Circumcision Pain, Masculinity and Spirituality

Traditionally circumcision and pain used to go hand in hand. Later anesthesia was invented and circumcision became a medical procedure instead of being just  a religious / cultural practice, and the relationship has become more complicated.

Check this out: Real men do it without painkillers

https://mg.co.za/article/2008-07-01-real-men-do-it-without-painkillers

Circumcision candidates who endure the pain without showing any signs of weakness are feted as heroes. Those who do otherwise, by crying out or touching the hand of the omushebi, are considered cowards bringing bad luck to the community. They are fined heavily.

Interesting to see the African attitude toward circumcision pain while in developed countries people walk to a hospital to have their frenulum snipped under anesthesia as if they were marching to their own execution. Different cultures just have different definitions of masculinity.

Check this Out: Rites of Passage in Kenya

Most initiation rites include circumcision:
https://hubpages.com/politics/10-Remarkable-Rites-of-Passage-from-Kenya

Don’t Be a Wuss

Many men who want to get a circumcision keep postponing it because they obsess about how painful it is going to be.

Check this out: You were circumcised in a hospital?

Apparently in Kenya the mere suggestion that one was circumcised in a hospital and not in the bush "like a real man" is a serious enough insult to start a fight over:
http://www.sde.co.ke/article/2001231614/kericho-brothers-kill-man-for-calling-them-sissies-who-got-circumcised-in-hospital

Check this out: Maasai Initiation

Maasai initiation rituals are particularly difficult. It usually includes lion hunting with a spear and of course circumcision.

Maasai Ceremonies and Rituals
The Maasai youth cultural transition
Maasai Circumcision Rites on circlist.com.

Other body modifications are also common in Maasai culture, the most visible one is piercing and then stretching the ear lobes so they hang down to the shoulders.

Traditional African Circumcision May Leave Too Much Foreskin

Traditional African circumcision procedures performed in the bush do not always remove the foreskin completely.

Check this out: Turkish Sünnet

The Turkish are a proud people who once have ruled most of the Middle East and a significant chunk of Europe. Because they are Muslims all Turkish males must be circumcised.

Check this out: Kiptony’s circumcision

This story describes the experience of an (apparently English) boy who grew up in Kenya and went through a traditional Kipsigis circumcision ceremony with his local friends.

Kiptony’s circumcision.
The link above does not seem to work any more but there is an archived version.

The description also explains the significance of circumcision in Kipsigis society.

Check this out: Real men get circumcised

The Philippines has a strong tradition regarding circumcision and it is one of the few countries where a male is expected to undergo circumcision before becoming sexually active.

Horror Story:The Boys Who Lost Their Manhood

A horror story related to Xhosa circumcision:
The boys who lost their manhood

It shows that the Xhosa initiation ceremony is indeed not without its dangers.

But the real problem is that people running the initiation schools, who are in a position of trust, don't do their jobs, and maim the initiates in their care.

It is definitely not how normal circumcisions should go.

Check this out: Xhosa Initiation

Xhosa initiation, which includes circumcision, is a particularly difficult ordeal that marks the transition to adulthood for the Xhosa people of South Africa.

Check this out: South African Guy Chooses to Undergo Xhosa Circumcision

A South African guy joins his black friends and gets circumcised in the traditional Xhosa way:
Circumcised with no anaesthetic.

For the Xhosa traditional ritual circumcision is an essential part of becoming a man and anyone who refuses to undergo the procedure will not be treated as an adult.
Sometimes they let people who are not actually Xhosa but respect the Xhosa way to also undergo the same initiation and become a man alongside their Xhosa friends.

Xhosa circumcision is done by severing the foreskin very quickly without anesthetics.

Check this out: Bugisu Circumcision

Some interesrting articles about the traditional ritual circumcision practised by the Bugisu.

A Cut Above: Bugisu Boys Become Men

‘Imbalu’ in Bugisu

I particularly liked this statement from the latter:

Traditionally, the Bugisu believed that the removal of the foreskin was a punishment given to men who preyed on other men’s wives. However, when the man recovered from this painful practice, he would go back to his old habits with such skill that other men followed suit.