(no subject)

[catslash]

Today I had two classes, Medieval Popular Culture and Historical Construction of Sexuality.

Each of my professors took the opportunity to discuss Jesus's foreskin.

I don't even know, you guys.

Comments

[catslash.livejournal.com]

That I can't speak to; the crucifixion hasn't been covered specifically in class, and I don't know if it's going to be.

As for symbolism, one possibility is that the physical break from the foreskin is a sort of foreshadowing of the crucifixion and the break between body and spirit, or something to that effect. (I'm drinking wine right now.) There's also a lot of art from the time period with focus on the baby Jesus's penis; this is at least in part because it symbolizes the human part of Christ, and the combination of the human and the divine in Jesus Christ was debated constantly in the medieval era. It was a huge, huge deal, at least among theologians, and it contributed to the Apocryphal Gospels, some stories in which deal with the natural consequences of a young child who is all-powerful (ie, lots of stories of child Jesus curse-killing kids who pissed him off).

It's down to male-dominated society's obsession with the penis, and combine that with a religion in which a major figure would have been circumcised, and you get all kinds of crazy shit.

[kita0610.livejournal.com]

Hunh.

Wow. That's... I mean, it's so interesting to me, because around here it's just What We Do, y'know?

Hunh.

[catslash.livejournal.com]

My Medieval Pop Culture prof also mentioned in passing that quite a few churches claimed to have the foreskin, or part of it, as a relic, which would have drawn a lot of believers. (And a lot of believers' donations.) So it has that role in history, too.

I've never thought about circumcision much one way or another - I'm not religious and I don't have kids, so there's never been a reason to. I do find it interesting how different cultures can take different approaches to the same thing, though.

[kita0610.livejournal.com]

I can't imagine why a church would have it, we don't keep the damn thing around. :g:
It is interesting that's a focus at all, but not surprising I suppose, like you said with Western culture's phallic fascination.