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Postcolonial feminist body studies
- Date Issued:
- 2007
- Summary:
- In this thesis, I argue that all bodies are material-semiotic entities, produced by both natural and cultural processes. Western anti-FGM discourse is predicated upon the belief that the body must be kept in its "natural" or "pristine" state, and that any practice which violates the body's natural "perfection" is mutilation. Implied by this discourse is the false notion that Western bodies are given and left unaltered. By drawing comparisons between Western genital practices and non-Western genital practices, I undermine the ideology that erases the working of culture on Western bodies while highlighting the "mutilating" powers exercised on the bodies of Others. Current imperialist hegemony perpetuates the view of African women as passive victims of barbaric tradition in need of rescuing by Western liberated women. We must, instead, work toward theories that account for differences in experience and history, rather than those which posit universal understandings of patriarchy and domination.
Title: | Postcolonial feminist body studies: the case of female genital practices. |
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Name(s): |
Kennedy, Amanda Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College |
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Type of Resource: | text | |
Genre: | Thesis | |
Issuance: | multipart monograph | |
Date Issued: | 2007 | |
Publisher: | Florida Atlantic University | |
Physical Form: |
electronic electronic resource |
|
Extent: | vii, 67 leaves : ill. | |
Language(s): | English | |
Summary: | In this thesis, I argue that all bodies are material-semiotic entities, produced by both natural and cultural processes. Western anti-FGM discourse is predicated upon the belief that the body must be kept in its "natural" or "pristine" state, and that any practice which violates the body's natural "perfection" is mutilation. Implied by this discourse is the false notion that Western bodies are given and left unaltered. By drawing comparisons between Western genital practices and non-Western genital practices, I undermine the ideology that erases the working of culture on Western bodies while highlighting the "mutilating" powers exercised on the bodies of Others. Current imperialist hegemony perpetuates the view of African women as passive victims of barbaric tradition in need of rescuing by Western liberated women. We must, instead, work toward theories that account for differences in experience and history, rather than those which posit universal understandings of patriarchy and domination. | |
Identifier: | 314712569 (oclc), 11616 (digitool), FADT11616 (IID), fau:1348 (fedora) | |
Note(s): |
by Amanda Kennedy. Thesis (B.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, Honors College, 2007. Bibliography: leaves 63-67. Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2007. Mode of access: World Wide Web. |
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Subject(s): |
Feminist theory Postmodernism Female circumcision Feminism and science |
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Held by: | FBoU FAUER | |
Persistent Link to This Record: | http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/11616 | |
Use and Reproduction: | Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder. | |
Host Institution: | FAU |