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 Lewal on -
Look AND feel? Fascinating. I won't pry, but I'm finding myself devastatingly curious as to exactly what aspects of either women find preferable. I mean does one have more of a "ribbed" feel, is one more "shaft"-like than the other and if so, is that more desirable physically... aesthetically? These questions sound weird in my head. It occurs to me I have never thought about this before today.
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Permalink Reply by Meg Fields on -
It just looks much cleaner and not as... icky? I can't find the right word but it does seem that way. Plus the idea of smegma makes me sick and I certainly wouldn't want that inside me o_o
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Permalink Reply by Unseen on -
I'm with you. I don't like the idea of folds of skin being against each other for long periods of time. The idea is a little unappetizing. I'd put my lips to a lovely breast, but would I lick in the fold where a pendulous breast rests against the chest for hours on end? Eeewwhh!!
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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on -
Clearly Unseen, you've yet to learn that that is an EXTREMELY erogenous area, which, when you think about it, explains a lot --
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Permalink Reply by Becca on -
I'm still curious about the feel part. It's just kinda happened that I've never had sex with an uncircumcised man.
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Permalink Reply by Dogly on -
Considering an infant's penis a "naughty bit" to be amputated, shows a feeling of shame about our bodies and our sexuality. Why mutilate a child because we won't wash his penis, and because we are ashamed of our "naughty bits". YUCK!
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Permalink Reply by Jack Lee on -
I'm a Brit, and it's not an issue there. All the women I've met in the US have been pleasantly surprised by my intact hoodie.
Leave it alone, and pass on the new habit to the next generation.
If he ever wants one (and that is highly unlikely) he can make his mind up when he's 18, and gets all his ridiculous tattoos.
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Permalink Reply by Obfuskation on -
Well put.
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Permalink Reply by Jaret on -
I have had American women tell me that they think the uncircumcised penis looks weird but they have experienced mostly circumcised penises. I was curious if in Brittian you have heard the same things about a circumcised penis? I personally think it is just about exposure. Most girls probably think the penis, both circumcised and un circumcised, looks gross the first time they see it but they learn to like it. Or tolerate it. Then the introduction in their life of a new type of penis must look weird. So by this theory women that have only experienced intact penises would probably find the look of a circumcised penis weird. Can you confirm this?
According to the current statistics, when our future child, if we have one, comes into adulthood, intact penises will be more common that circumcised ones in America and therefore some american women saying "uncircumcised penises look weird" will be a thing of the past due to exposure.
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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on
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Actually Blaine, I suspect that among a Nomadic desert culture where water for bathing was rare, that quite possibly hygiene was the reason for the practice originally.
But in this day, with water available at the twist of the wrist, that's unnecessary. Pulling back the foreskin and cleansing, during every bath or shower should go without saying.
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