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The origin of the ritual practice is unknown. There is evidence of its performance in Israel in Neolithic times (with flint knives) at least 6000 years ago. Jews accept the Old Testament origin as a covenant between God and Abraham(Genesis 17), although it is generally agreed that the practice of circumcision in Egypt predated the [[Abrahamic covenant]] by centuries. Ritual Circumcision is not germane to this discussion except insofar as the surgical ritual impinges upon accepted medical practice.
So called "health" circumcision originated in the nineteenth century, when most diseases were of unknown etiology. Within the miasma of myth and ignorance, a theory emerged that [[masturbation]] caused many and varied ills. It seemed logical to some physicians to perform genital surgery on both sexes to stop [[masturbation]]; the major technique applied to males was [[circumcision]]. This was especially true in the English-speaking countries because it accorded with the mid-Victorian attitude toward sex as sinful and debilitating.
The most prolific enumerator of the alleged health benefits of [[circumcision ]] was Dr. [[Peter Charles Remondino| P. C. Remondino]]. In 1891 this physician claimed that the surgery prevented or cured about a hundred ailments, including alcoholism, epilepsy, asthma, enuresis, hernia, gout, rectal prolapse, rheumatism, kidney disease, and so forth. Such ludicrous claims are still disseminated and possibly believed. The book was reprinted in 1974, without change, and the Circulating Branch Catalogue of the New York Public Library (1983) listed the Remondino book, showing a publication date of 1974. One physician, writing in ''Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality'' (1974), called the book "pertinent and carefully thought out."
Remondino was not the only one expounding such views. In 1911, Dr. Joseph Preuss, in a monumental tome, ''Biblical-Talmudic Medicine'', claimed that Jewish ritual circumcision endowed health benefits; his sole source was Remondino. Some espoused more extreme views; in 1910 an article in J.A.M.A. described a new circumcision clamp. The author/inventor claimed that with this device, the operation was so simple that men and women could now circumcise themselves.
[[Category:Film about circumcision and intactivism]]
[[Category:History]]
[[Category:USA]]