SEXIS WRONG

An American Health Fallacy by Edward Wallenstein (Springer
Publishing, 1980).”
Restored male David Steinburg is Jewish, and, despite his
unhappiness with having been circumcised, he says he’s not
sure he could resist it for a newborn son in the face of family
pressure.
Many of the rituals of the Jewish community were
developed as reminders of “separateness” and
don’t have any rationale other than ritual—which
is fine. I do think it would be healthy—but probably
impossible—for society to have something of a
discussion about why keeping a foreskin is a good
idea. But let’s face it—how do you get Americans
to talk about sexual pleasure within the context of
a newborn? It ties in too many things even openminded
people are squeamish about: Parents
don’t want to think about their child’s sexuality,
especially that early on (if ever).
As for Muslims—circumcision is not mentioned in the Koran.
According to Islamic websites, “There is no compulsion to
circumcision.” 28 But Sami Aldeeb found otherwise.
A Muslim lawyer based in Switzerland, Aldeeb would certainly
call the circumcision he underwent at age eleven compulsory.
Note his discussion of anger, terror, and thoughts of
suicide:
One of the issues rarely discussed in the topic of
circumcision is the relation between its damage
and the age at which it is done[.] I was circumcised
at the age of 11, during the summer break after 5th
grade....
Here a male janitor-nurse pulled open my hospital
robe and made a quick mark on my penis. I was
then given a shot and carried by that person to the
operating table. The last I remember was a nurse
arranging “things” on a tray. I never saw the face
of the doctor as it took few seconds for me to go
under full anesthesia.
I woke up in a bed with my father beside me, he
asked me if I knew what happened, I pulled the
blanket because I could feel the dry bandage
against my raw glans.… I realized what had
happened.… I felt stunned. I could not say a thing.
Right then I thought about suicide.
After I came back home I “surveyed the damage”
and counted 10 stitches. My feeling was: now I am
just like all of them.
Years have passed and by the age of 16, I was
having painful erections....
At the age of 33, I started to read about the subject
on the Internet. I learned about foreskin restoration
and tried a technique that worked for me. It was
not the aesthetic results that I was looking for,
it was the functionality, and that eliminated the
premature ejaculation problem I had, just by
having some loose skin during erection.
Physiologically, the experience left me feeling
mutilated, for no reason or benefit. It damaged
the relation I had with my father, and affected my
attitude toward my parents. It also affected my
religious beliefs. The effort and pains thinking
about the subject, reading literature, and
attempting the restoration could have been better
spent, if this has not been done.
A few words about Islamic religion and
circumcision. My understanding is that God
created the human body in best image; why
mutilate it? Islam prohibited practices that cause
body harm, like tattoos; and prophet Muhammad
himself did not undergo circumcision. 29
In September 1996 the United States passed a law against
female genital mutilation. Opponents of male circumcision
are asking for the same. There is some tension with those
who crusade against female mutilation, some of them believing
that male circumcision is much less harmful and fighting
it less urgent. But circumcision opponents say all involuntary
genital surgery is mutilation that should be stopped. For now,
we can expect that if legal prohibition comes, it will come
first in Canada. Canadians are already being warned.
In 1996 the Canadian Medical Association approved a code
of ethics that instructs doctors to “refuse to participate in or
support practices that violate basic human rights.” This suggests,
Mark Jenkins writes, “that in the case of circumcision,
parental preference should not override the child’s physical
rights to his body.” 30
The Association for Genital Integrity is in the lengthy process
of challenging the ban on female genital mutilation in Canada’s
Criminal Code as being discriminatory against males,
who are not given similar protection.
“Every day in this country a quarter of the boys that are born
are having this procedure performed on them without their
consent and without any medical need. We don’t see why
half of our society should be protected by a law and not the
CIRCUMCISION AND SEX 289