Are you cut?!

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 11/15/11 at 12:45pm

We are absolutely baby obsessed and this is a topic that's been very interesting to me. (No, nothing to share, just obsessed in advance.) I figured this was a good topic to bring to this board as my favorite men who are also fans of the peen like to hang out here.

There's been a dramatic drop in the number of non-religious circumcisions in the US. It is almost NEVER done here in Scandinavia unless for religious reasons. We won't when and if we have boys for various reasons. My mother said something off hand about having a baby and how important it is to have a boy circumcised. It didn't matter how many actual facts I stated, she stood hard and fast by the old, "it's CLEANER!" mantra. She repeatedly told me that it's impossible to keep an uncircumcised penis clean on a baby. I should point out that she's probably never even SEEN an uncircumcised baby. She also said, "What if you move to the US?! All the other boys around him will be different." Well, it may be true, as the numbers are still much higher in the bible belt. Luckily, we aren't moving back.

I absolutely believe that men are born with that little flap for a reason and unless medically necessary, it should remain in place. I mean, would you cut off a baby's toes because it was difficult to clean between them? You aren't supposed to retract a baby, anyway. "Only clean what can be seen!" I have heard friends say that they think an uncut penis is, "gross" or "weird looking." I have read studies and seen photographic evidence of the difference between cut vs. uncut and the smoothness of the skin as a result. It just seems to make more sense to leave them alone.

What is your opinion? I am sure some of you have experience with both. I will admit that I have only had contact with the cut variety. For those who ARE cut, would you change it if you had the opportunity? Would you circumcise your own children?

I am a nosey woman.

[sonofgunn25]

Posted: 11/15/11 at 1:59pm

I know a guy who got circumcised when he was in his 20s after serving in the military. He's very vocal now about how it was a huge mistake and he wishes he's never got it done.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 11/15/11 at 2:04pm

No, I'm not.

And I've always found the hygiene argument ridiculous: personal hygiene is not a matter of surgery but of warm water and soap or shower gell.

"You aren't supposed to retract a baby, anyway."

Exactly. If there are problems retracting the foreskin they will become noticeable in late infancy or early puberty and any necessary circumcision can be carried out at that stage.

"I have heard friends say that they think an uncut penis is, gross or weird looking."

But that's a matter of societal conditioning. Many women and men used to seeing uncut men may think that a circumcised penis looks gross or weird.

"What if you move to the US?! All the other boys around him will be different."

Maybe he'll prefer to be different?

One of the things I remember growing up (both from personal experience and when talking with male friends) is how sensitive the glans of the penis is and I'm glad I have the protection provided by a foreskin.

And, before someone links the Lady Bunny video on Youtube, it may be hilarious but I don't think Lady Bunny has encountered many uncut men, otherwise she'd know it's not cheddar they smell of when personal hygiene has been neglected.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 11/15/11 at 2:13pm

I am cut. I have no problems with it. I don't feel like I've been mutilated or had anything stolen from me. It doesn't really phase me in the least.

THAT SAID

Were I to have a son, I would not circumcise him. I feel like it's an unnecessary procedure. Why put a child through that?

[madbrian]

Posted: 11/15/11 at 2:23pm

What Robbie said.


...and thanks for asking.

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 11/15/11 at 3:04pm

i thought you meant from a cattle call...or edited out of a film. Men seem to be happy either way once mature, but i would agree that if there are any risks as a babe, why chance it. Anyone who might shun him later for that attribute aren't worth his future time anyway. The hygiene excuse seems pretty flimsy to me. It can't be any more difficult than teeth cleaning, now really?

and yes, i'm cut. But i'd be fine if i weren't.

[singtopher]

Posted: 11/15/11 at 4:31pm

I thought you meant cut as in muscular, which I am.


In all seriousness, I am cut down there. My mother said it was because of religious reasons. (I didn't realize it was a Catholic thing too...) Like robbie, I don't feel mutilated, or robbed of anything.

Again, the hygenic argument is moot in a modern world. I say it's all personal choice.

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 11/15/11 at 4:38pm

next we'll hear from a woman who was a "cutter" in high school and has a cut clit *wink*.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 11/16/11 at 5:25am

But should it be a personal choice, as the baby doesn't have the capacity to make that choice? It seems to me, the only reasonable thing is to leave a baby intact and then to allow him to make the choice when he's older. I don't think it's really my right to have a part of my child's body removed. I feel the same about piercing a baby's ears, even if it's a much less permanent thing.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 11/16/11 at 6:17am

Your instincts on this subject seem perfect approach to me, JerseyGirl. Leave the little guy's little guy alone. The whole practice is totally weird and outdated...plus I think I read somewhere that it results in making the area less sensitive, which is not a good thing for sexual matters.

singtopher, I'm pretty sure it's not a Catholic thing -at least not in my area!

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 11/16/11 at 6:26am

It was pretty much just an "it's just what you do" thing where I grew up. I asked my grandmother about it and apparently they told her it was medically necessary with my dad because it almost blocked his urethra. I asked her if they waited to see if it was a problem and she said no. It's just one of those things people are going to have to learn the truth about. I have heard a lot of moms say, "Well, I want him to look like his dad." I get that. It makes sense from an emotional standpoint, but if everyone keeps doing that, the cycle won't end.

I just think it's such an interesting topic.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 11/16/11 at 6:49am

Russell Crowe said it was barbaric and stupid, and it's hard to disagree. I don't know much about the religious reasoning, and if people don't seem to mind after they've grown up, I guess it's not a huge deal...but still, it's just unnecessary in my view.

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 11/16/11 at 10:05am

i will just say here that i'm cut and it's still PLENTY sensitive. On the other hand, unscientific anecdotal research has told me that retraction for some men of a certain girth can be a challenge, just when you DON'T want it to be. Like breast reduction for some women, it's all in the context.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/16/11 at 10:58am

I'm circumcised and I like it. I never felt mutilated or resentful any more than I feel offended I was vaccinated. There were specific reasons circumcision became the norm in the US and I'm totally okay with that. I do have two friends in the UK who had to undergo adult circumcision for medical reasons. One was in his 20s and the other was in his 50s. As a baby, the procedure is less traumatic and heals far more quickly, which is why we don't remember it. I'd rather go ahead and do it with an infant than the possibility of his having to endure it as an adult. Especially when there seem to be fewer health risks with being circumcised than not.

Oh, and God gave me an appendix. It did nothing and then almost killed me. Just because it's there doesn't mean it has to stay.

Updated On: 11/16/11 at 10:58 AM

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 11/16/11 at 11:13am

excellent point, Mister Matt. i still got the appendix and the tonsils. i'm like a vintage Barbie with all her original accessories. Would that i were worth as much.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 11/16/11 at 11:22am

"Were I to have a son, I would not circumcise him. I feel like it's an unnecessary procedure. Why put a child through that?"

How many 1 day old babies do you think are traumatized by circumcision? A boy has no memory of the event. Unlike shots and vaccinations which most children can remember.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 11/16/11 at 11:40am

But what is the reason behind it, Goth? What's the positive outcome? And no, maybe an infant won't remember it, but it's still painful. Have you ever seen an infant with a post-circumcision infection?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 11/16/11 at 11:54am

"But what is the reason behind it, Goth?"

Convenience. Nothing to pull when you pee.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 11/16/11 at 11:57am

As I stated, Goth, I'm circumcised and have no problem with it. It was something that was done at the time with regularity, and I don't feel like I've been mutilated.

My point is not so much about putting the child through pain...it's about putting the child through an unnecessary medical procedure. What is the point of it? I know what the point of shots and vaccinations is (sorry, Jenny McCarthy). But circumcision? I just think it's useless...and therefore I wouldn't make that choice for my son.

I also don't really get the whole 'I want him to look like his father' deal. I mean...really? It's an aesthetic choice?

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 11/16/11 at 12:14pm

An interesting and informative blurb on the subject:

http://debatepedia.idebate.org/en/index.php/Argument:_Women_prefer_cleaner_circumcised_penis

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 11/16/11 at 1:09pm

SOMMS, don't you think that may be because it's what they have seen or are used to?

I have read that the foreskin serves an absolute purpose in hetero sex. It keeps things smooth when friction against the g spot happens. It also assists in keeping the liquids in. Who knows?
Here's a crunchy momma website's take on it, WARNING! GRAPHIC IMAGES

[xxdrewboy85xx]

Posted: 11/16/11 at 2:02pm

I am cut, but if/when I have kids and I have a boy I will not have him circumcised.

I don't think it's really a religion thing unless your Jewish. I heard that it is more of a tradition, and you are supposed to be the same as your father.

People used to strongly believe that being uncut was unhealthy and made it easier to contract an STD. However, that theory has been proven wrong, and there is no proof that cut penis' are in better hygiene. It's up to the Parent to educate their son on how to properly clean themselves under the foreskin.

I believe that more and more American's ( since I think we are practically the only country who practices it outside of religion, right?) born around 1995/6 or later are uncut. I would be willing to bet more children these days are uncircumcised over circumcised.

[AC126748]

Posted: 11/16/11 at 2:09pm

I am circumcised. I've honestly never given it a second thought. Since I've never considered having children, I have never thought about what I would do were I in that situation as a parent.

I come from a Catholic family and have never heard anything about circumcision being a Catholic ritual. That said, a lot of Catholic men are cut.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 11/16/11 at 2:11pm

I think it's very much an American (and Jewish, of course) thing, rather than a Catholic thing. Most Europeans, Catholic or not, are uncut.

But can I ask: Who the hell spends so much time looking at their father's penis? I can count one finger the times I saw my father's d*ck.

[AC126748]

Posted: 11/16/11 at 2:14pm

I think you're right about it being an American thing, Reg.