How did circumcision begin?
Circumcision began in prehistoric times and still survives in some cultures. Its justifications have varied across time and place.
Pre-historically, circumcision was a ritual – a rite of passage to adulthood. Cutting off a portion of the genitals was part of a tradition of sacrificing what is most precious in order to receive divine benefits of health and prosperity. After that, it was used to create social identity or hierarchy, and – later – to signify religious identity.
How did circumcision become common?
In the 19th century, during the Victorian era of medical experimentation in the United States and English-speaking countries, circumcision was promoted as preventing masturbation in boys and as a "cure" for "hysteria" in women.
Some Victorian doctors went beyond the masturbation argument – claiming that circumcision prevented or cured conditions ranging from syphilis to epilepsy to mental retardation. As organized medicine evolved, circumcision was adopted by English-speaking countries in the 19th century. Since then, Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have all but eliminated it. However, in the United States it survives as a custom passed down from generation to generation.
A Brief History of Circumcision
Pre-Historic Sacrificial Rites
Removing the foreskin began at various places and times as a rite of passage from boyhood to manhood. [1]
Tribal Hierarchy
In ancient Egypt, captured warriors were often marked by circumcision before enslaving them. The practice also extended to their male descendants. [2]
Religious Identity
Jews adopted circumcision from the Egyptians and are believed to be the first to perform it upon newborns. Muslims circumcise boys, generally between ages five and twelve. Many passages in the New Testament tell Christians that circumcision is not a necessary part of their faith. [3][4][5]
Maimonides
In his Guide for the Perplexed, Jewish rabbi and philosopher Moses Maimonides wrote: "One of the reasons for [circumcision] is, in my opinion, the wish to bring about a decrease in sexual intercourse and a weakening of the organ in question..." Interestingly, this is often denied by physicians who promote it today. [6]
Victorian Morality
Victorian-era doctors in the English-speaking world began promoting circumcision as a "cure" for masturbation, which was thought to be terribly unhealthy. In smaller numbers, women were also subjected to the removal of their clitorises to inhibit their libido and to "cure hysteria." [7][8]
Medical Rationalization
The American medical community began to increasingly adopt newborn circumcision, justifying it by saying it reduced infections, prevented "phimosis" (a tight foreskin – totally normal in young boys), and was "more hygienic." Over the years, despite lack of scientific proof, circumcision became fashionable. Its popularity can be attributed in large part to the U.S. fee-for-service medical system. [9]
American Custom
By the 1970s, circumcision was peaking in popularity in the U.S., with about 85 percent of males being circumcised. At the same time, it was in decline in other English-speaking countries. Because so many men have been circumcised in America, it was long viewed as "normal," but this is changing. Approximately 75 percent of the men in the world enjoy their natural, intact genitals. [10]
Beginning of Decline
Circumcision rates begin to decline from their peak of 85%. The American Academy of Pediatrics states in 1971 and reaffirms in 1989 that there is no valid medical indication for routine circumcision. Anti-circumcision activism begins to organize. [11]
Federal Protection for Girls
In 1996, the United States passes the Female Genital Mutilation Act, making it a federal crime to perform genital cutting on girls under 18. This creates a legal disparity—girls are protected from non-consensual genital surgery while boys remain unprotected. Medicaid begins dropping coverage for routine infant circumcision in some states.
European Medical Opposition
European medical associations increasingly speak out against routine infant circumcision. The British Medical Association, Royal Dutch Medical Association, and Nordic medical bodies issue statements emphasizing that circumcision violates children's rights to bodily autonomy. More U.S. states drop Medicaid funding.
International Condemnation
In 2012, a German court rules that circumcision constitutes bodily harm. The same year, the AAP issues a controversial statement claiming benefits outweigh risks, but 38 European physicians publish a scathing critique calling the statement culturally biased. Iceland, Denmark, and other countries debate banning non-medical circumcision of minors. [29][30]
Rates Continue to Fall
U.S. circumcision rates drop to approximately 50-55%, down from 85% in the 1970s. Intact America, Bloodstained Men, and other organizations raise public awareness. Foregen advances research on foreskin regeneration. A new generation of parents, with access to information online, increasingly questions the practice. The intactivist movement grows stronger.
What about religious circumcision?
Most people are surprised to learn that religious circumcisions are rare in the United States.
Fewer than one percent of newborn circumcisions are carried out in the United States as a religious ritual. [12] The other ninety-nine percent are performed in hospitals by doctors, and have no spiritual significance.
The United States is unique among developed countries in its widespread practice of secular (non-religious) circumcision. Freedom of religion, guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution, means that all persons have the right to form their own religious beliefs. Permanently marking or altering the body of a newborn boy in the name of religion denies him that right.
How do rates vary across the U.S.?
Rates of newborn circumcision vary greatly by state.
The frequency of newborn circumcision varies considerably by region in the United States. In states where Medicaid does not pay for "routine" circumcision, most parents keep their boys intact.
There is no evidence that boys in states with low circumcision rates are any less healthy than boys in states where circumcision is common.
How is it in the rest of the world?
While around half of newborn boys are still being circumcised in the United States, the practice remains largely an American phenomenon. Due to U.S. colonization of the Philippines, it is also practiced there, where boys are often pressured into the ritual through peer bullying.
Oddly, the Philippines is predominantly Christian, and the New Testament does not require boys to be circumcised. The Philippines was also colonized by Spain, yet Spain does not practice this ritual — 94% of Spain is uncircumcised.
17 out of 20 newborn male circumcisions worldwide take place in the United States. [12]