A History of Circumcision in America

How did circumcision come to America?

Prior to the 19th century, circumcision was virtually unknown to non-Jewish and non-Muslim Americans. It simply wasn't practiced. So how did it come to be so widespread? The practice of routine male circumcision in the USA is rooted in masturbation. Yes, masturbation. In the 1800s, masturbation became public enemy number one. Doctors believed masturbation was the cause of numerous problems like mental illness, alcoholism, and kleptomania. Religions which frowned upon sex and masturbation also played a factor. During this era, chastity belts and female circumcision were practiced as well (Yes, in America, our doctors practiced female genital mutilation at one time). Adults and children caught masturbating would be subjected to circumcision (either having their foreskins or clitorises removed), physical restraint or even put in institutions. But America has largely forgotten this part of our history. Did you know that Kellogg Company, the inventor of cereals like Kellogg's Corn Flakes and Rice Krispies that grace our breakfast bowls every morning, was originally started because the brother of its founder, John Harvey Kellogg, believed that his cold cereal like Corn Flakes would help curb the desire to masturbate? John Harvey Kellogg also advocated the circumcision of male children (not as infants but older) to punish them for masturbation and teach them that masturbation was equal to pain. Kellogg also advocated applying phenol to women's clitorises, sewing foreskins shut, caging the genitals, and tying up people who masturbated. And the bad thing was that Kellogg was not a stand-alone overzealous nut. He was a respected medical professional and doctor. He published books, opened hospitals, and ran a sanitarium. Reverend Sylvester Graham, inventor of the Graham Cracker, believed his cracker would curb sexual urges and masturbation. I know it sounds crazy but it's 100% true. Both Graham and Kellogg, like most of the medical community, called masturbation "self-injury" or "self-abuse." Many people feared that men would discover the "pleasure of masturbation" while cleaning their foreskins so the simple solution was to take the foreskins away. Up until the 1960s, doctors and people regularly came up with new excuses to justify circumcision and continue the practice. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics stated they did not recommend circumcision for non-theraputic reasons in the 1970s and circumcision rates began to plummet. Down from a virtually 100% circumcision rate prior to the 1970s, only 33% of male children were circumcised in 2009.