According to a published report in the August 16th 2010 edition of the New York Time’s parents are choosing less and less to circumcise their new born sons. The article states instances of circumcision have declined “to just 32.5 percent in 2009 from 56 percent in 2006. The numbers are based on calculations by SDI Health, a company in Plymouth Meeting, Pa. that analyzes health care data”. Why are so many deciding to not have the elective procedure even though the rate of complication is extraordinarily low? What about the arguments for hygiene, sexual satisfaction, psychological and social concerns and, lest we dismiss, religious views?
Per WebMD “Male circumcision is a surgery to remove the foreskin, a fold of skin that covers and protects the rounded tip of the penis. The foreskin provides sensation and lubrication for the penis. In most cases, circumcision is elective surgery, which means there isn't a medical reason for it”. If it is done, circumcision is usually done soon after birth. It’s been disputed that circumcision can be traced as far back as Ancient Egypt. Some believe that there are paintings in tombs and along the walls of caves that show early male genital mutilations and alterations (Hodges). Despite extensive history, western culture (English speaking) can credit its most recent practices to the thinking of the 19th century when circumcision was used routinely on males and females to prevent and stop masturbation. Around the same time the medical community began to focus more on germs and sanitation and a common thought was formed.
The germ theory of disease elicited an image of the human body as a conveyance for many dangerous germs, making the public "germ phobic" and suspicious of dirt and bodily secretion...
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• Darby, Robert. www.historyofcircumcision.net”web. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
• Altschul, M. Cultural Bias and the UTI Circumcision Controversy. The Circumcision Reference Library. Truth Seeker, July 1989;1:43-45
Wikipedia:
1. "Session 11—4 February 1442 (Bull of union with the Copts)". Eccumenical Council of Florence(1438–1445).EternalWordTelevisionNetwork. http://www.ewtn.com/library/councils/Florence.htm#5.web. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
2. Gollaher, David (Fall 1994). "From ritual to science: the medical transformation of circumcision in America". Journal of Social History 28 (1): 5–36. http://www.cirp.org/library/history/gollaher/.web. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
3. Siegfried N, Muller M, Deeks JJ, Volmink J (2009). Siegfried, Nandi. ed. "Male circumcision for prevention of heterosexual acquisition of HIV in men". Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (Online)
In Althaus’ article, she provides in-depth information about female circumcision; a highly controversial cultural ritual that is practiced in at least 28 countries
Carleton- Munro, Dana. The Speech of Pope Urban II. At Clermont, 1095. The American Historical Review. 11. no. 2 (1906): 231.
Some fear that the removal of the healthy part of an organ is a purely
Descriptions of ritual circumcision span across cultures, and have been described in ancient Egyptian texts as well as the Old Testament. With this being said, “The American Academy of Pediatrics believes that circumcision has potential medical benefits and advantages, as well as risks. Evaluation of current evidence indicates that the health benefits of newborn male circumcision outweigh the risks and that the procedure's benefits justify access to this procedure for families who choose it, however, existing scientific evidence is not sufficient to recommend routine circumcision.” (n.d.).
Afterwards, the parents sign a surgical consent giving the provider the approval to perform the procedure. The purpose of the circumcision is to remove the foreskin from the head of the penis, and allow the head of the penis to be exposed. The provider will use various supplies during the procedure such as an topical or injection anesthetic, a scapula to cut the foreskin, and one of three different clamps to hold the foreskin. According to Bcheraoui et al. (2014), studies have revealed that male circumcisions have an overall side effects rate of 0.5% if performed during the child’s first year of life, but increase up to 20 times that if performed after
Freedom of choice is a desire for most, but as we are young we depend on the decision of our parents. With this dependent nature of a child the freedom of choice is limited, for males this can lead to a life long consequence. Male circumcision is the surgical removal of the foreskin; the skin covering the head of the penis. Circumcision is practiced for religious purposes in Jewish and Muslim communities. Normally, the boy’s age varies from 4 to 11 years old. In the United States, this procedure is also done but without a religious purpose. The boys in this case are commonly newborn. This practice became popular after medical groups claimed that there were many health benefits that came with circumcision. Though it has been proven otherwise, it is still a common practice in the U.S. fueled by ignorance. Circumcision is an unnecessary surgery that leads to psychological problems, issues with sexual activities and lasting physical damage.
Most Americans view circumcision as a solution to a problem which it is not. Circumcision has not been scientifically proven to prevent, solve, or improve any health condition or state. One of the most common reasons people circumcise infants is because they believe it will make cleaning babies easier. This is a common misconception. Parents for generations have been taught that uncircumcised babies need to have the underside of their foreskin cleaned, but this is physically impossible to do without permanently damaging the organ. When a baby is born the foreskin is fused to the head of the penis, thus no additional care is needed. The organ is very self-cleaning just like it’s female
Certainly, in the United States (and much of the Western world), female circumcision is illegal; however, male circumcision is utterly legal. In fact, in 2007, the Center for Disease Control reported that almost eighty percent of men in the United States were circumcised (Morris): legally, zero percent were females. Yet, several nations, where the culture is absolutely polar from the West, have prohibited male circumcision (Evans). The predominant factor, of course. The ideologies of culture make the laws, including morals; thus, these laws represent each region’s civilization, morals, and culture. Again, doctors must conform—this time to the law, not the parent. So, any decision doctors make, regarding circumcision, is due to cultural restrictions and their own
Through an ethical point of view, circumcision should be a choice; the government should not be against it. This cannot be made illegal because it will leave people to perform FGC in barbershops using non-medical facilities, which creates more risk. Like male circumcision, female circumcision should be allowed and welcomed in hospitals. This culture cannot be abandoned and forgotten in a fortnight, however studies reveal the decline of this procedure throughout West Africa, for example, Tostan in Senegal aim at eradication this practice.
Circumcision has been a religious practice in many different cultures, ranging from Africa to the Middle East, and to Asia. While prevalent in both Jewish and Muslim societies, the earliest known documentation of circumcision comes from Egyptian hieroglyphics discovered dating back to 2300 BC. While the reason behind circumcision is currently unknown, many theories exist as to attempt to explain it origins. One theory persists that that circumcision started as a way to release the body from sin, and purifying both the individual and the society, as sexuality was seen as dirty and impure, and the removing of the foreskin would reduce sexual pleasure. In Abrahamic faiths, Jewish and Muslim, circumcision is practiced as a way confirm one 's relationship to God, and is stated in the Torah, as the covenant between God and Abraham, “This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee: every male among you shall be circumcised. " While two of the earliest form of Christianity, Coptic Christian, and Ethiopian Orthodox
15 Cassirer, 15. 16 Cassirer, 171. 17 Cassirer, 136. 18 Cassirer, 164. 19. Cragg, Gerald R. The Church and the Age of Reason, 1648-1789.
Female genital mutilation (also known as female circumcision) is the cutting of female clitoral hood and removing clitoris. Following the cutting of female genital organ, there are many short-term and long-term health risk problems, and even death due to some complicated infections. The reasons for performing female genital mutilation are connected with socio-cultural beliefs, attitudes, values and customs, transition of girls into womanhood, tradition and cultural heritage, the fear of not having access to resources and opportunities as a young woman, perception to reduce sexual desire of females; hence, will sustain premarital virginity, and maintain marital fidelity. Actions have taken at international, national and regional levels since the past many years and have begun to bear fruits, but the practice is still undergoing in many countries in the world and highly prevalent in Africa. To continue and motivate further reduction in changing the society’s attitudes towards female genital mutilation in the countries where the prevalence has remained stable so it’s therefor...
Many feminists in the Western Culture have this ethnocentric idea that female circumcision is “female mutilation” portraying it as a “barbaric tradition” and “violence against women” (“Yes to Female Circumcision?”). According to Fuambai Ahmadu, a Sierra Leonean-American anthropologist, female circumcision is an initiation that symbolizes matriarchal power. The practice is “synonymous with women’s power, their political, economic, reproductive, and ritual spheres of influence” (Ahmadu, pg. 14). By having no regards to the cultures and traditions of these small-scale societies, we are invalidating their beliefs and presenting ethnocentric
Roger Babusci et al. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1994. 115-136. Print. “The Medieval Period: 1066-1485.”
Rice, Eugene E. and Anthony Grafton. The Foundations of Early Modern Europe, 1460-1559. 2nd. ed. New York: W. W. Norton and Co., 1994.