Genital Cutting
The Past and Present of a Polythetic Category
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4904616 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Harriet D Lyons (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2007 |
| Volume | 53 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 2-17 |
| Publication date | 2007-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Africa Today (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0001-9887 • E-ISSN: 1527-1978 |
| Publisher | Indiana University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.2979/aft.2007.53.4.2 |
| OpenAlex | W2009504114 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 31 |
In 1975, Rodney Needham suggested that some phenomena encountered by anthropologists, like certain kinds of descent systems, might be best understood as polythetic classes—categories whose members bear overlapping family resemblances to each other, as well as to members of other classes, but don't exhibit the sort of single and exclusive defining feature which conventional monothetic definitions assumed. In 1981, I suggested that it would be useful for accuracy and cross-cultural understanding to view female genital cutting as a polythetic class. This paper examines polythetic analyses of female genital cutting in the literature which has emerged since 1981, arguing that such approaches have improved our understanding, but have not resolved the problems inherent in cross-cultural dialogue. I explore the possibility that the multiplicity of significations embodied in female genital cutting may be indicative of an overdetermined category, whose complexity masks disturbing conflicts
Biology · Sex organ · Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting Issues · Genital Health and Disease · Law in Society and Culture
Engaging Cultural Differences
Symbolic wounds
The interpretation of dreams.
The Female Circumcision Controversy
Rabelais and his world
Recapturing anthropology
Discipline and Punish
The Forest of Symbols
Polythetic Classification
Wombs and Alien Spirits
Anthropologists, moralities, and relativities
The Circumcision of Women
Warrior Marks
The Drums of Affliction
Colonial Inscriptions
Feminism, Anthropology and the Politics of Excision in Mali
Rethinking female circumcision
Genital Cutting and Western Discourses on Sexuality
The Health Consequences of Female Circumcision
Female Genital Cutting
Female Genital Surgeries
The Cultural Debate over Female Circumcision
"Searching for "Voices
A Cross-Cultural Study of Female Initiation Rites
More on Higham's Study of Bovine Bones
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,38 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2026 (14) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |