At the intersection of place, gender, and ethnicity: changes in female circumcision among Kenyan Maasai

Abstract

Using an ethnographic approach that combines participant observation and semi-structured in-depth interviews, this study describes ongoing changes in the social norm and practice of female circumcision among the Maasai community of Loita Hills, Kenya. This article highlights the importance of place in shaping social relations, by showing how in Loita’s negotiations around female circumcision attention to the intersection of gender, culture, ethnicity and place – and in particular the ongoing effects of colonialism – is pivotal to successful efforts to change the tradition. By taking into account the effects of colonialism in Loita, as well as Maasai’s position at the margins of decision-making on female circumcision, the nongovernmental organisation SAFE Maa developed a successful approach to challenge the social norm on female circumcision. The four key elements of this approach – non-judgemental, community-led, intersectional, and showcasing wider change – can inspire other actors working on female circumcision. This research responds to the paucity of attention to place in intersectional studies and contributes to the growing body of literature that considers female genital cutting as a social norm.

Keywords:

• Culture
• East Africa
• female circumcision
• intersectionality
• Maasai

Acknowledgements

I would like to warmly thank the SAFE Maa team and in particular Amos Leuka, Sarah Tenoi, Nick Reding and Alice Crookenden; Scholastica Ene Kukutia; John Ole Nakuyo; Orchid Project; honourable Linah J.B. Kilimo. I am indebted to the people of Olmesutie and Nkosesia, for whose hospitality, friendship, and willingness to participate in my research I will always be grateful. I am grateful for the helpful feedback I received from Dr Catherine Dolan, Dr Colette Harris, and two anonymous reviewers.

Disclosure statement

This research is part of my PhD Project in Anthropology and Sociology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London and was carried out in affiliation with the Technical University of Kenya. My research was generously supported by the SOAS Research Studentship.

Notes

1 S.A.F.E. (Sponsored Arts for Education) has been working in Kenya since 2002, using the performing arts and follow up community programmes to provide education and social change. SAFE Maa is the Maasai team of S.A.F.E. and addresses HIV and FGC in the Loita Hills.

2 In the context of extensive focus ion female circumcision, it is remarkable that male circumcision remains largely uncontested. Community members in Loita said that this is because male circumcision instead of negative effects, has the benefit of reducing the chance of HIV infection. Their response reflects the Kenyan and also international discourse that constructs FGC as inherently harmful versus male circumcision as inherently beneficial. This double standard has been challenged by scholars (i.a. Earp 2017).

3 Female genital cutting is not the only socio-cultural practice that is changing. Maasai are faced with extensive changes in the broader organisation of socio-cultural life. Other examples include increased access to formal education and its influence on the falling number of Ilmurran (Maasai warriors), the older age of marriage for girls, and a drop in the number of children herding livestock. Like with female circumcision, these changes take place against a backdrop of local encounters with national and international influences, fuelling fears of cultural erosion and ethnic marginalisation. Further research could explore said encounters.

4 Orchid Project is a London-based charity working to end FGC worldwide and a S.A.F.E. donor. Orchid Project partners with SAFE Maa to deliver knowledge sharing workshops on FGC abandonment.

5 Emanyata refers to the coming together of the community for the graduation of a certain age set from one life stage to the next. Every Maasai man moves through the boys emanyata, the Ilmurran emanyata, the junior elder emanyata, and finally the senior elder emanyata.

6 Ilmurran (singular: Ormurrani) are young, unmarried men who form the warriors of the Maasai.

7 Kiswahili adjective, meaning ‘traditional.’

8 Maa noun, meaning ‘tradition.’

9 Kiswahili adjective, meaning ‘modern.’

10 Readers could mistakenly understand the 29% score on ‘purity and virginity’ in Orchid Project’s survey as suggesting that both terms have a similar meaning and that Maasai circumcise girls to preserve virginity. This assumption reflects a discourse popularised by 1970s Western feminists that equates female circumcision with female sexual control (James 2002). While this equation is true for certain ethnic groups, it is less appropriate to understand female circumcision among Loitan Maasai. Virginity and sexual control were never mentioned as a reason for circumcision during my research and only 1% mentioned ‘sexual control’ in the survey by Orchid Project. Participants who mentioned ‘purity’ as reason for circumcision explained this to be the purifying of one’s blood through circumcision, rather than sexual purity or virginity, which are not expectations or requirements for Maasai boys or girls.

11 Church of Scotland, Memorandum prepared by the Kikuyu Mission Council on Female Circumcision, 1^st December 1931, CO 533/418/2 (page 4), The National Archives, Kew, United Kingdom.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hannelore Van Bavel

Hannelore Van Bavel holds a Master of Science in Sociology with major in Conflict and Development and a Master of Arts in Gender and Diversity. She is currently PhD Candidate in Anthropology and Sociology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.