Poll: Do you agree or disagree with circumcision

[skwurll]

I'm on the fence about this issue, I haven't had any problems with my circumcised penis, and I don't really feel as if I'm missing out by not having a foreskin, but then again, it IS a pretty barbaric thing to do to a baby.

[elliebean]

I think it should be illegal. Who cares if some people are ok with it, they can get it done when they're old enough to decide for themselves. I doubt many would though, after it becomes unfashionable.

[pinkocommie]

I've noticed this is one of those issues where atheists specifically seem to really feel passionately about - probably because circumcision is a draconian religious practice.  I don't like circumcision at all, but my son is circumcised.  We had a huge fight about it when he was about to be born, and it actually took talking to a handful of my uncircumcised friends to make me concede to my ex's wishes on the subject.  What I found was that for the majority of the guys I knew, they had a lot harder of a time feeling comfortable with their body when they weren't circumcised and it ended up affecting a few guys' self esteem really negatively because they felt strange about their 'weird' penis.  Which probably sounds totally stupid, but when you're a new parent that kind of stuff gets to you, the same way shying away from naming your kid an easily picked on name - avoid 'Bart' because it rhymes with 'fart', that kind of thing - becomes a weirdly important consideration.  

That wasn't enough to convince me, though, what really made me concede was my friend who wasn't circumcised while his dad was.  He said that he wished he had been because the fact that his penis looked different from his dad's really bothered him and made him feel uncomfortable about his body so much, he didn't really like to see himself naked and avoided it at all costs.  All of this feedback about negative effects on self esteem really got to me as well as the fact that his dad - who I felt should have equal say in everything obviously and whose opinion I trusted probably more than I should have because he has a penis and I don't- wanted it done, so with that my son got cut, it wasn't a big deal and now he's fine.  I sometimes worry about him getting older and being angry with me for making that decision for him, but I'll have made a ton of decisions for him that he could possibly be angry at me for and at least this one comes with what I consider at least an understandable explanation.  When the majority of guys you talk to who aren't circumcised tell you they wish they were and that you ought to circumcise your kid, well, it was compelling.

That being said, I still don't like it.  I feel guilty for not fighting it more.  And I always feel ashamed and uncomfortable when people start flinging around terms like 'abusive' in regard to it.    That's probably one of the shittiest aspects of being a parent - no matter how much consideration you put into any given decision, there is ALWAYS a group of people out there ready to tell you what a horrible person you are for making the choice you did.

[elliebean]

No judgement from me.  

[Davin]

That being said, I still don't like it.  I feel guilty for not fighting it more.  And I always feel ashamed and uncomfortable when people start flinging around terms like 'abusive' in regard to it.    That's probably one of the shittiest aspects of being a parent - no matter how much consideration you put into any given decision, there is ALWAYS a group of people out there ready to tell you what a horrible person you are for making the choice you did.

If you didn't there would be people that would tell you what a horrible person you are for not doing it, it seems there's always someone in a queue to try and make someone feel like shit for making any choice. You spent time considering it and it wasn't a thoughtless decision, that's a hell of a lot better than most people who would try to make you feel like shit for it without knowing 25% of the situation.

[RestoringTally]

Circumcision is a barbaric practice. We do not cut the genitals of girls. We should not cut the genitals of boys.

I was circumcised at birth. I dislike my circumcision so much that I am restoring my foreskin.

[SSY]

Snip

Of course, all those self esteem issues could have been easily resolved by having the snip at 13, when they would be old enough to make the decision themselves. Also, the consideration you gave to your husbands wishes seems at odds with the facts that you gave no consideration to the wishes of your son, why not wait and let him decide himself? After all, it is much easier to have the snip later than restore a foreskin.

[Will]

I'm against genital mutilation under any non-medically-necessary circumstances. That includes circumcision.

[Kylyssa]

I'm against circumcision.  

Here's an interesting note - more men and boys die from circumcision complications than the number of men that even get penile cancer, much less die from it.  

I have tried to stay away from this discussion because people who are for it, especially parents who've had it done to their children, tend to take it as a personal attack that others may be against it.  Circumcised men sometimes feel it's an attack on their sexual being that other people object to circumcision.

I'm against performing any cosmetic surgery on children that is not considered to be reconstructive surgery.  I'm against such other cosmetic surgeries as ear tacking, nose bobbing, epicanthic fold reduction, and gender assignment surgery (about one in 2,000 infants is born with what are called ambiguous genitalia in layman's terms) performed on anyone too young to consent.  I also don't care for getting infants ears pierced though it's a far less serious procedure.

I have a friend who has very little penile sensation due to a botched circumcision.  Most men don't but in my opinion, even one infant dying from an unnecessary procedure is too many and even one man suffering from pain or sexual dysfunction due to an unnecessary procedure performed on him without his consent is too many.

[pinkocommie]

Snip

Of course, all those self esteem issues could have been easily resolved by having the snip at 13, when they would be old enough to make the decision themselves. Also, the consideration you gave to your husbands wishes seems at odds with the facts that you gave no consideration to the wishes of your son, why not wait and let him decide himself? After all, it is much easier to have the snip later than restore a foreskin.

All I can say is I did what I thought was best.  I'm used to being told what I should have done and that I made a terrible mistake, but it never gets any easier to listen to.  To say that I have no consideration for my son seems like a very cruel judgement for you to make about me, but I can understand why you would think that.  Just consider me another one of those terrible parents I suppose.  

[mikex]

I'm against it.

(circumcision knife from the late 1700's)