Male Circumcision: Pain, Trauma and Psychosexual Sequelae

A Rose by Any Other Name? Rethinking the Similarities and Differences between Male and Female Genital Cutting

“…Although the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international agencies devote substantial resources on programs to eradicate FGA, they have been conspicuously silent about MGA. It is only recently that MGA has been raised as a human rights issue at the United Nations, and to date no serious discussion of the topic has occurred, let alone any action (Svoboda 2002(Svoboda , 2004.…”

“…Although equivalent quantities of tissue may be lost, outcomes will be worse in cases where the penis grows larger in maturity, where the infant or boy has only a short foreskin, or where the unpredictable locations of blood vessels and nerves mean that important connections are severed. Because the slack ("redundant") surface tissue is needed to accommodate the enlarged penis when tumescent, a severe alteration will render erections painful or even impossible (Boyle et al 2002;Hammond 1999;Peterson 2001;Warren et al 1996;Williams and Kapila 1993). A further common outcome among boys circumcised in infancy, especially when the operation excises a large quantity of penile shaft skin (as is the U.S. norm, particularly when the Gomco clamp is used), is that scrotal skin gets pulled up onto the penis shaft as the wound heals, and even more when the penis enlarges at puberty (Cold and Taylor 1999;Money and Davison 1983;Taylor et al 1996;Zwang 1997).…”

Genital Cutting and Western Discourses on Sexuality

“…Ultimately, the evidence regarding the benefits of male circumcision remains extremely controversial. 13 Yet, while there has certainly been a great deal of hyperbole on both sides of the male circumcision debate, some scholars and activists have argued compellingly about the disputable value of studies claiming health benefits for male circumcision and the tendency to unthinkingly reproduce accepted wisdom regarding these benefits 14 (see Boyle et al 2002;Gollaher 2000;Wallerstein 1980). Carla Obermeyer (1999Obermeyer ( , 2003 makes a similar point in relation to the anti-FGM literature.…”

Libertarianism and circumcision

“…The pain involved with the circumcision process as experienced by newborns is difficult to gauge without a satisfactory primary source but can be understood by analyzing the behavior of the infant. One such analysis found a positive correlation between duration, loudness, and pitch of crying and the invasiveness of the surgery, as well as intensified facial expression including lowered brow, tightened eyes, excitability in the spinal cord, an open mouth, and a cupped tongue (69). Another study measured the effects of anesthesia during circumcision on infant reaction and included a control group without any anesthesia at all.…”

“…Indeed, on a physical level the potential consequences are great. Meanwhile, a growing amount of evidence suggests that the intense pain felt by the newborn male during circumcision, as well as the loss of what would be about half of his penile tissue as a mature adult, has immense long-term adverse effects on his psychological well-being (36,37,58,(69)(70)(71)(72)(73). The official manual of mental disorders as published by the American Psychiatric Association describes a traumatic event as one "that is beyond human experience, such as assault (sexual or physical), torture, and a threat to one's physical integrity", regardless of intent or purpose (73).…”