Body, Migration, Re/constructive Surgeries

Bringing together an international range of case studies and interviews with individuals who have had genital re/construction, Body, Migration, Re/constructive Surgeries explores the socio-cultural meanings of clitoral re/construction following female genital cutting (FGC), hymen reconstruction, trans and intersex bodily interventions; and cosmetic surgery. Drawing critical attention to how decisions around such surgeries are affected by social, economic and regulatory contexts that change over time and across spaces, it raises questions such as: - How are bodies genderized through surgical interventions? - How do such interventions express cultural context? - How do women who have experienced female genital cutting respond to opportunities for clitoral reconstruction? - How do female-to-male (FtM) trans people decide on how and where to undertake body modifications? - What roles do cultural expectations and official regulations play in how people decide to have their bodies modified? Suggesting that conventional gender binaries are no longer adequate to understanding the quest for bodily interventions, this insightful volume seeks to give a greater voice to those engaged in gender body modification. It will appeal to students and postdoctoral researchers interested in fields such as Gender Studies, Social Studies, Sexuality Studies and Cultural Studies.

Gabriele Griffin is Professor of Gender Research at Uppsala University, Sweden. Malin Jordal is a Researcher at Centre for Gender Research, Uppsala University, Sweden.

Introduction Gabriele Griffin and Malin Jordal Part 1: Understanding female genital cutting and genital reconstructive surgery 1. Psychosexual health after female genital mutilation/cutting and clitoral reconstruction: what does the evidence say? Jasmine Abdulcadir 2. An analytic review of the literature on female genital circumcision/mutilation/cutting (FGC): the Möbius strip of body and society for women with FGC Gillian Einstein, Danielle Jacobson and Ju Eun Justina Lee 3. Multidisciplinary care for women affected by female genital mutilation/cutting: findings from Belgium Els Leye 4. Resistance to reconstruction: the cultural weight of virginity, virility and male sexual pleasure R. Elise B. Johansen Part 2: Routes to reconstruction: desiring surgery 5. The meaning of clitoral reconstruction (CR) and female genital cutting among immigrant women asking for CR surgery in Sweden Malin Jordal 6. The need for clitoral reconstruction: engaged bodies and committed medicine Michela Villani 7. Circumcising the mind, reconstructing the body: contextualizing genital reconstructive surgery in Burkina Faso Margaret Nyarango and Gabriele Griffin 8. 'If you can afford it, you can do it': deliberations of people in Burkina Faso on clitoral reconstruction after female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) Elena Jirovsky Part 3: (Re)constructive surgery: dilemmas and negotiations 9. Hymen reconstruction surgery in Jordan: sexual politics and the economy of virginity Ebtihal Mahadeen 10. Hymen reconstruction as pragmatic empowerment? Results of a qualitative study from Tunisia Verina Wild, Hinda Poulin, Christopher W. McDougall, Andrea Stöckl and Nikola Biller-Andorno 11. Vagina dialogues: theorizing the 'designer vagina' Ruth Holliday 12. Routes to gender-affirming surgery: navigation and negotiation in times of biomedicalization Iwo Nord 13. What constitutes an in/significant organ? The vicissitudes of juridical and medical decision-making regarding genital surgery for intersex and trans people in Sweden Erika Alm Part 4: Thinking otherwise: affect, ethics and different futures 14. Facing uneasiness in feminist research: the case of female genital cutting Kathy Davis 15. Beyond comparision: 'African' female genital cutting and 'western' body modifications Carolyn Pedwell 16. Before the cut: rethinking genital identity Margrit Shildrick and Marie-Louise Holm