Circumcision

What is Circumcision Really All About?

Researching, infancy trauma, i typed in C-I-R-C-U-M-C-I-S-I-O-N into my Internet browser, and located such a lot information, I could have read for hours, and days, and months -- and eventually I did read for years.

I found there have been many theories about how and why genital mutilation began but nobody knew needless to say if any of them were true. Primitive people everywhere the world are practiced body modifications of each description, including genital cutting, for thousands of years.

As a part of my inquiry, before I visited sleep one night I asked to understand how circumcision began. within the middle of the night I saw a vivid vignette unfold, as if a television was sitting at the foot of my bed.

Two people appeared within the dream: an old man and a baby. The old man was crazy drunk and wanted to play with the baby's penis. Since a foreskin will retract and pull the penis into the body when it's cold and also when its owner is afraid, the old man couldn't access the baby's penis. This enraged him. He pulled out his knife and cut the baby's foreskin off.

From "The Rape of the Phallus" by Dr. William Keith C. Morgan within the Journal of the American Medical Association, July 1965:

"Why is that the operation of circumcision practiced? One might also plan to explain the rites of voodoo!... it's a part of an ancient rite practiced by many primitive tribes whereby the young male and fewer frequently the young female, gives proof of his or her ability to endure pain. If they pass the test with fortitude, they're then accepted into the tribe as fully developed adults with attendant privileges. Thus during this respect the operation is analogous to several of the tattoos and scars produced by burning, piercing or incising that are accepted as routine cosmetic procedures by these peoples.

"Second, in many primitive African tribes circumcision is performed to scale back libido. This mutilating practice is usually performed on women to stay them faithful to their husbands. Male infant circumcision is practiced by all Semitic races, Jew and Arab alike, and has been exported by them to all or any parts of the planet and to most races. it'll perhaps be a explanation for surprise to those of Semitic origin to seek out that the Aborigine has practiced circumcision for as long, if not longer, and for an equivalent basic reason as his more civilized brethren."

Well, such a lot for contemporary and medical and upscale, logical and rational. isolating genitals is primal, primitive, base, emotional stuff.

The age chosen for circumcision varies consistent with the culture. The western, English-speaking world, which has followed the Judaic model, cuts the kid at birth or a couple of days after. Other cultures wait until the boy is somewhat more grounded, around age five or twelve.

Some "coming of age" rituals during teen years involve not only genital mutilation but also haircutting, knocking out teeth, finger amputation, tattooing, scarring, and a spread of other quaint tribal markings. Some think the "coming of age" ritual may be a message to the younger men within the family or tribe: "Our women are starting to like you! stand back from them! the ladies belong to us!"

You can read circumcision facts and myths from round the world and thru the ages in Circumcision: A History of the World's Most Controversial Surgery by David Gollaher.

But why, as long as neither the New Testament , the Book of Mormon nor any national medical organization within the world encourages the practice does circumcision have such a robust foothold within the supposedly civilized, modern, predominately Christian, us of America?

Dear reader, confirm you're sitting down, because this is often something many of us find difficult to believe - but it's true! - circumcision began within the USA as how to stay children from - egads! - touching themselves! - masturbating! Read these stirring words from the New Orleans Medical Journal in 1855...

Neither the plague, nor war, nor small pox, not a crowd of comparable evils have resulted more disastrously for humanity, than the habit of masturbation: it's the destroying element of civilized society.

The last witch had been burned within the late 1700s because the spirit theory of disease was actively being discredited. But the spirit theory was soon replaced by the masturbation theory. Masturbation, doctors proclaimed, could cause you to crazy or physically ill - it could even kill you. You had to be saved from your evil ways - for your own good.

The witch hunt turned to an obsession for uncovering and punishing private sexual behavior, self-pleasuring.

"Over this era there was truly an interesting upsurge in what can only be termed comic-book sadism. The advocacy of those bizarre [anti-masturbation] therapies wasn't confined to eccentrics. By about 1880 the individual who might wish for unconscious reasons to tie, chain, or infibulate sexually active children... to adorn them with grotesque appliances, encase them in plaster of Paris, leather or rubber, to frighten or maybe castrate them, could find humane and respectable medical authority for doing so in good conscience. Masturbational insanity was now real enough... it had been affecting the medical community ." - Alex Comfort

Pain was considered to be an honest thing within the war against pleasure...

"In cases of masturbation we must, I believe, break the habit by inducing such a condition of the parts as will cause an excessive amount of local suffering to permit of the practice to be continued. For this purpose, if the prepuce is long, we may circumcise the male patient with present and doubtless with future advantages; the operation, too, shouldn't be performed under chloroform, in order that the pain experienced could also be related to the habit we wish to eradicate." - Athol A. W. Johnson, The Lancet, April 1860

When masturbation was thought to be the explanation for all disease, doctors were under the spell of opinion-based medicine. They argued among themselves whether the masturbation theory of disease was to be blamed on loss of body fluids or from the shock of orgasm. Nobody bothered to check the theories surrounding masturbation and circumcision. nobody has yet to research the long-term effects of circumcision. The U.S. remains working hard to exchange opinion-based medicine with evidence-based medicine. Statistics mislead. the important story is within the numbers.

Numbers say that tons of boys are unnecessarily cut. Fortunately, wont to be"> i used to be savvy when it came to statistics -- I knew how they will be used to mislead, so a 50% reduction in UTIs translates to: where there wont to be two UTIs during a hundred boys, now there's one. 100% of 1 is one and two of two. But two UTIs during a hundred boys means many boys are cut who would never have had a UTI! you'll safely say that out of 100 boys who are cut, all are cut unnecessarily. Why? Because while those two little boys had a UTI, five little girls got UTIs and doctors used antibiotics for the small girls - and thus doctors could have used antibiotics rather than cutting the boys.

Only six boys in 10,000 are circumcised in Europe for medical reasons. European doctors inform boys the way to stretch the skin if it's too tight; antibiotics are used for infections. In Europe and other intact cultures, cutting genital tissue is assumed of as a drastic measure, bad practice .

Here within the USA, circumcision was sold to oldsters as how to finish the explanation for all disease, which was alleged to are masturbation. Now we read a study that said the less men between the ages of 20 and 50 masturbate, the more likely they're to develop prostatic adenocarcinoma . Masturbation helps filter out the small little tubes within the male genital system , it said.

I wondered if present-day parents should worry if their children don't masturbate enough. Will doctors of the longer term recommend more masturbation so boys are going to be healthier?

"Son, you are looking a touch sickly! attend your room, and do not begin until you've got had a minimum of one healthy orgasm!"

"Aw, mom, do I even have to? I wanted to try to to my math homework!"

And the irony is, now that studies are performed, we discover that loss of genital tissue leads to more masturbation. Yes, the very fact is, circumcised men masturbate much more than intact men - 40% more often. Are they trying to form up for in quantity what they're lacking in quality of experience?

What about loving family relationships in adulthood? How might loss of sensual tissue affect that? One man cut after adulthood said the difference between cut and intact sex is just like the difference between black and white, or color television . Something vital is missing. Could the loss of the foreskin affect the bonding process? Could loss of the foreskin be the explanation for such a lot sexual dissatisfaction and infidelity? When something is missing, do people reach bent new partners, hoping that somebody new are going to be the one who really "does it" for them?

Reducing the physical equipment reduces the sensual experience and sexual satisfaction, yet nature's demand for copy burns as hot within the cut and therefore the intact. With the loss of natural parts and skin, achieving the deepest levels of sensual contentment is thwarted... so a vicious circle is established. Less skin means sexual frustration - the large itch is inadequately scratched. This surely accounts for the difference in desire among circumcised men and intact women.

People who aren't getting the nutrients their bodies require to figure well, crave food. people that aren't getting the sensual satisfaction their bodies require, crave sex. It's just the way it works. We naturally will attempt to structure for quality with quantity. Deficiency results in obsession. Genital cutting creates sensual deficiency and sexual obsession.

The masturbation-as-cause-of-all-disease theory was bogus and therefore the circumcision "cure" backfired. We now have a nation crammed with people that are sexually frustrated and sexually obsessed. And yet circumcision persists.

We are meant to enjoy full-body orgasms, but when cut, we don't have them. The partners of circumcised people also are bereft of their full ration of delight and satisfaction.

Tens of thousands of delicate nerve endings are stop with every foreskin. and a few men spend months or maybe years stretching the skin and restoring the foreskin. Some attain excellent results that doctors cannot distinguish from natural foreskins. The restored function are often anywhere from 80 to 90% that of a natural, intact man. When a person restores his foreskin, he finds his rhythm of desire begins to more closely resemble his mate's.

Some have called circumcision, "the cure desperately in search of a disease".

Why the persistent sales pitch? Why do an equivalent circumcision enthusiasts move from one claim to another? Why? Who is invested in what?

There is a predictable cycle: A claim is formed for the health advantages of circumcision. The claim seems to be untrue. sort of a smoke and mirrors magic show, another claim arises to require its place. which has been the pattern round the circumcision phenomenon for several years now.

Psychologist and author Alice Miller wrote, "What eventually happens to the one that was mutilated as a child? As a rule, children who were once injured will later injure their own children, maintaining that their behavior does no harm because their own loving parents did an equivalent ."

Circumcision makes circumcisers. Circumcision makes people that are hooked in to sexuality, babies' genitals, cutting of flesh, and therefore the shedding of blood. Trauma sets us up for acting out the trauma, repetition compulsion.

Could it's that the act of circumcising is an addiction of sorts? for a few , it must carry quite charge. There are people that have blood fetishes, people that have tissue fetishes, people that get off on torturing others, people that wish to fondle children's genitals. Put all of them together and circumcision surely is a perfect job for a few .

And it isn't easy to offer up addictions. There are not any circumciser detox centers, no "Circumcisionists Anonymous" meetings. It's unlikely circumcision clamps and knives are going to be easy to pry out of the hands of these who want to continue. it's a particularly emotional subject. i used to be shocked to read that some doctors who were surveyed said that albeit it had been made illegal, they might still circumcise. Now that's clique .

So I went public. I had booth at an outside celebration. "Circumcision is my religion," screamed one kindly grandmother at me. Thumbs down for my Save the Males sign from one very nicely dressed and coiffed elderly lady. "You do not know how hard I had to figure to urge my grandson circumcised!" spat a 3rd .

Adults defending circumcision instead of protecting children - this truly perplexed me.

In the interest of human rights, i feel it's time for circumcision to be examined with a microscope which will see beneath the surface of emotional arguments. once we are so deeply mired in anything we will not see clearly. we'd like a mirror.

Westerners look askance at the ritual mutilations of the body performed in exotic tribes, but they justify their own ritual mutilations as medically appropriate. Europeans sneer at the Maasai custom of lengthening the ear lobes, but they need their own noses bobbed and their faces lifted.

"Americans are horrified at the Arunta practice of subincision (slitting the penis on the ventral side) or the Sudanese tradition of infibulation (excising much of the feminine genitals and sewing up the vagina), but they stand with few other modern nations in clinging to a ritual that's no less "barbaric" and no more "hygienic", routine circumcision." - Karen Ericksen Paige

Look at babies' faces before and after circumcision. Before, they appear peaceful, content, happy. After, their faces look dismayed, betrayed. hear their cries.

When I was studying the topic , research had still not been performed on the long-term effects of circumcision on the infant, the bonding process with mom, the psychology of the circumcised baby, the boy and man he becomes, his relationships, the standard of life.

In England, circumcision ended abruptly after a couple of facts were provided to the medical boards. Europeans seem to try to to quite well with their natural, sexy, relaxed bodies.

But it's as if the U.S. is under a spell, during a trance. It can't see itself objectively. Americans are prudish and yet are inundated with sex wherever they appear within the media. Even Disney films titillate.

Circumcised doctors imagine the natural penis to be a congenital anomaly . "I can do something that for you!" doctors say, as if natural anatomy may be a condition that needs fixing.

Is circumcision specialized for babies? No. Does anybody know needless to say that circumcision has ever saved anyone's life? No. Does anybody know needless to say that being intact has led to anyone's death? No. Has circumcision killed? Yes. Has it deprived? Yes, deprivation may be a certainty , 100% of the time.

Some men say every circumcision may be a botched circumcision. Every circumcision maims.

So, as I read and skim , it appeared to me that circumcision was a cosmetic, elective procedure, never beneficial and inevitably harmful... unless the owner had gangrene of the foreskin.

How good of a thought can it's to traumatize infants for the sake of cosmetic genital surgery? How good of a thought can it's to deprive anyone of natural body parts and natural sensation?

We owe it to our youngsters to look at the circumcision subject carefully. it is vital we placed on our thinking caps and be objective, not just argue to be "clever" or "right", or to "win".

Each time objective reality checks prove that circumcision claims are false, the circumcision promotion machine moves on, sort of a huge monster that eats foreskins for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

What might be the motivation? Who does circumcision profit? Well, there are doctor and hospital fees. I heard once a pediatric urologist complain that folks who speak up and tell their stories are "scaring patients away" from circumcision.

A retired doctor-preacher man once told me he didn't like doing circumcisions, but, "If I didn't do them, somebody else would get the cash ." He looked rather shocked after he said those words.

Medicine may be a business and circumcision has been business within the USA for a century or more.

There are circumcision tools and instruments and equipment to sell. What about the commercial uses of the amputated skin? At just one occasion there was a minimum of one business that made and sold goods made up of foreskins. One can only imagine how they obtained the foreskins... many colors, many sizes... we will only speculate. From a really odd catalog:

Introducing MANLY ARTS of Ohio, purveyors of circumcision memorabilia. MANLY ARTS focuses on providing a channel for those historians, researchers and collectors who are involved within the development of the "manhood movement" because it has been expressed in literature, research, graphics, objects and cultural practice. Foreskin Quarterly #7 (Winter 1987), pages 20-21.

Item 61. Wallet, actually made up of human foreskins. Supple and imminently serviceable. Comprised of fourteen skins starting from 3" by 5 1/4" to infant 1 1/2" by 2", the wallet contains eight compartments and is sewn along side leather thread. Of such a commanding appearance that viewers will need to ask what the fabric is. then , it's up to you. Beautiful brownish patina on the outside; the within composed of checkerboard alternating Caucasian and Black skins. $1,000.

Item 62. Woven finger ring made up of actual human foreskin. Braided, and done so by twisting: the skin was apparently not cut longitudinally during its removal. Thus there's no joint between the 2 ends, because there are not any ends. a gorgeous piece of engineering, very similar to a Chinese puzzle . Beautiful mahogany patina with honey-colored highlights. Would fit the center finger of the typical man. $500.

Item 63. Small (9") pair of lamp shades made up of human foreskins. Mounted on solid brass cast and polished bases. Excellent form and style . The foreskins are Caucasian, Black, Olive, Oriental and Indian and are utilized in a daily pattern. The mellow light shed by the foreskins produces an enviable atmosphere of calm and romance. $2,500 the pair.

Item 64. Beautiful vest made entirely of human foreskins, lined in emerald green moire. The foreskins are used as squares alternating with small diamonds of much darker skin. The seven buttons are solid gold and every is stamped "Tiffany and Co." $5,200.

Item 65. Gentleman's pinkie ring made up of human foreskin. In constructing this item, the inner and outer layer of prepuce were left in their original relative positions, therefore the ring is double thickness. this might are the merchandise of a re-circumcision, because the forward edge retains a definite pattern of suture marks which had healed. Being a double thickness, small circular holes are placed within the outer skin and opaque gem stones inserted which contrast handsomely to the honey-brown color of the ring. The width being only 1/2" contributes to the idea that the ring was produced by a second circumcision. $375.

Item 66. this is often an outrageous item. an outsized and long human foreskin has been expertly tanned to supply all the suppleness and softness of the intact version. it's connected to a sulcus ring of silver with cabochons of lazuli in order that the wearers looks as if he were an uncircumcised male wearing only a sulcus ring (granted that the ring is worn above and not beneath the prepuce). The skin is connected to the ring with a dozen silver rivets; not recommended to be used in masturbation or intercourse, rather obviously. But a hekkuva decoration for those special parties. $225.

Babies' genitals are utilized in expensive beauty creams. somatic cell research is performed with foreskin tissue. Flattening out football-field-sized sheets of very expensive covering containing - yes! - infant foreskin.

"Just one foreskin per football field! We promise! And it had been donated from the owner of the company's son! - Honest!"

European and Japanese men don't suffer from foreskin problems. Europe and Japan score high on World Health Organization charts - the USA is 37th. No national medical association within the world - even within the us - endorses circumcision. Even our own American Medical Association (AMA) and American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP) don't accept the health and hygiene claims. And yet circumcision myths keep it up going and going and going... just like the Energizer bunny.

Doctors? Poor doctors. within the past they created such a successful demand for circumcision that now they're trapped. albeit they claim they do not want to perform circumcisions, they claim they must! Bloodthirsty parents insist! in any case , medicine may be a business and therefore the customer is usually right.

And so, face lift on healthy infant penises continues.

I wonder what doctors would say if a parent insisted they stop a baby's nose? Or an ear? Or an eyelid? Would they are doing it? If the parent insisted? Why? Why not?

A cruel beast circumcision is - for all involved, but especially for the fresh visitor to the earth , the guest of honor, the baby.

No child has ever voluntarily chosen to travel under the knife. Every child resists. Babies need to be held down, strapped down, restrained. Babies fight circumcision. Children don't want to be circumcised. And yet, once they have children, the circumcised will pass it down...

Pshew! Time on behalf of me to require a breath.

That was a stimulating little bit of reading and research. Such an emotional issue. Even on behalf of me , though it appears - thus far , anyway - that I'm just an innocent bystander!

And now I even have even more questions.

Did God really tell us to circumcise our babies? Or is it possible we live under the tyranny of an ancient superstition?

Have we all been duped? Everyone? Everyone medical? Everyone religious? By tricksters from the past?

Do we actually need blood rituals and tribal markings? Now? within the 21st Century?

Is circumcision at the basis of man's inhumanity to man? infancy trauma? Power-over? Powerlessness?

We have an enormous ashcan of historical mistakes: stonings, crucifixions, holocausts, routine tonsillectomies, appendectomies, mammograms, and bleeding with leeches.