[MUSIC]
Oh, yeah.
Give it to me.
Oh.
[MUSIC]
>> Hi there.
>> [SOUND] >> Oh, I see you're circumcised, but wait,
you're not Jewish or Muslim.
So that's kind of strange, don't you think?
>> What, no, it's normal.
What? >> Actually, it's not.
Hi.
I'm Adam Conover.
>> I remember you.
>> Hi Adam. >> And apart from those two religions, and
a few African tribes, America is actually one of the only countries that practices
circumcision, yet most of us don't even know why we do it.
Would you like to?
>> Not right now, man.
>> Oh, just get it over with.
>> To learn more, let's go back in time to the day you were circumcised.
>> God, no.
>> [MUSIC]
By the time your tip got snipped, circumcision had been a tradition for
generations.
>> Would you like to circumcise Brian?
>> Yeah! I guess.
I mean, his should look like mine, right?
>> Okie Doke!
>> No!
>> But the source of that tradition is real weird.
>> His should look like mine, right?
>> Yep, better cut him.
I reckon it'll stop him from masturbating.
>> What?
>> Yep.
The religious circumcision's been practiced in the Middle East for
millennia, no one did it in the west unless the sex phobic
days of the late 19th century, when puritanical doctors
promoted it as a way to stop your kids from committing their favorite sin.
>> Observe, the Vile Masturbator,
the sallow complexion, the rotten teeth, and the open sores.
>> Actually, I think I have syphilis.
>> Syphilis, caused by masturbation.
>> One prominent advocate of dick docking was, and
I'm not making this up, John Harvey Kellogg, the inventor of cornflakes.
>> My cure is two-fold.
A diet rich in flaked corn.
>> Mm.
>> And cutting off part of the penis.
>> Victorian prudes like Kellogg just straight up hated sex, and
thought that by pruning your peter, they could make it less pleasurable,
taming your base, lustful instincts.
And you don't even wanna know what they thought you should do to women.
>> Just apply a little carbolic acid
to the clitoris >> Yikes!
Thank God that one didn't catch on.
>> [SOUND] All right everyone, lets take a five.
>> This is stupid.
Being circumcised doesn't stop me from masturbating.
>> Yeah, I know that's why it's so weird we still do it.
>> But, isn't it cleaner or something?
>> No, maybe in biblical times it helped to prevent infection,
but nowadays you can just wash your dingus.
Circumcision has been found to somewhat reduce the risk of HIV transmission,
but so do condoms, and they don't require you to chop your dick off.
>> Okay, but foreskins are useless.
>> Actually Brian, the foreskin plays an important role in sex.
It's a natural lubricant, contains millions of nerve endings, and
it protects the glans from being desensitized.
>> Thanks Bert.
>> You got it bud.
But if you're uncircumcised, girls will think your dick looks weird.
>> Oh, that's an interesting theory.
Let's test it.
Does this dick look weird?
>> Yep.
>> All right. Does this dick look weird?
>> Yep.
>> And does this dick look weird?
>> Yeah.
>> All dicks look weird.
>> Thanks, man.
>> Look, if you like being circumcised, fine.
There's no harm in it but there's also no benefit to it.
And the only reason you're circumcised is because the 19th
century prude who invented Corn Flakes was trying to ruin your sex life.
>> Oh well that didn't take long.
Pick up where we left off.
I'm not really in the mood anymore.
>> Sounds like you won.
Join me next time on Adam Ruins Everything,
when I'll be talking about how what you think are your cherished childhood
memories are just fictional simulations created by your brain.
>> Get out.
Please get out.
>> Hey guys, thanks for watching.
>> Please get out.
>> If you liked that video click me to subscribe.
>> Get out, get out.
>> You know what?
Why don't you just do it.
>> Yeah, mess him up.
>> Hit me, that'll get me to stop.
>> I know, I know.
>> You can't do it.
>> I never played baseball before.
>> Click on him and he might do it.
No, he won't.