Did your physician not know about that miracle of modern medicine, local anaesthetic?
To my mind, it is a relatively minor issue: the procedure (in a modern hospital) is minor, the potential for adverse effects is trivially small, there are relatively minor health benefits, so the decision can go either way without making much difference.
Comparing it to female circumcision is not a particularly good comparison, because while some forms of female circumcision are minor, others involve major procedures such as the removal of the clitoris - which is above all why the procedure is frowned on.
Just for jolly fun, let me put it another way, in the wording my good friend ‘The Most Interesting Man In The World’, would use:
“I don’t always troll, but when I do, I prefer it to be educational”
Relax mod peoples, this is just a humorous stab at myself for saying something stupid. It’s best in life to remember something you’ve done or said that you’re not proud of, think about what a total douche you were at the time, then laugh at it (even with something this trivial).
Troppus, would you mind joining the rest of humanity in the grey area, there is no black and white anymore, I think that was done away with a long time ago.
Actually, I’m rather shocked that so many statements are taken so seriously, as if the person who said it will defend their position to the death and all hell will break loose because somebody :gasp: dared to state their opinion. It’s just a fracking opinion, sheesh, you’d think someone got killed. Have some wine, or Dos Equis if you prefer :D, and relax. I don’t make such statements lightly, but I don’t take them seriously either, remember the grey area always padawan.
…Oh, and yes, there are many females that aren’t turned off by uncircumcised, there’s also women that are turned off by male genitals altogether, so there! (I don’t blame them, I have to wonder what the attraction is myself)
I don’t have a strong opinion on this issue one way or another. I can see both sides of the argument. So I would duck responsibility and foist the decision off onto my husband.
I voted no. Both of my little brothers were uncircumsized and assert they experienced zero social pressure fallout. Matter of fact both were extremely popular with the ladies, and popular generally, so it wasn’t, like, a crippling disfigurement.
As to health and cleanliness…no big deal, mom, dad (and big sister!) helped teach them how to clean properly in the shower. Roll that puppy up, soap and rinse, 10-15 seconds, done.
My ex was also uncut - and a doctor - and seemed neither crippled nor socially disadvantaged because of it.
Had I had kids, it is highly unlikely I would have a baby boy circumcised. Mainly because I see no benefit, and it seems really weird to me.
I hope never to have a son, but I was the legal guardian of my youngest brother. I had him circumcized (with painkillers, I don’t think he made a sound). Most Roma men are. It’s a tradiation that grew out of our nomadic past and potentially nomadic future. There is always the possibly of one day having to leave one place for another. If you factor in the possibility of one day facing non-Western living conditions (i.e., no electricity or large supply of clean water), circumcizing boys is just a basic health precaution.
Have two sons, ages 3 and 8 months. Neither are circumcised, even though I am. I’m pretty “meh” about the issue. I think the advantages and disadvantages are both pretty overblown by their respective supporters. In the absence of a good reason for doing it, my opinion is, why bother?
“So his looks like mine” is not a good enough reason IMO. My wife on the other hand is pretty strongly anti-circumcision, so it would have been an interesting debate had I been strongly in favor.
Oh my goodness! Did she also see the penis damaged by cancer, which occurs at a higher rate in uncircumcised males? What to do, what to do, when anecdotes conflict?
Re: women screaming in terror or whatever at the sight of an uncut penis…
Oh, please - when I first saw naked penes and compared cut to uncut my only thought was “trust men to make such a big deal over a trivial flap of skin”. Seriously, unless a girl has been brought up to think all men sport a schlong the size of a stallion’s and it is somehow poisonous/dangerous/whatever they’re not going to get squicked over it. It’s just a penis. An unmodified penis is no more (or less) gross or disgusting than an unmodified vulva.
Not only this but…you can’t tell if the penis is erect. You totally can’t. Erect, they all look and act the same.
Flaccid, there’s a cute little extra turtle-neck, so minor that most people wouldn’t care - or notice - about the difference.
He only fussed when the mohel took his clothes off and he was ‘baby drunk’/numbed during the procedure. Babies aren’t much for being naked at that age.
There’s absolutely no reason to get it done unless medically necessary, and I didn’t want my son to be circumcised. My dad wasn’t, but I was. It was apparently “standard procedure” to do it in the 70s. My mom said they didn’t even present it as a choice, just, “We’re going to go circumcise him now.”
I have three boys (ages 5, 2, and 1) and opted to get them circumcised. My husband’s family is Jewish, so there’s that. Then there’s the possible benefits of being easier to clean, and the lower STD infection rate. All the penises I’ve ever seen were circumcised, and I just prefer the way it looks. Put all these reasons together, and it was just enough to tip me in favor of the circs. The doctor/moyle gave them each local anesthetic (he said he’d be generous with it) and none of them were crying or acted particularly out-of-sorts afterwards. They all had the “Plastibell” thingie, which fell off somewhere between 7 and 10 days later.
Personally, I don’t care much one way or the other about circumcision, and I really could have gone either way on it. For instance, if insurance hadn’t covered it, and we’d had to pay a significant amount of money to have it done, I probably would have passed. As it stands, though… I’m not unhappy with my decision. It’s fine.
(I don’t blame them, I have to wonder what the attraction is myself)