of collective response to the issues to which they rightly and astutely draw attention. Finally I consider some of the possibilities for collective action arising from ‘Cut’ that resonate with successful activism in the real world, that are not fully explored in the text

Aesthetics · Collective action · Epistemology · Law and economics · Legislation · Media studies · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting Issues · Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies · Law · Law in Society and Culture

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