Female genital excision : reduction of feminine jouissance and increase of male control

Abstract

This thesis covers the reduction of female jouissance via the excision of the clitoris and the impact it has on the focus on the function of female sexuality and on the locus of control of female jouissance. As an organ of pleasure, the clitoriss removal reduces female jouissance and refocuses female sexuality on the vagina and thus reproduction. The patriarchal structuring instigates this practice and man appropriates the control of feminine jouissance for himself. Starting with the existing psychic schism between the maternal and sexual, excision reinforces this schism by reducing the sexual and reinforcing the maternal. Three case studies of excised Egyptian women are elaborated to illustrate the theory outlined before.