SEXIS WRONG

a remedy became the rage. In 1888, John Kellogg, of cornflakes
fame, wrote a book blaming masturbation for thirtyone
ailments and identified things like shyness and insomnia
as symptoms of masturbation.
Soon, circumcision was advocated for infants to prevent,
rather than cure, masturbation.
Here are excerpts from medical journals of the late 1800s:
There can be no doubt of [masturbation’s] injurious
effect, and of the proneness to practice it on the
part of children with defective brains. Circumcision
should always be practiced. It may be necessary to
make the genitals so sore by blistering fluids that
pain results from attempts to rub the parts. 17
~
In consequence of circumcision the epithelial
covering of the glans becomes dry, hard…the
sensibility of the glans is diminished, but not
sufficiently to interfere with the copulative function
of the organ or to constitute an objection.... It is
well authenticated that the foreskin...is a fruitful
cause of the habit of masturbation in children....
I conclude that the foreskin is detrimental to
health, and that circumcision is a wise measure of
hygiene. 18
Great Britain joined in the masturbation hysteria, as did Canada,
Australia, and New Zealand. Those countries have since
rejected arguments for circumcision as fallacious.
Dr. Benjamin Spock advocated circumcision in 1946. He reversed
himself in 1976. 19
The British circumcision rate peaked at more than 30%, then,
by the 1950s, fell dramatically. By the time
Princess Diana gave birth to Prince William, it
was less than 1%. Prince Charles was circumcised,
but Diana insisted the young princes
be left intact. 20 In her case, the fact that the
National Health Service dropped coverage of the procedure
probably wasn’t a deciding factor. For the majority of Britons,
it may have been the biggest one.
By the 1930s, even those who ate corn flakes accepted that
masturbation wasn’t harmful, but by then circumcision was
going strong. Since Jews circumcised for religious reasons,
some Jews promoted it for health reasons, too, applying to
all, so Jews wouldn’t be singled out by the practice. Doctors
latched onto the next promulgated theory: Circumcision was
more hygienic. After a while, claims were made for its curing
or prevention of a host of diseases and disorders, from epilepsy
to insomnia. These arguments were debunked one by
one, but circumcision still has its proponents. They often tout
prevention of penile cancer and cervical cancer as benefits
of circumcision. Penile cancer is exceedingly rare, and preventing
it is not a reason for depriving millions of their bodily
integrity and sexual birthright. Women with uncircumcised
partners don’t get more cervical cancer. Studies that have
shown such supposed links have been seriously flawed. 21
Recently, AIDS prevention has been suggested as justification
for circumcision. This flies in the face of facts. The United
States and certain African countries that circumcise also have
the highest rates of HIV infection.
Some wonder, might it not all come down to an innate human
compulsion to mutilate, especially the sexual organs?
Or a drive to control others’ sexual behavior? Circumcision
is known to harm the bond between mother and son. Does
the circumcision-approving parent ever think ahead to the day
when the boy is seven or eight and wants to know what was
done to him, and why? 22 Does the rise in circumcision in the
US correlate with its rise in crime? These questions are being
asked.
It seems that we’ve gone through a century and a half of
searching for justifications for circumcision, seen them debunked,
created new ones, and seen those debunked. Now
we’re waking up to the fact that circumcising has been damaging
sexual organs, sexual performance, and sexual relationships.
But, in fact, this is something that has been known
since antiquity. We just forgot it.
In Marked in Your Flesh: Circumcision From Ancient Judea
to Modern America, anthropology professor Leonard Glick
painstakingly recounts the history of circumcision. It begins
“I have noticed that the vagina
is much more accepting of
the natural penis.”
with Chapter 17 of Genesis. God makes promises to Abraham
and puts forth the inexplicable requirement: “Every man child
among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the
flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant
betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be
circumcised among you...”
Why? No one knows. No one single author wrote the Torah.
Historically, one function of circumcision, for Jews, was that it
identified with whom a Jewess may have sexual intercourse
and therefore it served to preserve national identity. 23
Jews in the Roman Empire knew that others looked down on
circumcision. Some did not have their sons circumcised and
CIRCUMCISION AND SEX 287