Like Mother, Like Daughter? Female Genital Cutting in Minia, Egypt

that 97 percent of ever-married Egyptian women were circumcised

in 1995 fueled interest to understand the levels, determinants,

and consequences of this practice. Qualitative data suggest that

ideologies of femininity, pressure to conform to behaviors characterizing

womanhood, and constraints to other opportunities perpetuate women’s

support for female genital cutting in Minia, Egypt. While the

practice remains prevalent in Minia, age-specific probabilities

of genital cutting are lower among daughters than mothers and

among younger than older daughters. A mother’s education is negatively

associated with, and her circumcision status positively associated

with, her intent and decision to circumcise a daughter. Increasing

reliance on doctors to perform the procedure is positively associated

with urban residence and father’s education, indicating a need

to understand local meanings of modernity. Overall, increasing

girls’ access to higher education may contribute to further declines