Circumcision: Yea or Nay

Oh hush! Everyone should be able to practice their religious beliefs until it infringes on someone else's rights.

 

Isn't circumcission infringing on the rights of the child? DOes he choose to have it done?


OH, and btw, keep the religion in the religion threads.

 

No, it's not infringing because the child is under the guardianship of his parents.

 

I am circumcised and glad. It looks better.

Man, once I saw my uncle's bys mistake and... nightmares! It looked like a freakin' worm.

Second, all my girls as well as many women whom I have talked to have told me that it feels better with a circumcised man than a man who still has all that extra skin.

And while true that it is no longer an issue of health as once thought, it still a hassle to have to clean that, making sure you have nothing under that flap.

When you are circumcised, it's quick and easy. Soap and a quick up and down rub and lather, and BOOM. Clean.

And it just looks cooler. When I was 5 years old, I used to think I had a little Darth Vader attached to my body.

 

"And it just looks cooler. When I was 5 years old, I used to think I had a little Darth Vader attached to my body."

LOL!!!!

But anyways, don't uncircumcised and circumcised ones look the same when they're erect?

 

I'm circumsized and as far as I know most everyone I know is too. Here in backwter U.S.A. it's seen as weird if you're not. I'll probably have my son circumsized, just because that's what socially acceptable.

 

sott, clearly you don't know about it... It's not like we have to clean any differently than you. Same thing.

 

Speaking as someone who can remember well enough what it's like to be circumcized and what it's like to not be circumcized, I can tell you right now that having a circumcized penis is the better deal.

I had it done when I was 8 for medical reasons...

DISCLAIMER: IT WAS SO PAINFUL I THOUGHT I HAD DIED ON THE OPERATING TABLE AND WAS BURNING IN HELL

*ahem*

...and while I realize that it is possible to avoid infection altogether (my luck just sucks I guess), the penis is still an organ of considerably lower manteniance if you're circumcized.

It's like paying for braces. Did I ever really need them? No. But if it could potentially mean less hassle for me to deal with in the future, then why not?

 

I'm gonna start a "Whip yer earlobes off" cult, where I cut that useless bit of skin on the bottom of your ears off every kid that gets born.

The kids will be under the guardianship of adults so it won't be child abuse. Or will it?

 

and just like braces, for 99% of the population they are entirely cosmetic in purpose.

 

I think you're using the word "entirely" a bit too loosely there.

 

My uncle told me that he has to clean under the flap too. Isn't that some extra reaching?

I rather not reach. I rather just do a quick up and down with the soap.

 

Oooooookay. We a heading rapidly into TMI territory here.

Too Much Information!

 

I never have

 

Why does a knight carry his sword in a sheath? So it stays sharp when he needs to use it.

Do you want to go into battle with a sword that's dulled from exposure, or one that's sharp and ready for action?


As for the hygiene issue, small children don't like to clean behind their ears but we don't chop off their ear lobes to make it easier (unless Uruk-hai gets his way), we teach them how to clean behind their ears. Honestly, is that a part of the anatomy that young boys (or men) have a problem paying enough attention to?


Culturally, I can't say anyone ever made fun of me for being "all I can be". Personally, I never once thought that there was something wrong with me for having a foreskin, but I wondered why those boys who were cut had their's pulled back. It never occured to me that someone would have cut it off.


A final thought to keep in mind, the reason circumcision became popular in America is that it was encouraged as a way to reduce the male sex drive because it reduced the sensitivity of the penis. Hygiene was an afterthought, if it was considered at all. W. K. Kellogg (the Corn Flakes guy) was a leading proponent of the practice, rent The Road to Wellville if you want to see what kind of a freak Kellogg was.

I believe one of the main reasons the practice continues is because male doctors and fathers don't want to think that a procedure was performed on them when they were just days old, and the result of that practice made all the great sex they've ever had about 10 times less enjoyable than it would have been had the operation not been performed. They justify it by saying "I don't want my son to be a freak", or "it's done for hygiene".

If complications do arise, being circumcised at an older age will leave greater mental scars than infant circumcision. Using that rationale, why don't we remove babies' appendices and tonsils while we're at it?

 

I would think that after being ripped from a cozy comfortable 98 degree uterus, having the only source of nutrition you've ever known cut away, and being slapped on the back until you started crying, you're gonna be cranky and uncomfortable for a few days anyway. You certainly don't remember any of THOSE traumas further down the road, so I doubt that circumsision would really come back to haunt you either. It certainly doesn't bother me.

 

You'll find uncircumcised men more common in Europe because of the Jewish/Christian problems in WWII where Jews were distinguished by a circumcised penis.

In America it mainly stems from the Christian background in the country.

However, being uncircumcised will give a man more sexual pleasure than an circumcised man since the circumcised man wears down the nerves on the head of the penis. The foreskin also protects the glands of the penis.

Both circumcised men and uncircumcised men have the same amount of problems - botched circumcisions are way more common than penile cancer.

I firmly believe that the man should have his choice at the appropriate age whether or not he wants to be circumcised; just as the girls of Africa should have the choice.

 

From a girls perspective, it uncircumsized looks funny. But not funny to the point where little kids would make fun of it. Funyn as in, huh, that's, different.

 

I firmly believe that the man should have his choice at the appropriate age whether or not he wants to be circumcised

It's less traumatic when it's done when they're just days old. You don't remember. But when it's done when you're older, it's more painful and you'll remember for sure.

From a girls perspective, it uncircumsized looks funny. ... Funyn as in, huh, that's, different.

Different is just a matter of perspective. What's different in one country would be normal in another.

 

From a girls perspective, it uncircumsized looks funny.

Try telling that to my wife.

 

There are valid medical reasons to do it--secretions below the foreskin, and a possible link to penis cancer, for example. I'm surprised, however, to learn that it's majority practice over in the US. Here (England) it is very uncommon.

Circumcision isn't really that unpleasant. It's tender for a few days, and immediately after it may hurt badly if touched, but in a short time it heals leaving only scabs.

 

Well, I'm not male, so I obviously can't speak with great authority on this subject, but I have heard some truly disturbing aspects of circumcision.


? Circumcision denudes: Depending on the amount of skin cut off, circumcision robs a male of as much as 80 percent or more of his penile skin. Depending on the foreskin's length, cutting it off makes the penis as much as 25 percent or more shorter. Careful anatomical investigations have shown that circumcision cuts off more than 3 feet of veins, arteries, and capillaries, 240 feet of nerves, and more than 20,000 nerve endings. The foreskin's muscles, glands, mucous membrane, and epithelial tissue are destroyed, as well.

? Circumcision desensitizes: Circumcision desensitizes the penis radically. Foreskin amputation means severing the rich nerve network and all the nerve receptors in the foreskin itself. Circumcision almost always damages or destroys the frenulum. The loss of the protective foreskin desensitizes the glans. Because the membrane covering the permanently externalized glans is now subjected to constant abrasion and irritation, it keratinizes, becoming dry and tough. The nerve endings in the glans, which in the intact penis are just beneath the surface of the mucous membrane, are now buried by successive layers of keratinization. The denuded glans takes on a dull, grayish, sclerotic appearance.

? Circumcision disables: The amputation of so much penile skin permanently immobilizes whatever skin remains, preventing it from gliding freely over the shaft and glans. This loss of mobility destroys the mechanism by which the glans is normally stimulated. When the circumcised penis becomes erect, the immobilized remaining skin is stretched, sometimes so tightly that not enough skin is left to cover the erect shaft. Hair-bearing skin from the groin and scrotum is often pulled onto the shaft, where hair is not normally found. The surgically externalized mucous membrane of the glans has no sebaceous glands. Without the protection and emollients of the foreskin, it dries out, making it susceptible to cracking and bleeding. (These emollients also help lubrication during intercourse.)

? Circumcision disfigures: Circumcision alters the appearance of the penis drastically. It permanently externalizes the glans, normally an internal organ. Circumcision leaves a large circumferential surgical scar on the penile shaft. Because circumcision usually necessitates tearing the foreskin from the glans, pieces of the glans may be torn off, too, leaving it pitted and scarred. Shreds of foreskin may adhere to the raw glans, forming tags and bridges of dangling, displaced skin.

? Circumcision disrupts circulation: Circumcision interrupts the normal circulation of blood throughout the penile skin system and glans. The blood flowing into major penile arteries is obstructed by the line of scar tissue at the point of incision, creating backflow instead of feeding the branches and capillary networks beyond the scar. Deprived of blood, the meatus may contract and scarify, obstructing the flow of urine.

? Circumcision is unhygienic and unhealthy: One of the most common MYTHS about circumcision is that it makes the penis cleaner and easier to take care of. This is not true. Eyes without eyelids would not be cleaner; neither would a penis without its foreskin. The artificially externalized glans and meatus of the circumcised penis are constantly exposed to abrasion and dirt, making the circumcised penis, in fact, more unclean. The loss of the protective foreskin leaves the urinary tract vulnerable to invasion by bacterial and viral pathogens.
Even after the wound has healed, the externalized glans and meatus are still forced into constant unnatural contact with urine, feces, chemically treated diapers, and other contaminants.

Female partners of circumcised men do not report a lower rate of cervical cancer, nor does circumcision prevent penile cancer. A recent study shows that the penile cancer rate is higher in the US than

 

...not just the look.

Man, Bithy sure is obsessed with weenies.

 

Great, now no one is going to take my post seriously.

 

Uh-huh...so, uhh, you're like, uh, an expert, on uh....wee-wees

Snowdog, you've got yourself a real winner there!