Circumcision prevalence with Intaction : 1893: In the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. J. A.Hofheimer claimed circumcision cured infant constipation. He then recommended circumcising babies before digestive issues appeared. “An early operation,” he wrote, “will relieve the child of a great source of irritation, and indirectly improve nutrition, changing a fretful, puny baby into a thriving, happy infant.” 1894: Dr. B. Merrill Ricketts wrote in the New York Medical Journal that he performed over 250 circumcisions to “cure” diseases such as hip-joint disease, tuberculosis, hernia, general nervousness, impotence, convulsions, and epilepsy.
Living in America in the beginning of the 21st century, it’s easy to see how this notion got ingrained in the cultural consciousness: it’s common , and it’s common, so it must be common everywhere, always. Right? Wrong! Most of the world doesn’t practice circumcision. In fact, most of the world has never practiced circumcision. The truth is that the United States is the only country that circumcises the majority of babies, and we’ve only done it for a few generations. And on top of that, we’re doing it less and less: fewer than 60% of male babies in the US are circumcised these days.
Circumcision Controversy: The decision to circumcise is a controversial topic for many people, with strongly held opinions on both the for and against sides. Those for circumcision speak to alleged medical benefits and tradition. Those against it raise issues of risk, complications, loss of the sensitive foreskin, pain, trauma, psychological harm, and rights of individual consent. For those against, the benefits do not outweigh the risks. Find even more details on circumcision.
Circumcision is often performed on infants without anesthetic or with a local anesthetic that is ineffective at substantially reducing pain (Lander et al., 1997). In a study by Lander and colleagues (1997), a control group of infants who received no anesthesia was used as a baseline to measure the effectiveness of different types of anesthesia during circumcision. The control group babies were in so much pain—some began choking and one even had a seizure—they decided it was unethical to continue. It is important to also consider the effects of post-operative pain in circumcised infants (regardless of whether anesthesia is used), which is described as “severe” and “persistent” (Howard et al., 1994). In addition to pain, there are other negative physical outcomes including possible infection and death (Van Howe, 1997, 2004).
That every child has the inalienable right to an intact body. The foreskin is a special and unique part of the body that serves several important functions. We believe foreskin possesses “The Four Powers”: Pleasure, Protection, Lubrication, and Connection (between people and with oneself.) Both males and females are born with foreskin (equivalent to the clitoral hood). Even cut men were born with a foreskin, even if it was taken from them. Everyone has a stake in this issue and a reason to get involved. Intaction promotes an intact positive message so people understand and value the anatomical and psychological importance of an intact body. We seek to raise awareness on this issue in order to stop non-therapeutic, ritualized, medicalized infant circumcision and female genital cutting. See extra info on this website.