# The How I Feel About Being Circumcised Thread that doesn't activate trust issues **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 23, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-i-feel-about-being-circumcised-thread-that-doesnt-activate-trust-issues/610362 "2012-01-23T03:31:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-i-feel-about-being-circumcised-thread-that-doesnt-activate-trust-issues/610362/81 "2012-01-25T05:19:41Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > Well, it’s like cutting the tag off of a mattress. Really that easy is it?: [http://www.circumcisionquotes.com/description.html](http://www.circumcisionquotes.com/description.html) \*Warning graphic medical photos of surgery. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-i-feel-about-being-circumcised-thread-that-doesnt-activate-trust-issues/610362/82 "2012-01-25T05:29:26Z")
Tell me now who is responsible for circumcision? ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-i-feel-about-being-circumcised-thread-that-doesnt-activate-trust-issues/610362/83 "2012-01-25T05:31:24Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > Well, it’s like cutting the tag off of a mattress. Explain yourself. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-i-feel-about-being-circumcised-thread-that-doesnt-activate-trust-issues/610362/84 "2012-01-25T05:48:14Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > I’m just curious as to at what age the OP discovered that he had been circumcised (meaning, learned the definition of the word, looked down and said “hmm…I guess I was”) and started to obsess about it. Because I don’t think my son knew what it meant and realized he had been until probably maybe ten or so? And no, I’m not going to call and ask him. But I can’t recall him ever expressing any angst about it. Since you are in a chatty mood again, how 'bout answering this one? ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-i-feel-about-being-circumcised-thread-that-doesnt-activate-trust-issues/610362/85 "2012-01-25T05:54:45Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > Since you are in a chatty mood again, how 'bout answering this one? Hmmm, I suppose the awareness has come on in waves. While I persist in error, my accuracy improves all the time. Maybe in a lifetime I won’t get to the end of it. Probably not actually. Who’s really responsible? ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-i-feel-about-being-circumcised-thread-that-doesnt-activate-trust-issues/610362/86 "2012-01-25T05:55:39Z")
Since parents are the ones who request a circ, I guess you could say they are responsible, no? And since from the tiny little hints you’ve given, your parents said it was for cleanliness issues and to keep you from playing with yourself (if that’s what you mean by keeping out of trouble) and you said you aren’t really that upset about it…what is this all about? ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-i-feel-about-being-circumcised-thread-that-doesnt-activate-trust-issues/610362/87 "2012-01-25T05:58:54Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > Since parents are the ones who request a circ, I guess you could say they are responsible, no? And since from the tiny little hints you’ve given, your parents said it was for cleanliness issues and to keep you from playing with yourself (if that’s what you mean by keeping out of trouble) and you said you aren’t really that upset about it…what is this all about? I don’t think it had to do with masturbation in my case, except historically. And I think parents in saner environments were not presented so aggressively with the surgical reality of circumcision. Why is this so important to hospitals? Do tax dollars pay for it? ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-i-feel-about-being-circumcised-thread-that-doesnt-activate-trust-issues/610362/88 "2012-01-25T06:06:08Z")
In my experience (one son, two grandsons) there was never any push by the hospitals to have it done. At all. If you wanted it, they’d do it. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-i-feel-about-being-circumcised-thread-that-doesnt-activate-trust-issues/610362/89 "2012-01-25T06:07:25Z")
Not a fan of the procedure. We didn’t circumcise our son and frankly I find the defenders of the procedure becoming increasingly more shrill and desperate as more and more questions are raised. That being said, parents don’t do it to hurt their child. They do it because they think it is in their child’s best interest and it usually comes from a good place. The OP should just move on and plan on not circumcising his own kids. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-i-feel-about-being-circumcised-thread-that-doesnt-activate-trust-issues/610362/90 "2012-01-25T06:22:36Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > it usually comes from a good place. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-i-feel-about-being-circumcised-thread-that-doesnt-activate-trust-issues/610362/91 "2012-01-25T06:53:25Z")
I was circumcised as an infant, and my partner never was. It’s not an issue for either of us. I can’t imagine being angry over something my now-deceased parents did 66 years ago . . . or something my partner’s parents didn’t do. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-i-feel-about-being-circumcised-thread-that-doesnt-activate-trust-issues/610362/92 "2012-01-25T07:28:08Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I was circumcised as an infant, and my partner never was. It’s not an issue for either of us. I can’t imagine being angry over something my now-deceased parents did 66 years ago . . . or something my partner’s parents didn’t do. I’m guessing the OP is young, like teens to early twenties young. Add in that maybe his parents weren’t the greatest maybe, so the relationship was strained to begin with. He’ll probably come to the conclusion eventually that his parents aren’t perfect, in fact they are as easily influenced into poor decisions by societal pressue as anyone, it was really a different world before the internet too. This isn’t to discount his anger at being circumcised, just to say putting the blame 100% on your parents heads is probably unfair. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-i-feel-about-being-circumcised-thread-that-doesnt-activate-trust-issues/610362/93 "2012-01-25T08:49:54Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Explain yourself. Easy, you just tear the foreskin off using the perforated line. ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-i-feel-about-being-circumcised-thread-that-doesnt-activate-trust-issues/610362/94 "2012-01-25T09:51:06Z")
Have you ever wondered why the vast majority of men who have had this done are not sharing this level of regret or resentment over it, Try2B Comprehensive? It’s painful to see you agonizing over this. Won’t you consider seeing a counselor? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-i-feel-about-being-circumcised-thread-that-doesnt-activate-trust-issues/610362/95 "2012-01-25T10:48:50Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Fathers and sons do not sit around comparing penii, it doesn’t happen! Kids do most definitely notice and remark upon differences in genitals. Now, since there are SOOO many other differences between adult genitals and children’s genitals, I don’t think one more difference like circumcised or not is really going to break a parent’s powers of explanation. But there are parents out there who honestly believe themselves incapable of explaining what “gay” means, so perhaps I’m underestimating people again. Some gems from my kids: “Mommy, sometimes my penis gets REALLY big!” That was said as loud as possible in the shrill voice of a 3 or 4 year old. In the produce section of the grocery store. “Daddy’s penis is hiding.” Poor Daddy. It was a little chilly that day. “When I get big, I’m going to have a big penis like Daddy,” said, of course, my daughter. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-i-feel-about-being-circumcised-thread-that-doesnt-activate-trust-issues/610362/96 "2012-01-25T12:33:51Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Fuck that! I’m angry, and I think we all need to get together and shove Rick Perry, the Pope… Again, what the heck does the Pope have to do with it? Catholicism does not advocate circumcison and the Pope’s himself uncut AFAIK (at least he had better be back when he got inducted into the HY in his teens). (And thanks a heap for bringing up that mental picture) ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-i-feel-about-being-circumcised-thread-that-doesnt-activate-trust-issues/610362/97 "2012-01-25T12:46:16Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Why all the hostility and defensive dismissal? Would you all be this dismissive of a woman who had her clitoral hood(the exact female anatomical equivalent to a foreskin) removed at birth for cultural/cosmetic reasons and was angry about it? If there were women who realized they could do tissue expansion to “restore” it at least cosmetically? Would they be told to stop being crazy and seek therapy? Would women post that they are happy to be rid of their clit hoods and they function perfectly, I mean hey good for you but the issue remains. That’s not exactly equivalent at all. Women who’ve had that done to them find the results [quite painful to have to live with](http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20119884,00.html) (link is to an American doctor who performed that and other operations without consent on adult women, when he was just supposed to be delivering their babies, so it’s not just shoddy surgical tools and conditions that cause problems) and have typically have ongoing issues throughout life. That may be the anatomical equivalent during fetal development, but women have all those nerve endings packed into a teeny little bit of flesh and absolutely find the protection helpful. A little girl’s earliest comparison to being kicked in the balls is falling off a bike seat and getting nailed in the pubic area (i.e., clitoris) by the crossbar. Meanwhile I’ve seen guys do things to the head of their penis that would make a woman scream (not in a good way) if you tried it with a clitoris. ---
**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-i-feel-about-being-circumcised-thread-that-doesnt-activate-trust-issues/610362/98 "2012-01-25T22:27:27Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I think the last time, I was pretty shrill in it, asking for someone to give me a logical reason why FGM is badbadbad and male circ is just shrugged off as “a cultural thing” Because males who have been circumcised are able to still function both sexually and in terms of urination, reproduce and enjoy orgasmic sex. Women who have been mutilated are not. > [@](#): > > The other problem, though, is that your word choice and sentence structure makes you come off a little…hot. Not in a good way. No. The other problem is that the OP thinks that just because he’s pretending to be angry in order to start an argument, that makes it OK to use a homophobic slur as a general insult to everyone reading, followed by a specific and completely uncalled-for insult directed at British people. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-i-feel-about-being-circumcised-thread-that-doesnt-activate-trust-issues/610362/99 "2012-01-25T23:15:35Z")
> [@Teacake](#): > > Because males who have been circumcised are able to still function both sexually and in terms of urination, reproduce and enjoy orgasmic sex. Women who have been mutilated are not. Depends on the type of FGM. Women with clitorectomies or prepuce removal or pricking can (don’t always, but generally can) do all of those. Infibulation, you’re absolutely right. Luckily, biology tucked most of the clitoris inside, where a simple external clitorectomy can’t get at it. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-i-feel-about-being-circumcised-thread-that-doesnt-activate-trust-issues/610362/100 "2012-01-25T23:42:34Z")
[Zeppo] See the foreskin? Its no good.[/Zeppo] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-i-feel-about-being-circumcised-thread-that-doesnt-activate-trust-issues/610362.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-i-feel-about-being-circumcised-thread-that-doesnt-activate-trust-issues/610362.md?page=6)