Wafula Yenjela: Shame and Circumcision in Africa
Die vielen Parallelen zwischen dem angeblich völlig Unvergleichlichen
Male and female circumcision as practiced in Africa provide a rich source for
examining shame. In both cases, the ritual is central to social identity among
communities that practice either both male and female circumcision or male
circumcision alone. These circumcising cultures require sacrifice from male and
female members, and expectations are sometimes trespassed to non-members.
Furthermore, participating communities ratify only traditionally regimented
procedures of the rite, thereby disqualifying modified forms of circumcision
such as medical circumcision. This is consistent with a culture’s aspiration for
authenticity, uniqueness, and difference, which is enforced through closed sym-
bolic codes from which power is derived and collectively established. Members
of a cultural group who fail to meet established standards are ostracized. This
ostracization is what generates shame among the victims of such cultures. The
gendered experiences of shame in African, circumcising cultures is manifested
through power dynamics.
Like female circumcision, male circumcision had decol-
onizing power as circumcised young men were culturally tutored to see them-
selves as superior to the colonizer who, in some cases, was uncircumcised. But
the shame of circumcision arose from the ritual’s unrealized promises. Whereas
the ritual promised political power and dominance over many social issues, glo-
balization would establish other parameters for success in all spheres of life. This
meant that some men from non-circumcising cultures would wield political
power and rule over the circumcised. In retaliation, the traditionally circum-
cised would aggressively shame the uncircumcised, as well as those circumcised
in hospital. This, indeed, can be read as a futile quest for lost traditional power.