What’s in a Word? Mutilation and Framing Strategies in the Inactivist Movement

• In Event: 336 - Section on Body and Embodiment Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 06. Bodily Representations

Abstract

In this paper, I explore layers of meaning in the Intactivist deployment of the “mutilation” frame. I analyze materials produced by Intactivist organizations, contextualizing them with segments of interviews with an Intactivist. I begin by establishing the importance of framing within social movement literature. I then turn to Intactivist promotional materials, for evidence of the “mutilation” frame, starting with the definitional equating of “MGM” and “FGM,” followed by the moral and legal equating of the practices. Finally, I expose the gendered dynamics of this equation, which, I argue, ultimately contributes to a Men’s Rights vision of reality, where men’s power is denied and their subjugation (through circumcision) is taken as evidence of the societal devaluation of men and masculinity.

Author

• Amanda Kennedy