Flesh and Blood: Perspectives on the Problem of Circumcision in Contemporary Society

Who owns your sex organs? Different cultures today and in different epochs have given a variety of answers to this question. It may seem self­ evident that every individual owns and has sovereignty over his or her own body parts, such as the head, legs, nose, stomach, pancreas, and other body parts. The sex organs, however, seem to be an exception. Even though they are as much an integral part of the individual as a leg or a liver, the sex organs are unique in that many cultures have establ...