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removing it decreases sexual pleasure. 35 More moderately, a study of South Korean men who were circumcised after becoming sexually active found that, while 80 percent of men reported no change in their sexual pleasure, ‘‘of those who did report a differ- ence, it was roughly twice as likely for a man to have experienced di- minished sexuality than improved sexuality.’’ 36 In relation to the posi- tive claim, that circumcision has beneficial effects, it is argued that uncircumcised men are more prone to a variety of problems. Accord- ing to Michael Katz, medical opinion on precisely what these problems are has shifted in the United States. Whereas the focus in the nine- teenth century was on the prevention of what Dorkenoo calls psycho- sexual ‘‘problems’’ such as ‘‘Onanism [masturbation], Seminal Emis- sions, Enuresis [involuntary urination, particularly while asleep], Dys- uria [painful or difficult urination], Retention [the inability to discharge
Dorkenoo, Cutting the Rose , 40.
See Leonard B. Glick, ‘‘Jewish Circumcision.’’
In other words, circumcision performed on babies or young boys not in response to an actually existing medical problem or to adhere to a religious rule or tradition.
See J. R. Taylor et al., ‘‘The Prepuce,’’ 291–95; Nicholas Carter, Routine Circumcision;
    Billy Ray Boyd, ‘‘The Loss.’’
Myung-Geol Pang et al., ‘‘Male Circumcision in South Korea,’’ 69.

    urine, faeces or semen], General Nervousness, Impotence, Convul- sions [and] Hystero-epilepsy,’’ current justifications focus on different problems of health and hygiene, such as ‘‘Prevention of phimosis [a condition in which the foreskin is too tight and cannot be drawn back], Prevention of penile cancer, Prevention of cervical cancer, Prevention of urinary tract infections, Prevention of sexually transmitted diseases [and] Prevention of aids .’’ 37 Katz’s list accurately represents the reasons given in one recent Australian book aimed at parents, In Favour of Circumcision, which adds that circumcision is more hygienic for both the circumcised man and his partner, that ‘‘being circumcised will re- sult in better sexual function, on average,’’ and that ‘‘being circumcised will result in a penis that is generally regarded as more attractive.’’ 38 The final claim rests on a vicious circle: a norm should be followed since, as it is generally followed by others, noncompliance is deviant and disadvantageous.
    Katz considers the available research, and argues that contemporary claims are as scientifically suspect as those from the nineteenth cen- tury, so that neither adequately explains circumcision. For example, the research on the connection between penile cancer and circumcision is somewhat inconclusive. It seems that the most invasive forms of can- cer are more likely in uncircumcised men, but the disease is extremely rare, too rare to merit precautionary amputation. 39 As the title of his paper argues, ‘‘The Compulsion to Circumcise Is Constant: The Rea- sons Keep Changing.’’ In other words, medical justifications of routine male circumcision are post hoc rather than genuinely explanatory. The motivation to circumcise is, for Katz, social rather than medical.
    If we compare this evidence on routine secular circumcision ( rsc ) with research on fgm , we see that contemporary fgm combines those justifications of male circumcision which are outdated with those which are still prevalent. Whereas American views of male sexuality have moved from the notion that male desire is immoral to the notion that intact male genitals are unhygienic or dangerous to health, African
Michael Katz, ‘‘The Compulsion to Circumcise Is Constant,’’ 55–56.
Brian Morris, In Favour of Circumcision , 88.
The incidence of penile cancer among un circumcised men in the United States is only
    0.002 percent, while the risk of ‘‘clinically significant complications’’ from