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Bias
,→Cultural bias
Circumcision has been near-universal in the [[United States]], Israel, the [[Tuli| Philippines]], and most Muslim nations. Circumcision is also considered a rite of passage in some African tribes. In these societies, a man who has not been circumcised is often considered to be inferior, and in some cases, a social outcast, so there is a strong incentive to circumcise one's self and/or one's children.
LeBourdais (1995) reported "the likelihood of a baby being [[circumcised ]] is influenced by an expanding array of usually non-medical factors: [[Adamant father syndrome| circumcision status of the father]], attitude of the mother, age of the attending physician, sex and circumcision status of the physician, geographic location and religion factors that have little to do with the baby himself."<ref name="lebourdais1995">{{REFjournal
|last=LeBourdais
|first=Eleanor
</blockquote>
Because the [[United States]] circumcises so many of its male infants, [[circumcision]] is often said to be an American cultural value, and it is has been accepted as “normal.” Cultural bias on this issue may be most obvious when considering the practice of female circumcision in Africa. Americans regard the practice with horror, the way Europeans, who do not cut the genitals of male or females, regard American circumcision.<ref name="CRC2011-03-06">{{REFweb
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|first=
}}</ref>
American bias in favor of circumcision could be attributed to a number of different factors. The history of [[circumcision ]] in [[United States| America ]] goes back to the Nineteenth Century, when it began as a way to curb [[masturbation]] in boys and men.<ref name='Stay Free!'>{{REFweb
|quote=The operation should be performed by a surgeon without administering an anesthetic...
|last=McLaren
|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/stayfree/10/graham.htm
|accessdate=2011-03-06
}}</ref> Thereafter American doctors began on a quest to medicalize the formerly religious practice of circumcision as a claimed preventer of a myriad of diseases, and that endeavor continues to this day.
===Media bias===