What do you all think about male circumcision?

[Zippy1111]

Please hear me out instead of dismissing this post as a "whiny MRA post"

To be more specific male circumcision done on baby boys and young boys for non-medical reasons?

I am personally against it for these reasons:

-The foreskin is a part of the body and everyone should have the right to an intact body

-Babies cannot give consent

-The foreskin is full of nerves. Removal means less pleasure from sex/masturbation. The glans of the penis eventually becomes desensitized after rubbing against clothing instead of being kept lubricated by the foreskin.

-Last Nov a baby boy in Manchester bled to death after being circumcised (for medical reasons)

If it is to be done, I believe it is best for the boy to make the decision for himself when he becomes old enough

I agree with you.

It's a stupid patriarchal practice that should stop.

I think its barbaric, unnecessary practice and belongs in the dark ages when it was initiated.

I hate it. It's genital mutilation and should not be allowed to happen regardless of the excuses given. If adult men choose it for themselves, then fine. They are adults. But it should not be practised on under eighteen year olds.

I agree with you, op. stupid and barbaric.

On pretty much every circumcision thread I've seen, Zippy, the majority of MNers are against.

Never, not once, have I seen any post on circumcision be dismissed as a whiny MRA post.

What made you think yours would be?

And I hate the argument that it helps stop HIV and stds.

Absolutely wrong unless medically necessary. Just as wrong as FGM.

I said that in a post about 3 or 4 months ago and got absolutely flamed for it!

OP, I don't know why you think you'd be shouted down as an MRA for your post.

I disagree with circumcision for non-medical reasons, and I remember the case you cited. I think circumcision is barbaric.

FWIW, I have seen MRAs mocked for complaining about male circumcision, although not on this site.

I agree with you, OP, as I expect will most people who haven't been raised with it as normal (e.g. Jewish/Muslim, American).

The problem is that a comparison is eventually made with FGM, and then the bickering begins. Well, chopping an arm off at the elbow is 'worse' than chopping it off at the wrist - both scenarios are still horrible and should be prevented.

I think that if you are an observant member of a religious community, then the questions of what constitutes being a 'good' parent are rather different than the ones which secular parents face. Perhaps the important thing to remember is that - rather than characterising religious parents as in some way less caring - observant parents are also asking themselves about how best to balance tradition with a more modern/'enlightened' approach, when bringing up their children.

intactnews.org/node/142/1327690351/progressive-rabbis-creating-jewish-covenant-without-circumcision

I think it is a horrid, vile practice.

Where I think the whole MRA debate can get a bit messy is when MRAs start responding to discussions on FGM with 'what about the menz. Male circumcision is accepted'. I think that's an issue because they are fundamentally different things and, you know what, it's ok to talk about a women's issue as just a women's issue. You don't have to talk about prostate cancer every time you talk about breast cancer. You certainly don't need to talk about male circumcision every time you talk about FGM.

Ah, thanks Amanda and Eccles.

I agree with your posts.

I think that most British people are horrified by it because it isn't the norm here - if you asked this same question on a feminist (or non-feminist) site with a wide base of US users then you'd get a totally different response.

Routine infant circumcision sickens me. I'd never consent to it for my son. (Or daughter, but that's a given, surely)

What's an MRA?

In reply to just the question:

I think that you shouldn't chop bits off people without their informed consent, unless there is a strong medical need.

I also think that if there is a God or higher power, he/she/it should judge people based on their own thoughts and actions, not the actions of their parents. If there is a God that will treat one child differently to another based on what their parents did, without the knowledge or understanding of that child, that's not a God that I would want to follow. Being circumcised or baptised as a child means nothing because you did not knowingly and willingly choose it.

I was really surprised to find that my DP was circumcised. His family are an average, white, British, non-Jewish family yet he was circumcised as a child. He doesn't know why, has never asked! He also doesn't know if his older brothers are, or if his nephews are, or if it was done for medical reasons. I find it very odd that he has never questioned it!
If we had sons, I would certainly not let it happen to them .

This OP being in FWR implies antifeminism What other reasons are there for defensively posting about male circumcision in a women's rights section?

I think it's unnecessary. It's pretty common in the US and a lot of people there believe that foreskins are dirty.

If they didn't serve a purpose, they wouldn't be there.

It's a bizarre, incomprehensible practice IMO. Why is such a tiny piece of skin targeted? What on earth is the point in removing it? I have never in all my life heard of anyone getting an infection due to a dirty foreskin - in fact I can't imagine how it would happen unless you really are a filthy fecker and, I don't know, dip your penis in manure on a regular basis. How much dirt actually builds up around the area, realistically? I know urine might collect there but surely it's easy to just give it a bit of a wash in the shower? It just doesn't make sense to me that a religion would decree that a tiny little bit of a person has to be cut off near to birth. Where TF did that come from??

I didn't have very strong feelings about it until I saw a baby who was healing from his circumcision a couple of days earlier. It looked so sore and raw. Now I'm totally against.

A barbaric ritual that serves no purpose other than control.