View source for History of circumcision

Many Americans are surprised to hear that [[circumcision]] (the surgical removal of the foreskin) is uncommon in the western world. Foreigners are often shocked when they first hear that the practice of circumcision even exists in the United States. Circumcision was first introduced in the United States by an anti-sexual Victorian initiative which began during the 1830’s. Numerous publications from the 1830’s to times even as late as the 1970’s had advocated for circumcision as a means to prevent [[masturbation]], and to permanently desensitize, denude, and immobilize the penis.
<ref name="Lallemand">{{REFbook
 |last=Lallemand
 |first=Claude-Francois
 |year=(1):1836; (2):1839; (3):1842
 |title=Des Pertes Seminales Involontaires
 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=HV4B3UaMUAYC&dq=Des+Pertes+Seminales+Involontaires+1836&lr=&source=gbs_navlinks_s
 |work=
 |editor=
 |edition=
 |volume=1-3
 |chapter=
 |pages=(1):463-467; (2):70-162; (3):266-267, 280-289
 |location=
 |publisher=
 |isbn=
 |quote=
 |accessdate=2011-06-09
 |note=
}}</ref><ref name="Dixon">{{REFbook
 |last=Dixon
 |first=Edward H.
 |year=1845
 |title=A Treatise on Diseases of the Sexual Organs
 |url=
 |work=
 |editor=
 |edition=
 |volume=
 |chapter=
 |pages=158-165
 |location=New York
 |publisher=Stringer & Co
 |isbn=
 |quote=
 |accessdate=2011-06-09
 |note=
}}</ref><ref name="Moses1871">{{REFjournal
 |last=Moses
 |first=M.J.
 |title=The value of circumcision as a hygienic and therapeutic measure
 |journal=New York Medical Journal
 |date=1871-11
 |volume=14
 |issue=4
 |pages=368-374
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref><ref name="Kellogg1888">{{REFbook
 |last=Kellogg
 |first=John Harvey
 |year=1888
 |title=Plain Facts for Old and Young.
 |url=http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/KelPlai.html
 |work=
 |editor=Project Gutenberg
 |edition=1881 edition
 |volume=
 |chapter=Treatment for Self-Abuse and Its Effects
 |pages=
 |location=Burlington, Iowa
 |publisher=F. Segner & Co
 |isbn=
 |quote=
 |accessdate=2011-03-21
 |note=
}}</ref><ref name="Hutchinson1891">{{REFjournal
 |last=Hutchinson
 |first=Johnathan 
 |title=On circumcision as preventive of masturbation
 |journal=Archives of Surgery
 |date=1891-01
 |volume=2
 |issue=7
 |pages=267-269
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref><ref name="Remondino1894">{{REFjournal
 |last=Remondino
 |first=P.C.
 |title=Negro rapes and their social problems
 |journal=National Popular Review
 |date=1894-01
 |volume=4
 |issue=1
 |pages=3-6
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref><ref name="Cockshut1935">{{REFjournal
 |last=Cockshut
 |first=R.W.
 |author-link=R. W. Cockshut
 |title=Circumcision
 |journal=British Medical Journal
 |date=1935-10-19
 |volume=2
 |issue=3902
 |page=764
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref><ref name="Guttmacher1941">{{REFjournal
 |last=Guttmacher
 |first=Allan F.
 |title=Should the baby be circumcised?
 |journal=Parents Magazine
 |date=1941-09
 |volume=16
 |issue=9
 |pages=26,76-78
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref><ref name="MillerSnyder1953">{{REFjournal
 |last=Miller
 |first=R.L.
 |first2=D.C.
 |last2=Snyder
 |title=Immediate circumcision of the newborn male
 |journal=American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
 |date=1953-01
 |volume=6
 |issue=1
 |pages=1-11
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref><ref name="Fishbein1969">{{REFbook
 |last=Fishbein
 |first=Morris
 |year=1969
 |title=Modern Home Medical Adviser
 |url=
 |work=
 |editor=Garden City
 |edition=
 |volume=
 |chapter=Sex hygiene
 |pages=90+119
 |location=New York
 |publisher=Doubleday & Co
 |isbn=
 |quote=
 |accessdate=
 |note=
}}</ref><ref>{{REFbook
 |last=Campbell
 |first=M.F.
 |year=1970
 |title=Urology
 |url=
 |work=
 |editor=M.F. Campbell and J.H. Harrison
 |edition=3
 |volume= 2
 |chapter=The Male Genital Tract and the Female Urethra
 |page=1836
 |location=Philadelphia
 |publisher=W. B. Saunders
 |isbn=
 |quote=
 |accessdate=
 |note=
}}</ref>
[[Image:FGC.jpeg|right|thumb|From Historical American Female Circumcision medical papers]]

Circumcision advocates quickly moved on to manufacture a number of outrageous health claims. These claims were tailored to the fears and anxieties of the day. Circumcision has been claimed to cure epilepsy, convulsions, paralysis, elephantiasis, tuberculosis, eczema, bed-wetting, hip-joint disease, fecal incontinence, rectal prolapse, wet dreams, hernia, headaches, nervousness, hysteria, poor eyesight, idiocy, mental retardation, insanity, strabismus, hydrocephalus, clubfoot, cancer, STD’s, UTI’s, etc.<ref> F. A. Hodges, "Short History of the Institutionalization of Involuntary Sexual Mutilation in the United States," in G. C. Denniston and M. F. Milos, eds., Sexual Mutilations: A Human Tragedy (New York: Plenum Press, 1997), 35.</ref>
Doctors were eager to claim that they could prevent and cure many of these aliments, conditions and diseases because there were no treatments available then. Even though all of these claims have been throughly discredited, circumcision has remained a solution in search of a problem ever since. Many Americans are surprised to find out that female genital cutting (FGC) shares a strikingly similar history in the United States. 
<ref name="Kellogg1888"/>
<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Morris
 |first=Robert Tuttle
 |title=Is evolution trying to do away with the clitoris?
 |journal=American Association of OB/GYNs
 |date=1892
 |volume=5
 |issue=
 |pages=288-302
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>
<ref name="McFarland1898">{{REFjournal
 |last=McFarland
 |first=T. Scott
 |title=Circumcision of girls
 |journal=Journal of Orificial Surgery
 |date=1898-07
 |volume=7
 |issue=
 |pages=31-33
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>
<ref name="Dawson1915">{{REFjournal
 |last=Dawson
 |first=Benjamin E.
 |title=Circumcision in the Female: Its Necessity and How to Perform It
 |journal=American Journal of Clinical Medicine
 |date=1915-06
 |volume=22
 |issue=66
 |pages=520-523
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>
<ref name="Eskridge1918">{{REFjournal
 |last=Eskridge
 |first=Belle C.
 |title=Why not circumcise the girl as well as the boy?
 |journal=Texas State Journal of Medicine
 |date=1918-05
 |volume=14
 |issue=
 |pages=17-19
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>
<ref name="McDonald1958">{{REFjournal
 |last=McDonald
 |first=C.F.
 |title=Circumcision of the female
 |journal=General Practitioner
 |date=1958-09
 |volume=18
 |issue=3
 |pages=98-99
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>
<ref name="Rathmann1959">{{REFjournal
 |last=
 |first=
 |title=Female Circumcision: Indications and a New Technique
 |journal=General Practitioner
 |date=1959-09
 |volume=20
 |issue=9
 |pages=115-120
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>
FGC was even covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield until 1977. Nowadays, many forms of FGC are now considered forms of female genital mutilation (FGM), which are banned in all western countries.

== History of circumcision in the western world ==

=== 19th century ===

* 1832 [[Claude-Francois Lallemand]] circumcises a patient to '''cure''' him '''from nocturnal seminal emissions''' (i.e. wet dreams).<ref name="Lallemand"/>

* 1845 [[Edward H. Dixon]] declares that circumcision '''prevents [[masturbation]]'''.<ref name="Dixon"/>

* 1855 [[Johnathon Hutchinson]] publishes his theory that circumcision '''prevents syphilis'''.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Hutchinson
 |first=Johnathon
 |title=On the Influence of Circumcision in Preventing Syphilis
 |journal=Medical Times and Gazette
 |date=1855
 |volume=32
 |issue=844
 |pages=542-543
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1865 [[Nathaniel Heckford]] claims that circumcision '''cures epilepsy'''.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Heckford
 |first=Nathaniel
 |title=Circumcision as a remedial measure in certain cases of epilepsy and chorea
 |journal=Clinical Lectures and Reports by the Medical and Surgical Staff of the London Hospital
 |date=1865
 |volume=2
 |issue=
 |pages=58-64
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1870 [[Lewis A. Sayre]] publishes a paper 'proving' that circumcision '''cures epilepsy'''.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Sayre
 |first=Lewis A.
 |title=Circumcision versus epilepsy, etc; Transcription of the New York Pathological Society meeting of June 8, 1870
 |journal=Medical Record
 |date=1870-07-15
 |volume=5
 |issue=10
 |pages=231-234
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1870 [[Lewis A. Sayre]] declares that circumcision '''prevents spinal paralysis'''.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Sayre
 |first=Lewis A.
 |title=Partial paralysis from reflex irritation, caused by congenital phimosis and adherent prepuce
 |journal=Transactions of the American Medical Association
 |date=1870
 |volume=21
 |issue=
 |pages=205-211
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1871 [[M.J. Moses]] declares that Jews are '''immune to [[masturbation]] because of circumcision'''.<ref name="Moses1871"/>

* 1873 [[Joseph Bell]] announces his discovery that circumcision '''cures bed wetting'''.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Bell
 |first=Joseph
 |title=Nocturnal incontinence of urine cured by circumcision
 |journal=Edinburgh Medical Journal
 |date=1873-05
 |volume=1
 |issue=9
 |page=1034
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1875 [[Lewis A. Sayre]] declares that '''foreskin causes curvature of the spine, paralysis of the bladder, and clubfoot'''.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Sayre
 |first=Lewis A.
 |title=Spinal anaemia with partial paralysis and want of coordination, from irritation of the genital organs
 |journal=Transactions of the American Medical Association
 |date=1875
 |volume=26
 |issue=
 |pages=255-274
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1879 [[H.H. Kane]] 'discovers' that circumcision '''cures nocturnal emissions and abdominal neuralgia'''.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Kane
 |first=H.H.
 |title=Seminal emissions, abdominal neuralgia: circumcision: cure
 |journal=Southern Clinic
 |date=1879-10
 |volume=2
 |issue=1
 |pages=8-11
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1881 [[Maximillian Landesburg]] announces that circumcision '''cures eye problems''' that he believed were '''caused by [[masturbation]]'''.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Landesburg
 |first=Maximillian
 |title=On affections of the eye caused by masturbation
 |journal=Medical Bulletin
 |date=1881-04
 |volume=3
 |issue=4
 |pages=79-81
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1886 [[William G. Eggleston]] declares that '''foreskin causes crossed eyes'''.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Eggleston
 |first=William G.
 |title=Two cases of reflex paraplegia(one with aphasia) from tape-worm and phimosis
 |journal=Journal of the American Medical Association
 |date=1886-05-08
 |volume=6
 |issue=19
 |pages=511-515
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1888 [[John Harvey Kellogg]] promotes '''circumcision as punishment''' for boys to discourage them from masturbating.<ref>{{REFbook
 |last=Kellogg
 |first=John Harvey
 |year=1888
 |title=Plain Facts for Old and Young
 |url=https://archive.org/details/plainfaorold00kell/page/390
 |work=
 |editor=
 |edition=
 |volume=
 |chapter=
 |pages=107
 |location=Burlington, Iowa
 |publisher=F. Segner & Co
 |isbn=
 |quote=
 |accessdate=2019-09-24
 |note=
}}</ref>

* 1890 [[William D. Gentry]] declares that circumcision cures blindness, deafness and dumbness.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Gentry
 |first=William D.
 |title=Nervous derangements produced by sexual irregularities in boys
 |journal=Medical Current
 |date=Jul 1890
 |volume=6
 |issue=7
 |pages=268-274
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1891 [[Johnathan Hutchinson]] declares that '''foreskin encourages boys to masturbate'''.<ref name="Hutchinson1891"/>

* 1893 [[Mark J. Lehman]] demands immediate implementation of mass circumcision of all American boys.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Lehman
 |first=Mark J.
 |title=A plea for circumcision
 |journal=Medical Review
 |date=1893-07-22
 |volume=28
 |issue=4
 |pages=65-65
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1894 [[P.C. Remondino]] says '''circumcising blacks will help prevent them from raping whites'''.<ref name="Remondino1894"/>

* 1894 [[H.L. Rosenberry]] publishes paper 'proving' that circumcision '''cures urinary and rectal incontinence'''.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Rosenberry
 |first=H.L.
 |title=Incontinence of the urine and faeces, cured by circumcision
 |journal=Medical Record
 |date=1894-08-11
 |volume=4
 |issue=6
 |page=173
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1898 [[T. Scott McFarland]] says he has "circumcised as many girls as boys, and always with happy results."<ref name="McFarland1898"/>

=== 20st century ===

* 1900 [[Johnathan Hutchinson]] advises circumcision as way to '''decrease the pleasure of sex''', and hence to '''discourage sexual immorality'''.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Hutchinson
 |first=Johnathan
 |title=The advantages of circumcision
 |journal=The Polyclinic
 |date=1900-09
 |volume=3
 |issue=9
 |pages=129-131
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1901 [[Ernest G. Mark]] notes that the "pleasurable sensations that are elicited from the extremely sensitive" inner lining of the foreskin may encourage a child to masturbate, which is why he recommends circumcision since it "lessens the sensitiveness of the organ". <ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Mark
 |first=Ernest G.
 |title=Circumcision
 |journal=American Practitioner and News
 |date=1901-02-15
 |volume=31
 |issue=4
 |pages=122-126
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1902 [[Roswell Park]] publishes paper 'proving' that '''foreskin causes epilepsy''' and that circumcision cures it.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Park
 |first=Roswell
 |title=The surgical treatment of epilepsy
 |journal=American Medicine
 |date=1902-11-22
 |volume=4
 |issue=21
 |pages=807-809
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1914 [[Abraham L. Wolbarst]] claims that circumcision '''prevents tuberculosis''' and demands the compulsory circumcision of all children in America.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Wolbarst
 |first=Abraham L.
 |title=Universal circumcision as a sanitary measure
 |journal=Journal of the American Medical Association
 |date=1914-01-10
 |volume=62
 |issue=2
 |pages=92-97
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1915 [[Benjamin E. Dawson]] says that since the '''clitoral hood is the source of many neuroses''', female circumcision is necessary.<ref name="Dawson1915"/>

* 1918 [[Belle Eskridge]] concludes circumcision will '''relieve one of the greatest causes of [[masturbation]]''' in girls.<ref name="Eskridge1918"/>

* 1926 [[Abraham L. Wolbarst]] claims that circumcision '''prevents penile cancer'''.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Wolbarst
 |first=Abraham L.
 |title=Is circumcision a prophylactic against penis cancer?
 |journal=Cancer
 |date=1926-07
 |volume=3
 |issue=4
 |pages=301-310
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1930 [[Norton Henry Bare]] claims that he has cured a boy of '''epilepsy''' by circumcising him.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Bare
 |first=Norton Henry
 |title=Surgical treatment of epilepsy with report of case
 |journal=The China Medical Journal
 |date=1930-11
 |volume=4
 |issue=11
 |pages=1109-1113
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>
[[File:Single_mogen.jpg|right|thumb|The [[Gomco|Gomco]] and [[Mogen|Mogen]] clamps.]]

* 1934 [[Aaron Goldstein]] and [[Hiram S. Yellen]] invent and mass market the [[Gomco]] clamp which makes it easier for doctors to cut off even more skin than in traditional circumcisions.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Goldstein
 |first=Aaron
 |first2=Hiram S.
 |last2=Yellen
 |title=Bloodless circumcision of the newborn
 |journal=American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
 |date=1935-07
 |volume=30
 |issue=1
 |pages=146-147
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1935 [[R. W. Cockshut]] demands that all boys be circumcised in order to '''desensitize the penis and promote chastity'''.<ref name="Cockshut1935"/>

* 1941 [[Allan F. Guttmacher]] promotes mass circumcision as a means of '''blunting male sexual sensitivity'''. He also spreads the false claim that a baby's foreskin must be forcibly retracted and scrubbed daily.<ref name="Guttmacher1941"/>

* 1942 [[Abraham Ravich]] claims that circumcision prevents '''prostate cancer'''.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Ravich
 |first=Abraham
 |author-link=Abraham Ravich
 |title=The relationship of circumcision to cancer of the prostate
 |journal=Journal of Urology
 |date=1942-09
 |volume=48
 |issue=3
 |pages=298-299
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1949 [[Eugene H. Hand]] declares that circumcision '''prevents venereal disease and cancer of the tongue'''.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Hand
 |first=Eugene H.
 |author-link=Eugene H. Hand
 |title=Circumcision and venereal disease
 |journal=Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology
 |date=1949-09
 |volume=60
 |issue=3
 |pages=341-346
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1949 [[Douglas Gairdner]] points out that the previous years cases of infant '''circumcision deaths were not necessary given the lack of medical justification for circumcision'''.<br>(Note: This paper helped encourage the National Health Service to drop coverage for infant circumcision which led to the practical elimination of non- religious circumcision in the United Kingdom.)<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Gairdner
 |first=Douglas
 |author-link=Douglas Gairdner
 |title=The fate of the foreskin
 |journal=British Medical Journal
 |date=1949
 |volume=2
 |issue=
 |pages=1433-1437
 |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2051968/pdf/brmedj03656-0009.pdf
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1951 [[Abraham Ravich]] invents claims that circumcision prevents '''cervical cancer in women'''.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Ravich
 |first=Abraham
 |author-link=Abraham Ravich
 |title=Prophylaxis of cancer of the prostate, penis, and cervix by circumcision
 |journal=New York State Journal of Medicine
 |date=1951-06
 |volume=51
 |issue=12
 |pages=1519-1520
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1953 [[R.L. Miller]] and [[D.C. Snyder]] unleash their plans to circumcise all male babies immediately after birth while still in the delivery room to '''prevent [[masturbation]]''' and '''provide "immunity to nearly all physical and mental illness."'''<ref name="MillerSnyder1953"/>

* 1954 [[Ernest L. Wynder]] claims that male circumcision '''prevents cervical cancer in women.'''<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Wynder
 |first=Ernest L.
 |author-link=Ernest L. Wynder
 |title=A study of environmental factors of carcinoma of the cervix
 |journal=American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
 |date=1954-10
 |volume=68
 |issue=4
 |pages=10166-52 (??)
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1956 [[Raymond Creelman]] invents the [[Circumstraint]] which straps down and immobilizes the baby's arms and legs.<ref>{{REFdocument
 |title=USPTO patent number RE24,377
 |url=
 |publisher=USPTO
 |format=
 |date=1957-10-15
 |accessdate=2019-09-19
}}</ref>

* 1958 [[C.F. McDonald]] says "the same reasons that apply for the circumcision of males are generally valid when considered for the female."<ref name="McDonald1958"/>

* 1959 [[W.G. Rathmann]] finds that among the many benefits of female circumcision is that it will '''make the clitoris easier for the husband to find'''.<ref name="Rathmann1959"/>

* 1966 Masters and Johnson claim that there is '''no difference in sensitivity between penises with and without foreskin'''.<br>(Note: Their work helps propagate the medical dogma that circumcision has no effect on sexuality go practically unquestioned for nearly the next four decades.)<ref>{{REFbook
 |last=Masters and Johnson
 |first=
 |year=1966
 |title=Human Sexual Response
 |url=
 |work=
 |editor=
 |edition=
 |volume=
 |chapter=
 |pages=
 |location=Boston, Ma
 |publisher=Little Brown & Co
 |isbn=
 |quote=
 |accessdate=
 |note=
}}</ref>

* 1969 [[Morris Fishbein]] calls for circumcision to '''prevent nervousness and''' of course also '''[[masturbation]]'''.<ref name="Fishbein1969"/>

* 1971 [[Abraham Ravich]] claims that circumcision prevents cancer of the bladder and the rectum.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Ravich
 |first=Abraham
 |author-link=Abraham Ravich
 |title=Viral carcinogenesis in venereally susceptible organs
 |journal=Cancer
 |date=1971-06
 |volume=27
 |issue=6
 |pages=1493-1496
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1971 The [[American Academy of Pediatrics]] Committee on Fetus and Newborn issues a warning to the Nation that, "There are no valid medical indications for circumcision in the neonatal period."<ref>{{REFbook
 |last=Evanston
 |first=Ill
 |year=1971
 |title=Hospital Care of Newborn Infants
 |url=
 |work=
 |editor=
 |edition=5th Edition
 |volume=
 |chapter=Committee on Fetus and Newborn Issues. Circumcision
 |page=110
 |location=
 |publisher=American Academy of Pediatrics
 |isbn=
 |quote=
 |accessdate=
 |note=
}}</ref>

* 1973 [[R. Dagher]], [[Melvin Selzer]], and [[Jack Lapides]] declare that anyone who disagrees with their agenda to impose mass circumcision on America is deluded.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Dagher
 |first=R.
 |author-link=R. Dagher
 |first2=Melvin
 |last2=Selzer
 |author2-link=Melvin Selzer
 |first3=Jack
 |last3=Lapides
 |author3-link=Jack Lapides
 |title=Carcinoma of the penis and the anti-circumcision crusade
 |journal=Journal of Urology
 |date=1973-07
 |volume=110
 |issue=1
 |pages=79-80
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1975 The [[American Academy of Pediatrics]] Task force on Circumcision declares, "There are no medical indications for routine circumcisions and the procedure cannot be considered an essential component of health care."<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=American Academy of Pediatrics
 |first=
 |title=Report on the ad hoc task force on circumcision
 |journal=Pediatrics
 |date=1975
 |volume=56
 |issue=
 |pages=610-611
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1976 [[Benjamin Spock]], after recommending circumcision for thirty years, revises his best-selling parenting book: "I strongly recommend leaving the foreskin alone. Parents should insist on convincing reasons for circumcision — and there are no convincing reasons that I know of."<ref>{{REFbook
 |last=Spock
 |first=Benjamin
 |year=
 |title=Baby and Child Care
 |url=
 |work=
 |editor=
 |edition=
 |volume=
 |chapter=
 |pages=1946-1976
 |location=New York
 |publisher=E P Dutten
 |isbn=
 |quote=
 |accessdate=
 |note=
}}</ref>

* 1985 [[Thomas E. Wiswell]] claims that circumcision prevents urinary tract infections.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Wiswell
 |first=Thomas E.
 |author-link=Thomas E. Wiswell
 |title=Decreased incidence of urinary tract infections in circumcised male infants
 |journal=Pediatrics
 |date=1985-05
 |volume=75
 |issue=5
 |pages=901-903
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1986 [[Aaron J. Fink]] claims that circumcision '''prevents AIDS'''.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Fink
 |first=Aaron J.
 |author-link=Aaron J. Fink
 |title=A possible explanation for heterosexual male infection with AIDS
 |journal=New England Journal of Medicine
 |date=1986-10-30
 |volume=31
 |issue=18
 |page=1167
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1988 [[Aaron J. Fink]] invents the falsehood that circumcision '''prevents neonatal group B streptococcal disease'''.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Fink
 |first=Aaron J.
 |author-link=Aaron J. Fink
 |title=Is hygiene enough? Circumcision as a possible strategy to prevent group B streptococcal disease
 |journal=American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
 |date=1988-08
 |volume=159
 |issue=2
 |pages=534-535
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1989 Under the direction of [[Edgar J. Schoen]], the [[American Academy of Pediatrics]] Task Force on Circumcision declares circumcision is necessary.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Schoen
 |first=Edgar J.
 |author-link=Edgar J. Schoen
 |title=Report of the Task Force on Circumcision
 |journal=Pediatrics
 |date=1989-08
 |volume=84
 |issue=2
 |pages=388-391
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1991 [[Edgar J. Schoen]] tries and fails to convince European countries to institute mass circumcision.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Schoen
 |first=Edgar J.
 |author-link=Edgar J. Schoen
 |title=Is it time for Europe to reconsider newborn circumcision?
 |journal=Acta Paediatrica Scandanavian
 |date=1991-08
 |volume=8
 |issue=5
 |pages=573-577
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1991 [[Aaron J. Fink]] declares mass circumcision is necessary to '''prevent sand from getting into the soldiers' foreskins'''.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Fink
 |first=Aaron J.
 |author-link=Aaron J. Fink
 |title=Circumcision and sand
 |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
 |date=1991-11
 |volume=84
 |issue=11
 |page=696
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1996 [[J.R. Taylor]] finds that the average amount of amputated foreskin was nearly half of the total penile skin.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Taylor
 |first=J.R.
 |author-link=John R. Taylor
 |last2=Lockwood
 |first2=A.P.
 |last3=Taylor
 |first3=A.J.
 |title=The prepuce: Specialized mucosa of the penis and its loss to circumcision
 |journal=British Journal of Urology
 |date=1996-02
 |volume=77
 |issue=
 |pages=291-295
 |url=http://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/taylor/
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1997 [[Edgar J. Schoen]] tries and fails once again to convince European countries to institute mass circumcision.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Schoen
 |first=Edgar J.
 |author-link=Edgar J. Schoen
 |title=Benefits of newborn circumcision: Is Europe ignoring the medical evidence?
 |journal=Archives of Diseases of Childhood
 |date=1997-09
 |volume=7
 |issue=33
 |pages=258-260
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1997 [[Janice Lander]] discovers that '''circumcision without anesthesia is traumatic for babies'''.<br>(Note: Before this, almost all infant circumcisions were done without anesthetic due to the prevalent belief among circumcisers that babies are not capable of feeling significant pain and if they could it doesn't matter since they won't be able to remember it.)<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Lander
 |first=Janice
 |author-link=Janice Lander
 |title=Comparison of ring block, dorsal penile nerve block, and topical anesthesia for neonatal circumcision
 |journal=Journal of the American Medical Association
 |date=1997-12
 |volume=274
 |issue=24
 |pages=2157-2162
 |url=http://www.cirp.org/library/pain/lander/
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1998 [[Howard J. Stang]], inventor of an upright circumcision restraint fails to mention this conflict of interest in his article promoting infant circumcision.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Stang
 |first=Howard J.
 |author-link=Howard J. Stang
 |title=Patent #5,160,185, Infant support and restraint system 1992, Circumcision Practice Patterns in the United States
 |journal=Pediatrics
 |date=1998-06
 |volume=101
 |issue=6
 |page=E5
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1999 [[John R. Taylor]], after studying the foreskin's specialized innervation, concludes that it is the "primary erogenous tissue necessary for normal sexual function."<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Taylor
 |first=J.R.
 |author-link=John R. Taylor
 |title=The prepuce
 |journal=BJU Int
 |date=1999-01
 |volume=83
 |issue=1
 |pages=34-44
 |url=http://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/cold-taylor/
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 1999 The [[American Academy of Pediatrics]] Task Force on Circumcision, after reviewing 40 years worth of medical studies, concluded that the "potential medical benefits of newborn male circumcision... are not sufficient to recommend routine neonatal circumcision." This report is also the first time the AAP has acknowledged (after decades of doctors mindlessly repeating the belief that babies don't feel significant pain) that circumcision without anesthesia is traumatic and if circumcision is to be done, anesthesia should be used. Here are some highlights from the report:
::'''Role of Hygiene:''' "there is little evidence to affirm the association between circumcision status and optimum penile hygiene."
::'''STDs including HIV:''' "behavioral factors appear to be far more important than circumcision status."
::'''Penile Cancer:''' "in a developed country such as the United States, penile cancer is a rare disease and the risk of penile cancer developing in an uncircumcised man, although increased compared with a circumcised man, is low."
::'''Urinary Tract Infections:''' "breastfeeding was shown to have a threefold protective effect on the incidence of UTI in a sample of uncircumcised infants. However, breastfeeding status has not been evaluated systematically in studies assessing UTI and circumcision status." meaning that the earlier UTIs studies results were confounded. Even if their numbers were accurate, in order to prevent one UTI during the first year of life by circumcising a baby boy, approximately 195 babies who will not get a UTI would need to be circumcised. Also infant girls commonly develop UTIs(in some studies at even higher rates than infant boys) and the standard treatment for them is antibiotics which works just as well for infant boys with UTIs. The AAP concludes this section noting that "the absolute risk of developing a UTI in an uncircumcised male infant is low (at most, ~1%)".
::'''Ethics:''' Here they say while even though cutting off part of your baby's genitalia "is not essential to the child's current well-being" they are perfectly fine with parents and doctors using cultural tradition as justification.<br>(Note: The report does not mention whether they also think cultural tradition is an acceptable reason to anesthetize infant girls and then cut off their clitoral hoods(which are biologically analogous to foreskin)).<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=American Academy of Pediatrics
 |first=
 |title=Task Force on Circumcision. Circumcision Policy Statement
 |journal=Pediatrics
 |date=1999
 |volume=103
 |issue=3
 |pages=686-693
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

=== 21st century ===

* 2002 [[W.K. Nahm]] extends the storage life of specialized cell cultures derived from "freshly harvested neonatal foreskin tissue."<br>(Note: Since the 1980s, some amputated infant foreskins have been sold without the knowledge of the parents to biomedical companies for research and even use in commercial cosmetic products such as anti-wrinkle creams.)<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Nahm
 |first=W.K.
 |title=Sustained ability for fibroblast outgrowth from stored neonatal foreskin
 |journal=Journal of Dermatology Science
 |date=2002-02
 |volume=28
 |issue=2
 |pages=152-158
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 2003 [[Edgar J. Schoen]] steps up pressure on [[American Academy of Pediatrics]] to reverse its policy on circumcision, claiming that circumcision prevents AIDS.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Schoen
 |first=Edgar J.
 |author-link=Edgar J. Schoen
 |title=It's wise to circumcise: time to change policy
 |journal=Pediatrics
 |date=2003-06
 |volume=111
 |issue=6 Pt 1
 |pages=1490-1491
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 2005 [[R.Y. Stallings]] finds that HIV rates are significantly lower in circumcised women.<br>(Note: There was no WHO call for mass female circumcision to help prevent AIDS)<ref>{{REFconference
 |place=Rio de Janeiro
 |title=Female circumcision and HIV infection in Tanzania: for better or for worse? 
 |url=
 |last=Stallings
 |first=R.Y.
 |source=Third International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment
 |date=2005-07-25
 |note=25-27 July 2005
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 2007 [[Robert C. Bailey]] ends his study early with the conclusion '''touting circumcision as a 'vaccine' that prevents HIV infection'''.<br>(Note: This and other similar studies were widely reported throughout the American media.)<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Bailey
 |first=Robert C.
 |author-link=Robert C. Bailey
 |title=Male circumcision for HIV prevention for young men in Kisumu, Kenya
 |journal=Lancet
 |date=2007
 |volume=369
 |issue=9562
 |pages=643-656
 |url=
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |accessdate=
}}</ref>

* 2007 [[L. de Witte]] finds that '''[[Langerhans cells]] found in the foreskin are a natural barrier to HIV infection'''.<br>(Note: This and other similar studies were widely ignored throughout the American media.)<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=de Witte
 |first=L.
 |author-link=L. de Witte
 |title=Langerin is a natural barrier to HIV-1 transmission by Langerhans cells
 |journal=Nature Medicine
 |volume=
 |issue=13
 |pages=367-371
 |url=http://icgi.org/Downloads/IAS/de_Witte.pd
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |date=2007
 |accessdate=2019-09-24
}}</ref>

* 2007 [[Morris L. Sorrells]] ''et al.'' tests the relative sensitivity of the penis and finds that the '''foreskin is the most sensitive part of the penis and the glans is the least'''.<ref>{{REFjournal
 |last=Sorrells
 |first=Morris L.
 |author-link=Morris L. Sorrells
 |title=Fine touch pressure thresholds in the adult penis
 |journal=British Journal of Urology International
 |volume=99
 |issue=
 |pages=864-869
 |url=http://www.nocirc.org/touch-test/bju_6685.pdf
 |quote=
 |pubmedID=
 |pubmedCID=
 |DOI=
 |date=2007
 |accessdate=2019-09-24
}}</ref>

{{REF}}

[[Category:Researcher]]

[[Category:Victorian doctors]]

[[Category:From Intactipedia]]
[[Category:From IntactWiki]]