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 Keith Murphy on -
Well good for you buddy, that is your preference and thats good.
But its still unethical to just remove that choice from a child who is so young. Personally I view it as child abuse and I don't think you should mess with nature in that way.
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Permalink Reply by Rob the Ridiculous on -
And neither do I "need" stereoscopic vision. Not much of an argument really, if you think about it.
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Permalink Reply by Hank Hell on -
Do it right when he pops out. I had to go back to do it when I was like 8, and it was seriously traumatic, the anistisia made me ill for days so they kept me in the hospital. Now I have a life long fear of surgery and the medical environment and I pass out sometimes when I encounter depictions of genital mutilation.
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Permalink Reply by Heather Spoonheim on -
Hank - why was it necessary when you were 8?
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Permalink Reply by Hank Hell on
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I don';t know, they all kepst saying it was nessecary but I don't really think it was. I think they knew I would object to unessecary surgery. There might have been something wrong with my junk though, In all those eight years I don't once remember it coming out of it's little turtle neck, so maybe it was ill fitted. I have other theories too. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I'm circumcised, but I think there's a reason they do it as a babby, the whole thing fucked with me pretty bad, even to this day I still have to avoid things that might make me faint.
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Permalink Reply by Heather Spoonheim on
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@Hank
Having recently read a lot more than I cared for about male dangly bits just for this thread, I think I encountered a reference to what you went through. Apparently the foreskin doesn't draw back at first and can take until age 12 to do so. Unfortunately there used to be a theory that if it didn't draw back before age 5 then it had to be removed. I understand some medical text books still assert this erroneous number.
Certainly if there were a requirement to remove it in later childhood with any significant frequency I can see how it would be better to remove it neonatally. I'm sorry you had to go through such a horrible experience.
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Permalink Reply by Reg The Fronkey Farmer on -
This article is worth a read.
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Permalink Reply by Danny Sanchez on -
Once again Penn and Teller snip it right on the head.
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Permalink Reply by Breanna on -
Should check this out...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLGcqPE7xu0
We just went though the same debate, we didnt have out son done.
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Permalink Reply by Beyonder on -
My wife and I had a baby boy back in June 2012, and we debated about this. She was good with it either way. My Christian beliefs were almost completely gone at that point.
It was a tough decision, but we did eventually decide to circumcise. The reasons were twofold:
- His older brother and I are both circumcised. I thought it might be better for his penis to look like ours and for him to not feel "left out" or "strange" in any way.
- I did look at the medical evidence and it points in the direction of circumcised penises being less prone to infection. Seeing as though our new son already has one non-functioning kidney, we thought it best to do WHATEVER is possible to avoid infection that could put his one healthy kidney at risk.
Based on those reasons, I'm comfortable with the decision, but each couple's mileage may vary.
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