The Sensitive Issue of Circumcision

Firstly, please excuse the fact that I have not read through all the posts on this lengthy thread. But I wanted to know if any of you have ever considered this question from the point of view of a woman.

I am female (despite my name, which I chose not knowing that Aquila was a male philopopher - I chose it because of the star constellation), and had my son circumcised mainly for health reasons. He does not resent my decision.

My late husband was circumcised, as were all the men born in the U.S.A. in the 1940s, as I believe it was custom then. When my son was born, the pediatrician said that men have to get it done if they want to join the military.
Nothing to do with religion, just a matter of hygiene.
 
Actually I just picked any page from this thread at random and immediateley found a post by skeptigirl, so sorry if my views have already been discussed.
 
caffeinated said:
Medical necessity aside (and I don't buy that it's necessary),
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I admit that I haven't read most of this thread (just popping in once in a while to see if anyone has something useful or different to say), but I'm surprised to hear that someone presented it as medically necessary. Where was that? (Unless you are talking about preventing HIV transmission in high prevalence areas?)

I think the reaction people in our culture have to a natural male organ is just what people are used to. All the images we do see of them in popular culture or porn is the cut version, so people just don't know how to react to it. I really think if more women got past their initial "eew" response they'd be in for a very pleasant surprise. :D
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I hope you're right, as I didn't have my sons circumcised and I don't want them at a disadvantage (my oldest is about to go off to college). ;)

I actually can get pretty upset about this topic, mostly because the reasons most people give for the procedure don't make sense to me. "so he looks like daddy" is not a real great reason, as far as I'm concerned, to go cutting bits and pieces of a baby's body off.
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It's my impression that the reasons given for having (or not) circumcision done are sort of made up in order for someone to feel comfortable with the decision. But I suspect most parents don't put that much thought into it and are sort of going along with what they think is the norm at the time.

Linda
 
fls, I don't think anybody in this thread really described it as medically "necessary," but there were some medical reasons given for it.

The "medically necessary" argument is one I've heard more in real-life conversations, and usually revolve around assumption that it prevents disease (and yes, that one's been pretty beaten into the ground in this thread, probably).
 
Aquila said:
Firstly, please excuse the fact that I have not read through all the posts on this lengthy thread. But I wanted to know if any of you have ever considered this question from the point of view of a woman.
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I am curious what unique insights you could give me on the function of my foreskin. :rolleyes:

I am female (despite my name, which I chose not knowing that Aquila was a male philopopher - I chose it because of the star constellation), and had my son circumcised mainly for health reasons. He does not resent my decision.
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What precisely were those health reasons, then?

My late husband was circumcised, as were all the men born in the U.S.A. in the 1940s, as I believe it was custom then. When my son was born, the pediatrician said that men have to get it done if they want to join the military.
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What if he had said all men who want to join the military have to get their ears cut of? Would you have had your child's ears cut of, too?

Was the doctor right?

Did your son join the military?

Nothing to do with religion, just a matter of hygiene.
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I can only repeat: Men in Europe constantly fail to drop dead like flies because of their intact foreskins. However are we doing it?
 
fls said:
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It's my impression that the reasons given for having (or not) circumcision done are sort of made up in order for someone to feel comfortable with the decision.
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I can assure you my reasons for not being circumcised are not "made up".;)

But I suspect most parents don't put that much thought into it and are sort of going along with what they think is the norm at the time.

Linda
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I agree.
 
Aquila said:
..
My late husband was circumcised, as were all the men born in the U.S.A. in the 1940s, as I believe it was custom then. When my son was born, the pediatrician said that men have to get it done if they want to join the military.
Nothing to do with religion, just a matter of hygiene.
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.
Born in 1938, uncut.
In all my attempts to join the military in the years following, that status was never even mentioned!
 
fls said:
I admit that I haven't read most of this thread (just popping in once in a while to see if anyone has something useful or different to say) ...[emphasis added]
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Point of order, fls, but how can "popping in once in a while" achieve the objective of "see[ing] if anyone has something useful or different to say"? Surely you need to keep track with the entire thread to ensure that!

Oh, and here's the proof:
fls said:
... but I'm surprised to hear that someone presented it as medically necessary. Where was that?
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Now you're asking somebody else to do your searching for you. Gotta admire your frugality!
 
Rasmus said:
What if he had said all men who want to join the military have to get their ears cut of? Would you have had your child's ears cut of, too?

Was the doctor right?

Did your son join the military?
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No and No. Also, as a correction to what I said before, I think the pediatrician said that it was "recommended" by the military, but not mandatory.

Quote from Rasmus: I am curious what unique insights you could give me on the function of my foreskin.
What precisely were those health reasons, then?

No unique insights, and I'm only guessing about the health reasons by analogy to washing out tubular kitchen utensils like turkey basters and cake-icing pumps. It's a simple matter of being able to see what's there without any covering. Even if you pull the foreskin back, how do you know you've got everything on the inside of the foreskin?

Anyway, to change the subject slightly, I had a moment of enlightenment the other day when I was looking at my retractable ballpoint pen. I thought, hey, this must have been invented by a man - it's so similar to a un-circumcised penis! Only in design mind you, not in function.
 
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Aquila said:
Anyway, to change the subject slightly, I had a moment of enlightenment the other day when I was looking at my retractable ballpoint pen. I thought, hey, this must have been invented by a man - it's so similar to an uncircumcised penis! Only in design mind you, not in function.
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Fixed.
 
Aquila said:
No unique insights, and I'm only guessing about the health reasons by analogy to washing out tubular kitchen utensils like turkey basters and cake-icing pumps. It's a simple matter of being able to see what's there without any covering. Even if you pull the foreskin back, how do you know you've got everything on the inside of the foreskin?
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Seriously: How do you wash? Do you find it particularly difficult to keep your ears or, indeed, your rear end reasonably clean?

I wash myself without submitting every square inch of my body to a microscopic inspection. And it works, I am not rotting away.

I suspect that having my ears cut off at an early age might have made keeping clean a simpler job, but I also suspect that it borders on the insane to assume it would be worthwhile.

Anyway, to change the subject slightly, I had a moment of enlightenment the other day when I was looking at my retractable ballpoint pen. I thought, hey, this must have been invented by a man - it's so similar to a circumcised penis! Only in design mind you, not in function.
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I'm afraid I don't follow you here.

(I was going to say that, yes Shakespeare invented it, but I can't find the Blackadder source for it right now. The Christmas Special, I think ...)

ETA: It was "Blackadder: Back & Forth"
 
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Aquila said:
No unique insights, and I'm only guessing about the health reasons by analogy to washing out tubular kitchen utensils like turkey basters and cake-icing pumps. It's a simple matter of being able to see what's there without any covering. Even if you pull the foreskin back, how do you know you've got everything on the inside of the foreskin?
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Call me sexist, but only a woman could come up with this one. Care to reveal the colour of your hair?!
 
Aquila said:
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No unique insights, and I'm only guessing about the health reasons by analogy to washing out tubular kitchen utensils like turkey basters and cake-icing pumps. It's a simple matter of being able to see what's there without any covering. Even if you pull the foreskin back, how do you know you've got everything on the inside of the foreskin?
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:confused:

The foreskin is a double-folded piece of skin which can be fully stretched by retracting the skin on the shaft of the penis, or the penis becoming erect. There is then no "inside". Look at the pictures on this wiki page about a 1/3rd of the way down.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumcision

Anyway, to change the subject slightly, I had a moment of enlightenment the other day when I was looking at my retractable ballpoint pen. I thought, hey, this must have been invented by a man - it's so similar to a un-circumcised penis! Only in design mind you, not in function.
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What, you think uncircumcised men have to twist their penises in the middle to get an erection?
 
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Southwind17 said:
Point of order, fls, but how can "popping in once in a while" achieve the objective of "see[ing] if anyone has something useful or different to say"? Surely you need to keep track with the entire thread to ensure that!
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If I wanted to be thorough, I would need to keep track. But if I see the same things being said, it seems likely that no new elements have been introduced in the meantime. It's not completely reliable, but it will do in a pinch.

Oh, and here's the proof:

Now you're asking somebody else to do your searching for you. Gotta admire your frugality!
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Well, duh! Ya gotta go with what works!

Linda
 
Rasmus said:
But what would that show?

Just because you don't miss something that you never had long enough to appreciate doesn't mean a thing, does it? And neither does that you cannot appreciate the alternative.

To me, having my foreskin removed sounds about as sane as having an earlobe or pinky finger removed just for the heck of it.
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My point is that asking uncircumcised men if they want the procedure now is not relevant . Adult circumsision does not compare to the infant variety.

Just because you don't miss something that you never had(a circumcised penis) doesn't mean a thing does it? And neither does that you cannot appreciate the alternative.
 
People have mentioned all sorts of reason in the past 16 pages. Pay attention.
 
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