Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Cultural evolution: Evolution of female genital cutting

Female genital cutting in five West African nations is frequency-dependent and is associated with higher reproductive success among ethnicities in which cutting predominates, a fitness advantage that may outweigh its costs to physical and psychological health.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Howard, J. A. & Gibson, M. A. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 1, 0049 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Yoder, P. S., Abderrahim, N. & Zhuzhuni, A. Female Genital Cutting in the Demographic and Health Surveys: A Critical and Comparative Analysis DHS Comparative Reports No. 7 (Measure DHS+, 2004).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Boyd, R. & Richerson, P. J. Ethol. Sociobiol. 16, 125–143 (1995).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Morgan, T. J. H. & Laland, K. N. Front. Neurosci. 6, 87 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Diop, N. J. & Askew, I. Stud. Fam. Plann. 40, 307–318 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Mackie, G. Am. Sociol. Rev. 999–1017 (1996).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Shell-Duncan, B., Wander, K., Hernlund, Y. & Moreau, A. Soc. Sci. Med. 73, 1275–1283 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Zefferman, M. R. & Mathew, S. Evol. Anthropol. 24, 50–61 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Valente, T. W. Science 337, 49–53 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Burt, R. S. Brokerage and Closure: An Introduction to Social Capital (Oxford Univ. Press, 2005).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katherine Wander.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wander, K. Cultural evolution: Evolution of female genital cutting. Nat Ecol Evol 1, 0079 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0079

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0079

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing