Julie Cheng
Circumcision was once considered a minor, harmless procedure mainly of religious or cultural importance for some group.
Circumcision was once considered a minor, harmless procedure mainly of religious or cultural importance for some groups. Within one generation, however, the perspective on circumcision has changed as new insights on male anatomy are emerging.
Circumcision is a harsh welcome to the world. Many men wouldn't agree. They'd say that millions of males over the millennia, themselves included, have gone through this ritual without ill effect. They'd recount how the boys in the locker room who sported foreskins were laughed at by their classmates.
There are no medical reasons for infant circumcision. Most countries do not circumcise about 85 percent of the world's male population have their genitals fully intact. Yet this procedure still happens to about one in six Canadian male infants. The United States is the only country to circumcise its majority of newborn males for non-religious purposes 57 percent in 1998 and a high of 85 percent in the 1970s.
During World War I, hygiene and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases were popular medical reasons to discard the foreskin. In the 1930s the foreskin was feared to cause penile cancer and in the 1950s, cervical cancer. More recent justifications for circumcision are to prevent urinary tract infections in infants and non-retractable foreskin (normal in childhood) and a lower risk of AIDS in adult males. However, research shows that parents choose to circumcise out of social concerns: perceived hygiene, because his father was circumcised, to fit in with other boys, for appearance, culture and family pressure. That's why routine (non-therapeutic) infant circumcision is considered a cosmetic or elective procedure.
Effects of Circumcision
Circumcision involves surgically cutting off the foreskin that protects the glans (head) of the penis. Many parents believe that the procedure is minor and not very painful, but are horrified if they watch their newborn being circumcised.
Today, to circumcise or not to circumcise is a much easier decision to make. In this generation in Canada, boys are no longer ridiculed in the locker room for being fully intact.
Foreskin Care
Caring for your son's intact penis is easy and requires no special effort during infancy.