[I had just finished writing this and was about to hit "send" when Mr.
Conteh's interesting most recent e-mail came in...hopefully this is still
relevant]

Dear l-ers,

I have hesitated to take up too much space in this forum and I do urge
anyone who is not interested in this burgeoning debate surrounding my book
to exercise the "delete" option.  I know that Dr. Saine brought this up
because he is interested in the general furtherance of knowledge, and I
thank him for his ongoing support, yet I realize that for others their
response is a more emotional one. I will be happy to answer questions
and comments from people when they have read the book, but perhaps it
would be better if detailed inquiries were directed to me directly? I
don't really have a grasp on how generally interested people are...

Having said that, I really feel compelled to briefly explain what this
book is and is not.  The edited volume represents many different
viewpoints and it is impossible to agree with all the chapters at the same
time.  My own work in the Gambia, which spans back to 1988, is NOT--and I
can not stress this enough--"about" this practice, but about the way it is
being debated.  With other words, I--an outsider and uncircumcised toubaab
woman--did not spend my research time trying to delve into the deep
aspects of the practice itself.  That is really not my place.  What I did
look at was: How are people in the Gambia talking about this practice?
How are attitudes changing?  Who is saying what? Why? What are the
external influences that have come into play in later years?  How are
these perceived?

In the course of looking for these answers, I tried my level best to
fairly represent the opinions of EVERYONE, without passing harsh
judgments.  I think that too often, and not just in this debate, we as
human beings have a tendency to dig in and defend our positions, lashing
out at "others" instead of trying to understand where they are coming
from.  It has been called "the argument culture" by a wonderful linguistic
anthropologist named Deborah Tanner (who also wrote "You Just Don't
Understand" about gender and talking) and it is alive and well, both in
academia and "the real world."  The book is an attempt to move beyond
intransigence and actually listen to what all the actors have to say.

I believe that if you start with the position that "you are wrong and what
you are doing is horrible and makes no sense," very little can be learned.
I often ran across that position on BOTH "sides" of the divide in Gambia.
BUT--I also witnessed powerful examples of negotiation and compromise,
dialogue and empathy.  And THAT is what I try to write about.  NOT about
the secrets of initiation.

I also want to mention the insider/outsider issue.  I agree that those
best equipped to write about the practice are African women themselves.
And writing they are (I will be happy to provide a bibliography for those
interested in further reading).  What I personally write about, however,
is the space in which Gambians react to pressures for change.  I wanted to
understand how people on the ground in Gambia feel about the way that
"FGM" has come to be perceived globally.  Amie, who was one of the
extremely helpful people assisting me with my research, knows that I
attempted to gain insight into how groups such as GamcoTRAP operate, how
they are received, what challenges they face.

In general I think it is safe to say that, for better or for worse, the
whole "FGM" debate is here to stay and will not simply go away.  So the
choice then becomes one between informed and uninformed debate, between
interventions that are culturally appropriate and address the holistic
needs of women and their communities and those who simply condemn and
demand, leaving nothing in return (and I mean this on a global level, not
in any particularly Gambian context).

And it is in fact no longer an African issue in isolation.  One may argue
that Africans be left to work this one out for themselves, but that is no
longer a tenable position in this world of interconnectedness. Some
African women apply for asylum in the US in order to avoid going back and
undergoing the practice.  Others turn up at hospitals in the West needing
obstetrical services that Western OB/Gyn's have been ill equipped to
provide.  Yet others approach Western medical practitioners about having
genital cutting done in a clinical setting.  In these cases, it is not
fair to tell "Westerners" to simply "stay out of it."

I will be happy to discuss this in more detail with those who are
interested, but I do ask that potential readers of the book make an
attempt to read with an open mind.

A few final notes:  I do think it IS significant that I am a Ms. and not a
Mr. (in fact, out of the 17 contributors, 13 are women, as is the editor
as well the owner of the publishing company!). This has become an
extremely prominent issue in Western women's movements and I, as a Western
woman interested in the well-being of ALL women and their communities,
have a responsibility to examine whether the Western feminist model of
doing things is always the most appropriate in all contexts.  That is why
my other research angle is that of documenting Gambian "alternative
rituals" that draw on the strength of local culture.

Finally, I want to assure Mr. Conteh that there is little risk of my
enriching myself because of this book.  The reality of academic
publishing, with its small sales and tiny royalties (the general public
does not beat down the bookstore doors in order to buy books that contain
footnotes and tables, and we have plenty of both) is that few authors even
recover their costs, much less ever get paid for the hundreds of hours of
work that go into something like this.  Instead, some of us actually feel
so passionately about our research topics that we are basically willing to
"pay to work."

Again, thanks to all l-ers who have supprted my work over the years.
Best, Ylva Hernlund

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