{"title":"Children, Culture, and Body Modification.","authors":"Eldar Sarajlic","doi":"10.1353/ken.2020.0005","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In this paper, I analyze the phenomenon of child cultural body modification (CCBM). I describe the practice, discuss philosophical, sociological, and anthropological arguments about the parental motivations, and evaluate an influential justification based on the children's putative cultural benefit of undergoing CCBM. I propose an alternative view of bodily integrity based on the value of body agency, the ability of individuals to generate meaning in their world through conscious, voluntary, and purpose-driven usage of their own bodies.</p>","PeriodicalId":46167,"journal":{"name":"Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal","volume":"30 2","pages":"167-190"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1000,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/ken.2020.0005","citationCount":"4","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/ken.2020.0005","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ETHICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 4
Abstract
In this paper, I analyze the phenomenon of child cultural body modification (CCBM). I describe the practice, discuss philosophical, sociological, and anthropological arguments about the parental motivations, and evaluate an influential justification based on the children's putative cultural benefit of undergoing CCBM. I propose an alternative view of bodily integrity based on the value of body agency, the ability of individuals to generate meaning in their world through conscious, voluntary, and purpose-driven usage of their own bodies.
期刊介绍:
The Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal offers a scholarly forum for diverse views on major issues in bioethics, such as analysis and critique of principlism, feminist perspectives in bioethics, the work of the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments, active euthanasia, genetics, health care reform, and organ transplantation. Each issue includes "Scope Notes," an overview and extensive annotated bibliography on a specific topic in bioethics, and "Bioethics Inside the Beltway," a report written by a Washington insider updating bioethics activities on the federal level.