The Female Circumcision Controversy: An Anthropological PerspectiveTo the Western eye, there is something jarringly incongruous, even shocking, about the image of a six year old girl being held down by loving relatives so that her genitals can be cut. Yet two million girls experience this each year. Most Westerners, upon learning of the practice of female circumcision, have responded with outrage; those committed to improving the status of women have gone beyond outrage to action by creating various programs for