To cut or not to cut...

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

When studying philosophy, I had the opportunity to really dig deep into this subject, and I'm very passionate about it.

Like cutting off the ####### with a piece of glass, known as Pharaonic circumcision, cutting off part of the ####### of a newborn child is about as cruel as it gets and thus genital mutilation. Before you do something so horrifying like this, read about guys, many of them Jews, who have been circumcised as children and today feel like rape victims. Getting parts of your body cut off because your parents liked the idea is different from making an informed decision as an adult.

http://www.norm-uk.org/circumcision_psychological_effects.html

http://med-fraud.org/medical_fraud__and_the_criminal_24.htm

[Golden Gate 530]

I used to have a friend at work who's brother needed to have his removed as an adult ( mostly because he was a pig when it came to hygiene) That is not something any adult male should have to go through. My own sons are cut, when my husband has sons I guess we will discuss it. Personally I don't care

Wow, so I am curious, then, if he could say whether he had more sensation before than he does now or if there really is no difference. I mean, once he healed...

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Wow, so I am curious, then, if he could say whether he had more sensation before than he does now or if there really is no difference. I mean, once he healed...

So the story goes that the foreskin act as a shield to the ####### head being touched by clothing and then when you get an erection and the head is no longer covered it isn't used to the sensation of something touching it so it feels "new" once you no longer have this then your ####### gets touched all the time by your underwear and becomes more immune to the sensation of something touching it. But I wonder if the foreskin itself isn't a form of touching. Maybe the best option would be being cut and wearing really loose clothing so nothing touches it at all.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

So the story goes that the foreskin act as a shield to the ####### head being touched by clothing and then when you get an erection and the head is no longer covered it isn't used to the sensation of something touching it so it feels "new" once you no longer have this then your ####### gets touched all the time by your underwear and becomes more immune to the sensation of something touching it. But I wonder if the foreskin itself isn't a form of touching. Maybe the best option would be being cut and wearing really loose clothing so nothing touches it at all.

The theory goes more like this:

The foreskin covers the #######, which protects the head. The head is then highly sensitive when the foreskin is retracted (as happens when entering the #######). You might guess what happens next.

Men who are circumcised do "lose" sensitivity around the head of the ####### due to it abrading against their clothing and being exposed while bathing. What this tends to do however, is help them last longer during intercourse.

[TBoneTX 43,058]

Two men, strangers to each other, are in an airport restroom, peeing into a trough urinal. The guy on the right glances at the guy on the left and says, "You're Jewish, right?" The guy on the left says, "Why, yes, I am!" They continue peeing.

The guy on the right says, "And you're from Chicago, right?" The guy on the left says "Why, yes! How did you know?" They continue peeing.

The guy on the right says, "And your rabbi is Rabbi Schwartz, right?" The guy on the left is completely amazed. "Why, yes, he is! We've never met before, but you seem to know all about me -- how is that?"

The guy on the right says, "You know how Rabbi Schwartz cuts on the bias?" "Yes," says the guy on the left.

"You're peeing on my leg."

[JoannaV 173]

Effective medicine needs to balance preventive, curative, and palliative care. Preventive care has to be based on an objective look at the risks and benefits. Should we cut or should we clean? Does my son really need his risk of having a UTI as a young child reduced from lower than that of my daughter to even lower? It might be better to schedule him for an appendectomy.

[wendie and sam 4]

this is a strange topic for me to see on these message boards but I couldn't resist!

Last year I was working with the Centers for Diesease Control and Prevention in Africa on HIV/AIDS and I was amazed by the amount of information out there about prevention of transmission of HIV through male circumcision. I was even more amazed by the number of adult or young adult men who were getting it done in rural areas of Africa because of the public health prevention messaging around HIV transmission.

I can't really give an opinion either way but I can say some of the men I heard from while in Africa said they made the decision to do it for their own health and safety and it wasn't traumatic. (if I were them I would have been traumatized...lol)

[Justine+David 218]

Learned about that in nursing school way back in the day and I dunno--it doesn't figure with me. You are only *less* likely to get HIV if you are circumcised, however, it's not in totality. If you continue to have unprotected sex in a population known to have such a high rate of HIV, sooner or later you will get it. Maybe not as soon as the uncircumcised chap, but still.

[Becky&Steven 1]

I have more guy friends that are sorry their parents got them cut than friends that are happy their parents cut them. there are entire websites dedicated to men trying to restore their foreskin by 'stretching'. it's sad. I'd rather my 'hypothetical' son make his own decisions when he's older and can have control over his own body. it's not my body and it's not my choice. same would go for ear piercings and any other body mods. personally, having had past relationships with cut vs uncut men - I'm VERY happy my fiancé is intact.

food for thought:

by cutting baby boys, are we releasing ourselves from teaching our children good hygiene?

why do we find it socially acceptable to mutilate a baby boy's genitalia, but not a baby girl's?

-

for any of you that are adamantly for circumcising boys, you should go out there and research the foreskin (restoration, parents that wished they hadn't, etc)

Edited February 12, 2011 by Becky&Steven

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

for any of you that are adamantly for circumcising boys, you should go out there and research the foreskin (restoration, parents that wished they hadn't, etc)

I don't think I see anybody in the thread who is "adamantly" in favor of it.

[newlyweds2010 208]

In certain countries they prohibit cutting off pieces of ears and tails to dogs, but it's still permitted to mutilate a baby for no reason.

This thing of it being cleaner sounds like bs to be, because otherwise we would have to cut off our ears to prevent earwax formation. Unless there is a medical condition, I think it's just wrong to do it.

[KaiserD 12]

I figured my husband would know more about it than I would, so I let him choose for our son. He decided to go for it, so we did. I probably shouldn't volunteer any more information beyond that because I think he'd prefer I didn't lol

[david'sgirl 134]

David and I are thinking about having kids in the next few years and while talking to my Dad about it, he was surprised and a bit disgruntled when I told him that we would not be circumcising any male children that we have. It got a little heated and I left the conversation quite put out. David would never think about it and I take care of sick babies for a living--no way could I ever stand to do it.

It fascinates me that most American men are cut yet the opposite is true of the rest of the world's men. Any of you folks out there have male children? Do you/did you plan to circumcise? Did you run across any resistance or ridicule on either side? That is, assuming that you broadcast your choice to the world

I am a nurse and discussed it with several physicians. There is no convincing medical argument for circumcision and it is a surgery which is not without risks. If we began to circumcize female babies people would rush to stop the barbaric practice yet they willingly chop off the end of thier newborn son;s #######. My son;s father wanted to do it so they would look the same. I found no logic in that argument. His father is a carpenter so I said ok, if you slice off the tip of your finger at work do we do the same to the baby so you look the same? My child is intact as nature intended. Do your research. Don't let anyone else decide for you what is right or safe for your child.

In certain countries they prohibit cutting off pieces of ears and tails to dogs, but it's still permitted to mutilate a baby for no reason.

This thing of it being cleaner sounds like bs to be, because otherwise we would have to cut off our ears to prevent earwax formation. Unless there is a medical condition, I think it's just wrong to do it.

I could not agree more!

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

We allow people to mutilate their bodies for any number of vain reasons. They tattoo pierce and nip and tuck and suck themselves to their hearts content. We could go into a huge argument on if the foreskin is a functional body part or a evolutionary vestige that will wither away in time. Just like pieced ears , style comes and goes.

[Justine+David 218]

^^ totally true, but generally those folks are at least 18 years old and can make their own decisions. Those that are being circumcised as infants have NO say in this permanent act.

except the moms who pierce their 2 month old's ears... had a kid come in last week to our unit who had an infection from said pierced ears and got pretty sick...

Edited February 14, 2011 by Justine+David