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 -
Fair enough. But if a doctor tells you "Hey, here are these vaccines that'll give your kid a boost against infection, you want me to give them to him or wait until he's older and can choose for himself?" what do you say? That's how I percieve it.
The medical/hygiene angle aside, the superficial reasons aren't necessarily all that arbitrary in our culture, you know? I don't know if it's ever been advantageous to me, I've never had a girl look at my business and be like "Well, that is a damn fine cut, compliments to the doctor," but as noted by a few others here, obviously some women find it more aesthetically pleasing, ergo desirable. (Consequently, you can't mourn the loss of nerves that optimize the male sexual experience right after chastising the superficial-- the former is at least equally arbitrary as the latter). -
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Permalink Reply by Cameron on -
Because we know that vaccines actually have a benefit and can be shown to have better results than can be circumcision. These are not just arbitrary attempts to prevent something, they have a specific purpose. Not only that, but they still aren't cutting off flesh from the penis to do it. I don't understand how you keep choosing different things like food or a vaccine and compare it to amputation, removal of flesh, mutilation, etc. These are not the same issue.
For this to be a primary factor in meeting someone, you'd have to go around with your penis out in the open for everyone to judge it. I've had experiences with guys who are either circumcised or not. It is irrelevant to me which one they are. I don't care because sex will happen either way. (don't know if this can be directly compared to women and men, but maybe it's another angle to it). If someone isn't going to get with you because of the way your penis is, then it's not even worth your time.
Pleasure is not superficial. I can mourn the loss of nerves involved in pleasure while criticizing the idea of doing it for an aesthetic.
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Permalink Reply by Tex on -
After all these years now I feel I've been robbed and have this swelling hatred for my parents, thanks a lot cameron!...lol.
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Permalink Reply by Cara Coleen on -
Wisdom teeth? Often preemptively removed.
I'm not saying I'm for or against circumcision (the jury is still out, but my opinion doesn't matter since I won't be having children)... but surgeries are performed "just in case".
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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on -
RE: "your mother fed you carrot-flavored baby food when you were 11 months old? It wasn't your choice."
Not buying that C - it's always tha baby's choice - I've fed far too many babies not to know that if they don't like it, they spit it out!
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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on
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RE: "has your mother's feeding you carrot-flavored baby food had a negative impact on you?"
I suspect that if I spat it out and she had to clean it up, it probably had a greater negative impact on her - she didn't feed me carrots again, I can assure you.
RE: "who wants another crevice to clean" - so let's just excise every body part that creates a crevice --? Where shall we begin?
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Permalink Reply by Lewal on
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Indeed, where SHALL we begin? As long as there are some benefits and proceeding doesn't impede our functions.
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Permalink Reply by kOrsan on -
All I meant is that it's not a brutal procedure as it used to be, it's not a painful bloody mess anymore like in the video that one guy showed.
I agree on the decision part, that's also why I said his son would probably not agree to it if the choice is left to him - that might be a clue.
All in all I don't really care too much, to be honest. It's not such a big issue like some make it out to be. In some tribes young men get hundreds of painful razor cuts to their bodies while fully conscious, over a period of days and it's not even their choice. And here you see people whining about a missing foreskin or medical benefits. There are cut vs uncut wars on 4chan everyday, keep it there.To the dad I'd say, ditch your traditions. Most if not all traditions are bullshit. Dead people's baggage.
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Permalink Reply by Cameron on
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Agreed with the ditching of tradition :)
To me, the biggest part is the decision. If it were a parasitic head, this would be a different conversation. The removal of an actual medical problem is important, especially when it threatens the baby's life. However, the lack of definitive studies and results suggests that it is not a necessary procedure, considering that the majority of men in the world get along just fine with their foreskins.It is much cleaner today, you are right. However, just because it is cleaner doesn't make it less of a problem for the child. A link I provided earlier to the original poster mentions how it is problematic for the doctors to use anesthetics on the infants since they are either dangerous or don't prevent most of the pain. And the kicker is that the child may be more sensitive to the pain at that stage than later on, even if he won't remember it.
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Permalink Reply by Dogly on
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They don't put kids under anesthesia for circumcision. That would be dangerous.
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Permalink Reply by Meg Fields on -
In regards to a baby, my aunt had my cousin and chose not to circumcise but he routinely kept getting infections in that area, so they had him circumcised and it stopped almost immediately. In regards to adulthood my opinion as a female is that circumcised naughty bits look and feel much better than uncircumcised naughty bits. Regardless it's your choice as parents, but I think if you leave the decision up to him no man will ever choose to have part of his naughty bit cut off, better to do it as a baby so they don't remember it.
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