# The Straight Dope On Why We Circumcise Boys **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 10, 2005, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-on-why-we-circumcise-boys/283961 "2005-01-10T00:49:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jack321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3e96dc/32.png) [@jack321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack321)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-on-why-we-circumcise-boys/283961/21 "2005-01-10T07:23:58Z")
> [@Mr2001](#): > > Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Board. In this forum, Great Debates, we are expected to back up our factual claims with references to actual facts. If you have no facts to back them up, I urge you to retract your claims. > No, that wouldn’t prove anything about _all_ women, only the ones you’ve met. It would also do nothing to prove your claims about men who oppose circumcision or the online testimonies. > _You_ just admitted you can’t back up your statements. > For the record, I’m neither angry nor confused. You may have guessed from my name that I’m male, but you don’t know anything about my position on circumcision, nor whether I have undergone such a procedure, and you obviously know nothing about my emotional state. I never admitted that i could not back up my statements…I admited that I could not back them up over a computer screen. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-on-why-we-circumcise-boys/283961/22 "2005-01-10T07:29:28Z")
> [@jack321](#): > > I never admitted that i could not back up my statements…I admited that I could not back them up over a computer screen. The answer will probably scare me, but why? ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-on-why-we-circumcise-boys/283961/23 "2005-01-10T07:30:20Z")
> [@jack321](#): > > I never admitted that i could not back up my statements…I admited that I could not back them up over a computer screen. For our purposes, that’s the same thing. We are all using computer screens to read this message board, and I doubt anyone will take you seriously if you make claims that can only be verified in person. But note once again: even if you could meet every one of us in person and introduce us to the women you know, that still would only prove something about _those particular women_. It would not prove your claims about _all_ women, or about men who oppose circumcision, or about those online testimonies. So I ask again, do you have any facts to back those up? ---
**Author:** ![jack321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3e96dc/32.png) [@jack321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack321)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-on-why-we-circumcise-boys/283961/24 "2005-01-10T07:40:52Z")
> [@Brutus](#): > > The answer will probably scare me, but why? becasue my statements invovle one on one, person to person contact or physically showing. Now most readers will already have figured that out but if you did not…here this s my answer. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-on-why-we-circumcise-boys/283961/25 "2005-01-10T07:50:31Z")
> [@jack321](#): > > becasue my statements invovle one on one, person to person contact or physically showing. Now most readers will already have figured that out but if you did not…here this s my answer. Yep. Scared. But let’s try again: For example, you made the following statement: > [@](#): > > See…the average anti-circ profile for a male is that of an uncircumcised man that strongly enjoys the look of a circumcised penis but remains uncircumcised because he either does not know how to go about getting himself circumcised, or he is too embarassed to actually approach a proffessional about having it done because he is afraid of the response from the doctor as to why he wants to have himself circumcised. Proof? Evidence? Where, for example, do you get ‘the average anti-circ profile’? ---
**Author:** ![jack321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3e96dc/32.png) [@jack321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack321)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-on-why-we-circumcise-boys/283961/26 "2005-01-10T07:58:23Z")
> [@Mr2001](#): > > For our purposes, that’s the same thing. We are all using computer screens to read this message board, and I doubt anyone will take you seriously if you make claims that can only be verified in person. > > But note once again: even if you could meet every one of us in person and introduce us to the women you know, that still would only prove something about _those particular women_. > > It would not prove your claims about _all_ women, or about men who oppose circumcision, or about those online testimonies. So I ask again, do you have any facts to back those up? Well I guess the only thing I can say …is proof of my statements is within yourself! I dont need to prove anything because as a person reading this letter you will already know that what I am saying is the truth. If you dissagree…which this responder does and has in the last few posts…he is only trying further to make me look bad as well as my post… You will judge my letter and statements as you desire and choose to…that is your right. I cant do anything about it. However all humans both man and woman know how to lie to themselves and know how to tell themselves the truth. I told you that I was telling the truth and I am…and all reader know that…but if they deny it in a responding post…then they are lying to themselves in order to make themselves feel better as well as other readers of my letter. This had gone off topic and I would rather keep it on the subject if that is OK. This is not about me…this is about circumcision and the false statements that are made about it by other people that don’t know about it, and me defending the truth to all who will listen. And the truth …all readers know already…to confront me on it like you have…is also admiting to other readers that you are trying to prove me as a lier! which because you already know that I am telling the truth …is admitting to readers that you are lying and not me. I have nothing to prove…but only to educate. And educate I have done. I have reached out to alot of people with my letter and have helped them see male circumcison in a truthfull and way. I have received personal e-mails from readers that did not respond on this forum, but only to my e-mail address…and they agree with me and thank me for my information because nobody else has ever talked about it the way I have. The very fact that I have had these personal and positive responses to my e-mail address means that my letter achieved its goal and has reached out to many others that were in search of the real truthfull facts about male circumcision. So there is no point in you trying to make me look like a fool…you already failed. I got through to people already and the e-mails are still pouring in. Please if you have any more responses please keep them on topic and not on me. thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-on-why-we-circumcise-boys/283961/27 "2005-01-10T08:03:02Z")
> [@jack321](#): > > I have received personal e-mails from readers that did not respond on this forum, but only to my e-mail address…and they agree with me and thank me for my information because nobody else has ever talked about it the way I have. Ah, this reminds me of [a song](http://www.bluejo.demon.co.uk/poetry/interstichia/lurkers.htm). Come on, everybody join in! (to the tune of “My Bonny Lies Over The Ocean”) \*The Lurkers support me in email They all think I’m great don’t you know. You posters just don’t understand me But soon you will reap what you sow. Lurkers, lurkers, lurkers support me, you’ll see, you’ll see off in e-mail the lurkers support me, you’ll see.\* ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-on-why-we-circumcise-boys/283961/28 "2005-01-10T08:39:39Z")
> [@jack321](#): > > This is not about me…this is about circumcision and the false statements that are made about it by other people that don’t know about it, and me defending the truth to all who will listen. See, now this is where you’re just not understanding the whole point of this place. You can’t just say ‘this is how it is for me and therefore this is how it is for everyone’ or ‘well, all my friends say it’s that way’. If you make statements like > [@](#): > > all uncircumcised men who oppose circumcision actually like the look of a cut penis but are unwilling or unable to have themselves cut > all the online testimonies allegedly from women who like the look of uncut penises were actually written by men > all women are aroused by the appearance of cut penises > all women who oppose circumcision are misinformed > all men who were circumcised as adults agree with you then you have to understand that the while we may be very happy that you’ve found a point of view that works for you, we’re not about to take it as gospel based on your personal experience. What we really want is for you to take the time to back up your statements with _relevant factual proofs_. For example, can you find a website that has the results of studies published on pro-circ/anti-circ men? Can you quote from a reference text that has statistics on this topic? Did your surgeon provide any statistical references in pamphlet form, even? (A pamphlet starting with ‘Some men feel like…’ doesn’t constitute a cite.) **If you’d like a comparative example of why you’re not being taken seriously** , consider the large number of homosexual people on this board. Assuming for the moment that any of these people tends to gravitate mainly around a homosexual ‘clique’ they’d be justified in saying that in their experience, all men are homosexual and all women are too, and that therefore anyone claiming to be heterosexual is lying to themselves. The exact same argument could be made in reverse by someone who believes all their acquaintances are heterosexual. Clearly these arguments don’t hold any water, because they’re based on the anecdotal evidence of one person’s social circle. Until you can actually show the results of a legitimate scientific/statistical study into the pro-/anti-circ theories you’ve suggested, you can’t begin to call them ‘fact’, let alone defend them plausibly. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-on-why-we-circumcise-boys/283961/29 "2005-01-10T09:59:37Z")
> [@jack321](#): > > For male readers here who have foreskins…do a test and masturbate by sliding the foreskin back and forth over the head of your penis and then at the same time hold your foreskin back and masturbate soley by stroking your hand directly on the underside of your penis head… You will notice that the sensitivity is pretty much the same and that there is no difference in feeling as when you masturbate by sliding the foreskin back and forth over the head of your penis as by doing it soley with your hand making contact with the head of your penis. You are incorrect. Indeed, you fit the profile of a pro-circ who is in denial about the benefits of an unmutilated penis. I performed your test, and you are incorrect. The sensation is very different. The feeling of directly stimulating the glans is almost painful. However, with the foreskin as a buffer it is quite pleasurable. People who are reading this already know it is true. I am sorry you are in denial about your penis and its shape. I hope you can eventually admit the truth and find happiness. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-on-why-we-circumcise-boys/283961/30 "2005-01-10T10:48:53Z")
There are two reasons why we circumsise boys. #1. Men hit a lot harder then baby boys. #2. We need to get shower caps from somewhere. Marc ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-on-why-we-circumcise-boys/283961/31 "2005-01-10T12:14:43Z")
Ok, you’ve got me curious now. Most men in Britain are not circumcised, so I’ve never seen a circumcised penis. Is anyone able to link to a picture of one? (I would google it, but I get the feeling it would be mostly porn.) ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-on-why-we-circumcise-boys/283961/32 "2005-01-10T12:37:01Z")
> [@AngelicGemma](#): > > Ok, you’ve got me curious now. Most men in Britain are not circumcised, so I’ve never seen a circumcised penis. Is anyone able to link to a picture of one? (I would google it, but I get the feeling it would be mostly porn.) If you roll your boyfriend’s foreskin back over the glans, that will show you what a circumcised penis looks like. All the surgeon does (for adult cases) is cut off the excess skin and stitch the remaining skin just under the glans. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-on-why-we-circumcise-boys/283961/33 "2005-01-10T13:05:59Z")
:eek: It’s the anti-JDT!!! As a heterosexual woman who has great fondness for men and prefers sex with the lights on, I can honestly say I don’t give a damn if my sexual partner’s penis is circumcized or not. Really. Matters not to me. For that matter, I don’t care that much about size - as long as it’s big enough to be identified as a penis it’s OK. Anything larger than a baseball bat might require alternate techniques. Within those rather broad limits, it’s party time. I say as a general rule men care more about the appearance of their penii than women do, and obsess about it more, and the OP is a great illustration of that point. ---
**Author:** ![jack321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3e96dc/32.png) [@jack321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack321)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-on-why-we-circumcise-boys/283961/34 "2005-01-10T17:13:19Z")
> [@Martiju](#): > > If you roll your boyfriend’s foreskin back over the glans, that will show you what a circumcised penis looks like. All the surgeon does (for adult cases) is cut off the excess skin and stitch the remaining skin just under the glans. No sorry…rolling yoru boyfriends foreskin back will not result in what a circumsied penis looks like because the skin is still there… ---
**Author:** ![jack321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3e96dc/32.png) [@jack321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack321)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-on-why-we-circumcise-boys/283961/35 "2005-01-10T17:18:09Z")
> [@BlackKnight](#): > > You are incorrect. Indeed, you fit the profile of a pro-circ who is in denial about the benefits of an unmutilated penis. > > I performed your test, and you are incorrect. The sensation is very different. The feeling of directly stimulating the glans is almost painful. However, with the foreskin as a buffer it is quite pleasurable. > > People who are reading this already know it is true. I am sorry you are in denial about your penis and its shape. I hope you can eventually admit the truth and find happiness. Look…if you got pain from masturbating the uncovered head of your penis then you need to go to the doctor becaue something is wrong with it. You should never have pain. And I am not wrong abut what I said because I think you forgot to remember that I used to have a foreskin and know exactly wht it feels like to masturbate with one. I am sorry you are in denial over having your foreskin…but I hope you get past that in the future so you can be happy with yourself. ---
**Author:** ![jack321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3e96dc/32.png) [@jack321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack321)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-on-why-we-circumcise-boys/283961/36 "2005-01-10T17:26:46Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > :eek: It’s the anti-JDT!!! > > As a heterosexual woman who has great fondness for men and prefers sex with the lights on, I can honestly say I don’t give a damn if my sexual partner’s penis is circumcized or not. Really. Matters not to me. > > For that matter, I don’t care that much about size - as long as it’s big enough to be identified as a penis it’s OK. Anything larger than a baseball bat might require alternate techniques. Within those rather broad limits, it’s party time. > > I say as a general rule men care more about the appearance of their penii than women do, and obsess about it more, and the OP is a great illustration of that point. Dear broomstick…it amazes me how blind people are at reading this forum…I am not obsessed with my dick…I am concerned about false information being givin to people about negative effects of circumcision…that’s all! thats the entire point of the letter. And yeah you are probably right that men do care about the way there penises look more than women…But I can also tell you that women care more about the way there boobs look then men. I do see your point though, even though it does remind me a bit of a female profile of a woman who gains sexual enjoyment for herself and not for her partner and engages in sexual acts in order to give herself pleasure and has no care if her partner gets any as long as she does. Anyhow…a couple of trolls kind of messed up this forum by posting such off topic negative stuff about my letter so its kind of ruined now as they intended. but thats OK I have posted this letter on hundreds of forums and sites. And this is only one of them…so I am nto too concerned with the results. ---
**Author:** ![jack321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3e96dc/32.png) [@jack321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack321)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-on-why-we-circumcise-boys/283961/37 "2005-01-10T17:37:11Z")
Originally posted:Until you can actually show the results of a legitimate scientific/statistical study into the pro-/anti-circ theories you’ve suggested, you can’t begin to call them ‘fact’, let alone defend them plausibly. See thats what you dont get…science has nothing to do with it and neither do statistics… Man you are so dam blind dude to what I have been saying. You are ins such extreme denial…I have seen this result before. I already told you that the truth was within yourself…I geuss you are not able to understand the meaning of that. The truth is what I have said…the lie is what you have responded with. It is as simple as that. It is a lie because when you told it…you knew you were lying. And I told the truth it was true because I knew I was telling it. You will continue to lie ont his forum and you are no doubt what they call a “troll” a term used for people such as yourself on these posts. So i guess I put a warning out to the others about you and your troll friend. you are a very conflictual person who gains enjoyment out of creating conflict for others… You are not welcome to post to my letter anymore and hope you follow my wishes. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-on-why-we-circumcise-boys/283961/38 "2005-01-10T17:49:11Z")
**Jack321** Way to make generalizations without evidence! **Angelic Gemma** I’ll have to borrow a digital camera. Let me tell you, Rabbi Klears did some quality work. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-on-why-we-circumcise-boys/283961/39 "2005-01-10T19:30:38Z")
I was circumcised as an adult. For me, the decision had nothing whatsoever to do with the appearance. Rather, it was the weight. It was difficult to carry the extra mass around, and it was causing me to attract unwanted attention. I really haven’t thought about the difference in appearance too much. Really, the main motivator was all the back trouble it was causing me. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-on-why-we-circumcise-boys/283961/40 "2005-01-10T20:41:06Z")
> [@jack321](#): > > Now I have met women who dont care for the penis at all and those women are either lesbians or women who have very low self esteem and a bad self-body image about themselves and are the type that will have sex in the dark so that there partner can’t see there body becaue they are ashamed of the way it looks. Nah, they just need their boobs power-sucked. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-on-why-we-circumcise-boys/283961.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-on-why-we-circumcise-boys/283961.md?page=3)