A sacrifice of blood

(A poem about circumcision)

In the 19th century the role of the foreskin in erotic sensation was well understood by physicians who wanted to cut it off precisely because they considered it the major factor leading boys to masturbation. The Victorian physician and venereologist William Acton (1814–1875) damned it as "a source of serious mischief", and most of his contemporaries concurred. Both opponents and supporters of circumcision agreed that the significant role the foreskin played in sexual response was the main reason why it should be either left in place or removed. William Hammond, a Professor of Mind in New York in the late 19th century, commented that "circumcision, when performed in early life, generally lessens the voluptuous sensations of sexual intercourse", and both he and Acton considered the foreskin necessary for optimal sexual function, especially in old age. Jonathan Hutchinson, English surgeon and pathologist (1828–1913), and many others, thought this was the main reason why it should be excised.

Robert Darby - Australian Medical Journal - See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_male_circumcision


Preston states that circumcision creates, “undesirable psychological, sexual, and medico-legal difficulties.” Further research has shown that circumcision, “performed around the phallic stage is perceived by the child as an act of aggression and castration,” (Cansever, 1965).


Removing Pleasure: Male Genital Mutilation
By Keith D. Mitchell © 2011 - 
See http://www.drmomma.org/2011/07/removing-pleasure-how-male-genital.html

A sacrifice of blood on an altar of emptiness,
it's just a simple action that no one will object to,
it's just a dick, who cares, it has bad reputation;
blind the man, who will know that it could be any different?

A victim cries in silence grieving the missing flesh,
it was no one's to take, who would steal from a baby
and mutilate the man with a wound for a lifetime
hidden under the cloak of a shameful taboo?

Who, if not for the parents, will shutter the innocence,
who, if not for the doctors with their blades and their clamps,
who, if not for the priests and their sacred commandments,

will hurt vulnerable children invoking superstitions,
will present throbbing pain as kind and gentle sleep
and inflict on their lives wounds that never will heal?

Juan A. Alzate