St Cross Special Ethics Seminar: Against Legalizing Female 'Circumcision' of Minors
Defenders of male circumcision increasingly argue that female ‘circumcision’ (ritual cutting of the clitoral hood or labia) should be legally allowed in Western liberal democracies even when non-consensual. In a recent article, Richard Shweder (2021) gives perhaps the most persuasive articulation of this argument to have so far appeared in the literature. In my own work, I argue that no person should be subjected to medically unnecessary genital cutting of any kind without their own informed consent, regardless of the sex characteristics with which they were born or the religious or cultural background of their parents. Professor Shweder and I agree that Western law and policy on child genital cutting is currently beset with cultural, religious, and sex-based double-standards. We disagree about what should be done about this. In this talk, I argue that ‘legalizing’ childhood female genital cutting so as to bring it into line with current treatment of childhood male genital cutting is not an acceptable solution to these problems. Instead, all medically unnecessary genital cutting of non-consenting persons should be opposed equally on moral and legal grounds and discouraged by all appropriate means.
Date: 24 February 2022, 12:30 (Thursday, 6th week, Hilary 2022)
Venue: Zoom
Speaker: Dr Brian D Earp (University of Oxford)
Organising department: Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics
Organiser: Dr Doug McConnell (University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address: rachel.gaminiratne@philosophy.ox.ac.uk
Host: Dr Doug McConnell (University of Oxford)
Part of: New St Cross Special Ethics Seminar Series
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8If9ypKDSpGlIBYRfgQRng
Audience: Public
Editor: Rachel Gaminiratne