Difference between revisions of "History of circumcision"

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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">{{Lallemand1836}}</ref><ref name="Dixon">{{REFbook
+
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">{{Lallemand1836}}</ref><ref name="Dixon">{{Dixon1845}}</ref><ref name="Moses1871">{{Moses1871}}</ref><ref name="Kellogg1888">{{Kellogg1888}}</ref><ref name="Hutchinson1891">{{REFjournal
−
|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><ref name="Moses1871">{{Moses1871}}</ref><ref name="Kellogg1888">{{Kellogg1888}}</ref><ref name="Hutchinson1891">{{REFjournal
 
 
  |last=Hutchinson
 
  |last=Hutchinson
 
  |first=Jonathan
 
  |first=Jonathan
Line 50: Line 41:
 
  |issue=9
 
  |issue=9
 
  |pages=26,76-78
 
  |pages=26,76-78
−
}}</ref><ref name="MillerSnyder1953">{{MillerSnyder1953}}</ref><ref name="Fishbein1969">{{REFbook
+
}}</ref><ref name="MillerSnyder1953">{{MillerSnyder1953}}</ref><ref name="Fishbein1969">{{Fishbein1969}}</ref><ref>{{REFbook
−
|last=Fishbein
 
−
|first=Morris
 
−
|author-link=Morris Fishbein
 
−
|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
 
−
}}</ref><ref>{{REFbook
 
 
  |last=Campbell
 
  |last=Campbell
 
  |first=M.F.
 
  |first=M.F.
 +
|init=MF
 
  |year=1970
 
  |year=1970
 
  |title=Urology
 
  |title=Urology
 
  |editors=M.F. Campbell & J.H. Harrison
 
  |editors=M.F. Campbell & J.H. Harrison
 
  |edition=3
 
  |edition=3
−
  |volume= 2
+
  |volume=2
 
  |chapter=The Male Genital Tract and the Female Urethra
 
  |chapter=The Male Genital Tract and the Female Urethra
 
  |page=1836
 
  |page=1836
Line 83: Line 60:
 
  |last=Hodges
 
  |last=Hodges
 
  |first=Frederick A.
 
  |first=Frederick A.
 +
|init=FA
 
  |author-link=Frederick M. Hodges
 
  |author-link=Frederick M. Hodges
 
  |chapter=Short History of the Institutionalization of Involuntary Sexual Mutilation in the United States
 
  |chapter=Short History of the Institutionalization of Involuntary Sexual Mutilation in the United States
Line 91: Line 69:
 
  |year=1997
 
  |year=1997
 
  |page=35
 
  |page=35
 +
}}</ref> [[Masturbation]] was a major focus of Victorian doctors.<ref name="self2016">{{REFjournal
 +
|url=https://journals.troy.edu/index.php/test/article/view/386/302
 +
|title=The Rise of Circumcision in Victorian America
 +
|first=Eleanor
 +
|last=Self
 +
|author-link=Eleanor Self
 +
|journal=The Alexandrian
 +
|volume=5
 +
|issue=1
 +
|date=2016
 +
|accessdate=2022-09-02
 +
|format=PDF
 
}}</ref>
 
}}</ref>
 +
 +
When gentiles in Germany criticized the Jewish practice of [[Brit Milah| ritual circumcision]] as "barbaric", Jewish doctors in Germany invented false claims that circumcision could prevent a variety of diseases.<ref>{{REFbook
 +
|last=Ephron
 +
|first=John M.
 +
|init=JM
 +
|year=2001
 +
|title=Medicine and the German Jews
 +
|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203164223/http://www.cirp.org/library/history/ephron1/
 +
|pages=222-3
 +
|isbn=0-300-08377-7
 +
|accessdate=2021-10-30
 +
}}</ref> American Jewish doctors exhibited similar behavior.
  
 
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.  
 
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.  
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}}</ref>
 
}}</ref>
  
−
* 1894 [[P. C. Remondino]] says '''circumcising blacks will help prevent them from raping whites'''.<ref name="Remondino1894"/>
+
* 1894 [[Peter Charles 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>{{Rosenberry1894}}</ref>
 
* 1894 [[H. L. Rosenberry]] publishes paper 'proving' that circumcision '''cures urinary and rectal incontinence'''.<ref>{{Rosenberry1894}}</ref>
Line 271: Line 273:
 
[[File:Single_mogen.jpg|right|thumb|The [[Gomco|Gomco]] and [[Mogen|Mogen]] clamps.]]
 
[[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
+
* 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>{{GoldsteinYellen1935}}</ref>
−
|last=Goldstein
 
−
|first=Aaron
 
−
|init=A
 
−
|last2=Yellen
 
−
|first2=Hiram S.
 
−
|init2=HS
 
−
|title=Bloodless circumcision of the newborn
 
−
|journal=American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
 
−
|date=1935-07
 
−
|volume=30
 
−
|issue=1
 
−
|pages=146-147
 
−
}}</ref>
 
  
 
* 1935 [[R. W. Cockshut]] demands that all boys be circumcised in order to '''desensitize the penis and promote chastity'''.<ref name="Cockshut1935"/>
 
* 1935 [[R. W. Cockshut]] demands that all boys be circumcised in order to '''desensitize the penis and promote chastity'''.<ref name="Cockshut1935"/>
Line 338: Line 327:
 
* 1958 [[Christine F. McDonald]] says "the same reasons that apply for the circumcision of males are generally valid when considered for the female."<ref name="McDonald1958"/>
 
* 1958 [[Christine 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"/>
+
* 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 erroneous 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
 
* 1966 Masters and Johnson erroneous 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
+
  |last=Masters & Johnson
 
  |year=1966
 
  |year=1966
 
  |title=Human Sexual Response
 
  |title=Human Sexual Response
 
  |location=Boston, MA
 
  |location=Boston, MA
−
  |publisher=Little Brown & Co
+
  |publisher=Little Brown & Co.
 
}}</ref>
 
}}</ref>
  
Line 352: Line 341:
 
* 1971 [[Abraham Ravich]] claims that circumcision prevents cancer of the bladder and the rectum.<ref>{{Ravich1971}}</ref>
 
* 1971 [[Abraham Ravich]] claims that circumcision prevents cancer of the bladder and the rectum.<ref>{{Ravich1971}}</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
+
* 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
 
  |last=Evanston
 
  |first=Ill
 
  |first=Ill
 +
|init=I
 
  |year=1971
 
  |year=1971
 
  |title=Hospital Care of Newborn Infants
 
  |title=Hospital Care of Newborn Infants
Line 396: Line 386:
 
  |last=Spock
 
  |last=Spock
 
  |first=Benjamin
 
  |first=Benjamin
 +
|init=B
 
  |title=Baby and Child Care
 
  |title=Baby and Child Care
 
  |pages=1946-1976
 
  |pages=1946-1976
Line 415: Line 406:
 
}}</ref>
 
}}</ref>
  
−
* 1986 [[Aaron J. Fink]] claims that circumcision '''prevents AIDS'''.<ref>{{REFjournal
+
* 1986 [[Aaron J. Fink]] claims that circumcision '''prevents [[AIDS]]'''.<ref>{{REFjournal
 
  |last=Fink
 
  |last=Fink
 
  |first=Aaron J.
 
  |first=Aaron J.
Line 480: Line 471:
 
}}</ref>
 
}}</ref>
  
−
* 1996 [[John R. Taylor]] finds that the average amount of amputated foreskin was nearly half of the total penile skin.<ref>{{TaylorJR LockwoodAP TaylorAJ 1996}}</ref>
+
* 1996 [[John R. Taylor]] finds that the average amount of amputated foreskin was nearly half of the total [[penile skin]].<ref>{{TaylorJR LockwoodAP TaylorAJ 1996}}</ref>
  
 
* 1997 [[Edgar J. Schoen]] tries and fails once again to convince European countries to institute mass circumcision.<ref>{{REFjournal
 
* 1997 [[Edgar J. Schoen]] tries and fails once again to convince European countries to institute mass circumcision.<ref>{{REFjournal
Line 495: Line 486:
 
}}</ref>
 
}}</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
+
* 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>{{LanderJ etal 1997}}</ref>
−
|last=Lander
 
−
|first=Janice
 
−
|init=J
 
−
|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/
 
−
}}</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
 
* 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
Line 537: Line 516:
 
* 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:
 
* 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."
 
::'''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."
+
::'''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."
 
::'''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%)".
 
::'''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%)".
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}}</ref>
 
}}</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
+
* 2003 [[Edgar J. Schoen]] steps up pressure on [[American Academy of Pediatrics]] to reverse its policy on circumcision, falsely claiming that circumcision prevents [[AIDS]].<ref>{{REFjournal
 
  |last=Schoen
 
  |last=Schoen
 
  |first=Edgar J.
 
  |first=Edgar J.
Line 576: Line 555:
 
}}</ref>
 
}}</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>{{Stallings2005}}</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>{{Stallings2005}}</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
+
* 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>{{RCT Bailey et al 2007}}</ref>
−
|last=Bailey
+
 
−
|first=Robert C.
+
* 2007 [[Lot 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>{{DeWitte etal 2007}}</ref>
−
|init=RC
+
 
−
|author-link=Robert C. Bailey
+
* 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>{{Sorrells etal 2007}}</ref>
−
|title=Male circumcision for HIV prevention for young men in Kisumu, Kenya
 
−
|journal=Lancet
 
−
|date=2007
 
−
|volume=369
 
−
|issue=9562
 
−
|pages=643-656
 
−
}}</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
+
* 2012 The [[American Academy of Pediatrics]] (AAP), a [[medical trade association]], issued a self-serving pro-circumcision policy statement.
−
|last=de Witte
 
−
|init=L
 
−
|author-link=L. de Witte
 
−
|title=Langerin is a natural barrier to HIV-1 transmission by Langerhans cells
 
−
|journal=Nature Medicine
 
−
|issue=13
 
−
|pages=367-371
 
−
|url=http://icgi.org/Downloads/IAS/de_Witte.pd
 
−
|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>{{Sorrells etal 2007}}</ref>
+
* 2017 The [[American Academy of Pediatrics]] (AAP) allowed its Circumcision Policy Statement to expire with being re-affirmed due to the severe and unrelenting adverse comment from many sources. The AAP now has NO official position on child circumcision.
  
 
{{SEEALSO}}
 
{{SEEALSO}}
Line 613: Line 574:
 
* [[United Kingdom]]
 
* [[United Kingdom]]
 
* [[United States of America]]
 
* [[United States of America]]
 +
 
{{LINKS}}
 
{{LINKS}}
 
* {{REFweb
 
* {{REFweb
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  |accessdate=2020-06-06
 
  |accessdate=2020-06-06
 
}}
 
}}
−
* {{REFjournal
+
* {{GollaherDL 1994}}
−
|last=Gollaher
 
−
|first=David L.
 
−
|init=DL
 
−
|author-link=
 
−
|title=From ritual to science: the medical transformation of circumcision in America
 
−
|journal=Journal of Social History
 
−
|date=1994-09
 
−
|volume=28
 
−
|issue=1
 
−
|pages=5-36
 
−
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/history/gollaher/
 
−
|accessdate=2020-05-21
 
−
}}
 
 
* {{REFjournal
 
* {{REFjournal
 
  |last=Dunsmuir  
 
  |last=Dunsmuir  
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  |last=Ephron
 
  |last=Ephron
 
  |first=John M.
 
  |first=John M.
 +
|init=JM
 
  |author-link=
 
  |author-link=
 
  |year=2001
 
  |year=2001
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  |chapter=
 
  |chapter=
 
  |pages=222-233
 
  |pages=222-233
−
  |location=New Haven
+
  |location=New Haven, {{USSC|CT}}
−
  |publisher=Yale University Press
+
  |publisher={{UNI|Yale University|Yale}} Press
 
  |isbn=0-300-08377-7
 
  |isbn=0-300-08377-7
 
  |quote=
 
  |quote=
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  |first=Jonathan D.
 
  |first=Jonathan D.
 
  |author-link=
 
  |author-link=
−
  |publisher=DePaul University
+
  |publisher={{UNI|DePaul University|DePaul}}
 
  |location=Chicago
 
  |location=Chicago
 
  |format=PDF
 
  |format=PDF
Line 758: Line 708:
 
  |format=
 
  |format=
 
  |quote=
 
  |quote=
 +
}}
 +
* {{REFweb
 +
|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120516074843/http://www.historyofcircumcision.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=8&id=73&Itemid=52
 +
|title=History of Circumcision
 +
|last=
 +
|first=
 +
|date=2011
 +
|accessdate=2022-01-10
 
}}
 
}}
  

Latest revision as of 17:55, 2 July 2024

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.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]

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.[12] Masturbation was a major focus of Victorian doctors.[13]

When gentiles in Germany criticized the Jewish practice of ritual circumcision as "barbaric", Jewish doctors in Germany invented false claims that circumcision could prevent a variety of diseases.[14] American Jewish doctors exhibited similar behavior.

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. [4][15][16][17][18][19][20] 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

  • 1873 Joseph Bell announces his discovery that circumcision cures bed wetting.[25]
  • 1875 Lewis A. Sayre declares that foreskin causes curvature of the spine, paralysis of the bladder, and clubfoot.[26]
  • 1879 H. H. Kane 'discovers' that circumcision cures nocturnal emissions and abdominal neuralgia.[27]
  • 1893 Mark J. Lehman demands immediate implementation of mass circumcision of all American boys.[32]
  • 1894 H. L. Rosenberry publishes paper 'proving' that circumcision cures urinary and rectal incontinence.[33]

20st century

  • 1900 Jonathan Hutchinson advises circumcision as way to decrease the pleasure of sex, and hence to discourage sexual immorality.[34]
  • 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".[35]
  • 1902 Roswell Park publishes paper 'proving' that foreskin causes epilepsy and that circumcision cures it.[36]
  • 1914 Abraham L. Wolbarst claims that circumcision prevents tuberculosis and demands the compulsory circumcision of all children in America.[37]
  • 1915 Benjamin E. Dawson says that since the clitoral hood is the source of many neuroses, female circumcision is necessary.[17]
  • 1930 Norton Henry Bare claims that he has cured a boy of epilepsy and bed-wetting by circumcising him.[39]
The Gomco and Mogen clamps.
  • 1935 R. W. Cockshut demands that all boys be circumcised in order to desensitize the penis and promote chastity.[7]
  • 1941 Alan 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.[8]
  • 1949 Eugene H. Hand declares that circumcision prevents venereal disease and cancer of the tongue.[42]
  • 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.
    (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.)[43]
  • 1951 Abraham Ravich invents claims that circumcision prevents cervical cancer in women.[44]
  • 1953 Richard L. Miller and Donald 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."[9]
  • 1958 Christine F. McDonald says "the same reasons that apply for the circumcision of males are generally valid when considered for the female."[19]
  • 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.[20]
  • 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.)[47]
  • 1971 Abraham Ravich claims that circumcision prevents cancer of the bladder and the rectum.[48]
  • 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."[51]
  • 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."[52]
  • 1988 Aaron J. Fink invents the falsehood that circumcision prevents neonatal group B streptococcal disease.[55]
  • 1991 Edgar J. Schoen tries and fails to convince European countries to institute mass circumcision.[57]
  • 1991 Aaron J. Fink declares mass circumcision is necessary to prevent sand from getting into the soldiers' foreskins.[58]
  • 1997 Edgar J. Schoen tries and fails once again to convince European countries to institute mass circumcision.[60]
  • 1997 Janice Lander discovers that circumcision without anesthesia is traumatic for babies.
    (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.)[61]
  • 1998 Howard J. Stang, inventor of an upright circumcision restraint fails to mention this conflict of interest in his article promoting infant circumcision.[62]
  • 1999 John R. Taylor, after studying the foreskin's specialized innervation, concludes that it is the "primary erogenous tissue necessary for normal sexual function."[63]
  • 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.
(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)).[64]

21st century

  • 2002 W. K. Nahm extends the storage life of specialized cell cultures derived from "freshly harvested neonatal foreskin tissue."
    (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.)[65]
  • 2005 R. Y. Stallings finds that HIV rates are significantly lower in circumcised women.
    (Note: There was no WHO call for mass female circumcision to help prevent AIDS.)[67]
  • 2007 Robert C. Bailey ends his study early with the conclusion touting circumcision as a 'vaccine' that prevents HIV infection.
    (Note: This and other similar studies were widely reported throughout the American media.)[68]
  • 2007 Lot de Witte finds that Langerhans cells found in the foreskin are a natural barrier to HIV infection.
    (Note: This and other similar studies were widely ignored throughout the American media.)[69]
  • 2017 The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) allowed its Circumcision Policy Statement to expire with being re-affirmed due to the severe and unrelenting adverse comment from many sources. The AAP now has NO official position on child circumcision.

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ a b REFbook Lallemand CF ((1):1836; (2):1839; (3):1842): [Des Pertes Seminales Involontaires]. [Involuntary Seminal Losses] (French). Vol. 1-3. London: H. Dumont. Pp. (1):463-7; (2):70-162; (3):266-7, 280-9. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  2. ↑ a b REFbook Dixon EH (1845): Ch. IX: Phimosis and Circumcision, in: A Treatise on Diseases of the Sexual Organs. New York: William Taylor. Pp. 158-65. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  3. ↑ a b REFjournal Moses MJ. The Value of Circumcision as a Hygienic and Therapeutic Measure. NY Med J. November 1871; 14(4): 368-74.
  4. ↑ a b REFbook Kellogg JH (1888): Treatment for Self-Abuse and Its Effects, in: Plain Facts for Old and Young (archive URL). Project Gutenberg (ed.). Burlington, Iowa: F. Segner & Co. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  5. ↑ a b REFjournal Hutchinson J. On circumcision as preventive of masturbation. Archives of Surgery. January 1891; 2(7): 267-269.
  6. ↑ a b REFjournal Remondino PC. Negro rapes and their social problems. National Popular Review. January 1894; 4(1): 3-6.
  7. ↑ a b REFjournal Cockshut RW. Circumcision. British Medical Journal. 19 October 1935; 2(3902): 764.
  8. ↑ a b REFjournal Guttmacher AF. Should the baby be circumcised?. Parents Magazine. September 1941; 16(9): 26,76-78.
  9. ↑ a b REFjournal Miller RL, Snyder DC. Immediate circumcision of the newborn male. AJOG. January 1953; 6(1): 1-11. PMID. DOI. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  10. ↑ a b REFbook Fishbein M (1969): Sex hygiene, in: Modern Home Medical Adviser. Garden City (ed.). New York: Doubleday & Co. Pp. 90+119. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  11. ↑ REFbook Campbell MF (1970): The Male Genital Tract and the Female Urethra, in: Urology. M.F. Campbell & J.H. Harrison (eds.). Edition: 3. Vol. 2. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders. P. 1836.
  12. ↑ REFbook Hodges FA (1997): Short History of the Institutionalization of Involuntary Sexual Mutilation in the United States, in: Sexual Mutilations: A Human Tragedy. G. C. Denniston & M. F. Milos (eds.). New York: Plenum Press. P. 35.
  13. ↑ REFjournal Self, Eleanor. The Rise of Circumcision in Victorian America PDF. The Alexandrian. 2016; 5(1) Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  14. ↑ REFbook Ephron JM (2001): Medicine and the German Jews. Pp. 222-3. ISBN 0-300-08377-7. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  15. ↑ REFjournal Morris RT. Is evolution trying to do away with the clitoris?. American Association of OB/GYNs. 1892; 5: 288-302.
  16. ↑ a b REFjournal McFarland TS. Circumcision of girls. Journal of Orificial Surgery. July 1898; 7: 31-33.
  17. ↑ a b REFjournal Dawson BE. Circumcision in the Female: Its Necessity and How to Perform It. American Journal of Clinical Medicine. June 1915; 22(66): 520-3. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  18. ↑ a b REFjournal Eskridge BC. Why not circumcise the girl as well as the boy?. Texas State Journal of Medicine. May 1918; 14: 17-9.
  19. ↑ a b REFjournal McDonald CF. Circumcision of the female. GP. September 1958; 18(3): 98-9. PMID. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  20. ↑ a b REFjournal Rathmann WG. Female Circumcision: Indications and a New Technique. General Practitioner. September 1959; 20(9): 115-20. PMID. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  21. ↑ REFjournal Hutchinson J. On the Influence of Circumcision in Preventing Syphilis. Medical Times and Gazette. 1855; 32(844): 542-543. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  22. ↑ REFjournal Heckford N. Circumcision as a remedial measure in certain cases of epilepsy and chorea. Clinical Lectures and Reports by the Medical and Surgical Staff of the London Hospital. 1865; 2: 58-64.
  23. ↑ REFjournal Sayre LA. Circumcision versus epilepsy, etc; Transcription of the New York Pathological Society meeting of June 8, 1870. Medical Record. 15 July 1870; 5(10): 231-234.
  24. ↑ REFjournal Sayre LA. Partial paralysis from reflex irritation, caused by congenital phimosis and adherent prepuce. Transactions of the American Medical Association. 1870; 21: 205-211.
  25. ↑ REFjournal Bell J. Nocturnal incontinence of urine cured by circumcision. Edinburgh Medical Journal. May 1873; 1(9): 1034.
  26. ↑ REFjournal Sayre LA. Spinal anaemia with partial paralysis and want of coordination, from irritation of the genital organs. Transactions of the American Medical Association. 1875; 26: 255-274.
  27. ↑ REFjournal Kane HH. Seminal emissions, abdominal neuralgia: circumcision: cure. The Southern Clinic (Richmond). October 1879; 2(1): 8-11.
  28. ↑ REFjournal Landesberg M. On Affections of the Eye Caused by Masturbation. Medical Bulletin. April 1881; 3(4): 79-81.
  29. ↑ REFjournal Eggleston WG. Two cases of reflex paraplegia (one with aphasia) from tape-worm and phimosis. JAMA. 1886; 6(19): 511-5. DOI.
  30. ↑ REFbook Kellogg JH (1888): Treatment for Self-Abuse and Its Effects, in: Plain Facts for Old and Young (archive URL). Project Gutenberg (ed.). Burlington, Iowa: F. Segner & Co. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  31. ↑ REFjournal Gentry WD. Nervous derangements produced by sexual irregularities in boys. Medical Current. July 1890; 6(7): 268-274.
  32. ↑ REFjournal Lehman MJ. A plea for circumcision. Medical Review. 22 July 1893; 28(4): 65-65.
  33. ↑ REFjournal Rosenberry HL. Incontinence of the urine and faeces, cured by circumcision. Medical Record (New York). 11 August 1894; 46(6): 173.
  34. ↑ REFjournal Hutchinson J. The advantages of circumcision. The Polyclinic. September 1900; 3(9): 129-131.
  35. ↑ REFjournal Mark EG. Circumcision. The American Practitioner and News. 15 February 1901; 31(4): 122-6.
  36. ↑ REFjournal Park R. The surgical treatment of epilepsy. American Medicine. 22 November 1902; 4(22): 807-9.
  37. ↑ REFjournal Wolbarst AL. Universal circumcision as a sanitary measure. Journal of the American Medical Association. 10 January 1914; 62(2): 92-97.
  38. ↑ REFjournal Wolbarst AL. Is circumcision a prophylactic against penis cancer?. Cancer. July 1926; 3(4): 301-10.
  39. ↑ REFjournal Bare NH. Surgical treatment of epilepsy with report of case. Chinese Medical Journal (then: The China Medical Journal). November 1930; 44(11): 1109-13. DOI. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  40. ↑ REFjournal Goldstein AA, Yellen HS. Bloodless circumcision of the newborn. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. July 1935; 30(1): 146-7. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  41. ↑ REFjournal Ravich A. The relationship of circumcision to cancer of the prostate. Journal of Urology. September 1942; 48(3): 298-299.
  42. ↑ REFjournal Hand EH. Circumcision and venereal disease. Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology. September 1949; 60(3) PMID. DOI. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  43. ↑ REFjournal Gairdner D. The fate of the foreskin. British Medical Journal. 1949; 2: 1433-1437.
  44. ↑ REFjournal Ravich A. Prophylaxis of cancer of the prostate, penis, and cervix by circumcision. New York State Journal of Medicine. June 1951; 51(12): 1519-20. PMID. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  45. ↑ REFjournal Wynder EL, Cornfield J, Schroff PD, Doraiswami KR. A study of environmental factors of carcinoma of the cervix. Am J Obstet Gynecol. October 1954; 68(4): 1016-47; discussion: 1048-52. PMID. DOI. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  46. ↑ REFdocument USPTO patent number RE24,377, USPTO. (15 October 1957). Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  47. ↑ REFbook Masters & Johnson (1966): Human Sexual Response. Boston, MA: Little Brown & Co..
  48. ↑ REFjournal Ravich A. Viral carcinogenesis in venereally susceptible organs. Cancer. June 1971; 27(6): 1493-6. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  49. ↑ REFbook Evanston I (1971): Committee on Fetus and Newborn Issues. Circumcision, in: Hospital Care of Newborn Infants. Edition: 5th Edition. American Academy of Pediatrics. P. 110.
  50. ↑ REFjournal Dagher R, Selzer M, Lapides J. Carcinoma of the penis and the anti-circumcision crusade. Journal of Urology. July 1973; 110(1): 79-80.
  51. ↑ REFjournal American Academy of Pediatrics. Report on the ad hoc task force on circumcision. Pediatrics. 1975; 56: 610-611.
  52. ↑ REFbook Spock B: Baby and Child Care. New York: E P Dutten. Pp. 1946-1976.
  53. ↑ REFjournal Wiswell TE. Decreased incidence of urinary tract infections in circumcised male infants. Pediatrics. May 1985; 75(5): 901-903.
  54. ↑ REFjournal Fink AJ. A possible explanation for heterosexual male infection with AIDS. New England Journal of Medicine. 30 October 1986; 31(18): 1167.
  55. ↑ REFjournal Fink AJ. Is hygiene enough? Circumcision as a possible strategy to prevent group B streptococcal disease. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. August 1988; 159(2): 534-535.
  56. ↑ REFjournal Schoen EJ. Report of the Task Force on Circumcision. Pediatrics. August 1989; 84(2): 388-391.
  57. ↑ REFjournal Schoen EJ. Is it time for Europe to reconsider newborn circumcision?. Acta Paediatrica Scandanavian. August 1991; 8(5): 573-577.
  58. ↑ REFjournal Fink AJ. Circumcision and sand. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. November 1991; 84(11): 696.
  59. ↑ REFjournal Taylor JR, Lockwood AP, Taylor AJ. The prepuce: specialized mucosa of the penis and its loss to circumcision. Br J Urol. 1996; 77: 291-5. PMID. DOI. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  60. ↑ REFjournal Schoen EJ. Benefits of newborn circumcision: Is Europe ignoring the medical evidence?. Archives of Diseases of Childhood. September 1997; 7(33): 258-260.
  61. ↑ REFjournal Lander J, Brady-Frerer B, Metcalfe JB, Nazerali S, Muttit S. Comparison of ring block, dorsal penile nerve block, and topical anesthesia for neonatal circumcision. JAMA. 24 December 1997; 278(24): 2157-64. PMID. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  62. ↑ REFjournal Stang HJ. Patent #5,160,185, Infant support and restraint system 1992, Circumcision Practice Patterns in the United States. Pediatrics. June 1998; 101(6): E5.
  63. ↑ REFjournal Taylor JR. The prepuce. BJU Int. January 1999; 83(1): 34-44.
  64. ↑ REFjournal American Academy of Pediatrics. Task Force on Circumcision. Circumcision Policy Statement. Pediatrics. 1999; 103(3): 686-693.
  65. ↑ REFjournal Nahm WK. Sustained ability for fibroblast outgrowth from stored neonatal foreskin. Journal of Dermatology Science. February 2002; 28(2): 152-158.
  66. ↑ REFjournal Schoen EJ. It's wise to circumcise: time to change policy. Pediatrics. June 2003; 111(6 Pt 1): 1490-1491.
  67. ↑ REFconference Stallings, Rebecca Y., with: Emilian Karugendo: Female circumcision and HIV infection in Tanzania: For better or for worse?, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (24 July 2005–27 July 2005) 3rd International AIDS Society Conference. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  68. ↑ REFjournal Bailey RC, Moses S, Parker CB, et al. Male circumcision for HIV prevention in young men in Kisumu, Kenya: A randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 24 February 2007; 369(9562): 643–56. PMID. DOI. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  69. ↑ REFjournal de Witte L, Nabatov A, Pion M, Fluitsma D, de Jong MAWP, de Gruijl T, Piguet V, van Kooyk Y, Geijtenbeek TBH. Langerin is a natural barrier to HIV-1 transmission by Langerhans cells PDF. Nature Medicine. 4 March 2007; 13(3): 367-71. PMID. PMC. DOI. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  70. ↑ REFjournal Sorrells ML, Snyder JL, Reiss MD, Eden C, Milos MF, Wilcox N, Van Howe RS. Fine‐touch pressure thresholds in the adult penis. BJUI. 19 March 2007; 99(4): 864-9. PMID. DOI. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
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