Memories of a Tulì
For some, it was fun, for others it was
traumatic. For a young boy getting the cut or a young medical student
doing the procedure, the experience of
tulì
or circumcision is most memorable.
BY DEE AYROSO
Bulatlat
This summer, on top
of the list of most 10 to 12-year-old boys, alongside camping and
swimming, is getting tulì, or circumcision.
“Magpapatuli po
atsaka mag-aaral mag-arnis” (Get circumcised, and learn
arnis,) casually answered a 12-year-old when asked about his summer
activities. “Para
maging tunay na lalaki, atsaka po para tumangkad”
(So as to become a man, and to get
taller), the boy added.
Circumcision, the
removal of the foreskin of the penis, is accepted by most Filipinos as a
must for boys entering puberty, a rite of passage to manhood. There are,
however, no proven benefit of circumcision.
Collective experience
Filmmaker Ron Papag
had fond memories of a “collective experience”, when he got circumcised as
an eight-year-old in the province
of Quezon.
Papag said he and his
cousins looked forward to getting their tulì one summer. The day
before, each prepared a thin cloth which had a hole in the middle and will
serve as the dressing for the circumcised penis.
They woke up early
the next day, took a dip in the sea, gathered guava sprouts, and put on
loose shorts. Each boy then bought a bag of ice, and headed to Mang
Arsenio, the village tolero, or the one who circumcises. As they
walked, the boys rubbed the ice pack to their crotch, to numben the penis.
Arriving at Mang
Arsenio’s house, the boys lined up and started chewing the young guava
leaves. Mang Arsenio first examined the boy’s foreskin.
“Titingnan niya
kung hiwa o pukpok” (He decides
whether to make a cut or to use a small mallet), Papag said.
Younger boys are
usually given a cut, but older boys get the mallet. Mang Arsenio then
retracted the broken skin, and asked the boy to spit out the chewed guava
leaves. The mush is rubbed on the cut, after which the tolero
dresses the cut.
Papag said that he
and his cousins stayed until Mang Arsenio is done with everyone, just to
watch the procedure, which is done in full view of other boys. “Lahat
nanonood kaya pipigilin mong umiyak kahit masakit,” (Everybody was
watching so we did not cry even if it was painful.) he said. When
everyone was done, they all walked home, cowboy-like, with legs apart.
The following days,
he and his cousin would meet to take a bath in the sea every morning,
“comparing notes” on how each one was healing. If one’s cut gets “nangamatis”
or infected, the others would tease, at the same time give advise on how
to properly dress and treat his cut.
Papag recalled the
ritual to be more fun than painful, a bonding with his male cousins, and
even with his favorite uncle, Tio Pepe, who also helped him dress
his cut. Most of all, after the circumcision, they could do things they
weren’t allowed to do before.
“Pag tulì ka na,
pwede ka nang manligaw (Once you’re circumcised, you could court
girls)”, Papag said smiling.
Operation Tule
Tulì
is also a rite of passage of sorts for
those doing the procedure, said Dr. B., a female doctor who requested
anonymity. She had both funny and traumatic memories of having
circumcised young boys in several “Operation Tulì” as a medical student.
“It’s a chance for
medical students to have experience in minor surgery, that’s why our
sorority regularly took part in surgical missions in communities,” said
Dr. B.
Dr. B’s most
memorable tulì experience was in a surgical mission when she was
just a second year medical student, and had to help circumcise a
16-year-old.
The team had set the
age limit to 15 but the boy’s family insisted on getting him circumcised.
Dr. B and another student did the procedure, but they weren’t able to
stitch close all the veins.
“The boy’s penis had hematoma
(internal bleeding), and became enlarged. We panicked because we had no
licensed doctor in our team. We had to rush him to the hospital, where
blood was removed from his penis, and the veins were sutured,” Dr. B
recalled.
Apologetically, Dr. B monitored the boy’s
healing, visiting him everyday for a week, to clean and dress the cut.
The family of the boy, who had a learning disability, blamed Dr. B for
what happened and refused to take the responsibility of monitoring the
boy’s healing.
Traumatized, Dr. B didn’t want to be a
doctor anymore, and refused to join anymore medical mission. But her
sorority sisters persuaded her.
“I joined another medical mission, and
there was another 16-year-old. No way was I going to do the procedure.
But my ‘sisses’ convinced me to do it, so that I’ll find out what I did
wrong before. I went on to do it, and it was OK,” she said.
Dr. B said that it’s
mostly the mothers who are eager to get their sons circumcised, anxious
not to lose the opportunity to get free medical service. “But we don’t
force the child if he is not yet ready.” Dr. B said boys who were not yet
ready would cry before they even administer anaesthesia.
Misinformed
Groups and experts
who are against circumcision, however, say that circumsion is harmful, and
even poses unnecessary risks to the child.
“The best way to care
for a child's intact penis is to leave it alone," said Dr. Paul Fleiss.
In his article “The
Case Against Circumcision,” Fleiss compared penile foreskin to one’s
eyelid. The article was published by Mothering: The Magazine of Natural
Family Living in 1997.
"The natural penis
requires no special care. A child's foreskin, like his eyelids, is
self-cleansing. Forcibly retracting a baby's foreskin can lead to
irritation and infection,” Fleiss said.
With the removal of
the penile foreskin, a boy is deprived of “its numerous protective,
sensory, and sexual functions,” he said. Fleiss argued that only around
10 to 15 per cent of the world’s male population are circumcised.
Experts against circumcision advise
parents to get proper information before deciding on getting their sons
circumcised. Bulatlat
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