Female Circumcision and Clitoridectomy in the United States: A History of a Medical Treatment

ISBN-13: 9781580464987 Publisher: Boydell & Brewer, Limited Publication date: 10/15/2014 Series: Rochester Studies in Medical History , #29 Edition description: UK ed. Pages: 292 Product dimensions: 6.20(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.90(d) An engaging and surprising history of surgeries on the clitoris, revealing what the therapeutic use of female circumcision and clitoridectomy tells us about American medical ideas concerning the female body and female sexuality.From the late nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century, American physicians treated women and girls for masturbation by removing the clitoris (clitoridectomy) or clitoral hood (female circumcision). During this same time, and continuing to today, physicians also performed female circumcision to enable women to reach orgasm. Though used as treatment, paradoxically, for both a perceived excessive sexuality and a perceived lack of sexual responsiveness, these surgeries reflect a consistent medical conception of the clitoris a