Abstract Clitoridectomy, in the British context, was a relatively short-lived experiment, the telling result of the encounter between gynaecology and alienism that occurred in the mid-nineteenth century. Although the arguments against the practice that were advanced within the medical community have often been interpreted themselves as the expression of a misogynistic medical profession, a more detailed analysis of the correspondence that was published in the bmj and the Lancet at the time, as well as of the debates that took place within the London Obstetric Society, reveal a broad range of arguments and a strong emphasis, in particular, on the issue of informed consent and women’s right to the integrity of their bodies. By examining the debate in its historical context, this paper aims to provide a clearer view of what concurrently led to the dismissal of Isaac Baker Brown from the Obstetric Society and the end of the practice in England.