Circumcision on the Couch book launch

In this event, Jordan and his invited guests made use of the Old Operating Theatre’s incredible surgical setting to bring to life some major themes of his book: the nineteenth-century transformation of circumcision from a religious rite to a medical procedure designed to cure ‘nervous illness’; the psychological dynamics of contemporary anti-circumcision activism (‘intactivism’); and the psychoanalytical theories that address the symbolic significance of the phallic ‘cut’. The event included two short performances by internationally acclaimed artists Martin O’Brien and FYTA which addressed contemporary debates around circumcision and gender politics, and a discussion with Professor Lisa Baraitser about the book.