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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 it 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 labiaplasty - 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 most recent changes to the website, not including the news page:
Date added	Item (click the link to access directly)
4th Jun 2026	A first in our Preferences and Experiences section. A post from a German woman but not about her male partner, it is the story of her own labiaplasty operation. Apparently quite simple and fairly painlesss. She elected to keep her clitoral hood so maybe not technically circumcision. The pedants can debate that!
29th May 2026	Reader's pictures have been a bit quiet lately but now we have a set from a Gernam man circumcised at age 32 and now aged 58. We see him before circumcision, immediately after, and now at the present day.
30th Apr 2026	After a flood and then a drought, a new contribution to Preferences and Experiences, this time from Romania where, as our correspondent points out, circumcision is quite rare. But his foreskin was just too long. Also an interesting new letter from a German reader, now added to our Germany page. It seems that circumcision is really becoming very common there.
6th Jan 2026	Four new contributions to Preferences and Experiences came in while your Editor was overseas. A very mixed bag - a Malaysian Chinese doctor who travelled the world for the perfect cut, a Youkshireman who stayed at home, a Hispanic American who became an Orthodox Jew and a British man who finally got his long desired circumcision at age 33.
8th Dec 2025	As a boy, Lewis heard about circumcision in bible class but had no idea that it applied to him. He wasn't Jewish, and everyone else's penis looked like his. He bacame very confused and conflicted when he discovered that in fact he was circumcised. Read his story (and see the photo) in Preferences and Experiences.
3rd Dec 2025	At last! A new contribution from a woman to our Preferences and Experiences page. Lena, in Germany, was surprised when her new botfriend said he'd already (before they met) booked a circumcision, but she was delighted with the result.
18th Nov 2025	Another new addition to our art gallery, Akt męski (1843) by Polish artist Romuald Chojnacki, in our 18th & 19th Century section. A very active depiction of a circumcised man - surely a rarity at that date.