I’m not saying this article is 100% scientific. Although I sourced some scientific research, I added my own interpretation to some situations, such as the child’s perception of a real man in the collective consciousness. I would like to say this.
Circumcision is the process of removing the upper skin of the penis, which has found its place in many religions.
A hadith of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (pbuh):
“Sunnah is from nature.”
Hz. Muhammad (pbuh)
So what are the benefits of circumcision?
- It greatly reduces the risk of AIDS/HIV.
- It prevents urinary tract infection.
- It reduces the risk of penile cancer.
In line with these benefits, people are circumcised even if they do not have religious beliefs.
Psychodynamics Behind Circumcision Practice
In some societies, such as the Turkish society, circumcision can be seen as a step towards “becoming a real man” or “manhood”.
For example, a child who is not circumcised is ridiculed by other children. In such cases, the child may have become a “real man” when circumcised — or this knowledge may have occurred.
“Show uncle your dick.” As we can understand from the saying, the existence of the male genital organ in our culture carries the consciousness of “male dude” in the collective consciousness.
For the person who is circumcised, “The wealth of the brave man is obvious.”
As we can understand from the saying, children with male biological gender can make their presence felt in the patriarchal society by prioritizing their sexual energy.
According to Freud, libido, libidinal energy or our sexual life energy is the main driving force of humans.
The existence of this main driving force in Turkish society and the saying “show uncle your dick” etc. It can function collectively to ensure the self-identity of boys.
However, this may cause things such as narcissism, difficulty in coping with existential anxiety dynamism, and symptoms of self-commanding soul.
However, when we consider the issue from another dimension, circumcision may also have some psychopathological effects.
To these:
- Anxiety disorder
- Depression infrastructure
- Low self-esteem
- Body dysphoria
- Sexual identity confusion
can be given as an example.
So what’s behind this view?
On the basis of Freud’s theory of psychosexual development, the child develops a psychosexual identity focused on sexual energy (libido) from the age of 0.
Libido should not be perceived only as sexual energy.
For example, if pressure is applied to the child during the toilet training period during the anal period and a parental approach with perfectionist dynamism is applied, the child may suffer from OCD in adulthood.
In the phallic phase of psychosexual development, that is, the phase in which libidinal energy becomes limited to the genital organs, between the ages of 3 and 6, the child is sexually attracted to the opposite-sex parent and sees his same-sex parent as a rival.
Freud, who calls this complex the Oedipus complex, says that if it is not completed properly, it can cause many pathological situations in childhood.
We are talking about circumcision.
Between the ages of 3 and 6, boys are attracted to their mothers and see their fathers as rivals.
This competitive dynamic creates fear — anxiety — in the child that the father will castrate him. This is called fear of castration.
If the child receives approval, love and negative behavior from the father while experiencing the Oedipus complex, he accepts the father’s authority, suppresses his sexual interest in the mother, identifies with the father’s identity and transfers the father’s entire identity to himself.
Circumcision is the process of removing part of the genital organ and is a representative castration process for the child who has an unconscious fear of castration.
If the child is circumcised during the period when this anxiety is experienced, castration anxiety will be experienced excessively and may cause some kind of trauma in the child’s subconscious.
As a result of this trauma, the child may experience various anxiety disorders as an extension of castration anxiety.
According to Freud, the phallic stage is a very important stage in terms of identity formation, and circumcision of the child in this stage may lead to low self-esteem in the child and the basis for depression due to increased anxiety.
Because, in order for the child to cope with anxiety, that is, to overcome this anxiety and make a healthy identification with the father, the Oedipus complex must be completed in a healthy way.
However, if this phase is not completed in a healthy way and the “self” that the child receives from the father is not transferred in a healthy way, a deficiency dynamic occurs in the child and the ground for low self-esteem and depression is prepared.
In addition, his desire for his mother is related to the existence of his own penis, so cutting the organ that makes his desire to be circumcised possible can cause body dysphoria in him. Therefore, it may cause low self-esteem and self-dislike, inferiority complex, and body dysmorphic disorder in the future.
According to some studies, the rate of anxiety disorders in the group of men who were circumcised between the ages of 3 and 6 was found to be higher.
So what is recommended?
It is recommended that the child be circumcised after the age of 6.
In addition, circumcision can also be performed before the age of 3.
In other words, circumcision is a good thing — but performing it between the ages of 3 and 6 can cause psychopathological states in the child.
I would also like to write about the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh):
“Circumcision is mustahab at the age of seven and obligatory at the age of fifteen.”
Hz. Muhammad (pbuh)
Mustahab: Mustahab is an Islamic term that means loved and admired.
In other words, the Prophet of Islam also says that circumcision is good at the age of 7.
I never thought I would say this, but the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is parallel to Freud. 😀
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