Dr Pate’s blog- Throwing wrenches at the gears
January 16th, 2010 Posted in MedicalI just finished my first week back on the labor and delivery service and happened to be on call on Saturday. As we were discussing patients in the workroom my senior resident inquired if I had asked a patient whether or not she wanted her son circumcised. I replied that I had not asked and that I would not be asking that question of anyone in the future. Well sparks flew!
At this particular hospital infant male circumcision has become so institutionalized that it is treated almost as casually as a fast food worker asking, “Do you want fries with that?” “So you had a boy, huh? You want a circ with that?” On one hand we are appalled at the female circumcision that so many of our Somali patients have undergone yet we barely bat an eye at the other. Why are we so horrified by the surgical modification of female genitalia by another culture when we are so flippant about surgically modifying the genitals of our own infant boys?
You must be logged in to post a comment.