User:Kaldari/Circumsicion

Previously, the modern history section described the popularization of circumcision by Lewis Sayre in a way that suggested it had nothing to do with deterring masturbation. According to our text, Sayre "thought the procedure ameliorated such problems based on a 'reflex neurosis' theory of disease, with the understanding that a tight foreskin inflamed the nerves and caused systemic problems." It is clear from both primary and secondary sources that Sayre was actually targeting masturbation: I've adjusted the language to be slightly less euphemistic: "He thought the procedure ameliorated such problems based on a 'reflex neurosis' theory of disease, which held that excessive stimulation of the genitals was a disturbance to the equilibrium of the nervous system and a cause of systemic problems."
 * "Circumcision was also used by one of the pioneers of American medicine, Lewis Sayre, from 1870 through his death in 1900 to prevent masturbation." –The Manly Masquerade (2003, Duke University Press)
 * "This theory led in turn to the Reflex Neurosis Theory of Disease, in which it was thought that the sexual organs and their erotic sensations were the cause of all human diseases. Masturbation was deemed the most dangerous of all sexual activity and the cause of a long list of illnesses." –Male and Female Circumcision: Medical, Legal, and Ethical Considerations in Pediatric Practice (1999)
 * "Hodges traces the origins of routine circumcision to the masturbation phobia of the eighteenth century, but more specifically to theories of degenerative disease and reflex neurosis which held that disturbances of nervous equilibrium could cause disease, and which thus targeted sensitive parts of the body as the guilty parties. In this scenario, erotic sensation was redefined as irritation, orgasm as convulsion and erection as priapism." –The Masturbation Taboo and the Rise of Routine Male Circumcision: A Review of the Historiography (2003)
 * "However, in any case of reflex neurosis, where you have an adherent prepuce or phimosis, it is not only right to perform circumcision, with the expectation of its doing good, but wrong to withhold the operation… In such cases the foreskin does not act as a shield to the sensitive nerve endings, but by retaining smegma and decomposed urine, it keeps the whole glans in a state of constant irritation. Such a state causes hypersensitiveness and increases the chances of the child becoming a masturbator." –Dr. S.D. Van Meter (1896)
 * "The elongated and tight foreskin [produces] local irritation, which is usually sufficient to keep the organ almost constantly in a state of undue excitement." –Dr. Normal Chapman (1882)