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The Best Reason to Say No to Circumcision

The topic of circumcision is controversial, no doubt about that. It can also be a deeply personal one. But in the United States, most parents will be faced with a decision to make about circumcision at some point. Expecting parents face a barge of information and opinions on the topic, and it can be hard to tell what's important from what's just noise. Add to all of that noise the fact that for many father's who are circumcised it can be hard to admit to themselves that they might be missing something, and have never experience being uncircumcised.

There are arguments with various levels of credibility about cleanliness, STDs, sensitivity, what future girls will want, if infants can remember the pain, interrupting breastfeeding, etc. It can be overwhelming.

My argument is one of choice. If parents chose to leave their sons intact, that leaves that choice for their child to make when they are old enough to make it. If parents chose to circumcise, that removes the ability for that child to make that choice. Choosing not to circumcise values their autonomy.

The best reason to say no to circumcision.

There are thousands of choices new parents will have to make. This one can be easy. Paint the nursery orange- you can paint over the orange if your child doesn't like it when they're 12. You can't undo a circumcision if they are unhappy with it later, but they can always choose circumcision for themselves when they're old enough to understand.

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Most Helpful Guy

  • Taking off the foreskin severly reduces sensitivity and removes the natural protective layer that is suppose to be there

    The penis opening is then completely and always exposed. It's better kept covered with the foreskin intact. Serves as protection and most important keeps the head of the penis sensitive

Most Helpful Girl

  • I am very glad I did not get my son circumcised. I was not about to put him through that.

    • Thanks.

    • Thanks for the MH... I can't believe someone down voted me... lol

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What Girls & Guys Said

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  • My husband is not circumcised. I enjoy him for easy of penetration and deep penetration, his foreskin helps for it. Maintaining hygiene is not difficult for nab non-circumcised or there is no official record that non-circumcised man get more infections compared to circumcised. Nature has given everything with reason - if we do not know why - it is our lack of knowledge or understanding. We need not to remove it because of this lack of knowledge or understanding.

  • The best reason to say no to circumcision is to allow your son to make his OWN informed decision about whether he wants it or not. It should involve the boy, his parents and his doctor. I'm circumcised and wish i wasn't. The foreskin has thousands of nerves that allow for a more pleasurable sexual experience. Without the procedure a dude's penis in its natural state provides so much more stimulation for an uncut dude.
    I get the cleanliness... but for thousands of years dudes got along fine without having their penises cut.
    I had a big conversation with my parents about my thoughts and that I thought it should have been my choice. After all it is MY PENIS ! My dad agreed that they should have waited. I'd love to censider foreskin restore but i live in south america and dont know if its even possible here.

  • This is the argument that I usually affiliate with most, nice take.

  • There are at least a 1000 things I can't undo with my kids.
    Yikes! Every toy they play with every video or TV show they watch or every book they read is something I can't undo. Every kid I let them hang out with, every school they go to... these are a big deal. Orange paint in the bedroom and circumcisions are nothing in comparison.
    Oh, and if I don't get my kid a circ and he gets cancer of the penis, I probably can't undo that decision either.
    Don't want to circumcise your kid, fine, just don't put it on me.

    From www.webmd.com/sexual-conditions/guide/circumcision
    "The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) found that the health benefits of newborn male circumcision outweigh the risks, but the benefits are not great enough to recommend universal newborn circumcision."

    There are pros and cons both ways. Got a cousin who was circumcised as an adult. I'm sure he wishes it had been done as a child.
    It's not as big of a deal as the PC crowd makes it.

    • Agreed.

    • @flypaper What bugs me is that the AAP is saying the benefits outweigh the risks (i. e. there's more good than bad) and STILL these guys are negging me. They'd probably let a 8 year old kid watch all kinds of crap on TV, yet they insist they don't want to "permanently harm" their children.

  • I don't entirely disagree with this argument.

    Though i think... its a bit overstated.

    I know a number of men who have restored (like you) and i know a number of men who got circumcised as adults (like me!). I think the point is that it's a lot easier to circumcise than restore is true!

    However, it's not a simple matter of choice either way. An adult circumcision is generally not covered by insurance. Most men i know who wanted one ended up waiting 5-10 years if not more to be able to afford one. Nobody ever asked if they wanted one, most didn't realize till their 20's it was an option, and then took years or decades to make it happen.

    So i'm certainly not going to suggest parents circumcise for that reason.

    But i do wonder, how many saying 'it's his choice' will actually give him the choice as a young man? How many are ready to pay for an adult circ>

    • But why would you want it in the first place? And is it covered for babies?

    • @nalaa Some places its' covered for babies, many it isn't, but for a baby it's only a couple hundred, vs. thousands as adult. Much faster recovery for babies too. There are a number of reasons people might want to, and i do prefer it. But the odds of your kid wanting it, living in Ireland, are much lower than in the u. s.

    • Most state-run medicaid programs don't cover circumcision anymore, and an increasing number of private insurance companies are no longer covering it either (mine included).

  • Only in a misandric society, could child circumcision be merely controversial, rather than outright condemned and illegal.

  • +1
    As someone, who is not circumcised I fully agree with this.
    Fortunately there is a foreskin restoration procedure for those unlucky ones, who got circumcised by their parents tyrannic decision.

  • Circumcision is a barbaric stone age practice.

  • One simply has to see what a penis looks like when it is pulled back to understand that it should never be circumcised. The skin isn't some coffee sleeve that can be slid off. It stretches out and folds inward and then upward to the head of the penis.

  • circumcision is a barbaric pratice that needs to stop anyway. nothing natural about removing parts from your body and definitely not healthy

  • I agree circumcision is genital mutilation

    • Yes it is and a boy has up to 6 months to 2 years after his 18th birth and can legally sue his doctor for performing it against his will and can win up to $60000. I had a friend who sued doctor and won. I'm glad I never have to know what it feels like to be circumcised.

    • @Yes_No would you happen to know what your friend sued the doctor for?

    • @kaylaS91 For being circumcised against his will. A boy can do this but has a 6 month to 2 year window after his 18th birthday to do so and in some cases get $50k to $70k.

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  • You better make sure your doctor doesn't cut too much skin off, that can lead to erectile problems in the future.

    https://www.BBC.com/news/magazine-19072761

    I agree, let your child become old enough to decide for himself.

  • The "infants can remember the pain" argument is fallacious. I remember being kicked in the nuts when I was 7. I remember it hurt a lot. But it stopped hurting after an hour or less.

  • This is a hard one to think about and know enough about.
    I can only talk about myself and my experience with not being circumcised I haven't had any problems or complaints with or from it and never been laughed at or told the girls didn't like it by anyone.

  • "don't mess with nature's design"

    • It was designed for protection while running naked through brambles. How many guys do that these days? I guess it might hurt their chances if they're ever on "Naked and Afraid".

    • @zagor so what good it will do if it was circumcised? Better sex? I don't think so

    • @zagor It actually protects the head in several ways, not just from scratchy underbrush.

  • It should be made illegal. Actually boys can sue their doctor for doing it to them after 18th birthday but he has 6 months to 2 years to decide. Once he's 20, it's too late.

  • Not trying to be rude to the guys uncircumcised but it just freaks me out. To c foreskin its unattractive. I couldnt get any pleasure out of it. And its gross loose skin it remindes me of a turtle popping out of a shell... No no for me. Although some grls may like it. Most of the parents who dont circumcise there kids should. Theyl regret that u didn't later n life. N when there all grown up they may have a choice to get circumcised but its a lot more painful when ur older most of the time they just exept that they have forskin because they've had it there whole life so they just dont care but deep down inside im sure u uncircumcised men have thought about getting it done.. Nubies get over it and my son came out perfectly fine. Does not remember a thing.

    • You don't realize how absurd is what you're saying, it's as if I said women with outties should have surgery when born to make their vaginas more appealing to men!!!

    • https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gCSWbTv3hng
      Watch it in full, this shows how dumb people are. Also, why would you put a baby through trauma.

    • I hope your son hates you, and never forgives you for mutilating him. You're an evil male-hater.

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  • Every Male Should Be Curcumsized!!!

  • As a feminist I first became aware of the "circumcision problem" when I was a teenager. I am in the US, and had never seen an uncut penis. In just the regular household nudity of a family, I knew my brother and dad were circumcised. I knew what it was, but I had never given it much thought.

    But it only took one feminist mother writing about prenatal yoga and her experiences with natural childbirth, and her decision NOT to circumcise her son, and all of a sudden, the lights came on and I realized just how unnecessary and barbaric this procedure was. I researched more and found photos of tiny little traumatized babies strapped to these boards that keep them still and all I could think is how we were working to make people more aware of female genital mutilation, and why this was really just the same, even if performed in clean hospitals.

    I have spoken about circumcision to groups and promoted the idea that it should not be performed until a child is at least 13 and can make his own choice - this seems like a more fair compromise to me. I appreciate it is a religious rite, and indeed, it's a very potent symbol of devotion to God, and though I am generally really friendly with Judaism, this is one area where I just have to say - we can't allow a religion to have this right in the US.

    It's barbaric. Unconscionable really. I have been involved with other feminists for about 30 years trying to eliminate this practice. Now, it's really popular for neo-cons to say that this is an example of a misandrist society and discount the work feminists have been doing in this area for like 40-50 years. I never even met or talked to a conservative person in intactivist circles until about 5 years ago.

  • Isn't circumcision more difficult when a male is an adult?

    • Nope. Adults can sit still and receive anesthesia and know what is happening to them. The only reason we think it's easy for infants is because infants can't say "my dick really hurts."

    • @MlleCake Well, if they receive anesthesia, they wouldn't say "my dick really hurts," right?

    • Infants often do not receive anesthesia during the procedure, and they don't receive pain killers after the fact.

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