Circumcision: Positive or Negative?

[Aquitaine]

so we shouldnt allow parents to make any decision on behalf of their children?

We shouldn't allow parents to make irreversable mutilations of their children's genitals or other part of the body, for any reason other than a sound medical one. That is all.

I also believe no parent should influence their children's religious outlook but that's another issue.

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

Some say male genital mutilation decreases sexual pleasure.

 

[Aquitaine]

Some say male genital mutilation decreases sexual pleasure.

Obviously I can't say because I've never been circumcised, but I can tell you now I bet it hurts the guys who have 'cause a significant part of their protective forskin is missing.

EDIT: I'm not talking about sex here by the way, just the fact that regardless, a significant part of their protective forskin is gone.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I think it should be banned except for medical or religious purposes.
As for the aesthetics crowd, it would cause quite a scene to have any other body modifications done to them. Some people even get worked up over piercing an infant girl's ears. So why is it acceptable to cut off a baby's foreskin? They cannot consent, and should be able to like any other body modification.

 

[Aquitaine]

I think it should be banned except for medical or religious purposes.

As for the aesthetics crowd, it would cause quite a scene to have any other body modifications done to them. Some people even get worked up over piercing an infant girl's ears. So why is it acceptable to cut off a baby's foreskin? They cannot consent, and should be able to like any other body modification.

You know people who pierce their infant's ears?!

Jeez! I've honestly never met anyone who would, and I'd never understand why anyone would.

But other than that, I agree with everytihng you said bar the bold section.

 

[JMorris]

You know people who pierce their infant's ears?!

Jeez! I've honestly never met anyone who would, and I'd never understand why anyone would.

But other than that, I agree with everytihng you said bar the bold section.

here in Texas alot of the Hispanics seem to do that.

 

[Aquitaine]

here in Texas alot of the Hispanics seem to do that.

We've both spent way too much time on today RF xD

Also, that's gross. Sometimes I wonder if people should have to apply for a licence in order to have children

 

[JMorris]

We've both spent way too much time on today RF xD

Also, that's gross. Sometimes I wonder if people should have to apply for a licence in order to have children

well again, i dont see much harm in it. if i were to have a daughter i wouldnt do it, but i dont see anything wrong with another person doing it.

 

[Aquitaine]

well again, i dont see much harm in it. if i were to have a daughter i wouldnt do it, but i dont see anything wrong with another person doing it.

Again, we'll have to agree to disagree on this. I don't mind others letting their teenage children getting it done, just not forcibly done on consentless infants - it's not thier body and it serves no actual purpose other than the aesthetic desires of the parent.

 

[averageJOE]

I am an uncircumsised male and I'm glad for it. Truth be told, nobody really knows the reasons for it. Medical reasons are inconclusive and religious reasons are absurd. More often than not people do it because they think it's something that supposed to be done, and thats it. And I would bet money that the practice of circumcision is on a decline, but I could be wrong. I believe it to be an risky and unneccessary procedure.

Also, I truley and honesly beleive that there should be a new law about it. A law stating that the decision of circumcision should be the fathers choice and the fathers choice only. It should never be a womans decision. I don't believe a woman should have the right to dictate how a penise should look. It should be a man's decision, the fathers decision. And if there is no father in the picture the decision should fall on the grandfather, or if not, it just dosen't get done. Period.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Neither did I. Then, when my son was 5, his foreskin started growing shut, making urination extremely painful. He had to be circumcized because of it.

I don't know anymore.

That sounds like a case of real medical need, but it's not what's going to happen to the vast majority of uncircumsized boys.

Circumcision cuts STD risk, major study finds - Men's health- msnbc.com

Circumcision May Reduce Risk of Herpes, HPV

I'm not sure if you saw the study I linked to in the other thread, but apparently, the difference in risk for HPV/cervical cancer isn't statistically significant for low-risk couples (no intercourse before age 17, no contact with prostitutes, no other "high risk" sex).

During World War II both the American and Australian armies encouraged routine circumcision on the grounds that proper hygiene was too difficult in battlefield conditions. In everyday life, it shouldn't be much of a problem.

Even in battlefield conditions, I'd say that the hygiene benefits of circumcision would be much, much less than keeping everyone's heads shaved bald (to prevent lice), and the risk of an unhygienic foreskin would be much, much less than, say, athlete's foot.

 

[Smoke]

As for the aesthetics crowd

As for aesthetics, I don't see where cut is any more aesthetically pleasing than uncut anyway.

 

[dust1n]

Parents make decisions of great import for their children all the time. Should a child be vaccinated? Have a tonsillectomy? Be taken to Africa with its missionary parents? Be brought up as a Muslim or a Catholic or a member of whatever other religious society the parents favor?

On a realistic scale of things, I'd say that twelve years at Pensacola Christian Academy is just as irreversible as circumcision, and far more likely to cause lasting harm.

Being from Pensacola and knowing their reputation, I would have to agree with that on every level possible.

 

[MSizer]

You bunch of chauvenists. Has nobody thought about the women yet? Many young Somali girls should have much to say I think on the topic of circumcision. (man that disgusts me)

 

[Mr Cheese]

FYI: the emdical studies that are PRO removing foreskin are problematic and are thought today to be garbage by many.

Reasons include:
Poor and small test samples (mainly small amounts of African males, in Africa)
The tests and studies were not actually finished
There is no huge outbreak or epidemic of penile cancer as purported or mentioned by said studies
Cleanliness is of course a real issue....but only amongst men that actually refuse to wash themselves. Then perhaps, there is a reason to chop it off. maybe American men hiostorically have been unable to wash themselves?

Of course this is not to mention the possible loss of sensation (removal is like removing an eye lid, surprisngly,. thigs "dry" up), this in turn is also annexed by the fact that the foreskin has an incredible amount of nerve endings...men don't have clitoruses....why remove the one bit that helps us even in a tiny amount, approach the sensation and nerve sensitivity of a clitorus?

Actual loss of penis length, glans removal does occur....

There is no real need to circumcize, unless there are childhood problems...

 

[Ardipithecus]

I'm very ignorant about the subject. Will somebody enlighten me?

Genital mutilation male and female children is barbaric. It was started for very irrational superstitions. When I lived in Africa I saw the horrors on the faces of children facing genital mutilation. It is a perversion and abomination. People performing such horrible assaults, should be punished by total castration. I think this is an example of an intuitively cruel barbaric act on a defenseless child.

Ardipithecus

 

[Storm]

OK, I've got to say that while I'm far from a proponent of circumcision, comparing it to Female Genital Mutilation is ridiculous.

The female equivalent to circumcision is removal of the clitoral hood. The male equivalent to FGM would be complete removal of the genitalia.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Of course this is not to mention the possible loss of sensation (removal is like removing an eye lid, surprisngly,. thigs "dry" up), this in turn is also annexed by the fact that the foreskin has an incredible amount of nerve endings...men don't have clitoruses....why remove the one bit that helps us even in a tiny amount, approach the sensation and nerve sensitivity of a clitorus?

Actual loss of penis length, glans removal does occur....

Right - circumcision is surgery. There are risks associated with it. I think the relevant question when considering circumcision isn't so much whether circumcision provides benefit, it's whether circumcision provides enough benefit to outweigh the associated risk.

AFAICT, for routine circumcision, the answer to the first question is "inconclusive", which means that the answer to the second question is "no".

 

[Ardipithecus]

Complications, risks, adverse effects of circumcision

Is over 200 medical studies on complications enough to prove a point????

EL-BAHNASAWY REPORTED THAT CIRCUMCISION IS THE MOST COMMON FORM OF PENILE INJURY.

Ablation of the Penis
Adhesions (see also Treatment of Phimosis)
AMPUTATION OF THE PENIS
Anesthesia.
Apnea
Bleeding
Balanitis Xerotica Obliterans (BXO) secondary to circumcision
Botched Circumcisions
Buried, Concealed, and Hidden Penis
Cancer, post-circumcision
Chilling
Chordee
Circulatory Complications
Clamp Complications
Death
Denudation of the penile shaft
Emesis
Use of EMLA Anesthetic Cream
Erotosexual complications
Impotence
Infections
Keloid Formation
Lack of Anesthesia.
Lymphedema
Miscellaneous Complications
Penile Ischemia
Phimosis (see also Treatment of Phimosis)
Complications from use of Plastibell Circumcision Device
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Psychological Complications
Ritual Circumcision
Ruptured Bladder
Skin Bridges
Sub-cutaneous mass
Urethral Fistula.
Urinary Retention
Urinary Tract Infection
Venous stasis
Vomiting

Complications, risks, adverse effects of circumcision

Ardipithecus

 

[Storm]

That sounds like a case of real medical need, but it's not what's going to happen to the vast majority of uncircumsized boys.

I know. Still, I wish now that I had just done it when he was a baby.