Back when I was a new paramedic, I worked at
a Level 1 trauma center. As an inexperienced medic, I was relegated to the most
menial of tasks: drawing blood, monitoring vital signs, and patrolling bodily
fluids. But my least favorite chore was catheterizing patients.
I steadied my poker face as I recalculated my
strategy. There was a lot more skin than I was used to, and it took me a few
seconds of floundering before my cath found its mark. As I advanced the tubing (imagine stuffing a straw through a sausage), I found myself
mesmerized by his unusual appendage.
Little did I know, the uncircumcised are hardly
unique. Like most things, it all comes down to culture.
Male circumcision goes back thousands of years. Historians
still debate its origins, but most agree it probably had its roots in rituals
surrounding purification. Since many cultures view sexuality as sinful, removing the foreskin may have served to rein in a man’s sexual proclivities.
The most ancient examples come from Egypt, where
historical accounts dating to over five thousand years ago describe the ritual. The procedure
is also recorded in bas relief and found in evidence on mummified remains.
Although Jews adopted the practice early on, the Romans
were rather fond of their foreskin, and passed laws to protect their precious
prepuces.
In many cultures, there is great ceremony surrounding circumcision. The Jewish Bris (technically called a “Bris Mila,”
meaning “covenant of circumcision”) is symbolic of God’s promise that the
Jewish people will live on; thus its focus on that imperative male organ. It is
traditionally performed by a mohel, someone
specially trained in wielding a knife. Once the baby has been snipped, the
guests are free to gorge themselves on the Seudat Mitzvah (aka, religious
feast).
But circumcision is hardly restricted to the Jews.
It is found all over the globe in varying frequencies; about one-third of all
males worldwide. In the US, circumcision first became a medicalized practice
around 1870 and, as hospital births became the norm, it became part and parcel
to the medicalization of birthing, as well as a symbol of status.
In America, the rate stands around sixty percent, with
slight variations based on race and ethnicity. In the UK, about half of all male
Londoners are circumcised, and the same holds true for Canada. In the Land Down
Under, sixty-nine percent of Aussie-born males are circumcised, yet in nearby New Zealand,
it’s only around forty percent. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the overall rate is around sixty-two percent, and
many circumcisions are performed later in life. The same goes for the
Philippines, where over half of those circumcised are put under the knife in
their teens.
But circumcision is falling out of favor, at least
here in America, despite the fact that it affords certain health benefits.
According to the American Association of Pediatrics, a circumcised penis is
less prone to STDs such as herpes, HPV, and syphilis; there’s a markedly
lower risk of acquiring HIV; and it reduces the incidence of urinary tract
infections and certain rare forms of cancer. Most of this comes down to
hygiene. The less skin there is, the easier it is to keep clean. So if you
sport foreskin, be sure to scrub up. And regardless of your foreskin status, be
sure to always glove up!
As for which is more attractive, it really comes
down to personal preference. And just as we discussed in last week’s post, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
