Based on the beliefs that compromise was impossible (because Somali culture was deeplytraditional and resistant to change) and that adoption of the prepotomy represented continu-ance and not adaptation, opponents concluded that the physicians were capitulating to insteadof compromising with Somali culture.
I think this perfectly shows the reified view in relation to culture, the Somali culture.
The procedure would be performed on girls 11and older who signed a consent form after being interviewed separately from their parentsto ascertain their understanding of and desire for the procedure
In my opinion 11 is not old enough to give consent, however, from what I am reading it seems like the procedure overall was primarily to honor culture, as the girls would be given a topical anesthetic and there would be little to no scarring.
Economically and politically powerful nation-states penal-ize less powerful nation-states who do not work to eradicate“harmful traditional practices”(Boyle 2002; Merry 2006), wars and other aggressive interventions are justified with refer-ences to backward, barbaric, and evil cultures (Abu-Lughod 2002; Cooke 2002; Stabile andKumar 2005), and cultural practices, like veiling, are banned on the premise that they areincompatible with a“neutral”public sphere (Bloul 1994; Dustin and Phillips 2008; Mushaben2005)
I definitely understand what the author is attempting to prove, however, I think it must be said that we do live within the United States. Having said that...maybe taking a dynamic view of culture...in the US we have certain rules and laws, and the Somali women are not in Somalia where the female genital cutting is accepted and encouraged. Their daughters are in fact growing up in the United States and may choose to adopt and combine cultures. The mothers are essentially making this cultural choice for their daughters, yet the daughters are essentially growing up in a combined culture, which is unavoidable, and the American culture values the daughter's right to choose. Even if the daughters are supposed to give consent first...is it forced in any way by the wishes of the mother and are the daughters old enough to be able to make an informed decision?
To reify culture is to:(1) presume that cultural groups have nonambiguous boundaries and nonoverlapping mem-berships (Benhabib 2002; Gupta and Ferguson 1992; Narayan 1997, 2000); (2) essentializecultural content as unchanging, internally coherent, and universally embraced (Abu-Lughod1991; Anthias 2002; Parekh 1995; Rudy 2000); and (3) attribute causal power to culture suchthat it is“superautonomous”relative to the autonomy of its members (Calmore 1992:2185;see also Appadurai 1988; Benhabib 2002; Phillips 2007)
To reify culture is to: (1) presume that cultural group have clear boundaries and members that do not belong to any other culture; (2) the most important cultural values are unchanging, come from within, and are embraced by all members; and (3) relates the effects of the culture to all members as a whole instead of to the members individually.
adoption of the alternative procedurewould be a testament to Somali cultural flexibility and their own respect for cultural differences.
Now I understand what was meant by compromising and accommodating being essential to multicultural democracies. Trying to find a compromise with law and culture can be quite difficult and unsettling for all parties.I say law because when I read this sentence that is what popped into my head...since FGM is illegal in the United States, the compromise was a way to try and honor the Somali tradition legally.
the reified model of cul-ture also shapes our perception of acculturation, with serious consequences for our ability tomanage the compromise and accommodation essential to multicultural democracies.
If we are taking acculturation into perspective, when a person or group of people are essentially assimilating into the more dominant culture, I can imagine it would be gravely difficult for people within the dominant culture to be compromising or accommodating.
a reified model,
I had to look this one up! Reify is to make (something abstract) more concrete or real. So it seems that a reified model in relation to culture would be taking the characteristics that are not abstract about culture and applying them in a model to explain culture more clearly. Also, it could be taking the hidden or assumed factors of a culture and putting them into words to explain them. Any other ideas?
Culture itself is often held accountable for the perpetuation of thesepractices, alongside or instead of individuals
While culture is held accountable for these and many other practices, how many of 'us', including me, actually stop to think about certain cultural practices that we may have? Is it general practice to accept certain things because they are our culture and we were raised with them, or do we stop to think about HOW they became our culture?