Should we circumcise?
My wife and I are trying to have a baby. One of the biggest concerns we have if it is a boy is circumcision. I am circumcised and my first reaction is to say "Well I wouldn't go back so it is the right choice". But unfortunately there is more to it than that. Circumcision started, in my mind, to remove sexual pleasure from the male because sex was the road to sin and only for reproduction and should not be enjoyed. Many nerves are removed from circumcision and I have heard sex is more pleasurable for males not circumcised, but unfortunately that is hard to know for sure.
Then there is the idea that it is a part of our culture now and completely acceptable. But what is it really other than male genital mutilation? They say that is is healthier, but I have also heard that the data for that claim is inconclusive.
Female circumcision disgust me and yet many cultures practice it. To them it is normal. I am sure that uncircumcised females in those cultures have "ugly" vaginas to them just as a lot of women have told me that an uncircumcised penis is "ugly".
I have seen a circumcision and it is horrifying. I dont know if I should do this to my future son. There is the part of me that thinks it is normal and I should. Then there is the part of me that sees it as another brutal religious act setup by an ancient brutal god to remove our sexuality that we, for some reason, still practice like idiots. Then we go through all this trouble to "prove" it is healthy to mutilate sex organs to justify the insane act.
What are some of your thoughts on this?
Tags: circumcision, mutilation
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on -
So are you saying that we should chop off everything a child may or may not keep clean? Does that extend to pulling teeth?
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Permalink Reply by Lewal on -
They need teeth to eat... you don't need the foreskin for either of the penis' major functions.
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Permalink Reply by Cameron on -
ah, but we could just get rid of the fingernails. what are they doing for the kid? and i'm sure they harbor some bad bacteria. Might be more useful to get rid of them rather than let the kid have them
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Permalink Reply by Lewal on
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Well he probably wouldn't have to deal with kids at school saying "Hey where's your fingernails?" So there's that. But like you said, people don't run around with their penises out, and people run around with their fingernails out like mad.
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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on
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RE: "people don't run around with their penises out" - speak for yourself --
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Permalink Reply by Cara Coleen on -
fingernails protect our very sensitive nerve endings... which are unlike the penile nerve endings bc it's pain vs pleasure
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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on
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RE: "penile nerve endings" - when you get them, come talk to me about it --
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Permalink Reply by Cara Coleen on
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I'm pretty sure I've had discussions with YOU about abortions, so I feel perfectly free to discuss penises and foreskins, thank you.
Having fingernails intact does not yield any type of pleasure; they have a specific purpose, and that is to protect against pain... not enhance pleasure.
Obviously, the argument in favor of foreskins is to retain pleasure so that the penis does not get desensitized. This makes sense, so untwist your panties. You should be offended that your foreskin was compared to fingernails, not that I weighed in.
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Permalink Reply by Cara Coleen on
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Oh and... I have vaginal nerve endings, which are supposedly more abundant, and I actually can imagine how uncomfortable an exposed shaft might be. I am lucky enough to have my parts intact so things don't rub around on my bits. Don't be so sensitive. I'm not promoting mutilation.
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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on
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Actually, you can be certain, rather than "pretty sure" - that we have spoken about abortions, to synopsize your arguments, you said in essence, when I get a uterus, we could talk. I left the discussion. believing discretion to be the better part of valor.
In regard to your post, I simply reversed your argument. If your argument didn't bother me, I can't imagine why the mirror image of it should cause you a problem.
BTW, I'm genuinely sorry for you that you have chsen to forgo the joys of parenthood - you'll never know what you're missing, but I defend your right to make that choice.
As for panties, the only place I have ever worn them, is on my head, and under those conditions, it is extremely difficult for them to twist, but thanks for your concern.
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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on
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RE: "I'm not promoting mutilation." - Not the point, you appeared offended when I weighed in on the product of the uterus,which admittedly I do not have, yet feel no compunction about weighing in on a body part that, assuming your avatar is accurate and you haven't had a sex change, you don't have.
My problem is with your double standard.
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Permalink Reply by Cara Coleen on
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I feel pretty certain that I was not one of the females who insisted men should not weigh in on abortions, only that the choice doesn't belong to them. If I felt strongly that men had nothing to offer to the conversation, I wouldn't even join in those discussions. But, although I don't remember specifically, I am sorry if I said something to the effect that you don't get to have an opinion. You do. Just not a choice.
I can't remember the guy's name... but he was beginning to irritate me with his circular logic, etc. He said that a being's capacity for suffering should be most heavily weighed, which I thought pretty neatly wrapped up the discussion since a mother can clearly suffer more profoundly than an unconscious fetus. He seemed to think each individual circumstance should be considered, which I feel is redundant. But I digress...
Anyway... since I don't have a penis, maybe the choice really shouldn't be mine as to whether my hypothetical son would be circumcised. Since I believe in autonomy, it only makes sense to extend that right of control over one's body to my child.
Please don't be sorry for me that I don't want to be a parent. I'm glad that people enjoy their children, but there's no part of me that wants to join them in that particular "joy". And ya know, a lot of it has to do with not ever wanting to grow one inside my body; that seems horrific to me. Besides, if I had the money, I'd rather adopt. The world doesn't need more babies; it needs more parents.
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