Customer Reviews

Circumcision, The Hidden Trauma : How an American Cultural Practice Affects Infants and Ultimately Us All

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This is one book I had trouble putting down and picking up. 'Putting down' because it was extremely insightful and well crafted--riveting, in fact. 'Picking up' because of the painful and complex social implications--and the guilt. This book is an unsettling account of what our society does to infant males in the form of a cultural medical procedure, ie. circumcision, and how that initial trauma continues to alter our society in ways few of us can comprehend or wish to acknowledge. As a physician who has performed circumcisions (and hated every second), and as a mother of three children, I found myself thankful that I had the courage to stop performing circumcisions. But I also became despondent as I suddenly became aware of how our medical system and society has failed our children in so many ways. I realized that I had fallen prey to many of our societal and medical games/expectations and had not nurtured my children as I should have. Reading this book has permanently changed my perspectives on our society, and therefore, on my practice of medicine. This book is profoundly fascinating and disturbing. It is not for the weak and insecure. It is extremely well-written and well-researched. I highly recommend it.

Circumcision is like an iceberg: most of its features lie hidden below the surface, out of sight and out of mind. How many people realize, for instance, that the foreskin has a "ridged band" with specialized nerve endings, or that John Harvey Kellogg--of corn flakes fame--advocated circumcision to prevent masturbation? Psychologist Ronald Goldman brings these and many other surprising facts to light in his powerful book, Circumcision, the Hidden Trauma.

Perhaps the most commonly held belief about circumcision is that the foreskin has no purpose. But Dr. Goldman notes that the foreskin has important sexual functions, and cites recent medical evidence showing that the foreskin is much more than just a simple "fold of skin." The foreskin accounts for at least one-third of the penile skin system, and protects the head of the penis throughout life.

Why do parents and physicians choose to circumcise infants? Dr. Goldman identifies eight different factors, including lack of knowledge, social pressure, and dehumanization of infants. Because of false beliefs about pain, children aged 15 months were undergoing major surgery without anesthetic as recently as 1986.

Parents cannot give true informed consent if they are not aware of important information. As Dr. Goldman points out, American parents don't know what they don't know about circumcision. Few bother to examine what circumcision really is because they want to avoid confronting underlying fears and anxieties.

The book draws interesting parallels between male circumcision and the practice now commonly referred to as "female genital mutilation," or FGM. For example, both practices are propped up with claims of cleanliness, health, tradition, aesthetics; both have their origins in controlling sexual pleasure; both are supported by those who have been subjected to it; and both can give rise to serious complications, including death.

Dr. Goldman devotes a chapter to the effects circumcision has on the mother-child relationship. There is evidence that because of its traumatic nature, circumcision can disrupt this very important bond. The long-term effects of impaired bonding have not received the attention they deserve.

Every chapter in the book leads off with a quotation from a famous person. The quotation that always been ready to discuss matters in inverse ratio to their importance, so that the more closely a question is felt to touch the heart of all of us, the more incumbent it is considered upon prudent people to profess that it does not exist." This reference explains why circumcision is surrounded by taboos, and why a more open discussion is needed.

Dr. Goldman's work is a must-read for all people who seek a better knowledge of their society and a deeper understanding of themselves.

Feelings and rhetoric usually run high in discussions of the increasingly controversial matter of routine male infant circumcision-- so much so, in fact, that those questioning the practice often find themselves impugned as "anti-circumcision fanatics." Many insights into the emotional underpinnings of the debate can be found in this passionate yet closely reasoned book.

Psychologist Goldman's thesis is that all infants become "anti-circumcision fanatics" at the point of occurrence; its severe pain, sensory deprivation (thousands of erogenous nerves are summarily destroyed) and interruption of the maternal bond can have profound if unrecognized effects on a boy's personality through adulthood. Such assertions do run the risk of evincing a victim mindset, but Goldman largely avoids this by scrupulously linking circumcision's sequelae with its reenactment on succeeding generations. While invoking an overall context of cultural violence concomitant with genital cutting, he appears less interested in blaming circumcision for societal ills than in promoting understanding of its symptomatic reflection of them. Hardly a pretender to objectivity, Goldman nevertheless backs up his points with soundly accessible research. And as a Jew, he comes to his convictions the hard way-- an issue reserved for his equally cogent "Questioning Circumcision: A Jewish Perspective."

A compelling brief on a fiercely pitched debate over human rights and medical ethics, and one with which partisans of both sides will reckon.

Once in a very great while, a reader will have the great fortune of coming across a truly remarkable book. A book which may treat a specialized subject but which is so beautifully written, so meticulously reasoned, so broad in the compass of its grasp of its subject as to transcend the specificity of its topic, and yet at the same time so tightly focused on each specific aspect it discusses, in short, so superb that it stands out head and shoulders above the mass of books being published today.

Ronald Goldman's book Circumcision: The Hidden Trauma is such a book. Opening with a compelling forward by famed anthropologist Ashley Montagu, Circumcision: The Hidden Trauma leaps headfirst into some controversial questions in the introduction and does not let up until it ends more than 200 pages later with a stirring series of closing meditations.

Any reader may expect to be struck in the early pages by Goldman's effective blend of emotional insight and objective fact, the latter documented throughout the book by hundreds of footnotes. As Goldman continues, he effortlessly distills and integrates decades of research on infants and children. I appreciated his excellent summaries at the end of each chapter. Particularly valuable was the list on page 74 of the many similarities and the few differences between circumcision and female genital mutilation.

Have you ever wondered whether America's high rates of violence may be related to our high circumcision rates? Goldman has done more than wonder; he has extensively researched the possibility, although he is always careful to add cautionary statements that at most, circumcision is one of several factors affecting American men's (and women's) lives.

Goldman has an impressive ability to continue to generate and synthesize new insights and questions throughout the book. Although circumcision is often done so that the child does not have a different genital status from his father, is it actually the PARENT'S fear of difference which is apparent here. Is it possible that sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is actually infant suicide? Goldman relates circumcision to other problematic American birth practices such as birth with the mother on her back, use of drugs, forceps deliveries, routine episiotomy, and cesarian births. He includes an admirable short section addressing the interrelationship of social problems and noting the possible connection of circumcision trauma to the epidemic divorce rates. Equally unforgettable are sections in which men circumcised as adults speak about their incalculable loss and in which Goldman addresses the disruption of the infant/mother bond.

Goldman concludes his masterful work with a truly stunning series of innovative meditations, each three or four insight-filled pages long. These address 1) the American motivation to circumcise (our lack of awareness is alarming; the use and exclusion of certain words helps to maintain support for circumcision); 2) science and medicine (flawed studies are the rule not the exception, and doctors tend to MEASURE rather than to FEEL pain); 3) ethics and medicine (isn't it the medical profession's responsibility to LEAD rather than FOLLOW community health care standards?; since when does a trained surgeon take the advice of laypeople as to whether he or she should operate?); 4) cultural and social perspectives (we can circumcise our sons because we are so alienated from each other); 5) hope for healing (no matter how "bad" our feelings are, expressing them feels good); 6) preventing future harm (taking action to prevent others from being victimized aids one's own recovery). Goldman closes his book by reminding us that to think that newborn infants can be subjected to circumcision without an impact on them or others ignores the interconnnectedness of all life. When a baby's sexuality is not safe, no one's sexuality is safe.

Goldman's conclusions and speculations regarding the possible connection of circumcision to high levels of American violence remain compellingly plausible.

Small publisher Vanguard Publications has done a beautiful job with the physical layout of the book. Wide margins, attractive typeface, high quality paper, and readily usable supplementary matter all combine in an extremely appealing package.

Ronald Goldman's book is certain to become an instant classic in the growing field of books about male circumcision. By the very depth of its commitment to the truth about this issue, and the logic and poetry of its presentation, it should appeal to anyone with any interest in children, men, or American society.

While it could be easy to dismiss Circumcision, The Hidden Trauma as the unsupportible rantings of an anti-circumcision fanatic, Goldman never allows the reader the opportunity to do so. He begins by describing the fragile psychological state of the newborn. This in-depth portrayal leaves little doubt that surgical alteration of the genitalia is an unwelcomed intervention. Goldman utilizes the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder as the context in which to understand the impact of neonatal circumcision on the individual male. The information that is currently known supports such a thesis, but what is not known could fill volumes. This is where Goldman's investigation is disadvantaged, through no fault of his own, and he is the first to admit it. He adroitly points out what direction future research should take to validate or nullify his hypothesis. In one of the most insightful portions of the book, Goldman gives the reasons why this research has not taken place, and may never take place. Simply put, the medical profession does not want to know what harm neonatal circumcision has wrought on our society. Although this may sound like a superficial accusation, this quest for ignorance is deeply rooted. A newborn's whole world is his mother. She is the source of comfort, warmth, food, and protection. Neonatal circumcision disrupts this essential bond of trust between the newborn and his mother. Perhaps the strongest section of the book questions the effect of neonatal circumcision on society as a whole. Using the Karl Menninger quote , "What's done to children, they will do to society," the author plays out the logical consequences of neonatal circumcision on all of society. While a newcomer to this issue may find some of the speculation far-fetched, when thought is given to the assertions and questions raised in this section, the issue implodes on the individual reader and explodes on all of us. So why do Americans continue choosing, and physicians do not feel what they are doing. The separation of the decision maker from the decision implementer helps to perpetuate the pain." A vicious circle of ignorance and denial is firmly entrenched. This book takes a huge step in pulling back the veil of ignorance. The book is extremely well written in a very engaging manner; however, as compelling as the topic is, the fundamental nature of neonatal circumcision, exposed for what it is by the author, is fairly gruesome. The reader can easily be caught in the dialect of wanting to know more, but not wanting to know more. This book is easily the best source of information on the psychological impacts of neonatal circumcision and should be required reading for any physician before performing the surgery.

...their male children under the assumption that it is a medicalprocedure. Gives very good history of how this cutting off andgetting rid of psychology had its roots in late nineteenth century fixation on masturbation and cleanliness. Once it got started and the old reasons didn't work any more new ones were invented. It became really big during World War II when many service men were cut, hence the ensuing large number of babies that were cut in the fifties and early sixties. Like many other dubious medical procedures (tonsellectmies being the other big childhood procedure of that time) it started being questioned in the late sixties. The cutting rate started dropping slowly such that if you are male and born in the Western US you are far less likely to be cut than in say the Midwest. And of course if you are born in England, France, Italy, Japan, India, etc... it is zero. The book cites many medical studies refuting the case for cutting as well as unintended side affects. Also documents the vested interest that some have in the continuance and cash flow from such a procedure.

The best researched and clearest text on the circumcision issue. His conclusions are right on track with what I've seen working with adult men. It will be in my top-ten recommended books for men.

If there was ever an issue that metaphorically encapsulates the Achilles heel of Western society, it turns out that this is it, above all others. The title of this incredible, clearly thought out, brilliantly edited and masterfully written book may lead you to believe that it is all about a seemingly benign issue. Make no mistake: what this book is actually about are 1) the actual definition of the surgical practice and 2) the social, economic, sociological, psychological and anthropological forces that go into us seeing it that way. And, how the prevailing of those forces keep us from actually being a totally civilized society.

Dr. Goldman effectively teaches in this book, from the anthropological perspectives of such luminaries as Ashley Montagu and Margaret Mead, that circumcision is a practice that is older than all recorded history and religions. And the practice, in and out of a religious context, continues. Dr. Goldman shows us from the purely medical/health/surgical perspective (with an avalanche of evidence and corroborative opinions in the medical profession) that circumcision is a practice that has little to no medical health value, and was once actually called a cure for masturbation and cancer by last century's medical community. Yet the implausible and unscientific theories justifying its existence keep coming up, and the practice continues. Dr. Goldman shows us, amazingly, from an internationally sociological and cultural perspective, that the United States is the only Industrialized nation in the modern world that has the overwhelming majority of its infant boys be subjected to the practice. Yet the practice continues. Dr. Goldman shows us, from an ethics in medicine perspective, that circumcision is a practice that, by virtue of the harm done to infant children physically and psychologically--with little to no up side beyond the money going to obstetricians and pediatricians for the procedure--completely rips to shreds any conception of the Hippocratic oath and turns the entire life of any doctor who performs them routinely into a profoundly dangerous lie.

Yet the practice continues.

It is an old anthropologist's dictum that the most important thing to know about a culture is what it takes for granted. Dr. Ronald Goldman, with CIRCUMCISION, THE HIDDEN TRAUMA gives us not only the hidden, true anatomy of the surgical process, along with the actual complete and (heretofore to my knowledge in everyday America) unknown anatomy of the human male, but also the secret architecture of the social forces and weaknesses that make up the ritualised American denial of the inherently violent nature of its existence. Dr. Goldman shows in this both innovatively and exhaustively researched book that the entire surgical procedure of circumcision depends on the total invalidation of the soul of the infant male child and their personhood for its existence in medicine. Only paleolithic theories of the child feeling no pain and suffering no lasting or remembered traumatic side effects from the procedure--WHICH ROUTINELY INVOLVES THE USE OF NO ANESTHESIA-- justify its medical practice; and fly in the face of all kinds of logic while doing so.

I learned from this book that the practice of circumcision may be, perhaps unlike anything else--including war or rape--the ultimate metaphoric symptom of the schizophrenia of Western civilization. Only because Dr. Goldman, who doesn't even go as fully into the anthropological and philosophical implications of his findings as he could have, makes it so clear that our treatment of infant children as they go, under violent duress, under the knife for no apparent reason could be playing a principal role in the genesis of ALL of the cultural diseases of mankind--from child abuse to rape to murder to war.

I along with most of the country (and again, our United States is the *only* industrialized country in the world that still practices circumcision routinely on the overwhelming majority of its newborn boys--this includes all of Europe and a major chunk of the Middle East) have never seen pictures of or witnessed a circumcision; part of the reason I saw no problem in it when I picked this book up. The *pictures* in this book alone of children in the process of being circumcised will change your way of looking at the practice forever--as it has changed me and mine forever. Picture an adult male going through the process of circumcision, complete with his hands, arms and legs forceably bound in industrial strength velcro to keep him from being able to interrupt a surgical process performed on his perfectly healthy sex organ against his will--again, *without anesthesia*--and the first thought that will probably come to your mind is one of two things: the electric chair, or Nazi Germany.

Which by definition takes away the mystery of how BOTH in the 20th century could have come into existence.

I discovered Dr. Goldman's work in the bibliography of one of the seminal books by the psychologist champion of the human child Alice Miller (author of, among other classics in the field, FOR YOUR OWN GOOD, BANISHED KNOWLEDGE and PRISONERS OF CHILDHOOD--THE DRAMA OF THE GIFTED CHILD). Between this, Alice Miller's work, and William Dufty's SUGAR BLUES, I feel as if I have the answer to why our culture can move so far forward and fall so far backward on the evolutionary ladder at the same time. The door separating Western culture from the embrace of higher consciousness, as told to us by poets, mystics,yogis, leaders of ancient religions, transpersonal psychologists and theoretical physicist/philosophers, is our view of the spiritual and physical completeness of the human child--and the actions we take upholding that view.

That door is locked with a dead bolt called CIRCUMCISION. And even unlocking the door, as Europe has already shown us, does not by definition mean opening it. But without unlocking it opening it isn't posible.

Read this if you have to in small doses, but read it; it will change the way you view our world.

I am deeply grateful to Ron Goldman for his work. It is so important to us, as a society, to remember that we all start out as fragile, vulnerable individual people, worthy of protection from unnecessary harm. He helps us to recognise that regardless of the intent, the act of circumcision is perceived by the infant/child as terrifying and "overwhelmingly painful". We must not discount these early experiences, and be willing to accept the real possibility that negative and painful experiences endured in infancy, can affect the person throughout life.

A very erudite and compassionate work. Having grown up in Europe as a non-Jew, I was stunned to discover the extent of routine circumcision among non-Jews in North America, especially the USA.

The classic movie Europa Europa exemplifies the degree to which European attitudes differ from those in the US. In EE, a young Jewish guy inadvertently ends up in a WWII Hitler Youth group and therefore has to hide the fact of his circumcision to the nth degree - simply because in Europe (even now) only Jewish boys are routinely circumcized.

The main modern argument in favour of circumcision is that there is a lesser chance of one's female partner developing cervical cancer etc. if the foreskin has been removed. Yet, as a man who has been married for more than 20 years, it is quite clear to me that provided proper cleanliness is maintained, the woman is at no more risk than she would be from having intercourse with a circumcized male.

This book is absolutely essential reading. The bottom line, is that unless there are deeply felt religious considerations in your family, FORGET IT! You only need to surf the Men's Movenment groups to see how outraged thousands of men feel about their unthinking abuse at the hands of their unthinking parents and a soulless system that just runs on automatic.

Quite brilliant.