Circumcision is both a rite of passage and a rite of belonging. The church (esp PCEA) began offering circumcision as a rite of passage because many of y'all's families were willing to offer it as a rite of belonging to the sons of single mothers. "aende afanyiwe kwao, si wetu."
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There are also cultural taboos against your mother offering it to you herself. The n you would get sons who went as far up as 18 without having been circumcised. Because if the mother does it he is an even more of an outcast and he cannot do it for himself.
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There was actually a lot of debate when the church started doing it because the church of christ is gendered female. The church is a woman. There is a reason it isn't done by the church but rather "a camp owned by the church." Basically the church is "providing a father."
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then comes the money bit. If you take care of your son you don't just tupa him in a bedroom. The strict rite requires that you seclude him and hire folks to take care of him usually about 2-3 other young men who are paid and provided with in full room and board for this service.
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You must also get someone with some medical expertise to come check up on him because once he is secluded he must stay so till he is "brought out into male society." you must facilitate all travel expenses and consultation fees for this check up
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also while he is in seclusion in your compound, you will constantly receive guests to "walk with you" through this trying time (do not ask me) you will entertain these guests. When he is brought out you must throw a feast. You will be judged on your generosity.
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In the other approach the church provides visitors with chai na aandazi and a rice and stew and chapoz feast at the end of it all. Then because of the psychological terrain the church occupies in Kenyans mind there is no stigma to not having been circumcised "kwenu."
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the other advantage of the church doing it is that cultural practices that were subtly or explicitly sexual abuse were abolished. Subtly speaking I think some of those things that are supposed to happen to the sons in seclusion are sexual abuse
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Then other notions were just ground for sexual abuse: In Meru for example on the day "the men" came out the women were supposed to stay off the roads, if they came across a woman on that day they had "right of way" i.e gang rape
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It is amusing to read your take on circumcision, having taken care of boys 'transitioning' into men in my family. Because that's what happens. Paying people to take care of your folk for 2 weeks reads like rich people problems. But of course everything is
#ThePatriarchy lol -
Dude, the first sign that you and I come from different contexts is that you said 2 weeks. In my community two weeks are for healing. Seclusion lasts almost two months. also your son is taken care of by young men appointed by his clan not the nearest male relative.
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The family does not see him at all until he comes out so as to create psychological distance in their minds between the boy they sent in and the man who will come out. Wanatuma tu pesa. Contextualize your "rich peopel problems" condescension.
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Patriachy is 1. To offer circumcision to their daughter's son becuase she has no right to membership in the clan. 2. The sexual abuse in the name of rite of passage that goes on. 3. Boys who do this"2 weeks unasema are not considered men in my community.
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In conclusion
#LoudandWrong is a bad look. -
When capitalism convinced people to band into tribes around foreskin that they have no connection to. In simple terms, the family unit is a structure that will always decide what's best for itself; the rich, the poor, the African, the European.
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1. Precolonial African societies were not communist in economic order. 2. Tribe is not an invention of capitalism 3. In Africa rigid tribal lines are an invention of colonialism 4. Capitalism centres the individual not the family unit 5. It isn't always about foreskin
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foreskin is a very minor element of circumcision. It is the key form but hardly the matter of the rite. 5. In Europe circumcision is very widely considered a from of child abuse. It isn't legislated against because such a legislation would be anti-semitic. so more
#LoudandWrong - 3 more replies
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Thanks for your response. As
@ZakxMutugi says, it's quite interesting. You argue this is a middle-class male view of the matter. Well, the alt-rite is not a practice of the masses or the real rural population. It is a privileged's urban thing. -
So if the alt-rite is a means of inclusion, it fails spectacularly. Two, you are right about rite of passage and belonging. In my view, the first part subsumes the second. I says this is a male Gikuyu (so my understanding is shaped by those two experiences).
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You are right. It was intended to administer the rite which was considered fundamental even if it did not impart the belonging. The church goes around belonging by saying "they now belong to the church." It works because of the church CAN bestow respectability.
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