THE GEOGRAPHY OF GENITAL MUTILATIONS.

The Geography of Genital Mutilations.

Genital mutilations elicit severe pain and terror in infants and children
and are often very dangerous to health.

Genital mutilations are among the most strongly defended, or defended against, of all cultural practices.

 

This paper summarizes portions of a prior study of the geographical aspects of human behavior among subsistence-level aboriginal peoples. (DeMeo, 1986, 1988).

 

The focus here will specifically be on the phenomenon of male genital mutilations.

 

Genital mutilations are often classified as a "cultural practice", but there is growing evidence that this benign-sounding label merely serves to dismiss or evade the painful and contractive effects the mutilations have upon the psyche and soma of the child.

 

Genital mutilations elicit severe pain and terror in infants and children and are often very dangerous to health, which raises important questions how they could have gotten started in the first instance.

 

People who do not engage in such practices view them almost always with horror and disbelief, while people who do them often have difficulty imagining life without the practice.

 

Oftentimes, the presence or the absence of the rites are seen as important requirements for the selection of a marriageable partner, and very powerful emotions focus upon them.

 

Genital mutilations are among the most strongly defended, or defended against, of all cultural practices.

 

Among the various theories developed to account for the mutilations, their geographical distribution has only rarely been discussed. (DeMeo 1986).

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 http://www.noharmm.org/geography.htm 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

.