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Here I go getting all controversial again. 
I don’t think I have ever talked about this subject in depth before..other than to say I am opposed to circumcision. But this article about how Denmark is considering a ban on circumcision got my attention.
I have strong feelings on this issue. It is medically unnecessary and it is traumatic for baby boys so I don’t/won’t do it. Well, scratch that… actually I can’t say that I have always felt this way. Let’s just say that when I had my first boy over 8 years ago I did not feel one way or the other about circumcision. I based my decision then on the incredibly dumb idea that my son should look like his father or the other boys in the locker room. I now see is like having my 4 year old daughter go through a nose job or the like so that she can fit in. The idea of a surgical “vanity” procedure on a baby now seems outrageous to me but I didn’t always think so. I didn’t “think” about it at all and that is a shame. And no this is not the same as a cleft palate surgery or a surgery to repair a heart defect…I am talking about a completley NORMAL, functioning body part.
Most all health arguments in favor of circumcision have been debunked. If there are any medical benefits they are tiny…like better hygiene or a the small chance that it may be harder for them to contract STDs. Both of these issues can be resolved with education from the parental units so no need to go cutting off our body parts for that silliness. I believe that the American Academy of Pediatrics now admits that circumcision is an unnecessary procedure. Many insurance companies are no longer covering this procedure either since the medical community has by and large declared it has no medical benefit.
Of course there is also the religious aspect but I find that bogus too. Not religion…just the argument that the pursuit of religious freedom should entail being able to mutilate a human being. Most people feel that female circumcision is heinous and wrong on all levels. There are many organizations that are fighting to stop this monstrous practice and they come up against the religion argument all the time. But I don’t think the religion of the people in Africa should give them a pass to take an eight year old girl and cut off her genitals. Do you? Well, it doesn’t make a difference if it is a boy or a girl. It is cutting off a portion of a very sensitive, sexual organ without any consideration of the child’s wishes and many times without any consideration for pain. Yes, male circumcision is often done without ANY pain medication.
Last year I watched a video at COSI of a circumcision and if you have never seen one actually performed… let me tell you it is one of the most disgusting things I ever saw. I think all parents should be made to sit and watch it if they are considering this procedure. I wish I had seen it 9 years ago.
I won’t even go into the argument that one looks better than the other. It goes back to my nose job argument. Is cutting into your baby so they can meet your standards of beauty acceptable?
On the other hand, foreskin does have a purpose.
The foreskin has three known functions: protective, sensory, and sexual.
During infancy, the foreskin is attached to the glans and protects it from urine, feces, and abrasions from diapers. Throughout life, the foreskin keeps the glans soft and moist and protects it from trauma and injury. Without this protection, the glans becomes dry, calloused, and desensitized from exposure and chafing.
Ultimately I think circumcision is a personal choice that the individual who OWNS that body part should have a say in. They should get to decide if “looks” or the risk of STDs or religious standards, are worth that sacrifice. Here is to keeping our boys in tact and letting them decide. They are worth it.
Check out what Summer had to say about this issue and thanks Summer for tipping me off to this story!
You may also want to read: What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Circumcision: Untold Facts on America’s Most Widely Performed-and Most Unnecessary-Surgery
Also Natural Family Living: The Mothering Magazine Guide to Parenting has a chapter on this subject and why natural, attached parents are saying NO.
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To Andi the RN, thank you for being a great nurse! There needs to be more nurses like you – the ones that wake up and realize everything the medical community does not have to be done to everyone. And that will actually care for patients instead of just obeying doctors orders without a thought.
I am also glad this post is getting good attention. It is an important issue that people need to educate themselves on and not just do because of popularity, vanity, religious obligation, or bad science/studies.
Wow, some excellent points being made here. As for the ear piercing – I don’t agree with piercing a little girls’ ears either. My oldest daughter asked me to have hers pierced at age 5 so we had them pierced, but I would never do that – it’s painful and only for the parent’s pleasure (makes the baby so cute! etc), which is a bit sick in my opinion. Incidentally even though I tried to warn my daughter that ear piercing was painful, she was insistent!
I don’t understand the hygiene argument because the penis is self cleaning like the vagina. It just needs bathing. As for men being mutilated sexually, that’s very true but also his wife will have less pleasure because the intact penis operates differently during intercourse which happens to be more pleasurable to the woman. I won’t go into detail on this PG rated blog but there is plenty of info on anti circ sites.
I’ve also talked to women with intact husbands who agreed.
ITA about ear piercing. My stance was always that I would let my daughter decide if and when to get her ears pierced. My daughter is almost 5 and has declared that she will be getting it done soon despite my being very candid about the pain issue.
Thank you Tiffany for helping educate a new generation of parents on the culturally accepted atrocity of cutting off parts of little boys’ genitals in the U.S.A.
Here is an American male’s response…
The amputation of a male child’s nerve enriched prepuce is a penile reduction surgical procedure that unfortunately still infects our civilized, capitalistic, and so-called “equal rights” society. Not only is the circumcision of male infants and young boys considered a human rights violation by many, it’s a men’s health issue and perpetuates an irrational belief in our country that all little boys are somehow born imperfect or faulty requiring surgical correction of their penises upon birth ! This idea is a sick one and is absurd to not only me, but the vast majority of people on earth.
Evolution and God has perfected the human body making every part sacred, miraculous, useful and functional. Circumcising male children is medically unnecessary, disfiguring, disabling, unnatural, non-Christian, abusive, unethical, painful, and a profit driven surgical procedure confronted by parents of newborn boys in most American hospitals, especially in the mid-western states. It’s a “cure” still in search of an identifiable disease. Most parents have and are given minimal knowledge about the appalling history, unjustifiable reasons, and adverse consequences of circumcision. Many parents and many physicians in America acknowledge the male prepuce as an “extra flap of skin” and are uneducated about its protective, sensory, and essential sexual functions. In my view, all lack common sense and many also lack the courage and intuition to follow their maternal / paternal instinct to protect children from easily avoidable harm, enough said.
I am grateful that the male newborn circumcision rate in America continues to decline with the current rate being about 55-60%. I am also grateful that ALL national and international medical associations do not recommend the practice of routine childhood circumcision for both boys and girls ! I am deeply saddened and vitriolic that many Americans encourage and welcome circumcision surgeries for male children due to parents’ personal preference and ignorance, cultural or societal influence, physicians’ profits, religious dogma, numerous other irrational reasons, or flip of a coin.
My heart goes out to all those mama’s and papa’s who learned too late the adverse consequences of consenting to have their little boys circumcised. I commend them for standing up and spreading the word to end the practice and protect other boys. The regret in their voices is so sincere and painfully heartfelt. Their voices need to be heard to help end the still popular practice of amputating parts of male children’s penises in the 21st century. It is highly probable that in your son’s lifetime the U.S.A.’s 1996 Federal Female Genital Mutilation Act will be amended to protect the genital integrity rights of all little boys too. What a day it will be for rejoice as well as a reflection of sorrow and regret for the millions of males who have undergone genital cutting and unnecessary amputative surgeries without their consent.
I’m glad you spoke on this! I remember when my son was born, circumcision wasn’t even a choice. The doc just scooped my son up and away he went. He didn’t bother to ask me or my husband what our opinions were. But now, things have changed drastically. My girlfriend just recently had a boy and she was given the option and had time to consult with a doctor.
I am glad the times are changing and that an pointless and hurtful procedure is slowly becoming obsolete.
Well said on all aspects. Thank you!
I happen to have two beautiful boys, one is 4 years old, and the other is 1. I opted out of this procedure, although my husband still insists that it is necessary. I say just leave it, it is meant to be there! He says for reasons of hygiene, they need to have this done. Not going to happen. I had to remind him that he was not snipped until he was 9 years old and only because he fell out of a tree and hurt his penis. He said it was the most painful thing having to go to school after his procedure, I refuse to do that to my children. Great topic!
It’s so good to read that people are opting out of this horrible procedure. There is currently a bill that is being submitted to all the US states and federal legislatures. http://www.mgmbill.org/contactus.htm Hey, it’s a long shot but who knows. If anyone would like to contribute, and their state isn’t listed, contact the comments@mgmbil.org and volunteer.
There is also an effort to get more states to drop medicaid funding. If you want to help with that contact NOCIRC http://www.nocirc.org.
Thanks for contributing this different perspective on circumcision to Take Charge of Your Health Care Carnival.
If parental rights don’t include sexual abuse, why should they extend to the amputation of sexual tissue? When I look at the horrid ring of scar tissue around my penis, and the mishmash of inner and outer skin crushed together, I recoil in horror. Why was this done?
Circumcision persists because of its powerful psychosexual effect on both men and women. It’s a cycle of sexual abuse and violence that is passed from one generation to the next under the cover of culture, religion, or medicine . Understandably, many parents who make the decision to cut sexual tissue from their children, male or female, have to justify what they did using whatever reasons are given to them by their society and their doctors, even when those reasons are absurd, e.g. cleanliness, fear of cancer, fear of masturbation, “infections”, etc. Would you cut the skin from around your daughter’s clitoris? After all, it would have exactly the same potential future benefits: vulvar cancer is just as common as penile, and just count the number of “feminine hygiene” products in your grocery store or pharmacy.
We did not cut off part of our son’s penis. May the genital mutilation end with my generation.
I just wanted to say that this is a great topic! I’m very grateful to everyone who gave educated opinions on the subject. These posts made for a great read and a very nice conversation between my husband and I.
Firstly, my husband is 29 years old and is an intact male. Not once in his life has he ever had any sort of penile infection. His comment was “It is not hard for a parent to teach their son the proper way to clean themselves.”
Boys, and girls (as some have said), are not ignorant and can fully grasp the importance of cleaning their bodies to prevent illnesses and complications. It is the parent’s role to impart this hygiene onto their child as much as washing their hands after going to the bathroom and brushing their teeth to prevent dental problems.
On a side note, to #48 PolkaDotMommy, I am not happy that my mother chose to pierce my ears as a baby. No, I do not remember the pain. However, as I grew up both holes are now noticeably uneven. I also suffered from earlobe infections as a child because of a sensitivity to not only metals but plastics. I wish she had waited for me to decide for myself.
Wonderful blog! Yes it is a personal choice, HIS choice. Every person regardless of sex, culture, race, religion, nationality, or age has the right to a normal genitalia. People don’t understand that most female circ removes only the clitoral hood, which is exactly the same tissue that becomes the foreskin on a boy in the womb. The female and male sex organs are actually quite similar in composition and functions. The tissues in the foreskin are highly-vascular, nerve dense, and actually have muscle fibers too. It is extremely functional, even more functional than the foreskin of a girl, yet you can’t even so much as prick the privates of a baby girl in our country. Boys deserve equal protection under the law. Thank goodness circumcision is on the decline. I can only hope it will one day become another barbarity left to history. One day all boys will have the choice over their most private area of their bodies but until then we need to speak out. Please keep speaking up for these precious babies who are strapped down and mutilated everyday in our country. THANK YOU!
Thank you for such a well thought out blog post. A person’s body should be his to do what he wants with. If he decides to get surgery on his penis at age 18 that’s his decision, but it should not be the parents decision. It’s not ok to take away someone’s basic human right to bodily integrity, whether that person is male or female. Performing painful and unecessary surgery on infants is an issue that we as a society need to really re-examine and rethink. Some forms of female genital mutilation cut off the clitoral prepuce which translates to the foreskin in males. It is literally the same surgery just a different name :female genital mutilation.” Lets call circumcision by it’s true name “male genital mutilation.”
Intact male 33 years w/out a single problem. I thank my parents and their wise doctor for leaving me intact.
40,000 nerve endings in my foreskin, the natural protection of my glans and the ability for my foreskin to glide back and forth during sexual intercourse means I’m at my default level of maximum sexual sensitivity.
http://www.sexasnatureintendedit.com/
“Top Ten (10) Ways Circumcised Male Sex Hurts Women!”
Circumcision offers a lifetime of health, medical and sexual benefits. At least one third of uncircumcised males will develop a condition requiring medical intervention. This means degrees of suffering and possibly death. In contrast, circumcision can prevent or greatly reduce the risk of these medical conditions. The surgical risk with a modern circumcision is extremely low, while the functional outcomes are excellent. Male circumcision also offer considerable medical and sexual benefits to a female partner by reducing her risk of suffering, disease, medical treatment and premature death.
CircInfo aka industry rep…if all you say is true then I am sure that full grown men will sign up in droves when it is their choice to get circed. When they are a baby they cannot make that choice and it is not right for someone else to make it for them.
I’m glad Denmark is going to ban circumcision and hope the rest of the world will protect girls and boys as well.
CircInfo = hallmarks of a person w/ a ‘circumfetish’ (getting sexually stimulation over circumcision)… like those on the cut-happy Circlist website.
A history of “reasons” for circumcision throughout history:
http://www.icgi.org/2007/04/medicalization-of-circumcision-an-online-slide-show/
“Circumcision once considered a cure for blindness, deafness, dumbness.” Most shockingly: “Circumcision once considered a way to prevent Black men from raping White women.”
Alex:
Circumcision was considered a cure for blindness, deafness, dumbness and so forth because it was believed that those ailments were caused by masturbation and it was believed that circumcision would stop masturbation in all but the most hard-core evil boys.
As for the black men raping white women … well, that’s just pure ignorant bigotry. There is a cure for that, but it involves cutting off the big head, not the little one.