Can we please talk about Male Circumcision?

[KaseyM]

It seems to be an undeniable truth that whenever there is a thread about, well anything to do with the inustices that women face in the world, it will usually turn back into a conversation about the injustices that men face in the world, one of them being male circumcision.

I get the impression that those coming on here saying "well what about male circumcision" in that lovely WATM way actually believe that feminists either a) invented male circumcision or b) approve of it.

So, just for the record and so that in future we can direct any further derailings to this can we state categorically once and for all each of our individual positions on Male Circumcision.

So I'll start: I disagree with it 100%.

Anyone else?

[ArgyMargy]

Definitely anti-circumcision. And pissed off that whenever this topic comes up and I mention that you can get it (religious circumcision) on the NHS in parts of Birmingham, I am totally ignored.

[BasilBabyEater]

Last time I posted about male circumcision I got deleted.

Must have been something I said...



It wasn't in favour.

[BasilBabyEater]

Funny that MRA's aren't campaigning against that in Birmingham.

[glenthebattleostrich]

Against any mutilation for cultural reasons.

I also quite like boys and don't eat male babies

[Grennie]

Of course they are not similar

[TheDoctrineOfWho]

Can you, Argy? I didn't know that.

[SabrinaMulFUCKERJjones]

Disagree with male circumcision for anything other than medical reasons. But I totally take WhentheRed's point on board too - here and on the other thread.

I don't see male circumcision and FGM as directly comparable.

[FloraFox]

I could not care one jot about circumcision one way or the other. Based on the medical history of some family members and the cultural and religious backgrounds of other men I know, it is likely that a significant proportion of the men I know (if not an actual majority) are circumcised. I know a man who did not even realise he had been circumcised until he was an adult. I would have thought that having a baby's ears pierced is a closer equivalent, based on what I have been told by men who are circumcised.

If other people want to campaign against circumcision, that's fine by me. I will not demand that they also campaign or even discuss female genital mutilation as part of their campaign.

There are many societies where circumcision is the norm and which are very male dominated e.g. Saudi Arabia where (as far as I know) FGM is not a common practice. There is no correlation in my view between circumcision and FGM. It seems that this is an issue that is primarily raised by men who are not circumcised to derail conversations about women, feminism and FGM.

It's like MRAs went through a list of feminist issues and scraped the barrel to come up with some form of equivalence that affects men, however tenuous. I don't see circumcision as a feminist issue in any way shape or form nor an issue that a feminist even needs to have a view on.

Can I please request that men reading this do not PM me again with messages about their penises?

[ArgyMargy]

Thanks TheDoctrine - appreciate it!!

[rutters1]

@curlew

"I got banned from a MRA board"

Where's that then? Didn't know there was such a thing!

[TheDoctrineOfWho]

Rutters1, some instinct made me Advanced Search you on the strength of that one post.

Instincts are good things.

[rutters1]

What do you mean?

[MistAllChuckingFrighty]

Flora name and shame mate, g'wan

[SigmundFraude]

anti-circumcision activists

more info

'Where's that then? Didn't know there was such a thing!'

Really?

[Grennie]

There is an American organisation that campaigns on it called Intact America. Male circumcision is much more common there.

[FloraFox]

Mist not a regular, AFAIK (I fucking hope not anyway)

[MistAllChuckingFrighty]

All the more reason to name and shame. I hope you have reported at least

[Italiangreyhound]

I am 100% against male circumcision.

[CaptChaos]

As long as it's done in a nice, shiny hospital, then I have no dramas with MC. A large number of friends have probably had it done, for religious reasons, and a smaller hoot couldn't be given if they tried hard.

MC tends to be a religious thing in the UK, and a religious/cleanliness thing in certain other parts of the world. Therefore, it would be better for MRAs to engage with those religions and countries where it's prevalent, neither group is well known for it's outspoken feminist views, so why feminists and women in general have come to be blamed for it is beyond me.

In no way is MC comparable with FGM. I have yet to meet anyone sensible who would suggest they are even in the same ball park of awfulness. This might explain why FGM is illegal in the UK and MC isn't.

[Branleuse]

i hate it when people compare male circumcision to female genital mutilation, when the only good comparison would be male castration, which thankfully isnt done anymore

[Branleuse]

although i dont agree with male circumcision of children for non medical reasons, but still, it isnt a massive deal

[SigmundFraude]

'but still, it isnt a massive deal'

The thing is branleuse, for a lot of people, it is. More and more men have come forward and said so. Who are you to say it isn't a massive deal?

Anyway, in case anyone missed it, purposely or otherwise..

www.circumstitions.com/

I have read through this site, and it doesn't have an affiliation with any MRA sites and is purely made up of people who oppose circumcision. There is a lot of info on the subject.