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 -
k's the only man I know who can brighten a room just by leaving it --
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Permalink Reply by Ross O'Neil on -
Arch, sorry so long in replying. There is evidence that painful procedures during early developmental do have quantifiable negative effects. Hard to extrapolate these results to any change in quality of life but certainly changes in pain tolerance and other effects have been confirmed. I'll keep searching for better evidence.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1595204/
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6374/is_5_34/ai_n28950404/p...
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/imhj.10020/abstract
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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on
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Not a problem Ross - clearly you have done some extensive searching. From the data, it would appear (though the second article, in all fairness, indicated further research was indicated) as though circumcised babies later develop a higher sensitivity to pain.
I also learned a great deal about the effects of heel laceration and chest tube insertion of premies, which is important to me on a personal level, as one of my daughters was a premie, and underwent such experiences for the entire first month of her life.
Thanks again for all your work.
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Permalink Reply by kOrsan on -
I think the level of your pain sensitivity has to do with how much of a pussy a person is. I'm sure we can agree on that, no? Some people bitch about little cuts while others take it like a man.
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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on
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Ahh, that would be the old "Suck It Up and Walk It Off" school of child rearing! Sounds great if you're out to create another Hitler, or possibly a kOrswhatever --
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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on
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Considering I have a son with his own business and multiple Masters' Degrees, I concur, but nice of you to notice --
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Permalink Reply by mick herman on -
If there was really a good case to get rid of it them why not wait until the by is 12-14 and can understand about sex, what it will involve, ect ect. It is a barbaric practice and there is no place for it in the modern world. If i did believe in god then i would still say no because it was put there for a reason, and it did evolve for a reason. Your eyelids are just bits of skin as well, but you wouldn't want anyone cutting those off.
Any one who doesn't like the sight of an uncircumcised penis can suck my uncut d***.
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Permalink Reply by Fluffy McDeath on
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Doctors and Rabbis and such will say yes, circumcise, because it is a billable procedure - but like all surgery it carries risks and should not be done unless the risks of not doing it are greater. Best to leave things alone. One slip of the knife and a boy can be horrifically and permanently damaged.
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Permalink Reply by James Cox on
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Dear Folks:
If I had known that the idea of 'cuddling with soaped up chicks' was to be considered, I might have loged on here sooner. The title mentioned circumcism, but 25 pages later here we are.
Being raised Catholic, I also recovered from the catholic APP. It offers, till this day, no indications of failure..LOL
My reading concerning the 'rational' for circumcism was mostly to 'mark' one as a member of the clan of David, but I could be mistaken. It is unclear, why anyone would care, if this is true. If there is now some reasonable justification, what the hay.
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Permalink Reply by CaperMel on -
I am not sure where you are from, however I work in healthcare here in Canada and now the hospital's charge a rather high fee to circumcise a boy due to the fact that it is not medically necessary and most doctor's don't believe it should be done. I know you mentioned that you heard it is healthier, however it is now believed that circumcision is in fact not more hygienic and it has no benifits. I don't personally do the circumcisions; however it is done adjacent to my department and you can hear those little babies screaming. In fact the hospital won't allow parents to be in the room and suggust they leave the department entirely so that they can't hear the screams. Personally I would not do it; but everyone has the right to do what they believe is right. Best of luck :)
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Permalink Reply by Melissa Mays on -
..i realize you dont want to think of your would-be son as a sexual being, but remember that circumcision removes an approximate 3x5 index card-sized portion of skin laden with some 20,000 nerve endings. I think thats cruel, to be honest. The US is the only civilized country that routinely circumcises. There is no real reason for a non-religious family, living in a locale that does not lend itself to the likelihood that your boy will be crawling around (naked) in thick bramble bush, to circumcise their newborn son. ALSO, just to tilt the scales a smidge more towards "nay", about 100 babies die every year from complications following this procedure.
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