CIRCUMCISION:
A BARBARIC PRACTICE,
A HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION.
I'm going to raise an issue a lot of women and men would rather not think about. Circumcision (also known as male genital mutilation, or "MGM"). I think there are several reasons it's difficult to talk about.
First of all, it involves male genitals, which we don't usually like to discuss in polite society.
Secondly, it involves a very painful operation done to children, and we would probably rather not think too much about that.
Finally, I think many of us aren't quite sure why we do it, and feel the easier option is just not to discuss it. But I think it's important to look at because in many ways it's revealing about the differences between how we view women and men in this culture, differences which in varying ways harm and limit all of us.
Male circumcision is closely connected with is closely connected with other forms of male oppression and has much to teach us about our condition. The simple fact that circumcision can happen in this country is astounding.
When we are days old, doctors cut off the most sensitive part of our body without anesthesia. The operation is very violent, performed without anesthesia, and unspeakably painful to the infant. The screams, shaking, and frantic attempt by the newborn to escape this unexpected and unbearable pain can be truly horrible to watch, let alone experience.
Concrete medical evidence demonstrates that relative to an adult, the circumcision experience is significantly MORE traumatizing to an infant, who has not yet developed methods to cope with pain and whose neurological pathways are not yet fully developed.
Researchers found that circumcised boys exhibited, 4-6 months after their circumcisions, heightened physiological pain responses to inoculation shots as compared to girls and boys who had not had the experience of circumcision.
The procedure also can cause a broad range of traumas including serious harm to infant neurological development and memory capability, learned helplessness, weakening of the ego, disturbance of sexual identification, disruption of maternal bonding, distrust, suppression of pain and empathy, damage caused by memories of the procedure, and later damage to self-esteem and body image as well as post-traumatic stress disorders.
While societies tend to be blind to the horrors they create themselves, anyone must concede that this is brutal and an act of mutilation.
This pain in turn causes permanent and irreversible changes in the developing brain, altering portions of the brain responsible for perceiving pain.
Developmental neuro-psychologist James Prescott found that domestic levels of violent crime, particularly violent sex-related crimes such as rape, grew in direct proportion to the rise in the number of sexually active circumcised males in American society.
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