3P51: Gender and Society – Take Home Final Exam – Winter 2023

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3P51: Gender and Society – Take Home Final Exam – Winter 2023

Question ONE

Part A

Farzana Doctor's novel Seven (2020) and article, "Why My Latest Novel 'Seven,' Is About Khatna..." bring attention to Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C), both its prevalence in Canada and the US as well as its harmful consequences. Readers may gain awareness of this global issue and any necessary actions taken against it through her writings.

Doctor's work highlights that FGM/C is not limited to one region or country but has global consequences. While associated with African nations, FGM/C can occur elsewhere, such as in Canada and the US among immigrant and diaspora communities - Dawoodi Bohra women of Canada have been known to practice FGM/C; therefore, dispelling any notion that FGM/C only occurs in specific cultural or geographic contexts - emphasizing instead its global nature that requires action to address.

Doctor's work also sheds light on the harmful impacts of FGM/C on women and girls. FGM/C involves partial or total removal of external female genitalia, and its consequences can include pain, infection, scarring, sexual dysfunction complications during childbirth complications and even death. Doctor's novel depicts these consequences through her characters coping with physical and emotional aftereffects resulting from FGM/C. Through this work, she emphasizes the urgent need to address its detrimental effect on the health and well-being of affected individuals.

Part B

Feminist activists like Farzana Doctor assert that Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) stems from patriarchal norms, gender inequality, and the control over women's bodies. Doctor's work highlights that FGM/C is often motivated by oppressive beliefs or practices meant to maintain power imbalances, enforce traditional gender roles, or suppress women's sexuality.

Doctor explores FGM/C and its normalization within communities through her novel Seven. She depicts how patriarchal norms support this practice, forcing women and girls to conform to society's expectations and traditions, such as FGM/C. Doctor challenges these oppressive beliefs through her characters while questioning cultural practices that harm women and girls.

Doctor explores FGM/C in her article "Why My Latest Novel, 'Seven,' Is About Khatna..." She emphasizes how it ties into social constructs of gender and perceptions of female bodies as inferior or impure. FGM/C is seen as an expression of gender inequality where women and girls are forced to undergo harmful practices to control their bodies and enforce societal norms. Feminist activism is essential in combating its ideological roots while advocating for gender equality and bodily autonomy.

Part C

Farzana Doctor's novel Seven offers insight into activists' complex strategies to combat Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C). Through intergenerational conversations depicted within its pages, Farzana provides readers with insight into these efforts by portraying the experiences of multiple generations affected by FGM/C, providing clarity into various perspectives, struggles, and approaches activists to use to tackle it.

Readers of Doctor can gain an appreciation of the complexity of activism against FGM/C through conversations among...