### cultural marker:

Circumcision
* Many circumcisions result in too much skin having been removed.
* absolutely prevents all foreskin infections.
* affects mother-infant interaction.
* allows full stimulation of the corona during sexual activity.
* also leaves significant emotional and spiritual scars
  - makes the girls clean and hygienic
* can be a religious ritual , or a custom in certain tribes , or a medical practice
  - curative
  - hazardous if bleeding disorders run in the family
  - only take place after a birth
  - take place at home, synagogue or social halls with complete safety
* causes babies intense pain and suffering
  - pain, trauma, and a permanent loss of protective and erogenous tissue
  - some pain, unless it is performed with an anesthetic
* completely exposes the glans.
* creates a scar and causes the penis to become desensitized.
* cultural marker.
* cutting away of unnecessary flesh that gets in the way.
* decision that parents make for their sons without access to the facts.
* decreases penile cancer.
* deeply rooted custom in Kenya.
* divine commandment.
* does cause pain for the baby.
* fairly simple procedure, typically performed shortly after an infant s birth.
* forges a bond between the child and parent through pain and suffering.
* greatly reduces the incidence of penile cancer.
* has cultural implication
  - hygienic value
  - no impact on sexual pleasure
  - nothing to do with religion
* helps prevent urinary tract infections
  - the new breed of conscious male develop in the world
* hot topic on many parenting newsgroups, and evokes a lot of emotion and debate.
* hotly debated issue in the medical world.
* human rights issue.
* imposes the beliefs of one person unto another.
* involves forcibly retracting the foreskin and cutting away the inner and outer layers.
* involves removing the foreskin , which shields the head of the penis
  - that shields the head of the penis
  - surgically removing the foreskin of the penis
  - the removal of the foreskin at the end of the penis
* is about sending many messages, on a cellular level to that baby
  - also an old tradition or practice
* is an atrocity and a fraud
  - initiation into the Jewish people
* is an operation in which the foreskin over the head of the penis is removed
  - that removes the foreskin
  - where the fold of skin around the top of the penis is cut
  - as painful a procedure to a newborn as it is to an adult
  - child abuse
  - connected with Pesach
* is considered a type of rebirth, and death to one's former self
  - the most significant rite of passage to adulthood
* is done for religious and cultural reasons
  - to rein in sexual drive
  - extremely painful and traumatic for a baby
  - important for both boys and girls
  - indicated in phimosis, paraphimosis, and balanoposthitis
  - irreversible
  - known to cause sleep disturbances for at least three days
  - mainstream male child genital mutilation
  - medically unjustified penis reduction surgery
* is most common in white men and men from educated families
  - prevalent in Jewish and Muslim traditions
  - much less widespread in England, Canada, and Australia
  - never a free personal choice
* is one more form of institutionalized violence against men
  - of the oldest operations on record
  - painful and consequently stressful
  - painful, unnecessary and permanent
  - part of spiritual, emotional and psychological health
  - particularly abhorrent when it is practised for purely secular, non-medical reasons
* is performed by cutting a V-shaped piece from the hood over the center of the clitoris
  - on the eighth day of the child's life, during the day
* is performed only on healthy babies
  - males
  - perpetuated by doing it to infants
* is practiced as a national tradition
  - religious procedure
  - quite uncommon in the rest of Europe, in Asia, and in Central and South America
  - relevant today
  - rites
  - rooted in the Abrahamic covenant, and is the central sign of our Jewish identities
  - seen as a traditional practice
  - sexual assault , says psychologist
  - surgery on a very sensitive part of the body
* is surgery, and as such it has attendant risks
  - like all surgery it has risks
* is the accepted operation to treat phimosis
  - amputation of the prepuce from the penis
  - best surgical procedure for phimosis
  - central event of their adolescence
  - cutting off of the fold of skin that normally covers the glans of the penis
  - first act of sanctification in the life of a Jewish male
* is the most common operation in male newborns in the United States
  - surgical procedure performed on Canadian newborns
  - widely offered surgical correction for phimosis
  - oldest of Jewish rituals and still going strong
* is the only permanent cure
  - surgery which is used to prevent disease
* is the removal of a part or all of the foreskin at birth or later on in life
  - or all of the male foreskin either at birth or later on
* is the removal of the foreskin at the end of the penis
* is the surgical removal of the foreskin from the head of the penis
  - foreskin from the penis
  - foreskin, which covers the head of the penis
  - traditional treatment method of choice in uncircumcised patients
  - ultimate child sexual abuse
  - worst hoax ever perpetrated on the male sex
  - thought to prevent urinary tract infections and penile cancer
  - thus a non-therapeutic amputation
  - uncommon in Asia, South America, Central America, and most of Europe
  - viewed as a rite of passage and necessary for marriage
  - widespread in East Africa
* is, therefore, a religious act.
* makes it easy to keep the end of the penis clean.
* marks their ritual death as minors and their rebirth as responsible adults.
* means cutting off the foreskin or ring of tissue that covers the head of the penis
  - removal of the foreskin of the penis
* meets the legal definition of sexual assault and child abuse.
* occasionally medical necessity and is so recognized worldwide.
* otherwise is uncommon in Europe and Scandinavia.
* permanently bares the glans allowing full stimulation during sex.
* physical injury.
* powerful emotional issue for some people.
* prerequisite of being a Jewish man.
* procedure rife with complications
  - that can be performed at any age
* protects a future wife from cervical cancer.
* radical surgical treatment.
* raises difficult questions about the rights and freedoms of individuals.
* reduces man's instinctual drive.
* refers to the surgical removal of the foreskin of the penis.
* removes a fold of loose skin that covers the glans
  - portion of the skin at the terminus of the penis surrounding the glans
  - hundreds of miles of blood vessels
  - sexually functioning tissue and causes substantial pain
  - the foreskin over the glans
* renders a penis's appearance rather ugly and sickly.
* sexual mutilation.
* sign of the covenant, but the covenant is passed on by blood.
* still happens to over half the male babies born in the United States.
* supercedes leprosy.
* surgical procedure and as with any surgery there are potential risks.
* surgically removes the foreskin, exposing the tip of the penis.
* takes place shortly before sunrise.
* usually heal within one to two weeks.
* very painful procedure, performed on a completely innocent and unsuspecting baby.
* violates many international human rights treaties.