View source for Alleged reasons for circumcision

In the long history of genital mutilation aka [[foreskin]] amputation aka [[circumcision]], there have been many alleged reasons why this should be a ''medical procedure''. Please note that some of the alleged medical reasons are rather pseudo-hygienical reasons which should never be solved by cutting off intact body parts.

{{Incomplete}}

== Foreskin causes ==
* Clubfoot - 1875: [[Lewis Albert Sayre|Lewis A. Sayre]]<ref name="Sayre1875">{{REFjournal
 |last=Sayre
 |first=Lewis A.
 |init=LA
 |author-link=Lewis Albert Sayre
 |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
}}</ref>
* Crossed eyes - 1886: William G. Eggleston<ref name="Eggleston1886">{{REFjournal
 |last=Eggleston
 |first=William G.
 |init=WG
 |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
}}</ref>
* Curvature of the spine - 1875: [[Lewis Albert Sayre|Lewis A. Sayre]]<ref name="Sayre1875"/>
* Dirt under the [[foreskin]] in newborns - 1941: [[Alan F. Guttmacher]]<ref name="Guttmacher1941">{{REFjournal
 |last=Guttmacher
 |first=Alan F.
 |init=AF
 |author-link=Alan F. Guttmacher
 |title=Should the baby be circumcised?
 |url=https://www.circumstitions.com/1941.html
 |journal=Parents Magazine
 |date=1941-09
 |volume=16
 |issue=9
 |pages=26,76-78
}}</ref>
* Epilepsy - 1902: Roswell Park<ref name="Park1902">{{REFjournal
 |last=Park
 |first=Roswell
 |init=R
 |title=The surgical treatment of epilepsy
 |journal=American Medicine
 |date=1902-11-22
 |volume=4
 |issue=21
 |pages=807-809
}}</ref>
* [[Masturbation]] (females) - 1918 Belle Eskridge<ref name="Eskridge1918">{{REFjournal
 |last=Eskridge
 |first=Belle C.
 |init=BC
 |title=Why not circumcise the girl as well as the boy?
 |journal=Texas State Journal of Medicine
 |date=1918-05
 |volume=14
 |pages=17-19
}}</ref>
* [[Masturbation]] (males) - 1891: [[Jonathan Hutchinson]]<ref name="Hutchinson1891">{{REFjournal
 |last=Hutchinson
 |first=Jonathan
 |init=J
 |author-link=Jonathan Hutchinson
 |title=On circumcision as preventive of masturbation
 |journal=Archives of Surgery
 |date=1891-01
 |volume=2
 |issue=7
 |pages=267-269
}}</ref>, 1901: Ernest G. Mark<ref name="Mark1901">{{REFjournal
 |last=Mark
 |first=Ernest G.
 |init=EG
 |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>
* [[Masturbation]] (newborns) - 1953: R.L. Miller and D.C. Snyder<ref name="MillerSnyder1953">{{REFjournal
 |last=Miller
 |init=RL
 |last2=Snyder
 |init2=DC
 |title=Immediate circumcision of the newborn male
 |journal=American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
 |date=1953-01
 |volume=6
 |issue=1
 |pages=1-11
}}</ref>
* Neuroses (females) - 1915: Benjamin E. Dawson
* Paralysis of the bladder - 1875: [[Lewis Albert Sayre|Lewis A. Sayre]]<ref name="Sayre1875"/>

In 1958, C.F. McDonald said "the same reasons that apply for the circumcision of males are generally valid when considered for the female."<ref name="McDonald1958">{{REFjournal
 |last=McDonald
 |init=CF
 |title=Circumcision of the female
 |journal=General Practitioner
 |date=1958-09
 |volume=18
 |issue=3
 |pages=98-99
}}</ref>

In 1966, Masters and Johnson erroneous claim that there is no difference in sensitivity between penises with and without foreskin.
: ({{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 name="MastersJohnson1966">{{REFbook
 |last=Masters and Johnson
 |year=1966
 |title=Human Sexual Response
 |location=Boston, MA
 |publisher=Little Brown & Co
}}</ref>

== Cure through [[FGM]] ==
* Clitoris easier findable by husband - 1959: W.G. Rathmann<ref name="Rathmann1959">{{REFjournal
 |last=Rathmann
 |init=WG
 |title=Female Circumcision: Indications and a New Technique
 |journal=General Practitioner
 |date=1959-09
 |volume=20
 |issue=9
 |pages=115-120
}}</ref>
* HIV (in women after FGM) - 2005: R.Y. Stallings<ref name="Stallings2005">{{REFconference
 |place=Rio de Janeiro
 |title=Female circumcision and HIV infection in Tanzania: for better or for worse? 
 |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
}}</ref>

== Cure through [[MGM]] ==
* Abdominal neuralgia - 1879: H.H. Kane<ref name="Kane1879">{{REFjournal
 |last=Kane
 |init=HH
 |title=Seminal emissions, abdominal neuralgia: circumcision: cure
 |journal=Southern Clinic
 |date=1879-10
 |volume=2
 |issue=1
 |pages=8-11
}}</ref>
* Bed wetting - 1873: Joseph Bell<ref name="Bell1873">{{REFjournal
 |last=Bell
 |first=Joseph
 |init=J
 |title=Nocturnal incontinence of urine cured by circumcision
 |journal=Edinburgh Medical Journal
 |date=1873-05
 |volume=1
 |issue=9
 |page=1034
}}</ref>
* Blindness - 1890: [[William D. Gentry]]<ref name="Gentry1890">{{REFjournal
 |last=Gentry
 |first=William D.
 |init=WD
 |author-link=William D. Gentry
 |title=Nervous derangements produced by sexual irregularities in boys
 |journal=Medical Current
 |date=1890-07
 |volume=6
 |issue=7
 |pages=268-274
}}</ref>
* Deafness - 1890: [[William D. Gentry]]<ref name="Gentry1890"/>
* Dumbness - 1890: [[William D. Gentry]]<ref name="Gentry1890"/>
* Epilepsy - 1865: Nathaniel Heckford<ref name="Heckford1865">{{REFjournal
 |last=Heckford
 |first=Nathaniel
 |init=N
 |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
 |pages=58-64
}}</ref>, 1870: [[Lewis Albert Sayre|Lewis A. Sayre]]<ref name="Sayre 1870 epilepsy">{{REFjournal
 |last=Sayre
 |first=Lewis A.
 |init=LA
 |author-link=Lewis Albert Sayre
 |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
}}</ref>, 1902: Roswell Park<ref name="Park1902"/>, 1930: Norton Henry Bare<ref name="Bare1930">{{REFjournal
 |last=Bare
 |first=Norton Henry
 |init=NH
 |title=Surgical treatment of epilepsy with report of case
 |journal=The China Medical Journal
 |date=1930-11
 |volume=4
 |issue=11
 |pages=1109-1113
}}</ref>
* Eye problems believed to be caused by [[masturbation]] - 1881: Maximillian Landesburg<ref name="Landesburg1881">{{REFjournal
 |last=Landesburg
 |first=Maximillian
 |init=M
 |title=On affections of the eye caused by masturbation
 |journal=Medical Bulletin
 |date=1881-04
 |volume=3
 |issue=4
 |pages=79-81
}}</ref>
* Immunity to nearly all physical and mental illness - 1953: R.L. Miller and D.C. Snyder<ref name="MillerSnyder1953">{{REFjournal
 |last=Miller
 |init=RL
 |last2=Snyder
 |init2=DC
 |title=Immediate circumcision of the newborn male
 |journal=American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
 |date=1953-01
 |volume=6
 |issue=1
 |pages=1-11
}}</ref>
* [[Masturbation]] (newborns) - 1953: R.L. Miller and D.C. Snyder<ref name="MillerSnyder1953"/>
* Neuroses (females) - 1915: Benjamin E. Dawson<ref name="Dawson1915">{{REFjournal
 |last=Dawson
 |first=Benjamin E.
 |init=BE
 |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
}}</ref>
* Nocturnal seminal emissions (i.e. wet dreams) - 1832: Claude-Francois Lallemand<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
 |volume=1-3
 |pages=(1):463-467; (2):70-162; (3):266-267, 280-289
 |accessdate=2011-06-09
}}</ref>, 1879: H.H. Kane<ref name="Kane1879"/>
* Rectal incontinence - 1894: H.L. Rosenberry<ref name="Rosenberry1894">{{REFjournal
 |last=Rosenberry
 |init=HL
 |title=Incontinence of the urine and faeces, cured by circumcision
 |journal=Medical Record
 |date=1894-08-11
 |volume=4
 |issue=6
 |page=173
}}</ref>
* Sensitiveness of the organ - 1901: Ernest G. Mark<ref name="Mark1901"/>
* Urinary incontinence - 1894: H.L. Rosenberry<ref name="Rosenberry1894"/>

== Prevention ==
* AIDS - 1986: [[Aaron J. Fink]]<ref name="Fink1986">{{REFjournal
 |last=Fink
 |first=Aaron J.
 |init=AJ
 |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
}}</ref>, 2003: [[Edgar J. Schoen]]<ref name="Schoen2003">{{REFjournal
 |last=Schoen
 |first=Edgar J.
 |init=EJ
 |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
}}</ref>
* Cancer of the bladder - 1971: [[Abraham Ravich]]<ref name="Ravich1971">{{Ravich1971}}</ref>
* Cancer of the rectum - 1971: [[Abraham Ravich]]<ref name="Ravich1971"/>
* Cancer of the tongue - 1949: [[Eugene H. Hand]]<ref name="Hand1949">{{REFjournal
 |last=Hand
 |first=Eugene H.
 |init=EH
 |author-link=Eugene H. Hand
 |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18135844/
 |title=Circumcision and venereal disease
 |journal=Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology
 |date=1949-09
 |volume=60
 |issue=3
 |pages341-6
 |pubmedID=18135844
 |DOI=10.1001/archderm.1949.01530030037004 
 |accessdate=2021-10-08
}}</ref>
* [[Cervical cancer]] (women) - 1951: [[Abraham Ravich]]<ref name="Ravich1951">{{Ravich1951}}</ref>, 1954: Ernest L. Wynder<ref name="Wynder1954">{{REFjournal
 |last=Wynder
 |first=Ernest L.
 |init=EL
 |#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 (??)
}}</ref>
* HIV (in women after FGM) - 2005: R.Y. Stallings<ref name="Stallings2005"/>
* HIV 'vaccine' - 2007: [[Robert C. Bailey]]<ref name="Bailey2007">{{REFjournal
 |last=Bailey
 |first=Robert C.
 |init=RC
 |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
}}</ref>
* Inchastity - 1935: [[R. W. Cockshut]]<ref name="Cockshut1935">{{REFjournal
 |last=Cockshut
 |init=RW
 |author-link=R. W. Cockshut
 |title=Circumcision
 |journal=British Medical Journal
 |date=1935-10-19
 |volume=2
 |issue=3902
 |page=764
}}</ref>
* [[Masturbation]] (females) - 1918: Belle Eskridge<ref name="Eskridge1918"/>
* [[Masturbation]] (males) - 1845: Edward H. Dixon<ref name="Dixon">{{REFbook
 |last=Dixon
 |first=Edward H.
 |year=1845
 |title=A Treatise on Diseases of the Sexual Organs
 |pages=158-165
 |location=New York
 |publisher=Stringer & Co
 |accessdate=2011-06-09
}}</ref>, 1871: M.J. Moses (for Jews)<ref name="Moses1871">{{REFjournal
 |last=Moses
 |init=MJ
 |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
}}</ref>, 1888: [[John Harvey Kellogg]] (as punishment)<ref name="Kellogg1888">{{REFbook
 |last=Kellogg
 |first=John Harvey
 |author-link=John Harvey Kellogg
 |year=1888
 |title=Plain Facts for Old and Young
 |url=http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/KelPlai.html
 |editor=Project Gutenberg
 |edition=1881 edition
 |chapter=Treatment for Self-Abuse and Its Effects
 |location=Burlington, Iowa
 |publisher=F. Segner & Co
 |accessdate=2011-03-21
}}</ref>, 1969: [[Morris Fishbein]]<ref name="Fishbein1969">{{REFbook
 |last=Fishbein
 |first=Morris
 |author-link=Morris Fishbein
 |year=1969
 |title=Modern Home Medical Adviser
 |editor=Garden City
 |chapter=Sex hygiene
 |pages=90+119
 |location=New York
 |publisher=Doubleday & Co
}}</ref>
* Neonatal group B streptococcal disease - 1988: [[Aaron J. Fink]]<ref name="Fink1988">{{REFjournal
 |last=Fink
 |first=Aaron J.
 |init=AJ
 |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
}}</ref>
* Nervousness - 1969: [[Morris Fishbein]]<ref name="Fishbein1969"/>
* [[penile cancer]] - 1926: [[Abraham L. Wolbarst]]<ref name="Wolbarst1926">{{REFjournal
 |last=Wolbarst
 |first=Abraham L.
 |init=AL
 |author-link=Abraham L. Wolbarst
 |title=Is circumcision a prophylactic against penis cancer?
 |journal=Cancer
 |date=1926-07
 |volume=3
 |issue=4
 |pages=301-310
}}</ref>
* Pleasure of sex - 1900: [[Jonathan Hutchinson]]<ref name="Hutchinson1900">{{REFjournal
 |last=Hutchinson
 |first=Jonathan
 |init=J
 |author-link=Jonathan Hutchinson
 |title=The advantages of circumcision
 |journal=The Polyclinic
 |date=1900-09
 |volume=3
 |issue=9
 |pages=129-131
}}</ref>
* [[Prostate cancer]] - 1942: [[Abraham Ravich]]<ref name="Ravich1942">{{Ravich1942}}</ref>
* Raping whites - 1894: [[Peter Charles Remondino|P.C. Remondino]] (for Blacks)<ref name="Remondino1894">{{REFjournal
 |last=Remondino
 |init=PC
 |author-link=Peter Charles Remondino
 |title=Negro rapes and their social problems
 |journal=National Popular Review
 |date=1894-01
 |volume=4
 |issue=1
 |pages=3-6
}}</ref>
* Sand from getting into the soldiers' [[foreskin]]s - 1991: [[Aaron J. Fink]]<ref name="Fink1991">{{REFjournal
 |last=Fink
 |first=Aaron J.
 |init=AJ
 |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
}}</ref>
* Sensitivity - 1935: [[R. W. Cockshut]]<ref name="Cockshut1935"/>, 1941: [[Alan F. Guttmacher]]<ref name="Guttmacher1941"/>
* Sexual immorality - 1900: [[Jonathan Hutchinson]]<ref name="Hutchinson1900"/>
* Spinal paralysis - 1870: [[Lewis Albert Sayre|Lewis A. Sayre]]<ref name="Sayre 1870 spinal paralysis">{{REFjournal
 |last=Sayre
 |first=Lewis A.
 |init=LA
 |author-link=Lewis Albert Sayre
 |title=Partial paralysis from reflex irritation, caused by congenital phimosis and adherent prepuce
 |journal=Transactions of the American Medical Association
 |date=1870
 |volume=21
 |pages=205-11
}}</ref>
* Syphilis - 1855: [[Jonathan Hutchinson]]<ref name="hutchinson1855">{{REFjournal
 |last=Hutchinson
 |first=Johnathon
 |init=J
 |title=On the Influence of Circumcision in Preventing Syphilis
 |journal=Medical Times and Gazette
 |date=1855
 |volume=32
 |issue=844
 |pages=542-543
 |accessdate=2021-09-04
}}</ref>
* Tuberculosis - 1914: [[Abraham L. Wolbarst]]<ref name="Wolbarst1914">{{REFjournal
 |last=Wolbarst
 |first=Abraham L.
 |init=AL
 |author-link=Abraham L. Wolbarst
 |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
}}</ref>
* [[UTI]] ([[urinary tract infection]]s) - 1985: [[Thomas E. Wiswell]]<ref name="Wiswell1985">{{REFjournal
 |last=Wiswell
 |first=Thomas E.
 |init=TE
 |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=901-3
}}</ref>
* Venereal disease - 1949: [[Eugene H. Hand]]<ref name="Hand1949"/>

{{SEEALSO}}
* [[History of circumcision]]

{{REF}}

[[Category:Medical conditions]]
[[Category:Penile disorders]]
[[Category:Penile function]]
[[Category:Penile illness]]