Zomby-Timmy Theme #6, Part I

What is your opinion of circumcision?

If male and circumcised, have you given much thought to what happened to you at birth?
If intact, how does the procedure make you feel?

If female, what’s your penile experience, circumcised or otherwise? Have you or do you intend to circumcise your sons?

Now, I know there’s a whole lot of you who are going, “Oh great, NOT AGAIN.” The topic is the topic, and that’s just to get the ball rolling. While everybody’s (obviously) free to write whatever they want, I have a focus for this entry: Taking every reason for circumcision I can think of, and peeing on them.

To reiterate for those that weren’t paying attention, I believe infantile circumcision is wrong. It’s a matter of choice. If a guy, of his own free will, lobes off his foreskin, there’s nothing wrong with that. But, there is something wrong with a nation obsessed with the mutilated penis.

I want my son’s penis to look like mine.

This is one of the most common – and dumbest – arguments. So if I have a child with blonde hair, I should disown him? If I have a scar on my right arm, my son should have a scar on his right arm? If I’m good at math, my son should be good at math? It’s a fundemental error to think our children should be like us, to suffer what we’ve suffered.

It looks better. Or Those skins are eww.

This assumes that aesthetics are something we should force our of our children. It does not matter which version of the penis looks better. If you justify infantile circumcision by saying it “looks better”, then you justify the trimming of girls’ labia at birth. (Or the clitoral hood, if you want to be more analogous.) I know it’s mostly girls on OD. Imagine if your Vaginal lips were trimmed at birth. Scalpel cutting away such sensitive flesh. Feel free to cringe and cross your legs. If we accept that infantile FGM is impermissible, then you have to accept that infantile circumcision is impermissible.

I’d also like to say the complication rate of circumcision I’ve heard ranges anywhere from 1% to 30%. (I use ‘complication’ rather broadly. A complication in the sense that it didn’t create the perfect circumcised penis.) Even if it’s 1%, that is an insanely unpredictable procedure. I hold myself up as an example: My circumcision scar is skewed. Now that I’m restoring, it’s clear that one side of the shaft actually DOES have more skin than the other. The underside is not a straight line (referring to the scar). It always seemed rather bizarre to me. I have skin tags. I have a vericose vein which is rather disgusting to me. You’ll never convince me that the circumcised penis looks better.

Well, I’m circumcised, and it doesn’t bother me.

For those that are like this, well, I almost wish I could be like you. It’s a rather odd phenomenon, the acceptence of circumcision. It seems to be that the more people learn about what happened to them, the more they don’t like what happened. Naturally, this is mere speculation, as the psychological effects of infantile circumcision are really hard to guage. I hold myself as an example – I know what’s happened and I’m outraged. Why don’t some care? As I implied before, they simply didn’t think about it. By admitting that I don’t like circumcision, I am saying that my penis is inferior. I am a defect. There is something missing from me. Guess it’s simple masculine nature to deny such faults.

If it seems like I’m not giving an argument, it’s because this one seems similar to the first one. (And the second one, to a degree.)

I’m a Jew.

Sorry, religion is never a good reason to do anything. Consider this: Imagine if Judiasm said we should cut off the clits of our wives when we marry them? (Or cutting off the clitoral hood at birth, if you want to be analogous.) If such things did exist, we would disregard them as outdated and barbaric. Kivudet pointed out that the reason the Jews were to circumcise in the first place was because they were in a desert. You know, NO WATER. There is no reason to circumcise nowadays. But, nevermind that. Most people wouldn’t understand his interpretation of the bible.

http://jewsagainstcircumcision.org/

It’s my child, and I have a right to do what I think is best for my child.

You can think a lot of things. *laughs* Put simply: It’s not your choice. If you thought removing your daughter’s clitoral hood was the thing to do, would that suddenly justify it? No.

It’s just one of those unpleasant things you need to do at birth to ensure a healthier life.

It’s not a vaccination: vaccination adds something to the body, to make it stronger.

It’s not breastfeeding: breastfeeding is a choice dealing with a WOMAN’S body, not the child’s body.

Circumcision removes a healthy, functioning part of a baby’s body, for no reason.

Circumcized penises are cleaner.

Let’s get one thing straight: Smegma is a good thing, despite society’s prejudice against it. Removing the foreskin so the glans will stay “clean” is like removing your nails so dirt won’t collect underneath. Removal of the foreskin leaves the glans exposed to the world. The glans is SUPPOSED to be a semi-internal organ. Did you know that the glans do not have pigment? Don’t go sunbathing nude if you’re circumcised, or you’ll fry your glans off. The foreskin prevents anything from directly touching the glans. (Completely contradicting said argument.)

Consider the diaper. If intact, the foreskin protects the glans from excrement. If circumcised, the glans is left completely exposed to said elements. It’s clear that, if only for those diaper years, the foreskin keeps the glans cleaner. The penis needs about as much care as the space between your toes, or your belly button. It’s not some dirt and disease magnet. What’s so hard to understand about that? (Though, technically, the infantile penis needs even less care. Why? Because the foreskin does not naturally retract at that age.)