Global phylogenetic analysis reveals multiple origins and correlates of genital mutilation/cutting.


Journal

Nature human behaviour
ISSN: 2397-3374
Titre abrégé: Nat Hum Behav
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101697750

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
05 2022
Historique:
received: 07 01 2021
accepted: 18 02 2022
pubmed: 2 4 2022
medline: 27 5 2022
entrez: 1 4 2022
Statut: ppublish

Résumé

Genital mutilation/cutting is costly in terms of health, survival and reproduction, and the long-term maintenance of these practices is an evolutionary conundrum. Previous studies have suggested a mate-guarding function or various signalling functions of genital mutilation/cutting. Here we use phylogenetic comparative methods and two global ethnographic samples to study the origins and socio-ecological correlates of major types of female and male genital mutilation/cutting. Male genital mutilation/cutting probably originated in polygynous societies with separate residence of co-wives, supporting a mate-guarding function. Female genital mutilation/cutting originated subsequently and almost exclusively in societies already practising male genital mutilation/cutting, where it may have become a signal of chastity. Both have originated multiple times, some as early as in the mid-Holocene (5,000-7,000 years ago), considerably predating the earliest archaeological evidence and written records. Genital mutilation/cutting co-evolves with and may help maintain fundamental social structures, hindering efforts to change these cultural practices.

Identifiants

pubmed: 35361908
doi: 10.1038/s41562-022-01321-x
pii: 10.1038/s41562-022-01321-x
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Langues

eng

Sous-ensembles de citation

IM

Pagination

635-645

Commentaires et corrections

Type : CommentIn

Informations de copyright

© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

Références

WHO Guidelines on the Management of Health Complications from Female Genital Mutilation (WHO, 2016).
Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol Text) (African Union, 2003); https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/violenceagainstwomen/publications/protocol-african-charter-human-and-peoples-rights-rights-women-0
Muthumbi, J., Svanemyr, J., Scolaro, E., Temmerman, M. & Say, L. Female genital mutilation: a literature review of the current status of legislation and policies in 27 African countries and Yemen. Afr. J. Reprod. Health 19, 32–40 (2015).
pubmed: 26897911
Efferson, C., Vogt, S. & Fehr, E. The promise and the peril of using social influence to reverse harmful traditions. Nat. Hum. Behav. 4, 55–68 (2020).
pubmed: 31792402 doi: 10.1038/s41562-019-0768-2
Bell, K. Genital cutting and Western discourses on sexuality. Med. Anthropol. Q. 19, 125–148 (2005).
pubmed: 15974324 doi: 10.1525/maq.2005.19.2.125
Darby, R. & Svoboda, J. S. A rose by any other name? Rethinking the similarities and differences between male and female genital cutting. Med. Anthropol. Q. 21, 301–323 (2007).
pubmed: 17937251 doi: 10.1525/maq.2007.21.3.301
Mackie, G. Ending footbinding and infibulation: a convention account. Am. Sociol. Rev. 61, 999–1017 (1996).
doi: 10.2307/2096305
Ross, C. T., Strimling, P., Ericksen, K. P., Lindenfors, P. & Mulder, M. B. The origins and maintenance of female genital modification across Africa: Bayesian phylogenetic modeling of cultural evolution under the influence of selection. Hum. Nat. 27, 173–200 (2016).
pubmed: 26846688 doi: 10.1007/s12110-015-9244-5
Kouba, L. J. & Muasher, J. Female circumcision in Africa: an overview. Afr. Stud. Rev. 28, 95–110 (1985).
doi: 10.2307/524569
Doyle, D. Ritual male circumcision: a brief history. J. R. Coll. Physicians Edinb. 35, 279–285 (2005).
pubmed: 16402509
Megahed, M. & Vymazalová, H. Ancient Egyptian royal circumcision from the pyramid complex of Djedkare. Anthropologie 49, 155–164 (2011).
Cox, G. & Morris, B. J. in Surgical Guide to Circumcision (eds Bolnick, D. et al.) 243–259 (Springer, 2012); https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2858-8_21
Assaad, M. B. Female circumcision in Egypt: social implications, current research, and prospects for change. Stud. Fam. Plann. 11, 3–16 (1980).
pubmed: 7376234 doi: 10.2307/1965892
Howard, J. A. & Gibson, M. A. Is there a link between paternity concern and female genital cutting in West Africa? Evol. Hum. Behav. 40, 1–11 (2019).
doi: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2018.06.011
Shell-Duncan, B., Obungu, O. W. & Auko, M. L. in Female “Circumcision” in Africa: Culture, Controversy and Change (eds Shell-Duncan, B. & Hernlund, Y.) 109–128 (Lynne Rienner, 2001).
Murdock, G. P. Ethnographic Atlas: a summary. Ethnology 6, 109–236 (1967).
doi: 10.2307/3772751
Wilson, C. G. Male genital mutilation: an adaptation to sexual conflict. Evol. Hum. Behav. 29, 149–164 (2008).
doi: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.11.008
Paige, K. & Paige, J. M. The Politics of Reproductive Ritual (Univ. California Press, 1981).
Sosis, R., Kress, H. C. & Boster, J. S. Scars for war: evaluating alternative signaling explanations for cross-cultural variance in ritual costs. Evol. Hum. Behav. 28, 234–247 (2007).
doi: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.02.007
Ludvico, L. R. & Kurland, J. A. Symbolic or not-so-symbolic wounds: the behavioral ecology of human scarification. Ethol. Sociobiol. 16, 155–172 (1995).
doi: 10.1016/0162-3095(94)00075-I
Feillard, A. & Marcoes, L. Female circumcision in Indonesia: to “Islamize” in ceremony or secrecy. Archipel 56, 337–367 (1998).
doi: 10.3406/arch.1998.3495
Cory, H. Jando. Part I: the constitution and organization of the Jando. J. R. Anthropol. Inst. 77, 159–168 (1947).
Clarence-Smith, W. G. Islam and female genital cutting in Southeast Asia: the weight of the past. J. Ethn. Migr. 3, 14–22 (2008).
Ericksen, K. P. Female genital mutilations in Africa. Cross Cult. Res. 23, 182–204 (1989).
Basedow, H. Subincision and kindred rites of the Australian Aboriginal. J. R. Anthropol. Inst. 57, 123–156 (1927).
Santos-Granero, F. Vital Enemies: Slavery, Predation, and the Amerindian Political Economy of Life (Univ. Texas Press, 2009).
Montagu, M. A. Infibulation and defibulation in the Old and New Worlds. Am. Anthropol. 47, 464–467 (1945).
doi: 10.1525/aa.1945.47.3.02a00210
Ashley‐Montagu, M. F. The origin of subincision in Australia. Oceania 8, 193–207 (1937).
doi: 10.1002/j.1834-4461.1937.tb00415.x
Dow, M. M. & Eff, E. A. Multiple imputation of missing data in cross-cultural samples. Cross Cult. Res. 43, 206–229 (2009).
doi: 10.1177/1069397109333362
Duda, P. & Zrzavý, J. Human population history revealed by a supertree approach. Sci. Rep. 6, 29890 (2016).
pubmed: 27431856 pmcid: 4949479 doi: 10.1038/srep29890
Duda, P. & Zrzavy, J. in Modern Human Origins and Dispersal (eds Sahle, Y. et al.) 331–359 (Kerns Verlag, 2019).
Minocher, R., Duda, P. & Jaeggi, A. V. Explaining marriage patterns in a globally representative sample through socio-ecology and population history: a Bayesian phylogenetic analysis using a new supertree. Evol. Hum. Behav. 40, 176–187 (2019).
doi: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2018.11.003
von Rueden, C. R. & Jaeggi, A. V. Men’s status and reproductive success in 33 nonindustrial societies: effects of subsistence, marriage system, and reproductive strategy. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 113, 10824–10829 (2016).
doi: 10.1073/pnas.1606800113
Martin, J. S., Ringen, E. J., Duda, P. & Jaeggi, A. V. Harsh environments promote alloparental care across human societies. Proc. Biol. Sci. 287, 20200758 (2020).
pubmed: 32811302 pmcid: 7482265
Grollemund, R. et al. Bantu expansion shows that habitat alters the route and pace of human dispersals. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 112, 13296–13301 (2015).
pubmed: 26371302 pmcid: 4629331 doi: 10.1073/pnas.1503793112
Bouckaert, R. et al. Mapping the origins and expansion of the Indo-European language family. Science 337, 957–960 (2012).
pubmed: 22923579 pmcid: 4112997 doi: 10.1126/science.1219669
Gray, R. D., Drummond, A. J. & Greenhill, S. J. Language phylogenies reveal expansion pulses and pauses in Pacific settlement. Science 323, 479–483 (2009).
pubmed: 19164742 doi: 10.1126/science.1166858
Murdock, G. P. & White, D. R. Standard cross-cultural sample. Ethnology 8, 329–369 (1969).
doi: 10.2307/3772907
Bloch, M. & Bloch, M. From Blessing to Violence: History and Ideology in the Circumcision Ritual of the Merina (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1986).
Kaptein, N. in Pluralism and Identity: Studies in Ritual Behaviour (eds Platvoet, J. G. & Van Der Toorn, K) 285–302 (Brill, 1995).
Borgerhoff Mulder, M., Nunn, C. L. & Towner, M. C. Cultural macroevolution and the transmission of traits. Evol. Anthropol. 15, 52–64 (2006).
doi: 10.1002/evan.20088
Ives, A. R. & Garland, T. Phylogenetic logistic regression for binary dependent variables. Syst. Biol. 59, 9–26 (2010).
pubmed: 20525617 doi: 10.1093/sysbio/syp074
Burnham, K. P. & Anderson, D. R. Practical use of the information-theoretic approach. In Model Selection and Inference 75–117 (Springer, 1998); https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-2917-7_3
Pagel, M. Detecting correlated evolution on phylogenies: a general method for the comparative analysis of discrete characters. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 255, 37–45 (1994).
doi: 10.1098/rspb.1994.0006
Bentley, R. A., Moritz, W. R., Ruck, D. J. & O’Brien, M. J. Evolution of initiation rites during the Austronesian dispersal. Sci. Prog. 104, 003685042110313 (2021).
doi: 10.1177/00368504211031364
Buss, D. M. & Schmitt, D. P. Sexual strategies theory: an evolutionary perspective on human mating. Psychol. Rev. 100, 204–232 (1993).
pubmed: 8483982 doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.100.2.204
Onyishi, I. E., Prokop, P., Okafor, C. O. & Pham, M. N. Female genital cutting restricts sociosexuality among the Igbo people of southeast Nigeria. Evol. Psychol. 14, 1–7 (2016).
doi: 10.1177/1474704916648784
Marlowe, F. Paternal investment and the human mating system. Behav. Process. 51, 45–61 (2000).
doi: 10.1016/S0376-6357(00)00118-2
Scelza, B. A. et al. High rate of extrapair paternity in a human population demonstrates diversity in human reproductive strategies. Sci. Adv. 6, eaay6195 (2020).
pubmed: 32128411 pmcid: 7030936 doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aay6195
Pankhurst, A. ‘Caste’ in Africa: the evidence from south-western Ethiopia reconsidered. Africa 69, 485–509 (1999).
doi: 10.2307/1160872
Tamari, T. The development of caste systems in West Africa. J. Afr. Hist. 32, 221–250 (1991).
doi: 10.1017/S0021853700025718
Swantz, M. Ritual and Symbol in Transitional Zaramo Society with Special Reference to Women (Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, 1986).
Basava, K., Zhang, H. & Mace, R. A phylogenetic analysis of revolution and afterlife beliefs. Nat. Hum. Behav. 5, 604–611 (2021).
pubmed: 33398146 doi: 10.1038/s41562-020-01013-4
Birket-Smith, K. An Ethnological Sketch of Rennell Island: A Polynesian Outlier in Melanesia (Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, 1956).
Shakirat, G. O., Alshibshoubi, M. A., Delia, E., Hamayon, A. & Rutkofsky, I. H. An overview of female genital mutilation in Africa: are the women beneficiaries or victims? Cureus 12, e10250 (2020).
pubmed: 33042689 pmcid: 7536110
Shell-Duncan, B., Wander, K., Hernlund, Y. & Moreau, A. Dynamics of change in the practice of female genital cutting in Senegambia: testing predictions of social convention theory. Soc. Sci. Med. 73, 1275–1283 (2011).
pubmed: 21920652 pmcid: 3962676 doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.07.022
Howard, J. A. & Gibson, M. A. Frequency-dependent female genital cutting behaviour confers evolutionary fitness benefits. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 1, 0049 (2017).
doi: 10.1038/s41559-016-0049
World Health Organization and Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS Male Circumcision: Global Trends of Prevalence, Safety, and Acceptability (WHO Press, 2008).
Ferreira, U., Netto, N. R., Esteves, S. C., Rivero, M. A. & Schirren, C. Comparative study of the fertility potential of men with only one testis. Scand. J. Urol. Nephrol. 25, 255–259 (1991).
pubmed: 1685802 doi: 10.3109/00365599109024555
Guma, S. M. Some aspects of circumcision in Basutoland. Afr. Stud. 24, 241–250 (1965).
doi: 10.1080/00020186508707219
Bahrami-Rad, D., Becker, A. & Henrich, J. Tabulated nonsense? Testing the validity of the Ethnographic Atlas. Econ. Lett. 204, 109880 (2021).
doi: 10.1016/j.econlet.2021.109880
Ringen, E. J., Duda, P. & Jaeggi, A. V. The evolution of daily food sharing: a Bayesian phylogenetic analysis. Evol. Hum. Behav. 40, 375–384 (2019).
doi: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2019.04.003
Marlowe, F. The Hadza: Hunter-Gatherers of Tanzania (Univ. California Press, 2010).
Cronk, L. From Mukogodo to Maasai: Ethnicity and Cultural Change in Kenya (Taylor and Francis, 2018); https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429500343
Waldeck, S. E. Social norm theory and male circumcision: why parents circumcise. Am. J. Bioeth. 3, 55–57 (2003).
doi: 10.1162/152651603766436261
Pashaei, T., Ponnet, K., Moeeni, M., Khazaee-Pool, M. & Majlessi, F. Daughters at risk of female genital mutilation: examining the determinants of mothers’ intentions to allow their daughters to undergo female genital mutilation. PLoS ONE 11, e0151630 (2016).
pubmed: 27031613 pmcid: 4816284 doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0151630
Boyle, E. H. & Svec, J. Intergenerational transmission of female genital cutting: community and marriage dynamics. J. Marriage Fam. 81, 631–647 (2019).
pubmed: 31741540 pmcid: 6860922 doi: 10.1111/jomf.12560
Akweongo, P., Jackson, E. F., Appiah-Yeboah, S., Sakeah, E. & Phillips, J. F. It’s a woman’s thing: gender roles sustaining the practice of female genital mutilation among the Kassena-Nankana of northern Ghana. Reprod. Health 18, 52 (2021).
pubmed: 33648528 pmcid: 7923333 doi: 10.1186/s12978-021-01085-z
Timæus, I. M. & Reynar, A. Polygynists and their wives in sub-Saharan Africa: an analysis of five demographic and health surveys. Popul. Stud. 52, 145–162 (1998).
doi: 10.1080/0032472031000150346
Religion and Living Arrangements Around the World (Pew Research Center, 2019).
Oh, S. Y., Bowles, S. & Borgerhoff Mulder, M. The Decline of Polygyny: An Interpretation Working Paper No. 1. (Santa Fe Institute, 2017).
Whitehouse, B. in International Handbook on Gender and Demographic Processes (eds Riley, N. & Brunson, J.) 299–313 (Springer, 2018); https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1290-1_20
Merli, C. Male and female genital cutting among southern Thailand’s Muslims: rituals, biomedical practice and local discourses. Cult. Health Sex. 12, 725–738 (2010).
pubmed: 20352548 doi: 10.1080/13691051003683109
Prazak, M. Making the Mark: Gender, Identity, and Genital Cutting (Ohio Univ. Press, 2016).
Lunde, I. B., Hauge, M. I., Johansen, R. E. B. & Sagbakken, M. ‘Why did I circumcise him?’ Unexpected comparisons to male circumcision in a qualitative study on female genital cutting among Kurdish–Norwegians. Ethnicities 20, 1003–1024 (2020).
doi: 10.1177/1468796819896089
Kirby, K. R. et al. D-PLACE: a global database of cultural, linguistic and environmental diversity. PLoS ONE 11, e0158391 (2016).
pubmed: 27391016 pmcid: 4938595 doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0158391
South, A. rworldmap: a new R package for mapping global data. R J. 3, 35–43 (2011).
doi: 10.32614/RJ-2011-006
Fox, J., Friendly, M. & Weisberg, S. Hypothesis tests for multivariate linear models using the car package. R J. 5, 39–52 (2013).
doi: 10.32614/RJ-2013-004
Zuur, A. F., Ieno, E. N. & Elphick, C. S. A protocol for data exploration to avoid common statistical problems. Methods Ecol. Evol. 1, 3–14 (2010).
doi: 10.1111/j.2041-210X.2009.00001.x
Lê, S., Josse, J. & Husson, F. FactoMineR: an R package for multivariate analysis. J. Stat. Softw. 25, 1–18 (2008).
doi: 10.18637/jss.v025.i01
Stekhoven, D. J. & Bühlmann, P. MissForest—non-parametric missing value imputation for mixed-type data. Bioinformatics 28, 112–118 (2012).
pubmed: 22039212 doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btr597
Fritz, S. A. & Purvis, A. Selectivity in mammalian extinction risk and threat types: a new measure of phylogenetic signal strength in binary traits. Conserv. Biol. 24, 1042–1051 (2010).
pubmed: 20184650 doi: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2010.01455.x
Orme, D. et al. Caper: comparative analyses of phylogenetics and evolution in R. R package version 0.5.2/r121 (2014).
Bollback, J. P. SIMMAP: stochastic character mapping of discrete traits on phylogenies. BMC Bioinformatics 7, 88 (2006).
pubmed: 16504105 pmcid: 1403802 doi: 10.1186/1471-2105-7-88
Huelsenbeck, J. P., Nielsen, R. & Bollback, J. P. Stochastic mapping of morphological characters. Syst. Biol. 52, 131–158 (2003).
pubmed: 12746144 doi: 10.1080/10635150390192780
Revell, L. J. phytools: an R package for phylogenetic comparative biology (and other things). Methods Ecol. Evol. 3, 217–223 (2012).
doi: 10.1111/j.2041-210X.2011.00169.x
Schluter, D., Price, T., Mooers, A. O. & Ludwig, D. Likelihood of ancestor states in adaptive radiation. Evolution 51, 1699–1711 (1997).
pubmed: 28565128 doi: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1997.tb05095.x
Ho, L., Ane, C., Lachlan, R., Tarpinian, K. & Feldman, R. Package ‘phylolm’. R package version 2.6.2 (2020).
Ives, A. R. R
pubmed: 30239975 doi: 10.1093/sysbio/syy060

Auteurs

Gabriel Šaffa (G)

Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czechia.

Jan Zrzavý (J)

Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czechia.

Pavel Duda (P)

Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czechia. dudapa01@gmail.com.

Articles similaires

Genome, Chloroplast Phylogeny Genetic Markers Base Composition High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing

[Redispensing of expensive oral anticancer medicines: a practical application].

Lisanne N van Merendonk, Kübra Akgöl, Bastiaan Nuijen
1.00
Humans Antineoplastic Agents Administration, Oral Drug Costs Counterfeit Drugs

Smoking Cessation and Incident Cardiovascular Disease.

Jun Hwan Cho, Seung Yong Shin, Hoseob Kim et al.
1.00
Humans Male Smoking Cessation Cardiovascular Diseases Female
Humans United States Aged Cross-Sectional Studies Medicare Part C

Classifications MeSH