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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), customary female genital modification practices common in parts of Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and the Middle East are inherently patriarchal: they reflect deep-rooted inequality between the sexes characterized by male dominance and constitute an extreme form of discrimination against women. However, scholars have noted that while many societies have genital modification rites only for boys, with no equivalent rite for girls, the inverse does not hold. Rather, almost all societies that practice ritual female genital modification also practice ritual male genital modification, often for comparable reasons on children of similar ages, with the female rites led by women and the male rites led by men. In contrast, then, to the situation for boys in various cultures, girls are not singled out for genital modification on account of their sex or gender; nor do the social meanings of the female rites necessarily reflect a lower status. In some cases, the women’s rite serves to promote female within-sex bonding and network building—as the men’s rite typically does for males—thereby counterbalancing gendered asymmetries in political power and weakening male dominance in certain spheres. In such cases, and to that extent, the female rites can be described as counter-patriarchal. Selective efforts to discourage female genital modifications may thus inadvertently undermine women-centered communal networks while leaving male bonding rites intact. Scholars and activists should not rely on misleading generalizations from the WHO about the relationship between genital cutting and the social positioning of women as compared to men. To illustrate the complexity of this relationship, we compare patterns of practice across contemporary societies while also highlighting anthropological data regarding pre-industrial societies. Regarding the latter, we find no association between the presence of a female initiation rite and a key aspect of patriarchy as it is classically understood, namely, social endorsement of a gendered double-standard regarding premarital sexual activity. We situate this finding within the broader literature and discuss potential implications.

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FGM/C prevention strategies can be effective when there is enough time and variety of approaches to create deeper community penetration of messages through discussions. This presentation documents involvements of diverse actors at the local, regional, and Sudanese national level; reports on results of combinations of health/medical, rights, religious, and popular culture approaches; and details long-term ethnographic case observations in one community in Gezira state. These findings assess the effectiveness of simultaneous activities: large-scale popular culture, media, and linguistic efforts (e.g. the “saleema” terminology and imagery), multi-sectoral training and monitoring (for midwives, religious shaykhs, educators, etc.), activist work, legal initiatives, and inter-community and urban contacts and travel. Although international organizations want specific, cost-effective strategies that can be evaluated, these Sudanese cases demonstrate that less intensive, multi-faceted approaches have been effective in shifting local social norms within existing social structures.