Explainer | Circumcision: genital mutilation or simple medical procedure with health benefits?
- One in three males around the world has been circumcised, either for religious reasons, as a health measure or following tradition
- Critics say the procedure is unnecessary and unethical and lowers sexual pleasure, while supporters point out the health benefits
Men – boys – of my generation were either Roundheads or Cavaliers. They either had one, or they didn’t: foreskins. The Roundheads had been circumcised, the Cavaliers not.
Male circumcision, the surgical removal of the skin covering the tip of the penis, is one of the oldest and most common surgical procedures performed globally, Hong Kong specialist in paediatric surgery Dr Jennifer Sihoe says. It is estimated that one in three males worldwide are circumcised.
It is most commonly done for religious reasons among Muslim and Jewish populations, Sihoe says – and maybe because old habits die hard.
In North America, the surgical removal of a baby boy’s foreskin was common. It became popular in the mid-1900s – shockingly – as a way to stop boys masturbating, and as many as 80 per cent of baby boys underwent the procedure, she says.
“Then, in 1971, the American Academy of paediatrics [AAP] reported that there was no valid medical indications for circumcision in the neonatal period, which led to a decline in the practice,” she says.