Ah yes...I much prefer having the bulging dickhead out in the open and not covered. This a distinctly cultural preference. Maybe they are so "scary" because you just hadn't seen one before. But that is in fact how men are designed. I also much prefer women with surgically altered breasts personally...they just look better. I seriously wouldn't go near any of those asymetrical boobs with the non standard nipple sizes.
ETA: I personally find it upsetting that a full grown woman finds this repulsive enough to "not even go near it". The foreskin doesn't have evil powers, it's not made of slime. Btw. They look the same erect. I can't imagine how a woman would feel if a man looked at her genitals and "refused to go near them" because the minora fell past the majora (super common btw), or it was the wrong color or shape or whatever.
This is going to sound terrible and I may generate a lot of hate but...I had never seen an uncircumcised penis, so I googled it after finding out a friend of mine didn't circumcise her son. I needed to know what it looks like haha. I'm honestly thankful I never came across one as an adult! I seriously wouldn't go near it! A Penis isn't all that attractive to begin with but uncircumcised is even worse. And Ya I saying this strictly from a cosmetic perspective. As for pain, ask any adult male who has been circumcised as a newborn if they remember it. No one does! We don't know the gender but I researched it after my google search and there wasn't enough info to convince me not to do it.
This is going to sound terrible and I may generate a lot of hate but...I had never seen an uncircumcised penis, so I googled it after finding out a friend of mine didn't circumcise her son. I needed to know what it looks like haha. I'm honestly thankful I never came across one as an adult! I seriously wouldn't go near it! A Penis isn't all that attractive to begin with but uncircumcised is even worse. And Ya I saying this strictly from a cosmetic perspective. As for pain, ask any adult male who has been circumcised as a newborn if they remember it. No one does! We don't know the gender but I researched it after my google search and there wasn't enough info to convince me not to do it.
All of this!
ETA: Our son will be circumcised.
At least you ladies are admitting that you're doing it for purely cosmetic reasons! I think that gets some praise, but still, it brings it back around to performing surgery for no reason other than to make a son's penis look less bad to his mother. Just saying, it still seems weird to me!
After a bunch of research and discussion, my husband and I did not elect to circumcise our son. With no medical justification for having it done we couldn't find any reason to put our baby through an unnecessary procedure that would cause him pain. We don't, however, have any obligations religiously that says our child needs to be circumcised. This probably doesn't help much since we don't have the religious obligation, but I couldn't be happier with our decision. I'm sure you guys will decide what is best for your family.
I saw multiple circumcision done when I was in nursing school and the babies were fine even during the procedure. They cried some but they are given sugar water to suck on and they stop crying. After the procedure was over they were easily consoled. We will be circumcising our son for religious and other reasons previously stated in this thread.
Circumcision is NOT required for Christians. The law of the OT was replaced when Christ died. So we no longer have to be circumcised or participate in ritual cleansings or make sacrifices. So the religious aspect is not relevant to your decision (as a Baptist).
I asked someone about this, who said she did a lot of research and found higher incidents of testicular cancer with those uncircumcised. I just heard this second hand, so I can't vouche, but maybe something to look into?
Circumcision is NOT required for Christians. The law of the OT was replaced when Christ died. So we no longer have to be circumcised or participate in ritual cleansings or make sacrifices. So the religious aspect is not relevant to your decision (as a Baptist).
I asked someone about this, who said she did a lot of research and found higher incidents of testicular cancer with those uncircumcised. I just heard this second hand, so I can't vouche, but maybe something to look into?
Good luck!
All I will add is that the confounding variables for that type of "research" finding would make me question any time of real conclusion from that sort of claim.
Circumcision is NOT required for Christians. The law of the OT was replaced when Christ died. So we no longer have to be circumcised or participate in ritual cleansings or make sacrifices. So the religious aspect is not relevant to your decision (as a Baptist).
I asked someone about this, who said she did a lot of research and found higher incidents of testicular cancer with those uncircumcised. I just heard this second hand, so I can't vouche, but maybe something to look into?
Good luck!
All I will add is that the confounding variables for that type of "research" finding would make me question any time of real conclusion from that sort of claim.
Yes, @ElRuby, and also most of the claims I've seen are like, 15% reduction in whatever ailment. Not really all that exciting statistically, even if it was a true result.
No I will not. There is no medical reason to do it and I can't comment on the religious factor. I just know that we don't circumcise our girls, so why are we still doing this to our boys?
Husband and I are both in agreement that baby will be circumcised. It's important to both of us to honor God in this way and we do believe in the health benefits (which are why the AAP now officially supports it, btw). I also feel that it's important to truly listen to how your husband feels about this...after all, which one of you grew up with a penis? Which one of you really understands what living with a penis is like? If he feels strongly, there's a reason.
Imagine if, were you to parent a teenage girl, he wanted to have the final say in what products you two would provide for her very first period (because it will likely catch her off guard). Don't you think the mother, who has extensive experience in this area, should have more say in the matter? Like, "Well, pads are easier to use initially and may be less uncomfortable to start out with, so let's try that"?
I wasn't even going to comment initially, but it really irks me how many women say they want to "educate" their husbands - but really mean they're going to bully them into agreement.
No I will not. There is no medical reason to do it and I can't comment on the religious factor. I just know that we don't circumcise our girls, so why are we still doing this to our boys?
It always irks me a little when people compare male and female circumcision. I get having strong feeling against male circumcision but female genital mutilation to me is several orders of magnitude worse. Trying to equate the two both unfairly exaggerates the impact of male circumcision and trivialises the suffering of women who have been circumcised.
My own stance at the moment is that I would not circumcise my child for cosmetic or religious reasons. I'm considering the medical/hygiene aspect - it seems like either choice is fairly similar in terms of risk/benefit ratio with a possible slight edge towards circumcision. I think overall I will be guided by my husbands thoughts on the matter since he 1. has a penis whereas I don't, and 2. Is training as a surgeon and has performed circumcisions. I think he's leaning towards doing it but he hasn't fully decided yet.
"After a comprehensive review of the scientific evidence, the American Academy of Pediatrics found the health benefits of newborn male circumcision outweigh the risks, but the benefits are not great enough to recommend universal newborn circumcision."
2. I didn't bully my husband into any decision. We are adults and we made a joint parenting decision. What his parents chose for him has no bearing on what we do with our child. People did lots of stuff to their kids in the 70's that we would never do today. We together sat down and did the research.
Choose what you want for your child but don't imply that the rest of us didn't make an "educated" decision and bullied our husbands.
And as a side note: Some of the strongest champions of female circumcision are women. I'm still not circumising my daughter.
Someone asked the same question on another baby club forum but it was a uk site. She ended up with all sorts of responses. Some were polite but stating don't do it, some were really rude and nasty comments. Overall I think about 95% of people in the uk were against it and about 5% were for it. It shows the difference between the uk and usa. I have three boys , 13, 9 and 8 years old and none have been circumcised. None of them have ever had any problems or infections. I've never had a boyfriend who was circumcised and my husband isn't and he's not had any issues.
My opinion is that keep what you are born with. I wouldn't take my kids tonsils out beforehand just as a precaution to getting tonsillitis. I also wouldn't take their appendix out unless it was medically needed. My boys have never had issues with their tonsils or appendix either :-)
Not to bash and feel free to educate me as I really don't get it but I don't understand why someone would do it for religious reasons. To me it sounds like, "oh God eff'd up on making the penis like that so let's help him by correcting/chopping it off." Why would it be made that way if it's meant to be chopped off?
Not to bash and feel free to educate me as I really don't get it but I don't understand why someone would do it for religious reasons. To me it sounds like, "oh God eff'd up on making the penis like that so let's help him by correcting/chopping it off." Why would it be made that way if it's meant to be chopped off?
Some people do it for religious reasons because in the Old Testament God commanded the Jewish people to be circumcised. Lack of circumcision was seen as unclean and thus unholy. To my knowledge, members of the Jewish faith still believe that. As for what God's reasons supposedly are for making it that way only to have it removed, I have no clue. If anyone has some insight on that, I'd be interested in hearing it.
FWIW, I'm having a girl so this entire thread is irrelevant to me at this point, but if DH and I were to have a boy religion would play no role in our decision to circumcise or not to circumcise. I'm actually really confused as to why OP is so adamant that religion is why she doesn't want circumcision... I've read the Bible the whole way through and from what I recall (I definitely could be forgetting something because the Bible is HUGE but I don't think I am), while St. Paul does emphasize that circumcision is not necessary to get to heaven, he's not saying that circumcision will prevent people from being good Christians. He's actually saying that the state of a man's penis has NO role to play, so circumcision is unnecessary... but not necessarily wrong.
My husband and I still haven't made a decision. I wrote my undergrad thesis on the social convention of circumcision in the US and did a lot of research on it...I also have seen countless circumcisions working as a Maternity nurse. The AAP did revise their stance after my thesis was completed so that brought a new thing to think about into my mind. My husband isn't die-hard about wanting to circumcise but I don't think he even knew people didn't, so definitely a conversation we need to have before team green turns into team blue, because I don't think it's just a spur of the moment decision -- it is a part of a body being taken off.
TTC: 1/2014
BFP: 9/24
EDD: 6/8/2015
Sorry for the poor man's siggy...ticker won't load regardless of how many tips I read.
All very interesting. Curious if our US geographical locations influences "the norm" for our area. I'm from the midwest and my knowledge/experience is that circumcision is in the majority. Anyone else?
I will start off by saying my husband and DS are both circumcised. We will circumsise LO as well. I have never understood the debate on this topic for the simple fact that it really depends on where you live on what most parents choose. I am in an area that it is the norm to have your son circumsised at birth. I've don't know anyone who isn't (not that every man I have ever met tells me, lol). In my area the reasoning for religion or cleanliness is rarely heard one way or the other. Having baby boys circumsised is just expected.
Foreskin is natural! We would be super offended if the general population wanted us women to have our genitals surgically altered at birth for physical desires!
No I will not. There is no medical reason to do it and I can't comment on the religious factor. I just know that we don't circumcise our girls, so why are we still doing this to our boys?
It always irks me a little when people compare male and female circumcision. I get having strong feeling against male circumcision but female genital mutilation to me is several orders of magnitude worse. Trying to equate the two both unfairly exaggerates the impact of male circumcision and trivialises the suffering of women who have been circumcised.
My own stance at the moment is that I would not circumcise my child for cosmetic or religious reasons. I'm considering the medical/hygiene aspect - it seems like either choice is fairly similar in terms of risk/benefit ratio with a possible slight edge towards circumcision. I think overall I will be guided by my husbands thoughts on the matter since he 1. has a penis whereas I don't, and 2. Is training as a surgeon and has performed circumcisions. I think he's leaning towards doing it but he hasn't fully decided yet.
"After a comprehensive review of the scientific evidence, the American Academy of Pediatrics found the health benefits of newborn male circumcision outweigh the risks, but the benefits are not great enough to recommend universal newborn circumcision."
2. I didn't bully my husband into any decision. We are adults and we made a joint parenting decision. What his parents chose for him has no bearing on what we do with our child. People did lots of stuff to their kids in the 70's that we would never do today. We together sat down and did the research.
Choose what you want for your child but don't imply that the rest of us didn't make an "educated" decision and bullied our husbands.
And as a side note: Some of the strongest champions of female circumcision are women. I'm still not circumising my daughter.
I also didn't accuse you of bullying your husband, did I? I commented on a phenomenon I've been seeing far too much of lately that I'm frankly sick of. These decisions should be made after discussions where both parties are heard and understood, and if that's how you two made your choice there is certainly nothing wrong with it.
And like I said...the AAP's stance is that the benefits of circumcision outweigh the risks. They also state that the choice to circumsize should not be taken away from parents. We May stand at opposite ends of this issue, but I respect your family's choice and expect the same in return. Comparing male circumcision to female genital mutilation spits in the face of that.
The truth of the matter is that male and female genital are ARE analogous. Some forms of female genital mutilation are in fact less invasive that a typical male circumcision.
The medial "advantages" are not strong arguments. For example: circumcision reduces urinary tract infections in men, but they are more common in women anyway and can be treated with antibiotics, ANTIBIOTICS! So not a good reason to cut off a perfectly good, functioning, normal healthy body part.
There is only one person who should make the decision whether or not to circumcise: the owner of the penis.
The foreskin is a valuable, functional organ. Boys these days are growing up with this information available to them on the internet. Circumcised boys are learning that the most sensitive part of the penis has been taken from them and many of them are very upset. Many are trying to re-grow their foreskins. Many are confronting their parents about how they feel. This isn't like when our husbands grew up and nobody knew any better.
I will start off by saying my husband and DS are both circumcised. We will circumsise LO as well. I have never understood the debate on this topic for the simple fact that it really depends on where you live on what most parents choose. I am in an area that it is the norm to have your son circumsised at birth. I've don't know anyone who isn't (not that every man I have ever met tells me, lol). In my area the reasoning for religion or cleanliness is rarely heard one way or the other. Having baby boys circumsised is just expected.
Well, maybe it is time to question it. After all, did you know that the reason everyone in your family does it dates back to ideas that masturbation was sinful in the 1800's? It's almost too crazy to be believable right?
The truth of the matter is that male and female genital are ARE analogous. Some forms of female genital mutilation are in fact less invasive that a typical male circumcision.
The medial "advantages" are not strong arguments. For example: circumcision reduces urinary tract infections in men, but they are more common in women anyway and can be treated with antibiotics, ANTIBIOTICS! So not a good reason to cut off a perfectly good, functioning, normal healthy body part.
There is only one person who should make the decision whether or not to circumcise: the owner of the penis.
The foreskin is a valuable, functional organ. Boys these days are growing up with this information available to them on the internet. Circumcised boys are learning that the most sensitive part of the penis has been taken from them and many of them are very upset. Many are trying to re-grow their foreskins. Many are confronting their parents about how they feel. This isn't like when our husbands grew up and nobody knew any better.
How do you know this first hand experience of men and boys finding out and being upset? Serious question. Is this some type of research project or is it more anecdotal?
The truth of the matter is that male and female genital are ARE analogous. Some forms of female genital mutilation are in fact less invasive that a typical male circumcision.
The medial "advantages" are not strong arguments. For example: circumcision reduces urinary tract infections in men, but they are more common in women anyway and can be treated with antibiotics, ANTIBIOTICS! So not a good reason to cut off a perfectly good, functioning, normal healthy body part.
There is only one person who should make the decision whether or not to circumcise: the owner of the penis.
The foreskin is a valuable, functional organ. Boys these days are growing up with this information available to them on the internet. Circumcised boys are learning that the most sensitive part of the penis has been taken from them and many of them are very upset. Many are trying to re-grow their foreskins. Many are confronting their parents about how they feel. This isn't like when our husbands grew up and nobody knew any better.
How do you know this first hand experience of men and boys finding out and being upset? Serious question. Is this some type of research project or is it more anecdotal?
I'm curious about this to. My DH in no way feels this way.
Ugh.... This thread is so overdone and so controversial....... I wish we could close it ?!
This is one of the reasons I almost didn't respond but I can't help myself sometimes! I just hate when people make blanket statements suggesting some kind of scientifically endorsed fact when the reality is probably a couple of guys' opinions. Ugh I could be wrong but I might not be....
No I agree with you @ElRuby. Regrow their foreskins? I just can't...... Yeah if you have those kinds of stories...... Hmmmm id like something to back it up.
How do you regrow foreskin?! I'm not a mental health expert but I feel like these men may have deeper issues if all of a sudden they wake up - angry at their parents - because they no longer have foreskin. I can't even process the rationale of it all.
The truth of the matter is that male and female genital are ARE analogous. Some forms of female genital mutilation are in fact less invasive that a typical male circumcision.
The medial "advantages" are not strong arguments. For example: circumcision reduces urinary tract infections in men, but they are more common in women anyway and can be treated with antibiotics, ANTIBIOTICS! So not a good reason to cut off a perfectly good, functioning, normal healthy body part.
There is only one person who should make the decision whether or not to circumcise: the owner of the penis.
The foreskin is a valuable, functional organ. Boys these days are growing up with this information available to them on the internet. Circumcised boys are learning that the most sensitive part of the penis has been taken from them and many of them are very upset. Many are trying to re-grow their foreskins. Many are confronting their parents about how they feel. This isn't like when our husbands grew up and nobody knew any better.
How do you know this first hand experience of men and boys finding out and being upset? Serious question. Is this some type of research project or is it more anecdotal?
I'm curious about this to. My DH in no way feels this way.
I have actually never met a man who was uncircumcised or one who wished he wasn't....
Lurking from may. This person has posted this on several month boards. I'd say ignore this and let this go off the first page. She is just trying to open up a can of worms.
I don't find it necessary, so we decided not to. My husband never had it done AND he never suffered from infections or etc. You have to teach your kids how to clean their body parts!. On the religion side, I have nothing to say. Do whatever you feel is right for your child, they will let you know if they like it or not anyways.
Re: Circumcision
ETA: I personally find it upsetting that a full grown woman finds this repulsive enough to "not even go near it". The foreskin doesn't have evil powers, it's not made of slime. Btw. They look the same erect. I can't imagine how a woman would feel if a man looked at her genitals and "refused to go near them" because the minora fell past the majora (super common btw), or it was the wrong color or shape or whatever.
ETA: Our son will be circumcised.
I asked someone about this, who said she did a lot of research and found higher incidents of testicular cancer with those uncircumcised. I just heard this second hand, so I can't vouche, but maybe something to look into?
Good luck!
My boys had it done. They never cried with it. I wouldn't do it just to make them look like their father though....
Imagine if, were you to parent a teenage girl, he wanted to have the final say in what products you two would provide for her very first period (because it will likely catch her off guard). Don't you think the mother, who has extensive experience in this area, should have more say in the matter? Like, "Well, pads are easier to use initially and may be less uncomfortable to start out with, so let's try that"?
I wasn't even going to comment initially, but it really irks me how many women say they want to "educate" their husbands - but really mean they're going to bully them into agreement.
My own stance at the moment is that I would not circumcise my child for cosmetic or religious reasons. I'm considering the medical/hygiene aspect - it seems like either choice is fairly similar in terms of risk/benefit ratio with a possible slight edge towards circumcision. I think overall I will be guided by my husbands thoughts on the matter since he 1. has a penis whereas I don't, and 2. Is training as a surgeon and has performed circumcisions. I think he's leaning towards doing it but he hasn't fully decided yet.
My opinion is that keep what you are born with. I wouldn't take my kids tonsils out beforehand just as a precaution to getting tonsillitis. I also wouldn't take their appendix out unless it was medically needed. My boys have never had issues with their tonsils or appendix either :-)
FWIW, I'm having a girl so this entire thread is irrelevant to me at this point, but if DH and I were to have a boy religion would play no role in our decision to circumcise or not to circumcise. I'm actually really confused as to why OP is so adamant that religion is why she doesn't want circumcision... I've read the Bible the whole way through and from what I recall (I definitely could be forgetting something because the Bible is HUGE but I don't think I am), while St. Paul does emphasize that circumcision is not necessary to get to heaven, he's not saying that circumcision will prevent people from being good Christians. He's actually saying that the state of a man's penis has NO role to play, so circumcision is unnecessary... but not necessarily wrong.
And like I said...the AAP's stance is that the benefits of circumcision outweigh the risks. They also state that the choice to circumsize should not be taken away from parents. We May stand at opposite ends of this issue, but I respect your family's choice and expect the same in return. Comparing male circumcision to female genital mutilation spits in the face of that.
The medial "advantages" are not strong arguments. For example: circumcision reduces urinary tract infections in men, but they are more common in women anyway and can be treated with antibiotics, ANTIBIOTICS! So not a good reason to cut off a perfectly good, functioning, normal healthy body part.
There is only one person who should make the decision whether or not to circumcise: the owner of the penis.
The foreskin is a valuable, functional organ. Boys these days are growing up with this information available to them on the internet. Circumcised boys are learning that the most sensitive part of the penis has been taken from them and many of them are very upset. Many are trying to re-grow their foreskins. Many are confronting their parents about how they feel. This isn't like when our husbands grew up and nobody knew any better.
Well, maybe it is time to question it. After all, did you know that the reason everyone in your family does it dates back to ideas that masturbation was sinful in the 1800's? It's almost too crazy to be believable right?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCSWbTv3hng