A related and interesting issue is the one of "marriagabilty." Much of
standard literature on female circumcision/FGM/FGC has a tendency to state
that it is all about marriagability--if girls are not circumcised they
will "not be able to find a husband." I have been struggling with this
concept in my own Gambian research experience as many of the people I
spoke with indicated that this was not a concern for them.
There is of course a component there of "common sense" (if you come from
an ethnic group in which FGC is near universal, it might not occur to you
to ask if your intended has been circumcised, as you assume she has). But
additionally it seems to me that things are a bit more complex than that,
considering the high rates of interethnic marriage in The Gambia,
including between those who circumcise females and those who do not. A
marriagability convention will only come into place if men refuse to marry
uncircumcised women and women become convinced that they will not find a
husband unless they are circumcised. But is this really the case in The
Gambia where women from circumcising groups sometimes marry those from
noncircumcising ones? Also, is there really a problem in The Gambia of
women "not finding husbands"? It seems to me (not as part of any formal
research, but just from casual observation) that most Gambian women DO end
up getting married, no matter what. Perhaps not to the ideal husband, but
to A husband. This issue seems to me connected to polygamy as this system
perhaps assures that women who would have a hard time finding a husband
otherwise (for example because of a disability or barrenness) often do end
up one of several wives.
I may be way off here and look forward to what people think.
Best, Ylva
On Mon, 1 Mar 2004, Ceesay,
Soffie wrote:
> As should be. Ylva and an associate have a book out on circumcision and
> some of the research was on Gambian women. My research (thesis) will be on
> Sene-Gambian women and capacity building. Jane's question has interested me
> for a long time. The one time I asked my mom how she felt about pops having
> another wife, she responded that no woman wants or likes it but what could
> they to do. After many years and several kids, the first wife will not
> leave simply because the husband took another wife - she will be considered
> "nyaak fieda".
>
> Soffie
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Habib Ghanim [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Monday, March 01, 2004 12:25 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: question
>
>
>
> It looks like someone is doing a university research on Gambian women here
> !1 am I right?
>
> habib
>
>
>
>
>
> >From: Jane Warner
> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: Re: question
> >Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2004 08:49:45 -0800
> >
> >This question has elicited a lot of fascinating information and I'm very
> >interested by everyone's responses .
> >
> >I wonder under what conditions Gambian women, in the current or in past
> >generations, have felt content with a marriage with co-wives? There was
> >mention that rates of polygamy go down as education goes up. This doesn't
> >seem surprising to me. Yet, when you look at marriage in US society, it
> >is often not very edifying, what with conflict, abuse, neglect and
> >abandonment being all too common. Perhaps our divorce rate is just
> >polygamy in another guise?
> >
> >In the minds of most Americans, I think polygamy could be a synonym for
> >sexual infidelity. But what interests me about it is how it relates to
> >traditions, both Islamic and cultural, and if it holds a key to the proper
> >provision of the needs of men, women and children living in a community.
> >
> >From my limited experience, it has seemed to me that relations
> >between Gambian men and women are marked by a degree of formality and
> >separation. I have wondered if that structure (if that is what it is)
> >has something to teach us in the US, where I think men/woman relations are
> >often characterized by suspicion and neediness, even to the point of
> >contempt. I also think that these characteristics have a negative impact
> >on the work of families--to raise children, and on the possibility of
> >community, that rarest of rare things in American life.
> >
> >Jane
> >
> >
> >*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
> >
> >Jane Zainab Warner-Tholley
> >University of Washington
> >Seattle, Washington 98195
> >
> >
> >*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
> >
> >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> >To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to:
> http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
> >To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
> >[log in to unmask]
> >
> >To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
> Web interface
> >at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
> >
> >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> _____
>
> Click, drag and drop. My MSN is <http://g.msn.com/8HMAENUS/2734??PS=> the
> simple way to design your homepage.
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Search in
> the Gambia-L archives, go to:
> http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List
> Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask]
> To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
> Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
> To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
> [log in to unmask]
>
> To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
> at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
