Tammary Esho

Sex After the Cut: the Psycho-sexual Consequences of Genital Cutting Amongst Maasai Women Tammary Esho

The practice of Female Genital Cutting (FGC) continues to be practiced in many countries of the world and especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. This work revisits the ongoing debate on FGC particularly as it relates to female sexual functioning. It reveals how the practice as a procedure involving partial or total cutting of female external genitalia as a culturally sanctioned maturation ritual affects women's capacity for self-actualization in matters pertaining to sexuality and sexual function. This study reveals that FGC amongst the Maasai women is experienced as a maturation ritual into womanhood. Issues of femininity, identity, sexuality and marriageability are brought out. This research reveals that sexual function is contingent upon a broader spectrum of factors some of which are external to the body and mind. Subsequently, this work thus suggests that it is crucial to understand cultural discourses surrounding the practice of FGC, in order to find ways to hasten positive changes toward its abandonment among practicing communities. These discourses are also influenced by modern cultural changes representing an amalgamation of such thus providing an opportunity for change.