Centering Lived Experiences and Cultural Scripts: A Sociological Understanding of Male Genital Cutting in America

• In Event: 30611 - Regular Session on Gender: Femininities and Masculinities

Abstract

Male genital cutting (MGC) is the most common surgery performed on minors in the United States, yet it remains largely understudied as a sociocultural phenomenon. Most analyses have focused on the penis itself as a site for pleasure or disease, while the lived experiences of those who have been circumcised are largely missing. This study is aimed at better understanding how people are impacted by this American cultural practice and how they aim to manage that impact when it is negative. I find support for the claims of individuals who engage in foreskin restoration, which I theorize is an attempt to change the gendered ways that an individual makes sense of interpersonal and institutional interactions, in alignment with Connell’s (2012) articulation of a relational theory of gender. From a practical perspective, the findings of this study support that there are negative impacts from MGC for some individuals that have not been fully investigated by proponents of the surgery. From a theoretical perspective, this study highlights that not all babies who are assigned male at birth grow into adults who are interested in engaging in hegemonic masculinity, and that scholars who engage with gender theory must be careful to avoid being guided by the same essentialist logics we aim to critique.
KEYWORDS: sex/gender and sexuality, male genital cutting, foreskin restoration, relational theory, and embodiment

Author

• Lacey Wood, University of California-Irvine