CIRCUMCISION (A sensible discussion)

Hello

I did a check, and have found that circumcision threads have a rather bad reputation, so I urge any posters to be polite and respectful. Thanks.

I'm doing a paper for school about differing social opinions/effects of circumcision and all that (including a study of regional variations).

If you could help me out, I'd really appreciate it. Be as honest as you can.

If male - Are you circumcised?
female - Is your partner circumcised?

Which do you prefer sexually?
Why?

Would you circumcise your son(s)?
If so, why? If not, why not?


If you could add any additional thoughts you have, they'd be appreciated. Also, if you could share any experiences which may be enlightening?

Many thanks.

 

I'm male and uncircumcised. Born in England where it's very uncommon to cut at birth, now living in America.

Obviously I can't asnwer this very well.

I would not circumcise my son at birth. I think it's a barbaric practice because of how much pain it inflicts. It's dangerous to create an open wound on anybody, especially an infant with a weak immune system. I don't think we have the right to unnecessarily take a chunk from someone's body without their consent. The foreskin is helpful in various sexual aspects, including sensitivity, no need for extra lubrication, and the "popping" motion that is caused by the head being pulled inside the foreskin and then pushed back out. The popping action stimulates the g-spot, at least in my gf. Last reason for not cutting is really just a little bit of pride.

However, if the child were to grow up and decide he wanted to be cut, that'd be fine. I would also have no problem doing it at the recommendation of doctors if there was medical necessity.

 

Seamus , a kid died in IReland two years ago from a botched circ - check it on today's Irish news:
http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/1007/igbinediono.html
It's a daft , cruel and bizarre practice - if it were as common amongst females as it is amongst males it would be outlawed outright. (You may note that the fucker got away in thsi case).

 

Thanks for two very helpful replies.

Spasticsofa, I agree with you entirely.

Parnell, thanks for the link. That sure is one depressing story.

 

no prob.

by the way, I spent a month last semester writing about Seamus Heaney for an English class. bleh.

 

i am, and am rather unhappy about the fact that my parents allowed a doctor to mutilate my genitals as an infant without me having any say whatsoever in the matter.

i would never EVER allow any son of mine to be circumsized under any circumstances (other than an unusual medical condition in which the glans is larger than the foreskin will allow for which requires circumcision as a legitimate medical procedure rather than unnecessary surgery) unless they grow up and decide to have it done of their own accord.

circumcision, as i understand it, was not common among the "christian world" once christianity made an almost complete split from its original jewish foundation. it gained favor among non-jewish white dominated societies once again during the victorian age when anything remotely sexual was considered to be a most hideous vice. the foreskin is a natural part of the body which has been developed to help protect the glans (the head of the penis) from the outside world. without the foreskin, the glans, which has the most highly concentrated amount of nerve endings of any part of the male genitalia, and which plays the most important role for male stimulation, is constantly exposed to all sorts of things. rough fabric of pants or underwear constantly rubs against it as you walk, if you aren't wearing clothes it's exposed to the elements, etc. over time, this causes a SIGNIFICANT desensitization of the glans, and decreased sexual pleasure in males. it was reinstituted in the bulk of white society at that point in time as a measure against future masturbation/sin. of course, as we all know, it doesn't cause enough of a desensitization for men to stop seeking sexual pleasure and stop masturbating, but it DOES cause reduced pleasure.

people have made up all sorts of stories about how it's "unclean" or "unhealthy" to be uncircumsized. this may have been true back when bathing more than once a week was considered exceedingly vain, but these days it is the simplest matter to simply thoroughly wash with soapy water in the shower, the foreskin can easily be pulled back to expose the area it protects for cleaning.

circumcision is, in almost all cases, entirely unnecessary surgery which is designed to mutilate and hinder the normal functioning of the genitals, and i consider it extremely barbaric and cruel to force any infant to give up part of his penis to a knife.

anyway, thats what i think of it personally, as you've asked.

now i kind of want to add that this survey is rather poorly designed and will give you information rather hard to work with. you say you want information regarding regional variation, but have not included any questions about where people are from, and you can't count on someone's profile to tell you were they are, and some people's profiles get outdated without updates sometimes. i can say that as i understand it, these days circumcision among gentiles and non-muslims seems to be mostly limited to north america, and possibly the US in specific (i dont know if its as common in canada or mexico) but that as far as i understand very, very few european guys are cut unless their parents have it done for religious reasons or a legitimate medical reason. at least that's what i've heard from most people on here and other places, i certainly haven't known many european guys and haven't checked anyone myself from europe or the us lol

though porn would tend to suggest that the american vs. europe difference tends to hold at least somewhat true....

but if you want anything similar to accurate generalizations you can draw from this kind of research you're going to need to take measures to prevent sample bias (for example, a message board is a good way to reach a lot of respondants at once, but most message boards have a common theme and people of a similar situation, one way or another, tend to congregate there. i'd say that even among americans, people who would be considered "hippies" such as people who come here would likely have fewer instances of circumcision than people at a website for say, orthodox jews or something) because sample bias can throw off survey results quite a bit. for example, a real life study was done "of american women" as to marital satisfaction. the research was done via survey, and showed that (iirc) about 95% of women were unhappy with their marriages, and 5% were satisfied with their married life. but when you look at the sample group, its not shocking that almost all said they were unhappy, its shocking that as many as 5% said they WERE happy with their married life.....to find women to survey, the researchers went to battered women's shelters. if you want any kind of integrity in your research, you'll need a bit more specific of a survey to get the answers you seem to be looking for, and you'll need a better means of distributing it than message boards.

 

Nesta here are 2 things a simple dorsal slit well fix 99% of the most tightest foreskin with out a amputation job. "circumcision" .and as far back in the old days hold very little water. could it a bit foul if we did not take a bath = prob but then you forgot females are far worse and they too did not take a bath on daily case too. sort of like washing your hands before working on a greasy old engine . you did not acomplish much by washing your hands with out gloves . and expect your hands to be clean after working on the engine.

 

Circumsision stimulates zero percent pain if medically treated.

 

What?

 

thats what i'm wondering. those last two posts before you were pretty hard to understand.....funny, i thought the british had invented the language, yet insight's post made practically no sense

 

I know what you mean. Blame it on the poor education system.

I urge anyone who thinks circumcision is OK, and anyone who wants to circumcise their child to follow the link, and watch the video. A warning though, it is deeply disturbing, as circumcision on babies tends to be...

http://www.intact.ca/vidintro.htm

 

i don't know what this guy was saying, but i think he meant if its done medically there is no pain, which is absolute bullshit in its purest form. it may be safer, but theres NO way to cut up a kids genitals and expect it to not hurt. when i had it done it was under a doctors knife, not a clergymen or friend of the family or anything....and i still balled and screamed like a little fucking baby, from what i've been told.

 

Watch the video, and tell me that isn't traumatising. It was so horrible, it actually made me feel sick. The baby screams. I have an intact penis, and seriously, just watching the video was painful. When he snips at the frenulum, I almost passed out. That is the single most painful thing you can do to a man. It is the closest thing to the clitoris we have.

 

nah, i refuse to watch. i know it's disgusting and painful, and i don't want to have to watch or think about it too much more than is necessary, honestly.

 

female - Is your partner circumcised?

yes, he is. i love it. would i love it if it wasn't? dunno, hasn't come up yet.

Which do you prefer sexually? i've only had circumcised, so i can't really say.


Would you circumcise your son(s)? i leave that particular choice to my husband, since he knows far better than i what it's like being a man and about the equipment.

If so, why? there ARE cleanliness and odor issues, as well as those new findings that uncircumcised skin is more vulnerable to the transmission of disease. there's also the guff boys can catch for not being circed and the likelihood within this particular community of getting laid. like i said, i'd pretty much leave that to dave to decide.

 

I'm female, my partner is...

I love it. I've never been with one that wasn't, I like the look of it.

But to be honest, I don't know the difference as I've never even seen an uncut one in real life.

As for getting a son circumcised, I dunno. I would have, but I had no idea people had such negative opinions of it until I read some threads here... I'd have to research it more for myself to make that decision.

 

you defeat your own points - first you say you love it then you say you cant compare it with an uncirc version.

There is only one person who should ever have a choice over chopping off a piece of a sexual organ - the person themselves. If you can't defend that then you have to wonder what the role of a parent as "guardian" really is.

As to your "issues" - compare the STD rates of non circ countries - its BS - and a very poor cop out.

 

me either. i've only ever seen photos and whatnot. but i gotta say, from the looks of things...imo it looks rather unattractive and funky. but i realize thats only an irrational bias due to having seen my mutilated body everyday for the past 20 years and the cultural expectation of circumcision in the place where i live. however, beyond the fact that i think it "looks wierd," it's more natural, and the foreskin serves a definite and good purpose as a body part, it's supposed to be there and by god i'm not going to be responsible for carving up a living child's flesh. while i think they're even on the verge of "ugly," i know deep in my heart that i think it's just plain WRONG to do this to children, and if a person wants it done for cosmetic reasons, whatever, thats fine, but they're going to need to make the decision themselves when they're old enough to give it some thought and make a rational decision. i have no problem with it if it's voluntary. i have a big problem with it when parents do it just for the sake of having it done, because it's expected. i have less of a problem when it's for religious reasons, but i still feel that even if it's for a religious reason at least let the kid have some say in it...wait till he's old enough to know what religion he even believes in!

 

Yes.

No preference. That's just the way the cards fell....

I have 2 sons who are not cut. It's unnecessary, painful, dangerous, mean, etc.

I think it should be regarded as torture and sexual abuse and treated as such by law. If it is so important to some cultures, then the child can wait until he is an adult to decide for himself. And by that, I don't mean consent with a metaphorical 'gun to their head'....

 

I'm circ but I left my son natural. Hey I'm a simple man. If something comes with equipment I keep it. Not the packaging mind you but you know the real parts. I even get pissed when people put after market parts on new cars.