Poll: What do you think about circumcision?

[Jadak]

Just go ask someone who's not cut, if he'd consider doing it to himself. I'm guessing he'll say no.

Speaking as someone who's not cut, you'd be guessing wrong. Although I imagine you are likely correct for most. I've certainly considered it but likely never well due to the plain and simple fear of anything sharp going "down there" that isn't strictly necessary, and due to not wanting to deal with getting used to the change.

But, if I could go back now and weigh in on my parents decision? Yeah, I wish they'd had it done. Not because of any medical reasons, or whatever meaningless arguments about sensation, pleasure potential and what have you, but simply because I know it had a negative impact on my self esteem growing up.

I don't really know why, as it's not like all the local kids got together, compared dicks and I was the odd one out. In fact, I have no recollection of any events that would explain why I thought of myself as different, as I had no means of comparison on that front. But regardless of the reason, somehow I got the idea in my head at a young age that the foreskin wasn't a normal thing, and it was fairly close to highschool before I realized that that wasn't true at all.

Anyways, that's just me though, and while unfortunate is not necessarily a common experience, and likely even less so in parts of the world where circumcision isn't the norm. So that personal background aside, I also wish it had been done simply because I think it looks better. And let's face it, to the common guy, most of this boils down to little more than wanting to be as proud as possible of what we've got on display when we drop our pants, and I find that much harder to manage with the silly looking flap of skin on the end.

Now, what it really comes down to... Sure, I'd wish it'd been done with me, but that's not going to be changing, so.. Would I do it to my own son if I have one? I don't know. In theory, I'm against it. Better looking or not, I still feel as if it's an unnecessary mutilation. But can I stick with that opinion knowing full well the times in my own youth, and even now, that it was a negative influence? I'm not sure.

Odds are I'd just go through with it. Cruel and unusual, maybe. But can't say I know many people who were circumcised as infants and have come to resent it, so I doubt I'd be particularly concerned about it and could at least take comfort knowing that some of my own issues might not be duplicated.

 

[ks1234]

I am SO FUCKING GLAD that I am circumcised... seriously, women like it better, I like it better, less shit to clean, less risk of infection... it's overall pretty amazing.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

When they are older then they can do whatever they want with their penis but until then unless it is for a medical reason like too tight foreskin it should not be done. It causes more problems than it claims to solve in fact I think the only thing it really does is make masturbation harder. Well it does make hygiene easier not that it is difficult to clean to begin with.

I can't remember all the links to studies now but if you want them that bad just find the last thread on circumcision and I'm sure I put them there. Actually on second look this is the most mature iteration of this thread so far as usually by the fifth post we have some idiot saying a not circumcised penis looks weird/like a worm/other random crap.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

There is no medical justification for doing so, and any doctor worth their salt would advise against it.

Any procedure carries inherent risks, and no matter how small the chance, would you risk your baby's health for a mere cosmetic alteration?

 

[Agayek]

Thats Judaism and Islam it was never required in the Christian bible

The Jewish Bible is part of the Christian Bible.

 

[Sethzard]

I don't think that they should, particularly if it's because of religious reasons.

 

[cgaWolf]

what exactly are the medical reasons for cutting the skin?

Technically, slightly lower risk of infections, STDs and cancer from smegma.
All this can be done BETTER by washing your dick (aka. adequate personal hygiene) & practicing safer sex.

There are valid reasons, such as narrowing of the preputial orifice, but that's uncommon.

 

[Rutnier Nodarse]

any chance someone could tell me what is bad about being circumcised? maybe it's just an american thing to be annoyed about it...(not meaning to cause trouble just there doesn't seem to be any debate about it here in europe)

Not just in America, I'm from Cuba and it's kind of a must.


OT: I don't see what's so wrong with the parents choosing whether or not to choose for their child, after all. WHO'S ARSE DID YOU COME OUT OF ANYWAY??

 

[MysticToast]

I'm not entirely sure what my position is, actually. I do have a question though.

Is the circumcision requirement anywhere in the New Testament? Because if it's not, parents don't have any religious reason to do it.

It's in the Jewish Tanakh and in some versions of the Old Testament. I can't speak as to the Christian reasons for it.

I don't want my penis looking like a bagel dog so I say yes.

Seriously?

The Christians use the Old Testament too. The reason I asked was because of the old/new covenant and everything in the Bible.

 

[jawakiller]

It's not a big deal sooooo... Why would anyone have a problem with it?

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

It's perfectly fine, and has positive medical benefits to it. People complaining about male circumcision being abuse are just whining for the sake of being whiney. Why does it matter to you? If you don't want to circumcise your boys, that's fine. But telling lies such as saying it lowers sensitivity (something you can't really measure), is just going too far.

Em aside from making hygiene slightly easier so you don't have to pull back the skin it has no benefits and causes problems like harder penetration and higher proportions of erectile dysfunction.

In fact here we go I wasn't going to look these up but A circumcised penis is one that has had the foreskin cut off. So one with foreskin (how all boys are born) is uncircumcised, while one without it is circumcised. Here's an illustration:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages/19093.htm

When erect they can appear very alike, since the foreskin pulls back.

Circumcision has become less common, though. Circumcision rates were as high as 90% back in the 1960s and 1970s (that's partly why today's adults are so... brainwashed, I supposed you could say, about thinking that circumcision is better) but they have fallen to as low as 14% in some states. Here are the statistics:
http://www.cirp.org/library/statistics/USA/staterates2004/

The USA is the last developed nation doing it to a large number of newborns without religious or medical needs. (Europeans, Latin Americans, Japanese, and most Australians, Canadians, and Asians don't circumcise):
http://www.circumstitions.com/Maps.html

Why?

In a medical study, it was found that females are more likely to hit orgasm with an uncircumcised man:
http://www.healthcentral.com/drdean/408/60750.html

The lubricated foreskin (on the inside... like your eyelids) slides up and down during sex and masturbation to stimulate the head (which is why you don't hear of uncircumcised guys needing lube to masturbate).
http://www.cirp.org/pages/anat/

Studies have found that circumcision reduces sensitivity (this article also mentions how it has lost popularity in the USA in recent times):
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,285532,00.html

And despite being more sensitive, uncircumcised guys still last in the same six minute range (average) that circumcised guys do:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2005.00070.x/abstract;jsessionid=544637F61F0B04BEB5E5038BB769B984.d03t04

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2005.00070.x/abstract;jsessionid=544637F61F0B04BEB5E5038BB769B984.d03t04

Which makes sense, that's how circumcision was promoted in the USA:
http://english.pravda.ru/health/27-03-2006/77873-circumcision-0/

Increases erectile dysfunction rates:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=14979200&dopt=Abstract%7C

If too much skin is removed in circumcision, it can make the penis smaller since the penis needs some skin to expand during an erection:
http://www.drgreene.com/azguide/inconspicuous-penis
http://www.altermd.com/Penis%20and%20Scrotal%20Surgery/buried_penis.htm

Circumcision does not completely stop penile cancer. The American Cancer Society has already confirmed the myth that circumcision = no cancer.
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_2X_Can_penile_cancer_be_prevented_35.asp

If circumcision did stop penile cancer, then penile cancer would not be more common in the USA (most circumcised adults) than in some European nations, where circumcision is not practiced other than for medical/religious reasons.
http://www.circumstitions.com/Cancer.html

And a new study found that circumcision does not reduce your chances to get HIV/AIDS. Unlike other studies, this one was done in a developed nation; the USA.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22096758/

http://www.icgi.org/2010/04/infant-circumcision-causes-100-deaths-each-year-in-us/

 

[CopperBoom]

Well, I seem to have turned out fine (I hope). I can't say I remember, but there's no lasting harm at least.

But is that really enough reason for it?

Yes.
Hell with smegma.

 

[retyopy]

Heh, there are 69 comments. Well, there were.

I got circumcisized, and it hasn't really effect me, so...

 

[WolfThomas]

what exactly are the medical reasons for cutting the skin?

Usually if the patient has suffered from either a phimosis or a paraphimosis, an event where the foreskin gets stuck and there's restriction to the penis, they usually involve some sort of congenital tightness to the foreskin in the first place. They get a circumcision after the event has resolved to prevent it happening again. I first hand had to drive my housemate to hospital after he had a paraphimosis after drunken sex, it wasn't pretty. But they're so rare you really only do a circumcision reactively.

 

[JaredXE]

Actually its true because your cutting of lots of nerves. Say doctors remove nerves in your rm, its going to be less sensitive. You cant measure that, but there is difference becuase the nerves are absent.

Ask any circumcised male that is sexually active if sex is pleasurable to him....he's going to say yes. What exactly is "more pleasurable"? Increased sensitivity would also mean earlier ejaculation, which means sex is quicker. Few men would want this.

What I am trying to get at though is that the only conceivable way to measure a reduction in sensitivity and pleasure is to take an uncircumcised male who is sexually active, then snip his foreskin off and let him have sex. Until that happens, declaring that there is a decrease in pleasure is a fallacy that has never been backed up. I.E. pulled out of people's asses.

Whining for the sake of being whiney? Seriously? It matters to me because my body was mutilated and I had no say in the matter. It matters to me because one of the most personal parts of my body was irreversibly changed without any concern for my opinion on the matter.

Mutilated? Really? Are you suffering a handicap or are deformed in any way? Is your daily life a wreck and a constant trial? No, I doubt it is. Was it done against your will? yes, but then so was your parent's cutting your hair and clipping your nails and getting your immunized and taking you to the dentist, all of which can cause trauma to young children. You can't miss what you never had, and can never get back. So if all you do is complain and don't/can't do anything about it, then you are whining.

[quote/]Again, yes, it has medical benefits, but those benefits are not unique to circumcision: they can be attained in other manners than genital mutilation. You seem to be coming from the viewpoint of, "Yeah, let's mutilate some babies, give me a reason why not." While I am coming from the viewpoint of, "No, let's not mutilate some babies, give me very convincing reasons as to why it should be done."[/quote]
Lets see....I do believe that giving someone a additional protection against catching and transmitting diseases is a good reason. Yeah, condoms do the same thing, but you can't wear two condoms, but you can have a hardened penis that works in conjunction with a condom. Then there are the less tangible benefits. For one, IT'S NORMAL. Yeah yeah, you may argue about how it shouldn't be and an uncut penis is more natural, but please try and remember being in the school gym locker room at shower time. Uncut boys were considered weird. Same goes with most American women. I know many women who consider an uncut dick to be odd and would rather not let one in her. Appearance plays a large part, whether you want it to or not.

I have yet to hear any. And you disrespecting and disregarding people who disagree with you does nothing to validate your opinion, or make me respect it.

Again, if all you are is complaining about something you have no control over and aren't doing anything to fix it, you are a whiner. You have control over your own child, but don't you dare stick your nose into other people's business and tell them what to do with their children. That shows far more disrespect than anything I have written.

 

[annoyinglizardvoice]

I think it's rather silly and most of the so called benefits are completely made up and/or based on out-of-date bigotries.
I do also believe that if an individual has his heart set on having a bi of skin removed from his dick, then there's no more reason to stop him than there would be for any other body modification. This however means that it must be the choice of an informed adult, and should never be done to children.

 

[lRookiel]

Nope, I think it's horrible. Legal child abuse, and whether or not people have religious reasons to do it shouldn't even come into it.

If someone wants to have it done to themselves when they're old enough to decide, fine. If someone wants to forcibly and irreparably mutilate their child, that is not fine, and I don't care what their reasons are.

You sir, need a /thread

here you go!

OT: LOOK ABOVE, that says it for me.

 

[Seives-Sliver]

The parents should decide, because when one is circumcised, it is usually while the child is a baby, or toddler, and they wouldn't remember it. There are also medical reasons, mostly because it's a hygiene issue. Really, it's not like a circumcision will kill a child, and it really doesn't have any negative effects, since when the child grows up, they won't see any benefit to having a foreskin in the first place.