Male Circumcision
This is about as personal as it gets, and there are a lot of strong feelings on the subject. Take a look at this Sullivan post, where he uses the term "male genital mutilation" (MGM) to refer to circumcision:
My stance: we won't be circumcising our infant son (due in less than a month!). Yes, there are some health concerns, but from what I've heard they are not that difficult to deal with. If, once he's old enough, he decides he wants to be circumcised, that's fine with us. I think a good guideline should be: don't take a knife to your child's genetalia until your child is old enough to have an informed say in the matter. You can cut it off, but you can't grow it back. (Though maybe with stem cell research we could learn how to grow and attach a replacement! Science is so cool.)
FGM is exponentially morally, medically and psychologically worse than MGM. It's an evil practice. But it is untrue that MGM "may diminish male pleasure." It drastically decreases male sexual sensitivity. In the era of AIDS, some parents may believe that diminishing their child's future sexual pleasure is worth the benefit of extra protection from HIV. But the trade-off exists.#The Malcontent# (who trackbacks) slams Sullivan rather hard, and the main comment there is very pro-circimcision:
I'm circumcized, and I'm actually quite happy with it. Aside from the visual aesthetics of foreskin (I think it's gross), there are also hygienic concerns. Seriously, there is no greater turn off than a guy taking off his pants and you're suddenly asking if something died. Removing your boxers should not rock the hell out of my sense of smell. Sometimes you want to be a little spontaneous and blow a guy in the parking lot. Requiring a vigorous shower before any encounter just isn't for me.Hmm. Not quite sure what to make of that. Do uncircumcised penises really smell so rank?
My stance: we won't be circumcising our infant son (due in less than a month!). Yes, there are some health concerns, but from what I've heard they are not that difficult to deal with. If, once he's old enough, he decides he wants to be circumcised, that's fine with us. I think a good guideline should be: don't take a knife to your child's genetalia until your child is old enough to have an informed say in the matter. You can cut it off, but you can't grow it back. (Though maybe with stem cell research we could learn how to grow and attach a replacement! Science is so cool.)
Comments
Do uncircumcised vaginas smell rank? Of course, IF the owner doesn't care for it. Why is the comparison so hard for people? I'm not trying to attack you, since I can see we're on the same side of the debate. You only asked the rhetorical question. Explosive Corrosive gets it right about questioning the general health and habits of a person whose genitals smell rank rather than their intact genitalia.
We're obsessed with being "normal" but a circumcised penis is not normal. It's common, yes, but not normal. Bravo to you for making the correct decision for your son.