From the War on Terror to the Moral Crusade Against Female Genital Mutilation: Anti-Muslim Racism and Femonationalism in the United States

Abstract

This article investigates the recent flurry of state-level legislation regarding female genital mutilation (FGM), which occurred in the aftermath of the first federal criminal court case of FGM in 2017. Drawing on publicly available material, it shows how this court case, which involved a group of Muslims of Indian heritage, elicited a moral crusade against FGM, largely led by Republican lawmakers, and spurred a resurgence of anti-Muslim discourses, which first came to the fore after 9/11 to legitimate the “war on terror.” Although FGM is not an Islamic practice and is also carried out by non-Muslim groups, the author concludes that femonationalism and anti-Muslim racism are important analytical lens for understanding the recent history of legislative efforts to combat FGM in the U.S.

Keywords

female genital mutilation femonationalism anti-Muslim racism war on terror Republican United States

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abu–Lughod

(2013). Do Muslim women need saving? Harvard University Press.

AHA Foundation. (2019). Representative Heather Sirocki of Maine and why the bill against female genital mutilation keeps being shot down in her state . Retrieved September 8, 2020, from https://www.theahafoundation.org/representative-heather-sirocki-of-maine-and-why-the-bill-against-female-genital-mutilation-keeps-being-shot-down-in-her-state/

AHA Foundation. (n.d.). FGM legislation by state . Retrieved August 23, 2020, from https://www.theahafoundation.org/female-genital-mutilation/fgm-legislation-by-state/

Al-Saji

(2010). The racialization of Muslim veils: A philosophical analysis. Philosophy & Social Criticism, 36(8), 875–902. https://doi.org/10.1177/0191453710375589

Bader

(2019). Picturing female circumcision and female genital cosmetic surgery: A visual framing analysis of Swiss newspapers, 1983-2015. Feminist Media Studies, 19(8), 1159–1177. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2018.1560348

Bader

(2022). Teaching against femonationalism: The case of the ban on female genital mutilation in the United States and Switzerland. In Sifaki

Loncarevic

Quinan

(Eds.), Homonationalism, femonationalism and ablenationalism. Critical pedagogies contextualised (pp. 104–122). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/b22813

Bader

Mottier

(2020). Femonationalism and populist politics: The case of the Swiss ban on female genital mutilation. Nations and Nationalism, 26(3), 644–659. https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12615

Balibar

(1991). Is there a ‘neo-racism’? In Balibar

Wallerstein

(Eds.), Race, nation, class: Ambiguous identities (pp. 17–28). Verso.

Beety

V. E.

(2007). Reframing asylum standards for mutilated women. Journal of Gender, Race & Justice, 11(2), 239–270.

10.

Belmaker

R. H.

(2012). Successful cultural change: The example of female circumcision among Israeli Bedouins and Israeli Jews from Ethiopia. Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences, 49(3), 178–183.

11.

Berry

(2003). The symbolic use of Afghan women in the war on terror. Humboldt Journal of Social Relations, 27(2), 137–160.

12.

Bilge

(2010). Beyond subordination vs. resistance: An intersectional approach to the agency of veiled Muslim women. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 31(1), 9–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/07256860903477662

13.

Bischoff

L. A.

(2017, October 15). Ohio may ban female genital mutilation; Senator wants to outlaw procedure for girls under 18. Dayton Daily News.

14.

Bischoff

L. A.

(2018, November 29). Ohio may ban female genital mutilation. Dayton Daily News.

15.

Black

R. H.

(n.d.). Immigration. Retrieved September 6, 2020, from http://www.senatorblack.com/Issues/immigration/

16.

Brière

E. A.

(2005). Confronting the Western Gaze. In Nnaemeka

(Ed.), Female circumcision and the politics of knowledge: African women in imperialist discourses (pp. 165–180). Praeger.

17.

Brunner

Hrzán

(2009). Female suicide bombing – female genital cutting. Wissen über “die ganz andere Andere” im Spannungsfeld von physischer, politischer und epistemischer Gewalt. Femina Politica, 18(2), 95–105.

18.

Dershowitz

(2017, June 12). The law in a female genital cutting case; letter. The New York Times.

19.

Earp

(2020). Why was the U.S. ban on female genital mutilation ruled unconstitutional, and what does this have to do with male circumcision? Ethics, Medicine & Public Health, 15, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jemep.2020.100533

20.

El-Tayeb

(2011). European others: Queering ethnicity in postnational Europe. University of Minnesota Press. https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/european-others

21.

Farris

S. R.

(2017). In the name of women’s rights: The rise of femonationalism. Duke University Press.

22.

Gerstein

(2017, April 28). State may outlaw procedure. The Detroit News.

23.

Grewal

(1996). Home and harem: Nation, gender, empire, and the cultures of travel. Duke University Press.

24.

Grisaru

Lezer

Belmaker

R. H.

(1997). Ritual female genital surgery among Ethiopian Jews. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 26(2), 211–215. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1024562512475

25.

Harries

(2007). Butterflies & barbarians: Swiss missionaries & systems of knowledge in South-East Africa. James Currey.

26.

Hauslohner

(2017a, May 30). Female genital mutilation cases set off flurry of state bills. The Washington Post.

27.

Hauslohner

(2017b, June 6). Va. mosque condemns imam over comments. The Washington Post.

28.

Hirschkind

Mahmood

(2002). Feminism, the Taliban, and politics of counter-insurgency. Anthropological Quarterly, 75(2), 339–354.

29.

Hogan

Haltinner

(2015). Floods, invaders, and parasites: Immigration threat narratives and right-wing populism in the USA, UK and Australia. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 36(5), 520–543. https://doi.org/10.1080/07256868.2015.1072907

30.

Horsch

(2019, January 31). NC leaders want to ban genital mutilation. ‘It’s child abuse when it’s a young girl.’ The News & Observer.

31.

Hout

Maggio

(2020). Immigration, race, and political polarization. SocArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/p7q2w

32.

Johnsdotter

(2018). Girls and boys as victims: Asymmetries and dynamics in European public discourses on genital modifications in children. In Fusaschi

Cavatorta

(Eds.), FGM/C: From medicine to critical anthropology (pp. 33–49). Meti Edizioni.

33.

Johnsdotter

Essén

(2016). Cultural change after migration: Circumcision of girls in western migrant communities. Best Practice & Research Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 32(Supplement C), 15–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2015.10.012

34.

Johnsdotter

Mestre i Mestre

(2015). Female genital mutilation in Europe: An analysis of court cases. European Commission.

35.

Kaltenhauser

C. E.

(2019). Evaluating gendered responses to Title IX Changes on College Campuses (Publication Number Honors Undergraduate Theses. 589). University of Central Florida.

36.

Karnowski

(2018). Minnesota lawmaker plans fresh push against female genital mutilation. St. Paul Pioneer Press.

37.

Kaya

(2012). Geschlecht im Schweizer Migrationsdiskurs. Die postkoloniale Konstruction der ‘unterdrückten Muslimin’ und die rassistische Verwendung des Schleiers. In Purtschert

Lüthi

Falk

(Eds.), Postkoloniale Schweiz. Formen und Folgen eines Kolonialismus ohne Kolonien (pp. 117–132). Transcript Verlag.

38.

Koumpilova

Mahamud

(2017). Immigrants raise concerns over bill on genital cutting. Star Tribune.

39.

Lépinard

(2020). Feminist trouble: intersectional politics in post-secular times. Oxford University Press.

40.

Mayda

A. M.

Peri

Steingress

(2016). Immigration to the U.S.: A problem for the Republicans or the Democrats? Working Paper 21941. National Bureau of Economic Research.

41.

McKay

(2019, February 19). Minnesota lawmaker’s push for tougher female genital mutilation law faces opposition. Fox News.

42.

Mepschen

Duyvendak

J. W.

Tonkens

E. H.

(2010). Sexual politics, orientalism and multicultural citizenship in the Netherlands. Sociology, 44(5), 962–979. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038510375740

43.

Mona

(2014). Zum neuen Straftatbestand der Verstümmelung weiblicher Genitalien (VwG). In Hausammann

Kälin

(Eds.), Geschlechtergleichstellung im Migrationskontext: Bevormundung oder Emanzipation (pp. 115–153). Weblaw.

44.

Nijboer

Van der Aa

Buruma

(2010). Strafrechtelijke opsporing en vervolging van vrouwelijke genitale verminking. De Franse praktijk. European Institute for Gender equality/EIGE.

45.

O’brien

(2019, February 6). Excision: « En France, il y a eu des procès et on est passé à autre chose». Madame Figaro. Retrieved September 8, 2020, from https://madame.lefigaro.fr/societe/excision-mutiliation-genitale-interview-linda-weil-curiel-en-france-des-proces-on-est-passe-a-autre-chose-060219-163488

46.

Omar

(2018, March 21). FGM is outlawed in every country, the US has one of the most aggressive drivers advanced laws in the books already [Twitter]. https://twitter.com/IlhanMN/status/976314841211260928

47.

Oosting

(2017a, June 9). House bill takes aim at female mutilation. The Detroit News.

48.

Oosting

(2017b, May 18). Senate toughens female mutilation penalties. The Detroit News.

49.

Oosting

(2017c, May 3). Tougher Michigan penalties advance; Senate panel OKs law; expert calls state mutilation hot spot. The Detroit News.

50.

Puar

J. K.

(2007). Terrorist assemblages: Homonationalism in queer times. Duke University Press.

51.

Pulliam Bailey

(2017, June 10). Imam quits Va. mosque in protest of colleague. The Washington Post.

52.

Razack

S. H.

(1998). Looking White people in the eye: Gender, race, and culture in courtrooms and classrooms. University of Toronto Press.

53.

Razack

S. H.

(2008). Casting out: The eviction of Muslims from Western law and politics. University of Toronto Press.

54.

Rich

(2014). ‘Saving’ Muslim women: Feminism, US policy and the war on terror. International Affairs Review, 2, 1–6.

55.

Riley

R. L.

(2013). Depicting the veil: Transnational sexism and the war on terror. Zed Books.

56.

Scott

J. W.

(2012). The vexed relationship of emancipation and equality. History of the Present, 2(2), 148–168. https://doi.org/10.5406/historypresent.2.2.0148

57.

Shepherd

(2018, February 6). Why Maine is still fighting about female genital mutilation. Bangor Daily News. https://www.bangordailynews.com/2018/02/06/news/why-maine-is-still-fighting-about-female-genital-mutilation/

58.

Snell

(2017, April 18). Doctor denies mutilating girls’ genitalia; area suspect says religious procedure isn’t harmful. The Detroit News.

59.

Snell

(2018, November 21). Mutilation charges dismissed; but federal judge leaves intact conspiracy, obstruction counts against defendants tied to sect. The Detroit News.

60.

Steffen

C. G.

(2011). Mutilating Khalid: The symbolic politics of female genital cutting. Red Sea Press.

61.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch. (2019, February 5). Nation Briefs. St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

62.

Thoet

(2017, February 22). Virginia joins global movement to criminalize female circumcision. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/virginia-joins-global-movement-criminalize-female-circumcision

63.

UDC Suisse. (2020). Non au mariage pour tous – cette institution doit être réservée à un homme et une femme. Retrieved June 14, 2021 from https://www.udc.ch/actualites/articles/communiques-de-presse/non-au-mariage-pour-tous-cette-institution-doit-etre-reservee-a-un-homme-et-une-femme/

64.

UNICEF. (2013). Female genital mutilation/cutting: A statistical overview and exploration of the dynamics of change. UNICEF.

65.

Victor

(2017, March 14). Father imprisoned for genital cutting is deported to Ethiopia. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/14/us/father-imprisoned-for-genital-cutting-is-deported-to-ethiopia.html

66.

Vogt

Efferson

Fehr

(2017). The risk of female genital cutting in Europe: Comparing immigrant attitudes toward uncut girls with attitudes in a practicing country. SSM-Population Health, 3, 283–293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2017.02.002

67.

Ward

(2017, May 3). Texas Senate approves crackdown on female genital mutilation. Houston Chronicle.

68.

WHO. (2008). Eliminating female genital mutilation. World Health Organization.

69.

WHO. (2016). WHO guidelines on the management of health complications from female genital mutilation. World Health Organization.

70.

Wolfreys

(2017). Republic of Islamophobia: The rise of respectable racism in France. Oxford University Press.

71.

Yegenoglu

(1998). Colonial fantasies: Towards a feminist reading of orientalism. Cambridge University Press.

72.

Yılmaz

(2015). From immigrant worker to Muslim immigrant: Challenges for feminism. European Journal of Women’s Studies, 22(1), 37–52. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350506814532803

73.

Young

I. M.

(2006). Responsibility and global justice: A social connection model. Social Philosophy and Policy, 23(1), 102–130. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0265052506060043