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

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.

List of contents

Introduction: Rethinking the History of Female Circumcision and Clitoridectomy in the United States
Women, Masturbation, and Clitoral Surgery, 1862-1945
Children, Masturbation, and Clitoral Surgery since 1890
Female Sexual Degeneracy and the Enlarged Clitoris, 1850-1941
Female Circumcision to Promote Clitoral Orgasm, 1890-1945
Female Circumcision as Sexual Enhancement Therapy during the Era of the Vaginal Orgasm, 1940-66
Female Circumcision and the Divisive Issue of Female Clitoral Sexual Pleasure Go Public, 1966-89
James Burt and the Surgery of Love, 1966-89
Conclusion: Genital Geographies
Appendix: The Clitoris in Anatomy and Gynecology Texts
Notes
Bibliography
Index

About the author

SARAH B. M. RODRIGUEZ is a lecturer in Medical Humanities and Bioethics and in Global Health Studies at Northwestern University.

Product details

• Authors: Sarah B M Webber Rodriguez, Sarah B. Rodriguez, Sarah B. (Royalty Account) Rodriguez, Sarah B. M. Webber Rodriguez, Sarah B. M. Webber (Royalty Account) Rodriguez
• Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 15.10.2014
• EAN: 9781580464987
• ISBN: 978-1-58046-498-7
• No. of pages: 292
• Dimensions: 159 mm x 236 mm x 25 mm
• Weight: 608 g
• Series: Rochester Studies in Medical History; Rochester Studies in Medical History; Rochester Studies in Medical H
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Medicine > Non-clinical medicine; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Sociological theories