Human penis
Circumcision is usually performed on infant males for medical reasons, or for religious reasons, especially for Jews and Muslims, or cultural reasons in the United States, the Philippines, and South Korea. "Cultural reasons" means reasons such as beliefs that the penis stays cleaner or looks more beautiful when circumcised. "Cultural reasons" also includes tradition, meaning parents wanting their son's penis to look like the father's penis and like other boys' penises. In the United States, one of the reasons for it being a tradition is that it was once a requirement in the navy and popular in other parts of the military. The World Health Organization estimates that the overall male circumcision rate in the United States is somewhere between 76 and 92 percent. Circumcision was also very common in Canada, although that is no longer the case, due in part to changes in government rules about paying for circumcision. Through the first half of the twentieth century, up to about the late 1960s and even the early 1970s, it was common for men in the United States and Canada to swim naked (without bathing suits) at high school, college, and YMCA pools. It was also common that men showered together in schools and in the military. Since it was common for boys and young men to be naked, many parents wanted their sons to look like other American males. Parents did not want their sons to look different from the majority.