Saturday, January 7

You Know What? I'm Against It.

I'm looking into information about circumcision, just because. Please let me know your opinions on the topic, and your reasons why.

Just so you know, religious reasons will be mostly ignored, as they do not apply to my family (we are not religious by any stretch of the imagination), and "so he looks like his father" excuses will be cold-heartedly shunned (because it's a weak excuse).

If you have any scientific reasons for or not-for, I'd love to hear them. If you have any links handy which explain why it may (or may not be) necessary, please include them. I'd like to read about it.

Thanks!

8 comments:

Miss Wired said...

I'm against it because he is usually more sensitive when he's 100%.

Jess said...

After being with an uncircumsized gent for three years, I have to say I dig the foreskin for the following (non-scientific) reasons:

1. It's prettier with foreskin.

2. It feels nicer. Compare a "massage" to being attacked with a wooden spoon. There you go.

3. It's much easier to play with (I'm not going to get all nasty, thanks).

4. He's more sensitive.

There you go. I think it's all about good hygiene. And, if you torment your child with a scratchy washcloth during his childhood, he'll be more than happy to clean it himself later on. Trust me. I've heard the horror stories.

Sunny said...

Hmm. Seems to me that the threat of cutting parts of a guy's member would normally probably be enough motivation to keep themselves clean.

I don't personally feel like I'm being attacked by any manner of spoon, but I understand what you mean, I think.

Anonymous said...

I'm completely for it. I am rather attached to my foreskin (yeah, that's right, I have one. Why do you think my blog is roboHOOD? Get it?) However, to be perfectly fair to both sides I'll give you pros and cons.

Cons:
1. As allie stated there is a chance that it can become infected and extremely painful. I have had that nearly happen to me as well. If you teach your kid HOW to clean it in a painless way (i.e. NO WASHCLOTHES) he'll start doing it on his own.

2. There is an increased risk of penile cancer later in life.

3. It looks scary when you get old and wrinkly. (Not that scientific, but still a concern.)


Pros:

1. By not circumsizing, the penis keeps more of the nerve endings and is 33% more sensitive than without. (Read that and think "crazy good sex"...)

2. It acts as protection against harm. Ever see "Something About Mary?"

3. It is much smoothier for the ladies and doesn't hurt as much.

Unknown said...

Hey Sunny.

I'm against it. My son is un-circumsized. He's almost 7 and keeps himself clean. I haven't washed it for him in nearly 2 years. We did have a problem with bladder infections for a while, but it turned out that he wasn't taking baths at his dad's house. Cranberry juice took care of them right away.

I didn't have him "cut" because I read about how stressful it is on the babies. Everyone says that they don't feel it, but they do and there is evidence that it can be traumatizing event in their lives.

That said, you've got to do what your comfy with. Most of my son's friends are uncut too and their moms have not mentioned any problems to me. And moms talk about gross stuff... a lot. Eww.

Email me if you want more babble from an "against it" person.

Monkey's Human
Heather

Anonymous said...

If you want truthful accurate information about infant circumcision then go here:

http://www.nocirc.org

IMPORTANT NOTE: TELLING YOUR SON HE HAS TO REGULARLY CLEAN UNDER HIS FORESKIN IF HE'S UNCIRCUMCISED IS NEUROTIC NONSENSE! IT'S JUST AS STUPID AS TELLING YOUR DAUGHTER SHE HAS TO REGULARLY DOUCHE THE INSIDE OF HER VAGINA BECAUSE SHE'S A FEMALE! ROUTINE EXTERNAL WASHING OF THE GENITAL AREA WHILE BATHING OR SHOWERING IS PERFECTLY ADEQUATE TO ENSURE CLEANLINESS WHETHER YOUR CHILD IS A BOY OR A GIRL!

Sunny said...

Thanks for your information, Anonymous. Next time you want to leave a comment, could you please keep in mind that my eyesight is pretty good (20/20, actually) and that I'm actually less likely to take a commenter seriously when they reply to me using all capitol letters? Thank you.

susan said...

I'm agin' it. I'm not sure the supposed hygiene benefits are worth taking a knife to a baby boy's business, when it seems like regular bathing should do the trick. We're all horrified by the genital mutilation of women and little girls in Africa; is this really all that different? (Yes, I know it's different in severity, but at the most basic level, you're cutting off sensitive erogenous tissue either way.)