DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49271#0212
150
C. G. and B. Z. Seligman
then looped up quite ineffectually by a girdle of woolen thread worn round the waist, and
the boy was supported away. During the whole of the operation the boy did not flinch,
though he was thoroughly exhausted by the end of it, and may perhaps have been some-
what blanched. Near the operator stood a paste of leaves said to be even more efficient
as a haemostatic than the carbonized goat’s hair, ready for use if bleeding persisted.
Writing of the Kababish, Mansfield Parkyns notes that the “mother takes the fore-
skin, which is sent to her, and wears it on the second toe of her right foot until it wears
away or falls off itself.” 74
It has already been stated that the Kababish practise infibulation; the operation is
usually performed during early childhood, generally between the third and sixth year.
Practically the whole of the labia majora and minora as well as the mons are removed by
an old woman armed with a razor. In a successful case, after healing has taken place
the orifice of the vagina is represented by a minute opening at the posterior commissure,
while the mons may be so thoroughly replaced by scar-tissue that after puberty its site
may show no signs of hair. This description of the result of the operation is based on the
examination of a number of Kababish children and slaves, and though in these it was
clear that practically a clean sweep had been made of the vulva, yet since the operation
is done without an anaesthetic, and the operator may be clumsy in the use of her knife,
excision is not always complete; on the other hand it was said that the orifice might be
so closed that symptoms similar to those of imperforate hymen develop at puberty. If
there is any difficulty in urination a small wooden plug is inserted to prevent the meatus,
or more correctly its stump, being involved in the organizing scar; probably this is fre-
quently necessary, for the final result of the operation is necessarily to drag the urethral
orifice downwards and backwards. After the operation the child’s thighs are tied together
and maintained in apposition for two or three weeks.
The following account refers to an operation performed at Hellet Nurayn shortly
after the circumcision of the two boys already described. A wooden basin was inverted
on the ground within a house enclosure, and the girl, a child of six or seven was led in.
Meanwhile the old woman who was to operate was digging a hole at the edge of the basin
to receive the blood and tissues. The child was naked except for a bead necklace. This
was removed, and she sat on the inverted bowl. No men were present, but many old
women, all shrieking advice and comment, and several young boys and girls. As the
victim was seated on the bowl her courage gave way; she howled and tried to escape, but
she was held down in the lithotomy position, the thighs being dragged apart as much as
possible. The operator pulled forward the clitoris once or twice, then severed it as closely
74 Op. cit., p. 266.
C. G. and B. Z. Seligman
then looped up quite ineffectually by a girdle of woolen thread worn round the waist, and
the boy was supported away. During the whole of the operation the boy did not flinch,
though he was thoroughly exhausted by the end of it, and may perhaps have been some-
what blanched. Near the operator stood a paste of leaves said to be even more efficient
as a haemostatic than the carbonized goat’s hair, ready for use if bleeding persisted.
Writing of the Kababish, Mansfield Parkyns notes that the “mother takes the fore-
skin, which is sent to her, and wears it on the second toe of her right foot until it wears
away or falls off itself.” 74
It has already been stated that the Kababish practise infibulation; the operation is
usually performed during early childhood, generally between the third and sixth year.
Practically the whole of the labia majora and minora as well as the mons are removed by
an old woman armed with a razor. In a successful case, after healing has taken place
the orifice of the vagina is represented by a minute opening at the posterior commissure,
while the mons may be so thoroughly replaced by scar-tissue that after puberty its site
may show no signs of hair. This description of the result of the operation is based on the
examination of a number of Kababish children and slaves, and though in these it was
clear that practically a clean sweep had been made of the vulva, yet since the operation
is done without an anaesthetic, and the operator may be clumsy in the use of her knife,
excision is not always complete; on the other hand it was said that the orifice might be
so closed that symptoms similar to those of imperforate hymen develop at puberty. If
there is any difficulty in urination a small wooden plug is inserted to prevent the meatus,
or more correctly its stump, being involved in the organizing scar; probably this is fre-
quently necessary, for the final result of the operation is necessarily to drag the urethral
orifice downwards and backwards. After the operation the child’s thighs are tied together
and maintained in apposition for two or three weeks.
The following account refers to an operation performed at Hellet Nurayn shortly
after the circumcision of the two boys already described. A wooden basin was inverted
on the ground within a house enclosure, and the girl, a child of six or seven was led in.
Meanwhile the old woman who was to operate was digging a hole at the edge of the basin
to receive the blood and tissues. The child was naked except for a bead necklace. This
was removed, and she sat on the inverted bowl. No men were present, but many old
women, all shrieking advice and comment, and several young boys and girls. As the
victim was seated on the bowl her courage gave way; she howled and tried to escape, but
she was held down in the lithotomy position, the thighs being dragged apart as much as
possible. The operator pulled forward the clitoris once or twice, then severed it as closely
74 Op. cit., p. 266.