Mary Freeman, Assistant News Editor
There is one thing the majority of U.S. men lack compared to the rest of the world: foreskin.
According to the Journal of Social History's “From Ritual to Science: The Medical Transformation of Circumcision in America,” by David. L. Gollaher circumcision became the norm around 1900 when it was thought that circumcision cured various ailments from epilepsy and paralysis to syphilis. It was also thought that circumcision discouraged masturbation, which at the time was thought to cause mental illness.
Although, it began for medical reasons in the U.S. circumcision has existed throughout history as a means to signify adulthood in young males. Most notably, circumcision is known for it’s religious significance in the Jewish religion.
By the end of the twentieth century circumcision became more of a social norm rather than a medical necessity. While the rest of the world had turned it’s back on circumcision, the U.S. continued the practice well into present day.
In the past 30 years the rate of circumcision has been falling dramatically. A survey presented at the 2006 XVI International AIDS Conference held in Toronto, Canada
reported that in the 1970’s the average rate of circumcision in the U.S. was about 91 percent, today the average rate stands at about 83 percent for college-aged men.
Some of the reasons for the dramatic decrease have to do with circumcision being seen as an elective surgery both by parents and medical professionals. In 16 states Medicaid has stopped covering circumcision without medical reason.
Another increasing trend is foreskin restoration. At the National Organization of Resotring Men’s (NORM) the organization stated that, “the foreskin is a normal, healthy, and beneficial part of the penis.” They also listed pleasure, protection, privacy, aesthetics, wholeness, emotional pain, resentment, and empowerment as reasons to restore foreskin.
Globally speaking, this is one area where the U.S. does not fit into the mainstream. In England, after delisting circumcision as a surgery covered by the national health plan in 1946, circumcision rates stand at only 15.8 percent for men between the ages of 16-24 years old as reported in the 2000 British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles.
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