Why did Saint Augustine ask God to “circumcise [his] lips”? Why does Sir Gawain cut off the Green Knight’s head on the Feast of the Circumcision? Is Chaucer’s Wife of Bath actually—as an early glossator figures her—a foreskin? And why did Ezra Pound claim that he had incubated The Waste Land inside of his uncut member? In this little book, A. W. Strouse excavates a poetics of the foreskin, uncovering how Patristic theologies of circumcision came to structure medieval European literary aesthetics. Following the writings of Saint Paul, “circumcision” and “uncircumcision” become key terms for theorizing language—especially the dichotomies between the mere text and its extended exegesis, between brevity and longwindedness, between wisdom and folly. Form and Foreskin looks to three works: a peculiar story by Saint Augustine about a boy with the long foreskin; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; and Chaucer’s Wife of Bath’s Tale. By examining literary scenes of cutting and stretching, Strouse exposes how Patristic treatments of circumcision queerly govern medieval poetics.
Why did Saint Augustine ask God to “circumcise [his] lips”? Why does Sir Gawain cut off the Green Knight’s head on the Feast of the Circumcision? Is Chaucer’s Wife of Bath actually—as an early glossator figures her—a foreskin? And why did Ezra Pound claim that he had incubated The Waste Land inside of his uncut member? In this little book, A. W. Strouse excavates a poetics of the foreskin, uncovering how Patristic theologies of circumcision came to structure medieval European literary aesthetics. Following the writings of Saint Paul, “circumcision” and “uncircumcision” become key terms for theorizing language—especially the dichotomies between the mere text and its extended exegesis, between brevity and longwindedness, between wisdom and folly. Form and Foreskin looks to three works: a peculiar story by Saint Augustine about a boy with the long foreskin; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; and Chaucer’s Wife of Bath’s Tale. By examining literary scenes of cutting and stretching, Strouse exposes how Patristic treatments of circumcision queerly govern medieval poetics.
So many people have no idea what the foreskin is, how it works or its benefits. Instead, all they hear are the many myths surrounding it. This book is dedicated to educating about the foreskin and answering your questions about it. Hopefully, this will help to normalize the foreskin and show that not only is it cool to be intact it is also healthier and all around better.
Read this blistering exposé into history's most loathed body part. Did you know amputated foreskins are sold to cosmetic companies for $100,000, or that circumcision was alleged to cure brain tumors? It also has a history of megalomania – doctors believed it would cure black men of their predisposition to be rapists, and the more children they circumcised, the higher they’d ascend to god. Most parents circumcise their sons without giving it a second thought. They have no clue what the risks are because doctors never offer "informed consent" - the legal obligation to educate patients on the risks and alleged benefits of any procedure so they understand what's being asked of them. Circumcision facts doctors never tell parents: · Circumcision can permanently change your son’s temperament. · Circumcision reduces penis sensitivity and causes erectile dysfunction. · Circumcision can result in amputation, disfigurement, or death. · Your newborn son will be given an erection to facilitate the procedure. · Circumcision has no genuine health benefits. · America has one of the highest HIV rates in the world despite circumcision. Your body your choice - His body your preference? Love your son as he was born to be, not for who you force him to be. Jay J. Jackson offers an unflinching glimpse into the debilitating mindset of circumcision related sexual trauma - the same debilitating mindset experienced by all victims of sexual violence. He details his personal experiences with foreskin restoration, medical abuse, and the shocking history behind how circumcision became commonplace in America. THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY: After suffering an unrelated trauma at the age of 1, Jay experienced parallel memories that caused him to discern he'd been in two separate hospital settings as an infant, and his inability to reconcile these conflicting memories became the impetus behind his lifelong struggle. As an adult, Jay sought treatment for erectile dysfunction only to be chased out of multiple doctor's offices that branded him immoral and perverse for suggesting circumcision is harmful. Abandoned by traditional medicine, Jay ultimately found a cosmetic surgeon willing to help and he endured 2 experimental surgeries to reverse the damage his circumcision caused. In his 50’s, Jay suddenly realized his recurring nightmares were repressed memories of his neonatal circumcision, which became the impetus for writing this book. "I drew the picture on the back cover in the first grade. It's me in bed having another nightmare, surrounded by my family who were angry that I’d disturbed them again. I was in my 50’s when I finally understood I was having recurring nightmares about my neonatal circumcision. Please don't do this to your son." Jay J. Jackson “...a powerful and moving narrative of suffering and recuperation. This unflinching memoir could be a valuable resource for readers researching the negative effects of circumcision.” - BookLife Reviews ”Jackson’s honesty provides a new way of looking at a practice that is rarely discussed. In the end, this intriguing subject is not only brought to light, but also done so in an impassioned way.” - Kirkus Reviews Contents: i) Preface 1) Introduction 2) How will your son learn he’s been circumcised? 3) Early Restoration Techniques 4) Attack of the Urologists 5) Foreskin Restoration Surgery 6) Embracing Denial 7) Circumcising Our Imaginary Baby 8) The Final Stretch 9) Faux Foreskin 10) The Prepuce Police 11) How I Remembered My Neonatal Circumcision 12) An Apatheist in a Dogmatic World 13) Cult or Culture? 14) Christian American Doctors Hijack Circumcision 15) Foreskin Fascist 16) The Church of Medicine 17) Side Effects May Include 18) Modern Intactivism Footnotes
In the eighteenth century, the Western world viewed circumcision as an embarrassing disfigurement peculiar to Jews. A century later, British doctors urged parents to circumcise their sons as a routine precaution against every imaginable sexual dysfunction, from syphilis and phimosis to masturbation and bed-wetting. Thirty years later the procedu...
How has a medical practice that carries substantial risk to the patient and offers very little actual benefit become so widely accepted by parents and fiercely advocated by the medical community? Historian of medicine David Gollaher tells the strange history of medicine's oldest enigma and most persistent ritual in Circumcision. From the extraordinarily painful initiation rite of the ancient Egyptians, through the Hebrew purification ritual, through circumcision's use by the rising medical community in the nineteenth century as prevention for ailments ranging from bedwetting to paralysis, the great mystery has been the persistence of the practice through vastly different social contexts.
A New York Times Notable Book, and a “chaotic, laugh riot” (San Francisco Chronicle) of a memoir. Shalom Auslander was raised with a terrified respect for God. Even as he grew up and was estranged from his community, his religion and its traditions, he could not find the path to a life where he didn’t struggle daily with the fear of God’s formidable wrath. Foreskin’s Lament reveals Auslander’s “painfully, cripplingly, incurably, miserably religious” youth in a strict, socially isolated Orthodox Jewish community, and recounts his rebellion and efforts to make a new life apart from it. His combination of unrelenting humor and anger renders a rich and fascinating portrait of a man grappling with his faith and family.
A history of male and female circumcision originally published in 1900, the book is based on a long and personal observation of the changes made in man by circumcision. Dr. Remondino inquired into the moral, physical, and mental effects of circumcision in the three major religions. He goes beyond just discussing circumcision, by including all the mutilations practiced on the genitals as a contribution to the natural history of man. Over 26 chapters include antiquity of circumcision, theories as to the origin of circumcision, the spread of circumcision, the history of castration and eunuchism reasons for being circumcised, medical conditions and related surgery, and attempts to abolish circumcision.
