Buffon and Brown mention infibulation in
Abyssinia, the parts being separated by a bistoury at the time of
marriage. In Circassia the women were protected by a copper
girdle or a corset of hide and skin which, according to custom,
only the husband could undo. Peney speaks of infibulation for the
preservation of chastity, as observed by him in the Soudan. Among
the Nubians this operation was performed at about the age of
eight with great ceremony, and when the time for marriage
approached the vulva had to be opened by incision. Sir Richard
Buxton, a distinguished traveler, also speaks of infibulation,
and, according to him, at the time of the marriage ceremony the
male tries to prove his manhood by using only Nature's method and
weapon to consummate the marriage, but if he failed he was
allowed artificial aid to effect entrance. Sir Samuel Baker is
accredited in The Lancet with giving an account in Latin text of
the modus operandi of a practice among the Nubian women of
removing the clitoris and nymphae in the young girl, and abrading
the adjacent walls of the external labia so that they would
adhere and leave only a urethral aperture.
This ancient custom of infibulation is occasionally seen at the
present day in civilized countries, and some cases of
infibulation from jealousy are on record.
Pages:
1512
1513
1514
1515
1516
1517
1518
1519
1520
1521
1522
1523
1524
1525
1526
1527
1528
1529
1530
1531
1532
1533
1534
1535
1536