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Although circumcision has been around for thousands of years, the procedure has changed over the centuries.
During Old Testament times, it is believed that circumcision involved excising only the tip of the foreskin. In ancient
Greece, participants in athletic events wore no clothing so males who had been circumcised as infants stretched the
remaining foreskin to cover the glans (head) of the penis in order to appear less naked. To ensure that Jews would
look different from non-Jews, Jewish authorities instituted a more radical form of circumcision that took away more
tissue.
In the 1800’s the pleasurable sensations in the foreskin were blamed for masturbation, which was regarded as
unhealthy and immoral. So it was then that doctors began to blame masturbation for a wide variety of illnesses:
Impotence Constipation Bashfulness
Epilepsy Hemorrhoids Tumors
Dyspepsia Epilepsy Acne
Blindness Loss of memory Fingernail biting
Insanity Change in disposition
Rheumatism Sleeplessness
Parents not wanting to have their children suffer from these physical and emotional ailments begin having them
circumcised in an attempt to prevent problems.
Below are a couple examples of the attitudes that were shared by physicians in the late 1800’s:
1888 "A remedy for masturbation which is almost always successful in small boys is circumcision. The operation
should be performed without administering anesthetic, as the brief pain attending the operation will have a salutory
effect upon the mind, especially, if it is connected with the idea of punishment, as it may well be in some cases."
John Harvey Kellog, creator of the Corn Flake, Treatment for Self-Abuse and Its Effects, Plain Facts for Old and Young," Burlington,
Iowa: P. Segner & Co. 1888, p. 295.
1895 "In all cases of masturbation circumcision is undoubtedly the physician's closest friend and ally... To obtain the
best results one must cut away enough skin and mucous membrane to rather put it on the stretch when erections
come later. There must be no play in the skin after the wound has thoroughly healed, but it must fit tightly over the
penis, for should there be any play the patient will be found to readily resume his practice, not begrudging the time
and extra energy required to produce the orgasm. It is true, however, that the longer it takes to have an orgasm, the
less frequently it will be attempted, consequently the greater the benefit gained... The younger the patient operated
upon the more pronounced the benefit, though occasionally we find patients who were circumcised before puberty
that require a resection of the skin, as it has grown loose and pliant after that epoch."
E.J.Spratling, Masturbation in the Adult, Medical Record, vol. 24. (1895): pp. 442-443.
During the twentieth century as venereal diseases spread during World Wars I and II, military physicians began to
circumcise soldiers as a "preventive" measure. Circumcision gained further momentum as hospital births became
more popular and the medical profession began to routinely circumcise newborn boys.
For additional information on this topic, please follow the link below.
Historical Medical Quotes on Circumcision
During Old Testament times, it is believed that circumcision involved excising only the tip of the foreskin. In ancient
Greece, participants in athletic events wore no clothing so males who had been circumcised as infants stretched the
remaining foreskin to cover the glans (head) of the penis in order to appear less naked. To ensure that Jews would
look different from non-Jews, Jewish authorities instituted a more radical form of circumcision that took away more
tissue.
In the 1800’s the pleasurable sensations in the foreskin were blamed for masturbation, which was regarded as
unhealthy and immoral. So it was then that doctors began to blame masturbation for a wide variety of illnesses:
Impotence Constipation Bashfulness
Epilepsy Hemorrhoids Tumors
Dyspepsia Epilepsy Acne
Blindness Loss of memory Fingernail biting
Insanity Change in disposition
Rheumatism Sleeplessness
Parents not wanting to have their children suffer from these physical and emotional ailments begin having them
circumcised in an attempt to prevent problems.
Below are a couple examples of the attitudes that were shared by physicians in the late 1800’s:
1888 "A remedy for masturbation which is almost always successful in small boys is circumcision. The operation
should be performed without administering anesthetic, as the brief pain attending the operation will have a salutory
effect upon the mind, especially, if it is connected with the idea of punishment, as it may well be in some cases."
John Harvey Kellog, creator of the Corn Flake, Treatment for Self-Abuse and Its Effects, Plain Facts for Old and Young," Burlington,
Iowa: P. Segner & Co. 1888, p. 295.
1895 "In all cases of masturbation circumcision is undoubtedly the physician's closest friend and ally... To obtain the
best results one must cut away enough skin and mucous membrane to rather put it on the stretch when erections
come later. There must be no play in the skin after the wound has thoroughly healed, but it must fit tightly over the
penis, for should there be any play the patient will be found to readily resume his practice, not begrudging the time
and extra energy required to produce the orgasm. It is true, however, that the longer it takes to have an orgasm, the
less frequently it will be attempted, consequently the greater the benefit gained... The younger the patient operated
upon the more pronounced the benefit, though occasionally we find patients who were circumcised before puberty
that require a resection of the skin, as it has grown loose and pliant after that epoch."
E.J.Spratling, Masturbation in the Adult, Medical Record, vol. 24. (1895): pp. 442-443.
During the twentieth century as venereal diseases spread during World Wars I and II, military physicians began to
circumcise soldiers as a "preventive" measure. Circumcision gained further momentum as hospital births became
more popular and the medical profession began to routinely circumcise newborn boys.
For additional information on this topic, please follow the link below.
Historical Medical Quotes on Circumcision
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