History Main / CircumcisionAngst

* In an episode of ''Series/ChankYankers'', one of the characters calls a Rabbi saying he is planning to convert to Judaism, and asks him questions about circumcision, the character proceeds to vomit after hearing what the Rabbi tells him.

* In an episode of ''Series/KingOfQueens'' where Arthur is in a Jewish hospital, he tells Carrie to make sure the doctors don't circumcise him (Arthur is played by Jerry Stiller, [[HypocriticalHumor who's himself Jewish]]).

* Inverted in ''[[TheSpaceOdysseySeries 3001: The Final Odyssey]]''. [[AuthorAppeal Circumcision is illegal.]]

-->'''Shuki:''' (''Smugly'') The ''[[UsefulNotes/JewishLifeEvents bris]]'' doesn’t hinder my performance.
-->'''Mali:''' [[DeadpanSnarker Then what does?]]

* Subverted in ''Film/YTuMamaTambien''. Julio just responds the way some insecure men in RealLife do: He insults Tenoch's sexuality and [[HoYay tells him to blow up the balloon]]. The fact that the two boys have different penises is [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical actually a political commentary]].

-->'''Stewie:''' (''Having just been told he would grow up to be 5’1”'') This is terrible! I can’t be short! I’ll be an [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer outcast]], like Rudolph the Uncircumcised Reindeer.

-->'''Stewie:''' (''Having just been told he would grow up to be 5’1”) This is terrible! I can’t be short! I’ll be an [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer outcast]], like Rudolph the Uncircumcised Reindeer.

* Also in the manga of ''BGataHKei''.

* In Bryce Courtenay's ''{{The Power of One}}'', main character Peekay is bullied for, as well as being English, being circumcised. Apparently the Dutch kids hadn't seen a "hatless snake" before.

* ''NipTuck'': Resident psychopath Matt tries to get his dad to cut him in the first episode, and when his dad says no, tries to do it himself with wine and cuticle scissors. It goes ''exactly'' how you think it does.
* On the other hand, ''NorthernExposure'' had Joel, a Jewish doctor who would be performing the circumcision and always complains about being underpaid, talk Holling out of it.

* An episode of ''SexAndTheCity'' had this happen to one of Miranda's boyfriends because she was was [[{{Squick}} squicked]] by the idea of having sex with a man who is not circumcised. The bizarre outcome was that after getting circumcised, he broke up with Miranda because he felt that he had so much to give now sexually that it would be wasteful to limit himself by a steady relationship.

* In an episode of ''KingOfQueens'' where Arthur is in a Jewish hospital, he tells Carrie to make sure the doctors don't circumcise him (Arthur is played by Jerry Stiller, [[HypocriticalHumor who's himself Jewish]]).

* In an episode of ''ChankYankers'', one of the characters calls a Rabbi saying he is planning to convert to Judaism, and asks him questions about circumcision, the character proceeds to vomit after hearing what the Rabbi tells him.

* Inverted once more in the film ''Liberty Heights,'' where the boys at a predominately Jewish school are nervous about showering after gym class with the [[TokenMinority newly integrated Black kid]] because of a [[BiggerIsBetterInBed another embarrassing stereotype associated with Black men]]. One of the kids suggests that circumcision somehow affects size.

* On ''{{Futurama}}'', they did the FreudWasRight version: Bender's antenna has to be snipped so they can get satellite. The entire apartment complex can't get satellite. By the end of the episode, Bender's antenna was reattached, and they moved back in to good old Robot Arms, with Fry still [[HaveAGayOldTime in the closet]].

* The Greek, and later Romans, were horrified at the custom, as they saw the human body as a work of art and cherished its integrity, and thought that long foreskins were pretty. The Greeks would not allow circumcised men into the Gymnasium, which meant that they could not become Greek citizens, and several Roman emperors outlawed the practice. Naturally, they are remembered in Jewish historical narratives as horrible persecutors of Jews, even if the Romans themselves saw them as pinnacles of leadership.

* In an episode of ''KingOfQueens'' where Arthur is in a Jewish hospital, he tells Carrie to make sure the doctors don't circumcise him (Arthur is played by Jerry Stiller, who's himself Jewish).

* In an episode of ''ChankYankers'', one of the characters calls a Rabbi saying he is fixing to convert to Judaism, and asks him questions about circumcision, the character proceeds to vomit after hearing what the Rabbi tells him.

* An episode of ''Series/PennAndTellerBullshit'' criticizes infant circumcision as a painful surgery with no medical necessity. The duo also suggest that circumcision causes sexual damage. As Penn was born in 1955 and Teller in 1948, it can safely be assumed that both men were circumcised as infants. In a later episode, they admit they have.
* An inverse example on ''Series/{{Friends}}''. Joey auditions for the role of an Italian immigrant in a movie that involves a tasteful nude scene with a Jewish girl. The character specifically points out that it's the first time she's ever with a man who isn't circumcised, so naturally the actor who portrays him can't be either. However, Joey is, but he stupidly says he isn't just to get a callback. Monica helps him fashion a substitute out of luncheon meat, and it all goes great until he gets to the callback...

* In an episode of ''KingOfQueens'' where Arthur is in the hospital, he tells Carrie to make sure the doctors don't circumcise him.

* Subverted in ''Film/YTuMamaTambien''. Julio just responds the way some insecure men in RealLife do: He calls Tenoch a faggot and [[HoYay tells him to blow up the balloon]]. The fact that the two boys have different penises is [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical actually a political commentary]].

* Subverted in ''Film/YTuMamaTambien''. Julio just responds the way men in RealLife do: He calls Tenoch a faggot and [[HoYay tells him to blow up the balloon]]. The fact that the two boys have different penises is [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical actually a political commentary]].

** At least once it was exploited. When two of Jacob's sons Simeon and Levi were angry that a StalkerWithACrush prince had raped their sister and demanded her as his bride, they agreed to it ''only'' if all the men in the city agreed to be circumcised. They did, and for the next three days all the men were helpless, [[KnightTemplarBigBrother making them easy to defeat]]...

* ''[[http://foreskinman.com/index.htm Foreskin Man]]'' is a comic about the titular hero [[AuthorTract protecting babies from circumcisions]]. Despite appearances, it's not a StealthParody - it's credited to an actual organization that wants to outlaw neonatal circumcision - but the [[{{Narm}} over-the-top presentation]], invariably portraying pro-circ people as monsters and [[IncorruptiblePurePureness anti-circ as flawless]] [[BlackAndWhiteMorality without any sense of nuance]] ([[EqualOpportunityEvil regardless of race and creed]], [[ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch contrary to what common criticism might indicate]]), complete with a MartyStu superhero protagonist who is blond and blue-eyed (which rubbed a few people the wrong way), is bound to [[DontShootTheMessage make those who otherwise agree with such a policy very uncomfortable]].

** Averted on the Israeli adaptation: Shuki, the Israeli Al, like 97% of the Jewish male population, is circumcised, and has this exchange with Mali, the Israeli Peg:

-->'''Shuki:''' ''(Smugly)'' The ''bris'' doesn’t hinder my performance.
-->'''Mali:''' Then what does?

Want to make a VerySpecialEpisode that [[SarcasmMode no one has done before]]? Simple! Have a character angst about being uncircumcised. Naturally, this is AlwaysMale, and is mostly restricted to {{Eagleland}} (but not exclusively). In Eagleland, characters who angst about this are typically (though not always) of backgrounds which are typically uncircumcised. Because circumcision is most common in Jewish and Muslim cultures and in the USA (and American cultural satellites such as South Korea and the Philippines), this trope is a prime cause of ValuesDissonance.

Want to make a VerySpecialEpisode that [[SarcasmMode no one has done before]]? Simple! Have a character angst about being uncircumcised. Naturally, this is AlwaysMale, and is restricted to {{Eagleland}}. In Eagleland, characters who angst about this are typically (though not always) of backgrounds which are typically uncircumcised. Because circumcision is most common in Jewish and Muslim cultures and in the USA (and American cultural satellites such as South Korea and the Philippines), this trope is a prime cause of ValuesDissonance.

** That episode was ''full'' of UnfortunateImplications, as it also had Kramer believing there was some experiment done in the hospital that involved the creation of a human-pig hybrid. Needless to say, intactivists were ''very'' unamused by that episode, which also had ''all'' characters referring to uncut penises as {{Squick}}-material, and the doctor claiming the baby ‘wasn’t hurt’ after circumcision―in short, turning the anti-circ stand into an [[AcceptableTargets Acceptable Target]].

* ''[[http://foreskinman.com/index.htm Foreskin Man]]'' is a comic about the titular hero [[AuthorTract protecting babies from circumcisions]]. Despite appearances, it's not a StealthParody - it's credited to an actual organization that wants to outlaw neonatal circumcision - but the [[{{Narm}} over-the-top presentation]], invariably portraying [[CompleteMonster pro-circ people as monsters]] and [[IncorruptiblePurePureness anti-circ as flawless]] [[BlackAndWhiteMorality without any sense of nuance]] ([[EqualOpportunityEvil regardless of race and creed]], [[ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch contrary to what common criticism might indicate]]), complete with a MartyStu superhero protagonist who is blond and blue-eyed (which rubbed a few people the wrong way), is bound to [[DontShootTheMessage make those who otherwise agree with such a policy very uncomfortable]].

* ''[[http://foreskinman.com/index.htm Foreskin Man]]'' is a comic about the titular hero [[AuthorTract protecting babies from circumcisions]]. Despite appearances, it's not a StealthParody - it's credited to an actual organization that wants to outlaw neonatal circumcision - but the [[UnfortunateImplications rampant antisemitism, racism, and Islamophobia]] is bound to [[DontShootTheMessage make those who otherwise agree with such a policy very uncomfortable]].

-->--'''Dr. Gregory House''', ''Series/{{House}}''

* Subverted in ''YTuMamaTambien''. Julio just responds the way men in RealLife do: He calls Tenoch a faggot and [[HoYay tells him to blow up the balloon]]. The fact that the two boys have different penises is [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical actually a political commentary]].
* Rare British (Islamic) example: on ''EastIsEast'', when George finds out his 9 year old son was never circumcised (it's a big family and he's constantly overlooked) it's decided that he needs to get it done. His older brothers and sister [[SarcasmMode show all the sympathy and understanding that you would expect in the circumstances]]. Contrary to how the trope usually works, he's understandably dead against it himself.

* Occurs as a throwaway gag in ''RobinHoodMenInTights'': Rabbi Tuckman (Creator/MelBrooks) offers the procedure to the Merry Men, claiming that it will make them more popular with the ladies. When they find out that his method takes away ''much'' more than just the foreskin (and employs a miniature guillotine) they quickly decline.