While many people attribute the ritual of circumcise as having been passed down from the religion of Judaism, research yields the fact that there are numerous forms of circumcision that have been practiced for centuries in many cultures. The oldest documentary evidence of circumcision existing as a ritual is from ancient Egypt. In different cultures male or women are circumcised for various religious or practical purposes. In the West, it is generally only the males who are circumcised. While religious reasons have existed in the past, in our Western culture, circumcision is a ritual that alleges to have practical, as well as ritualistic purposes. My research on the topic though has led me to conclude that circumcision is an antiquated practice that still exists in our modern culture, and like many impractical rituals of the old world should be abolished from our culture.
Male circumcision is a practice in which the foreskin is cut a way from the male penis. The reason given for this procedure, for hospitals is hygienic, while for some it is religious. Regardless of why people decide to do it, one thing is clear, that in the United States circumcision is on the decline. From 1979 to 2010 the rate of parents circumcising their male infants dropped from 65 to 58 percent (Bloomberg, 1).
The scientific reasoning behind the ritual of circumcisim is usually centered around medical evidence that points to circumcision leading to a lower incidence of HIV, herpes, genital warns and cancers in men. A prominent group that supports male circumcision for this reason is the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. But even if we assume the data is solid in this regard, the drawbacks of circumcision far outweigh any supposed benefits. Certainly the same argument could be used for murder, that if hands were cut off infants there would be less incidents of murder.
In the US is illegal to circumcise a baby girl. From an ethical perspective, this is the same as circumcising a male. A baby boy is not able to make ecisions for himself, and parents should not be able to decide to mutilate their children. Mutilation may seem like a strong term when applied to circumcision, but it is actually an accurate term to describe it because, as Intact America, an advocacy group against circumcision, points out, “foreskin is not a birth defect.” (Intact America, 2014).
According to them, even the research in favor of circumcision is suspected. They claim that it does not prevent HIV or other diseases and they dispute those claims. They challenge all the arguments for circumcision. One is that if the foreskin is not kept clean it leads to infection, but the same could be said about brushing ones teeth without it being an argument for removing a child’s teeth.
At the end of all the arguments, is the fact that those who are circumcised ritualistically be it for religious or medical reasons do not get to decide this fate for themselves. The attitudes towards circumcision are changing; proof of this is the drop of those rates. The rates however, are still far too high. Circumcision is mutilation and it serves no practical purpose in our society. Circumcision should be left with the primitive mentalities from where it originated from and left out of our modern times.
Works Cited:
"Circumcision ." Bloomberg Business Week. Bloomberg, n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2014. <http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-08-22/circumcision-rate-in-the-u-dot-s-dot-drops-as-societal-attitudes-waver>.
"Circumcision." Netdoctor. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2014. <http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/menshealth/fac
"Intact America: SAY NO TO CIRCUMCISION." Ten Reasons Not to Circumcise. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2014. <http://www.intactamerica.org/resources/dec
