How do you feel about circumcision?

[Keepeas]

Don't have a penis, not planning on doing it to my future sons either. The whole concept of it as just weirded me right the hell out...

Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction when I heard what it meant...
I mean cut off part of a baby? Who thought that was a good idea?...

I still take a neutral stance though...if others want to chop parts of their children off, go right ahead
.........that came out really REALLY wrong....oh well

 

[General_Potatoes]

I've been circumcised, and you know what.... I don't really care. Although it does look better

 

[Pandabearparade]

If you don't care for it, that's fine, but why so... passionate about this topic?

Because cutting something off of a defenseless infant is kinda fucked up. I know people don't do it with malicious intent, but that doesn't make it right.

 

[Quietus Legion]

Personally I would never get once unless it became absolutely necessary for some reason.

In general I do not oppose it since it does have some medical points to it. For example my youngest son is about to get one due to actual medical reasons (eg. his foreskin is too tight and he gets infections constantly).

However what I DO object is doing it automatically to a baby. Either wait until the person is old enough to decide themselves or if there is an actual reason for it (meaning it makes life more easy/healthy or something like that).

But that's for male circumcision, I don't approve the female version at all (granted I know rather little about it but based on what I do now I oppose it)

 

[TSED]

I'm seeing a theme here. Everyone who's been circumcised approves of circumcision (including myself). Most people who haven't been circumcised are irrationally opposed to it. It's funny how the people who know the least about the topic at hand are the most strongly opinionated on it.

That proves my theory. Humans are afraid of the unknown.

...


I can't help but notice the word "irrationally" slipped in there, in order to dismiss the opposite side.

I read every comment and noticed something different. The most vocal pro-circumcision group seems to be women... who have never slept with an uncircumcized man. There are a number of quick "it's cool with me" comments from circumcized men, but for the most part... Yeah.

Secondly, the most vocal opponents of circumcision are the ones BRINGING OUTSIDE QUOTABLE SOURCES. So, no, thank you very much. We are not "irrationally afraid," we go "YOU ARE PERFORMING INVASIVE SURGERY FOR NO BENEFIT AND TO THE DETRIMENT OF THE BABY! YOU ARE FRIGGING NUTS!" There have also been a number of women who said they prefer their phalluses uncircumcized, but I do believe that no female has come forwards and said "I have tried both of them out and prefer them without the foreskin."

But no, seriously, YOU ARE FRIGGING NUTS. Being able to cope with a mutilated body part is doable, but I'd personally rather be unmutilated and I imagine the majority of the population is with me on that point. I could survive and function in this society if I had a leg and arm cut off, but I'd much rather keep all of my limbs. Hypothetically, if I lost my arm and my leg while I was 3 months old, I couldn't be certain that not having lost them would improve my life... but I can still be reasonably certain that it would.

And to people who are all "why are you so passionate?" That's simple. I believe that the reduction of suffering (long term or short term) is the moral choice. Circumcision adds suffering to the world, net, and this is morally unacceptable to me. To me, pro-circumcizers sound like pro-rapists. "Aww, they don't remember it, how does it hurt them?" "It makes no difference in their sex life." These arguments are absurd, because, as pointed out, they're wrong. WRONG!

TL;DR: NO. STI decrease in circumcision is a myth, you are making awful arguments, YOU ARE WRONG.

 

[Willinium]

It is tradition of the church and as a tradition I will follow it.

 

[AmosMoses]

If it's just about looks then that can be a choice one makes when one is older surely? Later in life you can still cut it off, but you damn sure can't grow it back.

If it's for religious reasons, big no-no, child mutilation for an imaginary sky pixie is even less of a valid excuse that looks.

Health concerns? Well maybe, but I don't think being circumcised or not should change your personal policy on sexual health anyway. Simply cleanliness? Well, I manage to wash my old chap just fine.

I don't think there are any grounds for uniformly performing circumcision at birth.

 

[kazork]

I am against is for the following rules:

Because the top of the penis is no longer protected circumcised man can suffer from:

1. Sexual dysfunction because of lack of feeling.
2. A bend penis because of constant irritation.
3. Erosive eczema(do not now the English word for this one in dutch it is "contact eczeem") because of constant irritation of the head of the penis.


So If the only reason to circumcise is that you do not have to wash your penis that well i rather not circumcise. Also there a lot of country in which a uncircumcised penis is considered pretty.


And the whole mutilating you're child before it can give a opinion.

 

[ecoho]

There is absolutely no reason to.
And fucking aesthetics is NOT a valid reason to chop part of their dick off. Why don't you let them grow up a little and then decide if they want a "better-looking penis".

Though really, I think it should be illegal.

2. I don't remember the pain.
rebuttal: If someone was raped using a roofie, does it matter? Even if they don't remember?

Your logic is equally flawed.

rebuttal: An infant lacks the ability to convert short-term memory into long-term memory. They also heal faster (because they are still growing rapidly) than an adult would. That means that their pain passes more quickly, and is forgotten without becoming a part of their personality.

Whereas rape, even while unconscious, is a terrible and scarring experience due to the feeling of violation. Just knowing you have been raped is terrible, even if an individual can't remember it. Also, even while asleep, an adult brain still records data - it still transfers that data to long-term memory. So even if you're raped in your sleep, part of that experience is retained.

So an infant will truly forget, whereas an adult cannot truly forget. Hence your point is not valid.

See? It still matters. You seem to lack many facts about circumcision by your post above.


Watch that video, it even has sources to back it up.

There is absolutely no reason to.

I'm going to have to disagree with you. There are plenty of medical reasons to have a male circumcised:

http://www.who.int/hiv/pub/malecircumcision/infopack_en_3.pdf

http://www.who.int/hiv/pub/malecircumcision/infopack_en_4.pdf

These are info packets from the World Health Organization, which I think we can agree upon is a reliable source for this kind of information. I'll tell you to read the links if you want a list of all the health benefits of male circumcision but some of the highlights are:

-Decreases the chance of urinary tract infections of babies/children
-Decreased instances of cervical cancer in female sexual partners
-Ease of penile hygiene leading to fewer infections
-Lower rate of sexually transmitted infections
-Lower rate of penile cancer
-Helps prevent the spread of HIV

Now, I will agree that it is a choice, but I don't think that it should be either illegal or mandatory. I personally am very happy my parents had me circumcised.

Look up. If you actually look into it, there are studies that disprove your assumptions and some of those benefits are not actually benefits at all.

ok im sorry i have to call bull shit on you and who ever made that video. at age 25 my grandfather had to be circumcised he was in the hospital for a month and had to have a catheter for another four he said it was the most painful experience in his life(this coming from a man who landed at Normandy on D-day and was shot) the reason you get this done is because the foreskin has a nasty habit of becoming infected and when it does you have two choices
A.take antibiotics and hope to god it doesnt spread or
B. have a circumcision which will be extremely painful for an adult (but is painless as an infant.)
but hey if you dont like circumcision dont do it but please leave the rest of us the FUCK out of you opinion

 

[NoeL]

FTR, I am in total agreement with you. But when you're faced with someone who is feeling like you're calling their manhood defective, emotionally-laden responses like this are liable to occur. So, yeah. Be a bit forgiving here is I guess what I'm trying to say.

I can understand someone not wanting to feel "defective", but even if they disagree on the physical effects of circumcision they should still see the practice for what it is - a permanent, painful, usually voluntary, unnecessarily risky surgical removal of the flesh of a non-consenting individual. People should be opposed to others permanently altering another's body against their will on principle alone.

 

[Cgull]

There is absolutely no reason to.
And fucking aesthetics is NOT a valid reason to chop part of their dick off. Why don't you let them grow up a little and then decide if they want a "better-looking penis".

Though really, I think it should be illegal.

I'm sure this has been quoted many times already with a variety of similarish responses but I thought I may as well have my go as well.

Circumcising babies is a grey area for me, it really is, I'm not going to say that something is wrong because I don't believe in it, I may disapprove but my opinion matters as much to those that choose to do it as much as theirs matters to me - not at all.

To say there's no reason at all is a little close-minded though, there are numerous medical reasons that a child, or adult, would need to undergo the procedure, something I would happen to know about seeing as I am one of those ever so lucky adults. In the interest of keeping this relatively unbiased it wasn't a pleasant experience by any means BUT without it certain elements of my life would be a whole lot worse.

Oh, and any adult that chooses to have it done for aesthetic reasons is, in my eyes at least, a bit of a tool.

 

[WolfThomas]

You lost me...but I'm too tired to play this game anymore. Lets just agree to disagree.

That's fair enough, I wasn't trying to argue simply trying to explain how someone might compare male and female circumcision without it being exaggeration.

 

[ninetails593]

I think what you're all forgetting is just how horrifying an uncircumcised penis looks like. Circumcision isn't "chopping off body parts", it's just a simple, safe procedure, that the baby will never remember. Hell, it makes him more normal.

 

[Dimitriov]

It's ironic how you could completely miss my point then call me an idiot. How is an earlobe biopsy or a tattoo any different to a circumcision? You think people should be allowed to cut off part of their child's penis, so on what grounds do you oppose parents that want to "change" their children in other ways?

The idiot part was because your argument seemed to be "I think this is wrong, therefore it is wrong for everyone."

Whether or not you call it "mutilation" is inconsequential. Semantics. Let's call voluntary surgical biopsies "fun cuts". Happy now?

The "it's my kid" argument DOES NOT EXTEND TO PERMANENT "fun cuts"! So no, I'm not going to leave the rest of you alone - you're permanently "fun cutting" innocent children without their consent, and that is badong.

I didn't miss your point by the way, I just didn't agree: I don't oppose the other things you listed. If you want to tattoo your child or re-shape their earlobes go nuts.

Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realise personal liberty and the right to one's body was a petty world view. Forgive me. -_-!

Well they are petty, but I guess I can forgive you.

I am part of a society that allows male circumcision. I think male infant circumcision is wrong. I am entitled to voice my opinion on the matter, as are you. Don't tell me I can't.

I may have worded that poorly, I for one am more than glad for you to have the freedom to voice your opinion. My issue was that you seemed to want to treat your opinion as if others had to accept it. If you want to say that you think circumcision is wrong, then more power to you.

If on the other hand you want to say it should be made illegal, and want to actively go out and interfere in other people's lives, then I have an issue with it.

 

[Yopaz]

I'm against it for several reasons.
The religious reason, that Jews should be circumcised no matter what. OK, I don't know why this is a part of their religion when according to the bible body mutilation or altering god's creation is considered a sin. Which means circumcision and plastic surgery is a sin.
The baby gets no say in the matter and there are a few adults there who really wish they had never been circumcised.

It is under debate if being circumcised has any perks or downsides which is why I think it shouldn't be done. From what I've heard it will cause pain in the days or even weeks following, but nothing serious. Still, would you cut of your kid's fingertip if it made it look normal or better? Causing pain to a baby who doesn't have a say in the matter is wrong.

To summarize: there are risks, there is one non-confirmed benefit. Though the risk is small the benefit is protection against urinary tract infection which is rare in boys because of the lenght of the urinary tract.

 

[sukotsuto]

Any circumcised folk here regret getting a circumcision? Personally, I feel this is being made too much of a big deal of, since you generally live a normal life whether you go through with it or not. I got circumcised in my early teens (so I know how it feels before and after), and I don't regret it at all. Some procedures don't even completely remove the foreskin.

As for circumcising an infant, I wouldn't do that. At least that's not how it's traditionally done from where I am, since we get it done during their teens (sort of a "coming of age" thing). I just find all this fuss about the whole thing hilarious. So much talk about one's junk compressed in a single thread.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

All I know is that in Britain we generally don't surgically remove useless cock ends, we elect them.

Seriously tho, I'm against it, as from what I've read, all the advantages of removing it when a baby can be achieved by washing it, you dirty bastards.

Most guys wouldn't choose to go bald just to save on shampoo, so I don't know why parents are thinking they'd prefer to have a bit cut off their child's penis just to save on shower gel.

Besides, the moment they hit puberty, they're gonna be in that shower at least daily, 'washing' it very thoroughly.

There just seems to be so much more on the side of not doing it over doing it.

 

[weker]

but hey if you dont like circumcision dont do it but please leave the rest of us the FUCK out of you opinion

The sad things is their opinion can't do so. They are trying to protect children from what they consider as mutilation. Again this is a topic with one group of opinions see this as a harmless procedure, while others as breaking human rights.
I am a bit on the fence learning towards rights of the child as it can be done at a later date, and furthermore most people against are women, Jewish or the types of people who you see commonly on american talk shows (The ones shouting its my kinds MY BUSINESS RAA )

OT: Jesus I remember when I was watching the atheist experience and a man implied he has a given right to abuse his kids, sadly the host was sort like "eeerrrr I think ill end your call here" laughed my head of at that XD