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Male circumcision is one of the oldest known surgical procedures. It has been widely practiced as a religious rite since ancient times. An essential initiatory rite of Judaism and the Coptic branch of the Christian Church, male circumcision is also an obligation for Muslims, signifying cleanliness and purification. It has been, and often still is, a traditional practice of societies around the globe.

European cave paintings approximately 15,000 years old appear to show circumcised penises, but not the act of circumcision itself. Even older Australian cave art has been interpreted as indicating a circumcision site. However, the earliest direct evidence of the practice comes from ancient Egypt in the form of pictures and texts dating from 4,500 - 5,000 years ago. Egyptian circumcision had a religious significance; only circumcised men could perform some religious rites and study certain mysteries, but is seems to have been common among the general population.

More recently circumcision has also been carried out for its health and cleanliness benefits. In the English speaking countries circumcision became very popular for these reasons; it has now become routine in Korea and is gaining in popularity in China. There are large-scale circumcision projects to combat the AIDS epidemic in those parts of Africa where circumcision is not traditional. Worldwide, approximately one in three men are circumcised. This makes male circumcision the most commonly performed surgical procedure on the planet.

Latest news about circumcision from around the world.

Take time to explore the many interesting and educational areas of this web site. It contains a wide variety of information including personal experiences, medical facts, statistics, historical and anthropological information and recent medical news. Your needs may be immediate - considering circumcison for yourself or your son - or academic, or just general interest. As the buttons on the left show, all these aspects are covered. The site is updated frequently and we acknowledge the support from our worldwide network of correspondents in making this possible.

MISSION STATEMENT
Circlist is an information site, not an advocacy site. We totally respect that some people are opposed to circumcision. However, as an information site we will always correct false statements and alt-news which might discourage men from having a procedure which could benefit them or make circumcised men feel bad about their status.

At birth, boys usually have a sleeve of skin that covers the end of the penis. This is called the foreskin or prepuce. During circumcision the foreskin is removed so that the knob of the penis (the glans), includinng the opening through which the boy urinates (the urethral meatus) is exposed. If circumcision is performed during infancy or childhood, it only takes a few minutes.

For Jewish families, a specially trained religious person called a Mohel does the circumcision as part of a ceremony called a Bris, held on the eighth day of life. Circumcision is also routinely performed on the sons of those of the Islamic faith, typically when a boy is between 5 and 10 years of age. In the United States non-religious circumcision is usually done by a doctor in the first few days of life; other countries also perform the procedure for non-religious reasons as a matter of social custom.

Circumcision can be performed on men and boys of all ages, using a wide variety of devices specially designed to make the task quick and accurate.

The term female circumcision properly refers to a surgical procedure (also known as hoodectomy) in which the hood over the clitoris (the clitoral prepuce) is either removed or slit - and nothing more. It is performed in some Muslim countries by tradition. In the west it is done either for medical reasons or (often in conjunction with labioplasty - reduction of the inner lips) for cosmetic reasons and to enhance sexual pleasure.

However, the term is often incorrectly applied to drastic ritual procedures carried out in parts of North Africa which remove the entire clitoris. In parts of Somalia and Sudan this is combined with infibulation the labia to prevent intercourse. Such operations are properly termed Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

It must be clearly understood that the owner, editor, artist and volunteer helpers who administer this web site are totally opposed to all forms of Female Genital Mutilation.

The 6 most recent changes to the website, not including the news page:
Date added	Item (click the link to access directly)
8th Oct 2019	At age 11 an English schoolboy converted to Islam and was circumcised when his mother married a Muslim man. Read his story in our Preferences and Experiences page.
18th Aug 2019	Major restructuring of our Reviews page. It is now separated into 3 sections - Novels, Movies and Photobooks. Three new additions to the Photobooks section. Thanks to regular contributot JH for two of these.
22nd July 2019	New addition, Polynesia, to our Rites and Practices page. Polynesia, earthly paradise for Gaugin and Robert Louis Stevenson, favourite holiday destination for many, has circumcision as a very important part of its culture.
25th June 2019	New stories are coming in to our Preferences and Experiences page. Two came in on 1st June, now we have two more. Also, reader Steve W, who previously sent in Photoshop images of how his penis might look after circumcision, has now actually been done, and he sends us photos from 3 months after the op.
22nd June 2019	A Korean reader pointed out that since almost all Korean men are circumcised, artists normally depict nude males as such. He sent in photos of a couple of sculptures by leading Korean sculptor Ji Hyun Kim, one of which is now in our Quirky Circumcision section of our art page
7th June 2019	Further additions to our Art page. Surrealist legend Salvador Dali and eccentric contemporary British artist Helen Facenna. Again thanks to contributor MS.