What do you think of male circumcision?
Asked by
lapilofu (
4325
)
August 4th, 2010
Reasons for it to be done? Reasons not to be done? How do you feel about doing it to babies? How do you feel about people choosing to do it to themselves?
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58 Answers
I only had girls so I never had to make that decision. When I was pregnant I didn’t want to know the sex of my babies, but I leaned toward not having it done to the baby. My husband did not agree. We just never had to go there.
Imo, I think it is much cleaner. If I ever have kids (boys) then I’ll probably have it done to them.
I think we should leave well enough alone. I don’t have children of my own, but if I were to have boys in the future, I would leave all of their parts as they were meant to be. It’s painful, unnecessary and it increases the risk of infection. I just see little point in putting a child through that… personally.
Thought provoking. I think it’s a kinda linage thing. I would want my son to have it done..because. just because.
@TheOnlyNeffie—That’s the way I felt about it, but my husband did not agree at all. I was glad that was a decision we didn’t have to make.
@perspicacious I find that interesting, actually. I would assume most men would cringe at the thought. Guess not? :)
@TheOnlyNeffie Tradition is sometimes stronger than our desire to protect the jewels. Also, anyone who has been circumcised will likely find it difficult to conclude that there’s anything wrong with their penis—there’s an emotional investment in believing circumcision is beneficial.
I don’t cringe at the thought. If they are babies when it’s done…it’s like “its ok to eat fish, because they don’t have any feelings.”
@Dewey420 When my grandson was born I had to be the one in the room with him when he was circumcised. When I heard the scream (even with some anesthetic) I knew it hurt him. He won’t remember it, but it hurt.
@lapilofu I certainly didn’t mean to imply that there was anything “wrong” once the cutting has been done. I hope it didn’t sound that way, because I don’t think that. At all.
I just personally see no reason to opt for the surgery for my own child.
I’m circumsized and never suffered for it. I have no idea what the medical default should be. I kind of like being circumsized, but not sure if that’s physical preference or cultural brainwashing or lack of experience of the opposite choice. Seems like it might be wrong, but if people with foreskin really do get more infections or problems, when people who are circumsized don’t get any at all, then I’m all for more male circumcision. But that’s only a big if.
I’ve seen good arguments both sides, and still have no idea.
@TheOnlyNeffie Maybe I’m not being clear enough. What I mean is that—when a man has been circumcised, it may feel like not circumcising your own child is an admission that circumcision is wrong which feels like an admission that something is wrong with yourself. Circumcising one’s child can be an affirmation that your parents were right to circumcise you. Does that make sense?
@lapilofu oh, yes that does make sense. Do you think that is the case most of the time? I would have never thought of that (then again, I do not have a penis.)
@TheOnlyNeffie I don’t know. It took me a long time to even consider that circumcision might be problematic—I think part of the reason for that is because I am circumcised and didn’t want to believe it’s pointless or detrimental.
oh man.. this ones smoking. all religious implications aside..there is a pleasure factor here. I watch porn.. shockin i know. I think cut is the way to go lol
@lapilofu I don’t think it has to be detrimental. I don’t even think it is necessarily pointless. It is just optional. But, I do see what you’re saying, and I appreciate that you brought it up… because I really would have never thought of it otherwise.
@Dewey420 if I’m not mistaken, studies have recently shown that circumcision reduces sensitivity. I’ll have to look it up and make sure that I remember that correctly, but I’m pretty certain. (mods, can I say that in a question that isn’t marked NSFW??)
@TheOnlyNeffie the proof is in the pudding. I see what your saying tho :)
Too many deaths from having it done, just plain silly religion butting in again…… :-/
I like to leave my hat on, if you get my drift ;¬}
I think that parents have no right to make that kind of decision about a body that isn’t their own. It’s a milder form of genital mutilation. If a man is ever circumcised, it should be because it was his choice.
I think it is a good thing purely because of its health benefits. It will be a long time before I have to make that decision, if ever, but at the moment I lean towards having it done.
Well it help with hygiene and it also state that evidence indicates male circumcision significantly reduces the risk of HIV acquisition by men during penile-vaginal sex, but also state that circumcision only provides partial protection I just read it .So yes I am for it.
Aris is not circumcised. I know I have felt, long before meeting him, that it is wrong to do so. It is not cleaner to circumcise, if you take the time to wash it properly. Once the child is old enough to make decisions, if he wished to have the surgery, I’d not object.
Just like piercings and tattoos, the child should be old enough to make an informed decision before being circumcised. Doing things like that without asking them is, to me, a violation.
I don’t like it, agree with it or support it, there’s no reason for it to be done, other than some weird medical condition. Removing a body part for no reason is silly, no matter what your beliefs. Adults who choose to do this to themselves though are a different story, that’s their choice. I’d never do it to my children and will never agree with anyone doing it to their children.
If it were my child in question I would only be comfortable with it for medical reasons, however, I can’t lie that, where boyfriends are concerned, I have always preffered the look of a circumsized penis obviously that is shallow of me though!
I’ve never really understood the “hygiene” argument. Little girls have plenty of folds and crannies, but (hopefully) no one talks about cutting them off. It just seems like a matter of educating and training the little boys.
That’s a highly innervated area, and chopping it off just seems cruel to me.If I had a son, I would not do it.
The hygiene argument is a backargument (I don’t know the real term for this, so I went off the term “backronym”). What I mean is that circumcision was not originally done for that reason, it was done for religious reasons and then people started using “hygiene” as a way to explain why circumcision was done, but that was not the original reason for doing it. In other words, it’s an excuse. I’ve already written a long explanation of why I’m not a fan, but I’ll attempt to summarize: 1) Too many people do it out of routine and do not give any serious thought as to why they’re having it done. They do it “just because” or “to look like Daddy”. 2) It’s not done routinely in Europe or Asia and I don’t think Europeans and Asians are swimming in penile diseases 3) People greatly exaggerate the difficulties of cleaning yourself down there; it really isn’t that hard. I would know, I’m not circumcised.
My first answer is, being Jewish, it’s a ritual with which I have no disagreement. I also believe it’s a medically good thing to do.
My second answer is OUCHHHHHHHHH!
The phrase “genital mutilation” is used above. In my opinion, it does not apply to circumcision, which for Jews is performed by a trained and licensed Moyle or Rabbi. Mutilation, according to one dictionary’s definition, is “Disfigurement or injury by removal or destruction of a conspicuous or essential part of the body.” This particular part of the body is neither conspicuous nor essential.
@Austinlad So if clitorectomies are performed by a “trained and licensed” individual, they are ok? If some man says that the clitoris and/or labia are “particular part of the body is neither conspicuous nor essential”, then it’s ok the chop them off, without consent of the child?
Leave it alone it’s meant to be there, if it had no use why would it be there?? :-/
Cut it off & loose all the pleasure it brings!! No thanks!! :-/
@syz, you missed my real point—that at least for males, losing that part of the anatomy is not defined by the word mutilation.
In my opinion, our cultural familiarity to the process has blinded us to the fact that circumcision is, indeed, a form of mutilation. We’re just so used to it, we don’t think of it as such.
How many times have we seen or heard arguments about parents who pierce their babies ears? Some people will comment that “it’s cruel”, it causes them “unnecessary pain”, that’s it’s done “without the child’s consent”, that “it’s cosmetic”. Couldn’t each of those arguments be used for circumcision? Clearly, plenty of men are walking around out there with intact foreskins, perfectly happy and healthy. And poking a hole in an earlobe is orders of magnitude different than lopping off a part of such a sensitive organ.
I meant lose not loose!! slip of the finger :-/
As i’ve already said, I’m uncut. I have a lovely shiny bell end & have never had any complaints both from a hygeine point of view or from previous & indeed current sexual partners. I’d sum it up by saying it’s all good in the hood, so to speak.
Having expressed my personal views, I’ll exit this thread and leave the debate in others’ hands—just as did a small part of my anatomy many decades ago.
Circumcision was sold to my parents as a health, hygiene issue. Fortunately, I only had girls and didn’t have to deal with it. If we had a child today (physical impossibility) I would opt out of the procedure for my boy.
Minor problems with the foreskin are unlikely. If they do occur, they are easily and relatively painlessly corrected.
I was circumcised at birth, like most of my peers, and I like it and am totally happy the way it is.
Personally, if I ever had a son, I’d wait until he was about thirteen, ask him if he prefers anteaters wearing turtlenecks or German WWI soldiers, and then act accordingly.
@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard one of the reasons that babies are circumcised is that it is less traumatic for them. I don’t think it is a good idea for a 13 year old to go through the pain and, for a teenager, the embarrassment may be worse than the pain.
@DominicX Is the original reason relevant? If the parents genuinely have other reasons for doing it, does it matter what people did it for thousands of years ago?
@FireMadeFlesh The fact that the original reason is not widely in current use certainly doesn’t discount the modern reason—but it does make it suspect.
@lapilofu True, but I wouldn’t be jumping to condemn someone for it because I don’t believe their stated reasons. I honestly don’t know what my parents’ reasons were, but I’m grateful either way, and even though I am not religious I would lean towards having it done to any sons I may have simply because I think it was a good thing for me and I would want the best for them.
@FireMadeFlesh
I’m not saying everyone does that, but some people certainly do. They have their son circumcised because it’s routine, because the father is circumcised, because “it’s just what people do” and then after the fact, they come up with hygiene as the reason for doing it in an attempt to justify it.
Personally I’m for it in order to make clean up easier and also social conformity. Why would I care about social conformity? Because there are bigger battles out there and I don’t want my kid hung up on people making fun of his “earthworm”, “elephant trunk” or any other names. I’ve had friends and male relatives alike have to undergo adult male circumcision and they all say they wish it had just been done when they were babies. I know of only 1 person irl who’s told me they’re fine with their uncircumcised tinker and in my opinion it’s because it looked like it already was. I’m female and I’ve never found an uncircumcised one attractive to look at. It’s conditioning on my part but at this point in my life I don’t think I’d be able to develop a liking for it the other way.
@Neizvestnaya
I don’t know about you, but I didn’t let anyone see my penis until I was with my boyfriend (and he was intact as well). In fact, there was only one time I remember when a group of friends and I actually shared whether we were circumcised or not (and we didn’t need visual aids for that). Not much opportunity for me to get made fun of.
It definitely depends on where you live, though. Circumcision is actually less common in the western United States.
@Ron_C, I wasn’t being entirely serious, man.
@Neizvestnaya I think your point definately depends on where you live and culture. I can’t relate to what you are saying because I believe that, where I live, it’s not all that common anymore to circumsize unless it is for health reasons and so there is unlikely to be any stigma (and bullying) to being in tact. The majority of my male friends (at least the ones I have spoken to about it – and I have had ths discussion with a lot of my friends!) haven’t been circumsised but, by the same token, the ones that have (my boyfriend included) have never experienced any bullying either. Is circumsision the norm where you live?
@DominicX @Leanne1986 Circumcision is still the norm in the US as a whole. I don’t remember the statistics or individual regions, but I remember that fact.
@DominicX I don’t have the statistics, that may or may not be the case. However I think it is irrelevant to the argument, since it is a problem with individuals rather than with the process as a whole.
@lapilofu I see. I’m in the UK so can only speak for what I have reason to believe is the norm here.
@Leanne1986
Yes, circumcision has been the norm where I’ve lived all my life (CA) and I’ve only ever seen three uncircumcised men, all three born outside the USA. I’ve got more friends and family members though than I can count on one hand who’ve chosen to undergo adult circumcision though because they felt over the years that women haven’t responded that enthusiastically and the younger men because no other males they knew were uncircumcised and they didn’t want it to hinder their chances with girls.
@FireMadeFlesh
Well, I do see it as a problem with the process because in my opinion, before you remove a part of a person’s body without their permission, I think you need a stronger reason than social conformity or routine, two reasons which are considered fine in order to do it. No doctor is going to ask you for better more developed reasons; all they need is a yes or a no answer.
@Neizvestnaya
According to http://www.cirp.org/library/statistics/USA/, the rate of circumcision in the West is about half that of the East in the United States (66% versus 33%). I’d be willing to bet that for as many people you know that have gotten circumcisions as adults, I have met people who have attempted or considered foreskin restoration.
@DominicX
I suspect in my circle of family, friends and acquaintances, it’s the Judeo/Christian thing largely responsible ;)
It is child abuse to genitally mutilate children of either sex and at a recent international conference in Berkeley it was proven in a recent study that all circumcised men are damaged by circumcision they just don’t realise it
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