soo why is Male Circumcision seemingly so ‘routine’ an commonplace? Is there a Female equivalent and if so why isn’t it seen anywhere near as much as its male counterpart??
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Gamma bias. People view harms committed against women as worse than equivalent harms committed against men.
Mutilating an infant girl’s genitalia in order to make sex less enjoyable and to represent a covenant of flesh with God? Horrible barbaric savagery
Mutilating an infant boy’s genitalia in order to make sex less enjoyable and to represent a covenant of flesh with God? Pass me the wine we’re having a Bris!
There is a female equivalent, and it is practiced in some parts of the world.
https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/female-genital-mutilation/
It is a recommended/condoned practice by global and US medical associations for a number of health benefits.
[CDC Recommendation](https://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20141202/cdc-endorses-circumcision-for-health-reasons)
[WHO Recommendation](https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/978-92-4-000854-0)
Prevention of cancer: Individual studies and metaanalyses ([1](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18607597/) [2](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21695385/)) show that penile cancer is significantly more common in uncircumcised people. This is true in 1st and 3rd world countries. Phimosis is also a risk factor for penile cancer, and when you correct for the cases with phimosis, being uncircumcised is no longer a risk factor.
STIs (not HIV): There is increased risk for [Human pappiloma virus](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21962470/) in uncircumcised men. This is associated with genital warts, penile cancer, and cervical cancer in women receive this infection from their male partners. I think this is becoming less of an issue now that the HPV vaccines are approved for men.
In the united states, an insane fellow spread medical misinformation about circumcision, believing it would prevent male masturbation. This misinformation lives on to this day. Outside of the US circumcision is much rarer.
Female circumcision is seen as what it is; mauling a baby.
It was initially a religious practice of Jewish origin. Some judeo-Christian faiths also a scribe to the practice and have it done for religious reasons.
Then came John Kellogg, yes [that Kellogg.](https://www.circumcisionchoice.com/single-post/Kellogg)
He was a physician and held the personal belief that masturbation was so foul, boys should not just be circumcised to prevent it, but as punishment for doing it as well.
A quote from the Cereal man himself.
> A remedy which is almost always successful in small boys is circumcision, especially when there is any degree of phimosis. The operation should be performed by a surgeon **without administering an anesthetic, ** as the brief pain attending the operation will have a salutary effect upon the mind, especially if it be connected with the idea of punishment, as it may well be in some cases. The soreness which continues for several weeks interrupts the practice, and if it had not previously become too firmly fixed, it may be forgotten and not resumed. [4]
As for women, there are a few equivalents. One is essentially a labial circumcision where the extra external folds of the labor are removed. There is also a clitoridectomy which is the removal of the clitoris. Literally, one to one, this would be like recommending removing the head of the penis entirely to prevent masterbation, not even just circumcision.
A quote from the article linked which also quotes him:
> Kellogg also promoted the infliction of genital pain on girls, believing it could deter female masturbation. He wrote that he “found the application of pure carbolic acid (phenol) to the clitoris an excellent means of allaying the abnormal excitement.” In some cases he recommended clitoridectomies to stop the behavior. [3]
His was the initial crusade, but largely ignored by medicine. He is merely responsible for this usually extremist view because “he was a doctor.”
The popularization in medicine came later when it became believed to be beneficial as a preventative. A sort of “it isn’t needed, so why not?” As mostly written by a doctor by the name of Remondino.
The cultural impact and popularization? War, as is often the case. Men in the trenches who couldn’t wash themselves properly got infections and had to be circumcised. After having those experiences, they got their kids circumcised as a needless preventative measure. So it went as time went on and now there are three major focuses and myths.
1) It is ordained by a diety. This justifies needless infantile surgery.
2) It is cleaner and prevents problems. This is half true, as the caveat is “for some.” *some* may develop phimosis. *some* may experience infections. Some may experience infections in their eyelids too.
3) It’s just “how it is.” One man did it to their kid, now that’s how they are. That’s how they were all their life. They have a son, see a foreskin, see them cut a whole dang umbilical off and go “Yeah, that too. Like mine, please?” Because ot’s just “normal.”
Until fewer anecdotes like mine and those of other uncut folks permeate things (people research and solve problems, not things working as intended most oft, after all.) And even more research and chatter and info gets out to the public more than doctors even, it’ll just… Keep being routine because that’s how it is. Cultural inertia.
Proper name is Genital Mutiliation. Male GM is less invasive, but much more common; Female GM is not as widespread, but much more invasive and hurtful.
Think 50 people having their teeth broken by an assault, and 1 person murdered.
(there are very few cases where there is an actual medical reason, but mostly Male Genital Mutiliation is done on infants – cutting healthy body parts for no valid reason)
Female genital mutilation is more common in parts of Africa and Middle East (90% of women in Mali have undergone it). You just don’t hear about it often. Occasionally you will hear of a case in Europe by immigrants. There’s absolutely no reason for it, other than to deny women pleasure. There are laws against it, but it is ‘tradition’ so people still do it.
The only thing I know about this (Other than the religious reasons) is that sometimes men needs to have it done for medical reasons.
It’s only common in the US (outside of Jewish cultures). There’s certainly a female version, and it’s even more horrific than the male version. For more info, there’s an Adam Ruins Everything video about circumcision.
I’m not going to tell anyone how to raise their kids or which religion to follow, but please don’t circumcise your kids. Ever. Whatever benefits you think it provides, you’re wrong.
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