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Children, Culture, and Body Modification
- Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 30, Number 2, June 2020
- pp. 167-190
- 10.1353/ken.2020.0005
- Article
- Additional Information
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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.