What are the reasons for circumcision?

Answer 1

There is no medical reason for circumcision and the medical reason that started the ball rolling in this department in English speaking country's was a result of a belief held by the British medical fraternity. They claimed that many diseases ranging from syphilis to insanity were the result of male masturbation. They also advised that the best way to stop boys from beginning to masturbate was to remove their foreskin. Many of the public in the colonies and other English speaking country's fell for it hook line and sinker . The reasoning for circumcision changed over the years and people continued to mutilate their children's genitalia until late in the 20th century. Today the practice has been just about abandoned in all country but the USA where there is still strong marketing in an attempt to continue this barbaric practice. Less then 20% of the worlds men are circumcised and most of these have it done for religious reasons. The need for the amputation of the foreskin is rare.

But above all if a circumcision is done it should be done by choice. The vast majority of circumcisions are done to children many younger then 9 days old and with little or no anesthetic. for these boys there is no choice. for these boys circumcision is an assault on the integrity of their body.

There are multiple so called reasons for circumcision, most of them are for religious and cultural reasons. some are ostensibly for medical reasons and some are cosmetic.

First, there are very few conditions that require the amputation of the foreskin, phimosis is said to be a reason unscrupulous doctors (a foreskin that is too tight to retract over the glans) however this can be easily overcome with stretching exercises and the use of hormonal skin cremes. balanoposthitis (inflammation of the glans and the foreskin). this is also easily treated with antibiotics and a lesson in foreskin care. Many times doctors will recommend circumcision rather then prescribing other treatments due to long held beliefs that the foreskin is superfluous, or as a result of their own deep seated resentment at being circumcised a case of the abuser coming back to abuse. however, there are other treatments. Of course, there are ailments that do require the removal of the foreskin. However these are rare Just make sure that you ask your doctor for all the information.

Then, there are also cosmetic reasons. Membership in some religions require circumcision. Also, many parents think that their boys should "look like dad".

There is much debate of circumcision and whether it is a medically sound procedure. this debate only seems to be held in the united States and some of the English speaking nations However. Most of the world sees this procedure as Male genital mutilation. There is evidence that circumcision reduces the chances of contracting HIV, but then, there is also evidence that men who have had their foreskin removed experience less sexual pleasure due to the keratinization of the glans due to continued friction with clothing.

It is a serious and important decision that all parents of boys need to think over. It is also something that more and more men are being faced with as pediatricians are moving away from this practice in favor of letting the boys choose later in life whether or no to have this cosmetic surgery performed on them.

Answer 2

The main reasons for circumsicision are religious and cultural some circumcisions are ostensibly done for medical reasons however according to experts there are very few reasons for circumcision

Medical necessity is almost never the reason for routine circumcisions, at least for infants, the group that experiences the highest rate of the procedure. It is almost always done simply because it has become accepted as normal practice, even without good, clear medical indications. Most medical considerations involve small reductions in the likelihood of various problems later in life that already have low rates of incidence. Usually, adult circumcisions are for real medical conditions for which the surgery is indicated. Of course, many parents include circumcision as part of their religious practice. See link on US circumcision rate.

Answer 3

many but not all Muslims ,Jews and an assortment of primitive tribes here and there see a need to genetically mutilate(circumcise) for religious reasons. and there is also a false impression doing the traps that circumcision prevents disease so a small percentage are done for so called health reasons. Less then 20% of the worlds men are circumcised.

Answer 4

Usually because it was done to them for religious or cultural reason at an age where they could not resist, or had been forced by their culture to partake in this rude form of genital mutilation. sometime as is particularly evidenced in the US it is foisted onto newborns. some there would do it at a later age because they believe that they are different and think conformity with their immediate piers will improve their sexual appearance or acceptability.

Answer 5

The reasons for circumcision are mainly religious or cultural, The first documented instance of circumcision was found among the ancient Egyptian upper class, it is thought that it was done to set them apart from their underlings. later on It was also mentions in a Jewish religious book the torah and led to the Jews being big proponents of the custom doing it on religious grounds from there it spread to the Muslims not as a religious requirement but as a cultural custom. Examples of the practice are seen among primitive cultures in other places around the world and is often seen as a right of passage to manhood. During the Victorian era the practice was introduced by the British medical fraternity to the English speaking world on the premise that masturbation in boys needed to be curtailed as they claimed that masturbation was responsible for more then a hundred diseases ranging from syphilis to insanity. The practice caught on like wildfire. However as the 20th century approached the custom began to become less popular as the reasoning after all was ridiculous. By this time however the practice had already proved to be a profitable sideline for doctors and at the time of the WW1 US medics convinced the US Army that they should circumcise their conscripts in order to prevent them from getting STD's and other infections. This led to the establishment of culture of circumcision in the United States and to a lesser degree in the other English speaking cultures. The practice is still quite strong in the US as a result of a powerful and ruthless pro circumcision lobby that is firmly established in its medical leadership. The facts are however that there are no medical reasons for the removal of the foreskin from males and that in fact it is no more then male genital mutilation.

Answer 6

Circumcision has been known to offer virtually complete protection from penile cancer. According to a recent review article in the New England Journal of Medicine, none of the over 1,600 persons studied with this cancer had been circumcised in infancy. In the words of researchers Cochen and McCurdy, the incidence of penile cancer in the U.S. is "essentially zero" among circumcised men.

Also, research at Johns Hopkins University Medical School in Baltimore have shown that circumcised men are six to eight times less likely to become infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Researchers believe that protection is due to the removal of the foreskin, which contains cells that have HIV receptors which scientists suspect are the primary entry point for the HIV virus (Reuters, March 25, 2004).Several studies reported that circumcised boys were between 10 to 39 times less likely to develop urinary tract infections during infancy than uncircumcised boys. In addition, circumcision protects against bacterial, fungal, and parasitic infections and a variety of other conditions related to hygiene. The extremely low rate of Cervical cancer in Jewish women (9 to 22 times less than among non-Jewish women) is thought to be related to the practice of circumcision. As a result of studies like these, a number of prestigious medical organizations such as the California Medical Association have recognized the benefits of circumcision.As an operation, circumcision has an extremely small complication rate. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine (1990) reported a complication rate of 0.19 percent when circumcision is performed by a physician. When performed by a trained mohel, the rate falls to 0.13 percent or about 1 in 800. When a complication occurs, it is usually due to the bleeding, which is easily correctable. No other surgical procedure can boast such figures for complication-free operations.

For Jews, the origin of circumcision is in the Torah, which is the foundation of Judaism. God told Abraham "every male among you shall be circumcised" (Gen. 17) as part of the covenant between God and the Jewish people.

Since that time, virtually all Jews have observed the command of circumcision (Genesis ch.17) for close to four millennia, even in times of religious persecution under the Greeks, Romans, Spaniards, Soviets and others. Circumcision is the indelible sign of God's covenant with Abraham and is just as important as Yom Kippur in terms of the stringency which the Torah places upon it. And similar to Yom Kippur, it is one of the observances which are common to Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jews alike.

Answer 7

Most likely, you don't.

Medically, it's quite rare to actually have to be circumcised. It's usually done due to (religious) tradition.