| Circumcision is often
chosen by parents so that their son will not "look different" from his
father or peers. The belief is that an intact (uncircumcised) boy will
feel uncomfortable if he does not "match" others. In fact there is no
published
evidence whatsoever to support this belief.
This assumption may
be the product of a psychological
defense mechanism called projection, the process of attributing
feelings
to others that belong to oneself. It is the circumcised father who
may
feel uncomfortable if he looks different from his son. The fear of
confronting these feelings in themselves motivates circumcised men to
cling
to the myth that intact sons will have such feelings. Furthermore, when
the first generation of American boys was circumcised, they looked
different
from their intact fathers. This belief was not prevalent then because
intact
men had no repressed feelings about how their penis looked.
Investigation of the
literature, interviews with intact
men, and other pertinent information lead to the following inferences
regarding
the decision to circumcise for social or "matching" reasons:
-
The circumcision status of the father
is not necessarily
known or important to a male child.
- A circumcised boy who
"matches" others may nevertheless have
negative feelings about being circumcised. These feelings can last a
lifetime.(1)
- It is not possible
to predict prior to circumcision how a
boy will feel about it later.
- If a boy gets
teased because he looks different, that indicates
an emotional problem in the perpetrator. The solution is appropriate
communication
to address this behavior and associated problem directly.
- Even though intact
men are in the minority, there is some
indication that most intact men are happy to be that way.
- An intact man who is
unhappy about it can choose to be circumcised,
but this is rarely done. The estimated rate of adult circumcision in
the
United States is 3 in 1000.(2)
- An intact man who
is unhappy about his status may feel different
after learning more about circumcision and the important functions of
the
foreskin.
- The social factor is
much less of an issue for boys born
today because of the lower circumcision rate (approximately 60 percent
nationally, under 40 percent in some states).(3)
These two accounts from
mothers of intact sons add another
perspective to the discussion of choosing circumcision for social
reasons.
"My youngest son [seven
years old] is completely content
at being ‘different’ from his father and [three] older brothers. When I
explained circumcision to him, his face took on a frightened expression
as he cupped his hands over his genitals and loudly declared, ‘That is
never going to happen to me!!’ "(4)
"When my eight-year-old son
was five, he noticed a difference
in the appearance of the other boys’ penises. I told him that’s because
they had their foreskins cut off. He said, ‘That’s horrible.’ He’s very
adamant about it."(5)
One eight-year old boy who is
the only boy in his class who
is not circumcised reported he is glad he is not circumcised.
Concerning
the other boys, he feels "kind of sad because they had it cut off." If
any boys comment about his penis, he tells them "why there is still
skin
over mine and not over theirs." Then they do not bother him.(6)
This boy's mother
told him about circumcision when he
was younger. It appears that if an intact boy is given proper
information,
it is possible to prevent a negative impact even from extreme minority
status in a group of circumcised boys.
NOTES
(1) Hammond, T. "A Preliminary
Poll of Men Circumcised in Infancy
or Childhood," BJU International 83 (1999): 85-92.
(2) Wallerstein, E., Circumcision:
An American Health Fallacy (New
York: Springer Publishing, 1980), 48.
(3) National Center for Health
Statistics, 6525 Belcrest Rd., Hyattville,
MD 20782. Rate is for 1996.
(4) Romberg, R., "Circumcision Feedback"
(letter to the editor), Mensa
Bulletin, May 1993.
(5) Huggins, R., telephone conversation
with CRC office, February 1996.
(6) Huggins, M., telephone conversation
with CRC office, February 1996.
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