If my baby were to be snatched from me people would easily recognize her by the tattoo I gave her.
I have a "tramp stamp" and I want her to look like mommy.
All the boys will like her, and she will never be teased for not having a tramp stamp.
The Doctor's say babies don't feel pain, I can just give her a little sugar water, while they tattoo her little back.
I'll save her the pain of having to make the decision later and going through the pain because I am just SO SURE that she will want her own tramp stamp.
She might be upset at me for not taking her to get it "over with" when she was little.
Now the Problem is... NO tattoo artist would in their right mind's tattoo a baby!, It is illegal for someone under 18 to get a tatto. BUT SHE IS MY CHILD! Why would the government try to tell me what I can or can't do with my own kid! Oh.. wait.. am I shocking you?? Let me ask you... Would you tatto your child? My guess is no.
And I wouldn't either.. and NO, though I do have tattos, I don't have a "tramp stap" BUT Kudos to the ones that do.. the great thing about it is that if you did.. it was YOUR choice, not your parent's. YOU made a choice to get it done and you are either happy (or not as we know most of us aren't all there at 18, some are but not most)
BUT it is NOT THE SAME.
YES IT IS! CIRCUMCISION IS NOT MEDICALLY NECESSARY! just like a tattoo isn't! It is merely an aesthetic procedure. The most common reason.. "so the boy can look like his dad".
I asked my husband (he's anti circumcision after I painfully explained what he was missing out on I was doing research after I read on the "debate" going on many mom forums.) if he ever compared his penis' with his father's they took showers together just like I do with my girls, they were both circ'd but his answer was, "it doesn't matter it wasn't a big deal I didn't look hard enough, besides of course it was different than mine, his was a grown man's! Now I don't know how many of those boys that have been circumcised to look like their dad's get to compare penises as adults. Do you?
Another popular reason is, "so he wont be teased" I don't know of many activities nowadays that require boys or girls being naked together... people are so scared with liability and sex laws that I remember even when I was in High school, the showers were used as storage for the school. What we need to know is teach in sex ed the differences of a circumcised and uncircumcised penis, it's proper care AND teach the FUNCTION of the foreskin, because it HAS a function. SEXUAL PLEASURE.
Does diminishing your son's pleasure in the future, worth your convenience? Is it worth your ignorance? "Ignorance" Is not an insult.. it is only an insult when you stubbornly decide to look the other way and not take in the information that is presented to you out of stubbornness, pride or shame about what has already been done.
I am trying to save future sons from such an unnecessary intervention.
You can Read more here this is the first thing that popped on google when I was doing research and I didn't need to read more, this changed my mind immediately.
Informed Consent for a Medically Necessary Circumcision <----THIS IS NOT a PRO nor a CON site, It provides information! and just reading that alone made me decide to keep my future sons if I had any intact.
Here is a great Post FULL of info, if you want to get more into the subject..
How Far would you got to reject your child by Guggie Daly.
Another Reason I am comparing Circumcision to tattooing.
Are we allowed to tattoo a child because of religious beliefs?
Some People have tattoos some don't but in the end it is not up to us to make that choice for them.
Some States allow it with parental consent, some not at all, but would any respectful tattoo artist work on a child?
I am also doing this because A man, yes a MAN! started a proposition going in San Francisco to BAN Male Genital cutting. Read more here .. And it has caused an uproar all over the web and on T.V while it's a great step.. I believe it should be like tattooing.
Make the legal age 18! You're allowed to modify your body then out of your own personal CHOICE!, don't take away the choice period... just let the individual do so for himself!
Let's see how many 18 yr olds would do it, especially after they learned what circumcision takes away..... Pleasure!
I Do not judge parents who have circumcised their children... I DO judge those who then refuse to read the information that they didn't read before and admit their mistake. Because I doubt anyone who reads all the evidence would still do this to their child. Especially after watching the videos of circumcisions being performed. I could have posted those here but I didn't want to go there.
Like I said before, Making decisions for your child is NOT your RIGHT! it is you PRIVILEGE! and as such we must research any decision we make for them. We will make mistakes.. but there is nothing wrong in admitting you were misinformed or not informed at all , moving forward and spreading the message to someone who is not yet informed with the facts.
Knowledge is power, and with knowledge comes the responsibility to make better choices and spread the facts.
Pic from amazingdata.com
Seeing as how circumcision is surgery that amputates a part of the body, you'd think ourcec culture would be MORE accepting of tattoos and LESS accepting of circumcision, right?
ReplyDeleteWe sure live in a mad, mad world.
I asked my husband (he was forcefully circumcised at birth) if his dad was circumcised and he doesn't know. I asked him if his brothers were circumcised and he thinks they might be, but can't be sure.
So much for that ridiculous "look like me" excuse! Sounds like the real reason dads push for circumcision is so that they don't have a daily reminder of what was stolen from them starting at them on their protected, perfect sons.
I'm not convinced. I mean, if a boy gets a circumcision, other than sex, there's no reason for anyone to see it if he doesn't like it. But a tattoo on a girls lower back... those get seen all the time. What if you pick something she doesn't like...then she's stuck with it forever or until she can pay for a painful surgery to have it removed. I am not anti-tattoo (I have one myself) but I picked my own poison. Isn't it better to just be open to the idea of her getting a tattoo whenever she wants? Then when she's older she can come to you and say, "Hey Mom... I want a tattoo of this" and you can take her to get what she wants.
ReplyDeleteThank you. When I had my son, I honestly didn't even know what a circumcision was. All I knew was that it had something to do with a penis, and it was "normal" to have it done in my area. I wish now that someone had just told me the facts beforehand. Thank you for not judging :)
ReplyDeleteNo, not if you disagree with me, you could disagree with me all you want, if you decided your choice was valid... then your choice was valid. If you are comfortable with your choice why the need to think that I am being arrongant and to resort to childish behavior by throwing a tantrum anonymously.
ReplyDeleteIf you Disagree with me, Good for you.. go on and be happy with your choices..
This is what I said
ReplyDelete"I DO judge those who then refuse to read the information that they didn't read before and admit their mistake. Because I doubt anyone who reads all the evidence would still do this to their child. Especially after watching the videos of circumcisions being performed"
The way you quoted me was that common of someone who only reads posts with information wanting to only find something to trigger them, If you feel like i was pointing a finger at you then you got some issues to resolve with yourself.
Great post Rockin Mama. Just posted it on my FB page to spread the message.
ReplyDeleteanonymous hissy fits lol... gotta love 'em
ReplyDeleteHey Anonymous, I have a few questions for you. First of all what kind of infections?? UTI? Because that could have just been cured with a antibiotic. Secondly you say do you get turned on from people touching your finger tips. LOL i find this funny the answer would be no because its not a sexual part, but you know what is?? OH thats right your penis. You are dense. My husbands brother was circumcised as a 24 year old (personal reasons there wasnt any problems) And guess what HE HATES IT! says it was the biggest mistake of his life. Says that sex used to be amazing, and no he can barley feel enough to get off. Anyone who would actually believe you when you say that the foreskin has no pleasure receptors is just as dumb as you. Who would actually think that parts of your dick you dont get sexual pleasure from??? HAHA So maybe you should use your brain before you spout NONSENSE!!
ReplyDeleteBy the way AMAZING post. I am a women who found a Intact man after YEARS of agonizing sex with circed men, and i married him. Every man should be entitled to all of his penis, and every woman should be able to feel how amazing it is!!
I read your blog because you were talking about it on Instinctual Mamas and I was curious about your opinions. I had my son circed and it didn't heal right so part of it had to be redone. Before you judge me, yes I followed the Drs advice on how to care for it exactly as he said. I was against circs entirely, for no other reason than it would hurt my beautiful baby. Than my ob told me there aren't any penile cancers in boys whom have been circed ( I should also add that my baby brother just died in August bc of complications involving his cancer treatment, losing him is when I decided whatever it takes to make sure my son doesn't get cancer I will do.) At any rate I usually avoid these debates bc if we have it done we all do it for different reasons. I would never have it done for appearance and yes, all my future boys will be circed. Oh and before I get harsh responses, I'm not judging anyone who doesn't get it done, the only people I have a problem with are the ones being rude or judging me.
ReplyDeleteWho's to say he'd get cancer there anyway.... its like saying "hey, here's a rock. This rock will prevent tigers from attacking you..." literally, the rock had nothing to do with the tiger not attacking you....it was that there were no tigers there in the first place...same goes for cancer. The cancer cells can not survive in a body with an alkaline Ph, but this boils down to diet and environmental issues.....
DeleteSo Leona im not going to be rude, but i do have a question. Are you only circ'ing your kids because of the cancer risk? because it is actually more common for men to get breast cancer then it is to get penile cancer. Penile cancer is the rarest form of cancer on the male body so it doesnt really even make sense to cut off a part of a highly sensitive sex organ. I Also really think its strange to cut off any part of the body to try and prevent cancer. What other parts can we cut off our babies to prevent cancer? None so why this one?
ReplyDeleteJackie my first instinct was to argue with you, however, I don't really need to. My son is fine, your beliefs are not mine and I don't enjoy having conversations with people that are closed off to others opinions. I have great respect for the mom that wrote this, she was polite and made her point without being defensive. If you want to be harsh and judgmental you're free to do so.
ReplyDelete@Leona, I have friends that circ'd .. a lot of them! And honestly, I don't judge them it's not my place, I think the anonymous posters got it all twisted.. Even Christy on IM's circ'd and then she read more about the subject and made a choice not to do it if she gets another boy..
ReplyDeleteI have friends who get upset at my views thinking I am constantly judging and I am not, I think it is pointless to attack someone when the decision has been made. It wont change anything.. I am all for just putting info out there and people can make thier own minds.. even if they do decide to circ anyway.. I'm like ok cool.. just be secure with the decision!
The reason being that if my first born (5) would have been a boy, he would most likely have been circumcised, I'd say for sure actually as I had no idea.. until I read posts by other people and did some research.
I often get my real life friends who have no kiddos yet telling me they had no idea about a lot of subjects I touch and are grateful for at least stirring up their curiosity to research before they have to make such decisions on breastfeeding, birthing, circumcising.. etc.. they are open to the info, it's other parents that get upset because I myself for example don't want to think I am not being the best parent I can be.. and the truth is.. we all have alot to learn and I am on that boat too..
I mean.. I hear stuff like dyes are bad for you and then I cringe because I've been giving my daughter vitamins with dyes in them eeek.. live and learn I guess.. one step at a time...
No use dwelling on past choices we can only look forward and enjoy the ride :)
Thank you for understanding what I was trying to convey.
My husband and boys are not circumsised. It's just not something that we do in our family. Unheard of. On the other hand, I tried breastfeeding with all 4 of my children, and I HATED EVERY SECOND of it. I hated the way it made me feel exposed, my nipples hurt, I had postpartum depression and couldn't leave the suckle of my newborn for more than 5 minutes. So, I quit. My kids are granola, crunchy little uncircumsised, formula fed kids. What of it? If the kids don't hate you for one thing, they'll hate you for another. If you didn't circ, and then home schooled later; they're going to blame you for being maladjusted. It's always going to be something. Freakin' A. Mom bashing in a forum is dumb. Go sew some diapers and wash some stuff in vinegar. Go on with your bad self.
ReplyDeleteI'm new to your blog and really liked all your post but this one. All your other posts were just stating your opinion and options available but this one is accusing people of making wrong decisions. I have 2 boys both cir. and its for religious reasons. Whatever happened to people just supporting others parenting? I don't think I made a wrong decision. You didn't breasfeed your first and gave her all her vaccines, so do you love your second child more since you did did your "research"? You did what was best for your daughter and that time, that is what is important. Google doesn't counts as research to me. Ok, done ranting.....
ReplyDeleteI think I love you. Great post! Fabulous analogy. I'm a new reader and liking everything I read so far.
ReplyDeleteTo the person above me, religious reasons are not a valid excuse for mutilation! It isn't a good excuse for female circ so why would it be for male?
Stay provocative!
Great analogy, and a great post.
ReplyDeleteForeskins rock. Yes, they're sexually pleasurable. Duh. We started doing this crazy thing in America to stop boys from masturbating. How'd that work out?
Do the same people who scream that it's PARENTAL CHOICE support chopping off a baby girl's labia? I mean, those things are so icky, they trap smegma, some do it for religious reasons, and it's only a useless piece of skin anyway...oh wait, that's "not the same"....YEAH, IT IS.
There is absolutely no large religion that requries the removal of a boy's prepuce.
ReplyDeleteJudaism requires circumcision, yes, but the original rite was a small slit made in the tip of the foreskin so that a few drops of blood were shed for atonement. There is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY the ancient Jews could have actually removed the entire prepuce without destroying the penis (something that still happens in modern medicine).
Christians are actually NOT supposed to circumcise. To circumcise as a Christian is a DIRECT rejection of the sacrifice Jesus Christ made on the cross. Basically, it's just saying "Thanks, but Your son's death wasn't good enough for me!" to God.
If you ARE a Jew and insist on removing your child's prepuce because your misunderstood law "requires" it, then PLEASE, please tell me that you follow all 612 other laws. Including the one about wearing polyester and being in public while menstruating.
Because if you're gonna break ONE law, you'd think you could break the (not even real) one about maiming your son's genitals.
Bravo! Great post. Simple concept; HIS BODY, HIS CHOICE.
ReplyDeleteAnd THANK you for this piece :)
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome to read. I don't get how anyone ever thinks it's okay to remove a piece of their child's genitals.
Not your body, not your choice.
I don't know ANY teenaged boys who would EVER make fun of another boy's genitals to his face. If you stare at another guy's junk for that long in the locker room, you will have a LOT more problems coming YOUR way.
The foreskin is not dirty. It is normal, like an eyelid.
It contains approx. 30 000 nerve endings. So to the person who was insisting that there is NO FEELING to it... I call BS :)
Removing a foreskin doesn't decrease the amount of infections. Plus, girls get like 50 times more UTI's and such than boys. We don't lop off their labia in America, so... ??
The only reason a young boy would be getting infections is if you are RETRACTING his foreskin... basically ripping his penis apart. The ONLY person EVER retracting a boy's foreskin should be the boy himself, once he hits puberty, if ever.
@ Leona...
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry about your brother and I understand your worry and fears. Cancer is such a scary thing when it hits someone close to you. It's important to remember that ANY part of your body can become infected with cancer but you wouldn't remove any of them unless they did. Penile cancer is one of the rarest cancers in men. Your sons are more likely to develop male breast cancer if you didn't remove their breast tissue at birth. Your sons are FAR more likely to develop prostrate cancer if their prostrates were not removed at birth.
Did you know that BOTH circumcised and intact men get penile cancer? Circumcision does not reduce the risk. In fact, some studies seem to show that circumcision INCREASES the risk. I haven't looked into that enough to say for sure but it is true that penile cancer is FAR more common in the USA than in Europe where they do not routinely circumcise. That should ell you something but it's important to understand the role that foreskin plays when it comes to penile cancer.
Foreskin is there to protect the rest of the penis from infections and diseases as long as it's washed regularly.
When an intact man gets penile cancer, it's his foreskin that gets infected because it's protecting the rest of the penis. In most cases, amputation is not necessary but if it is, he will be circumcised.
When a circumcised man gets penile cancer, he lacks a foreskin so it's his glans that will become infected. In most cases, amputation is not necessary but if it is, he will be castrated.
This website lists a few studies that seem interesting. Take a look: http://www.circumstitions.com/Cancer.html
Religious justification for circumcision doesn't make it right or ethical. It is unethical to remove a healthy body part from someone incapable of consent. Period. End of story.
ReplyDeleteIt is illegal for parents to have their daughters circumcised - why do we protect our girls and not our boys? There are religious justifications for both and NEITHER are ok.
I didnt belive in circumcision, i was to scared it was going to hurt my lil boy but the doc told me it will be healthy for him that it would prevent any STD or infections so i went on and did. My family didnt like it on the other hand on my husbands side they all wanted me to give our son the circumcision, but at the end i made my choice cuz i dont want my baby boy to get any type of STD so i think its fine to circumcise them. But again every one has its own opinion and there should be no judging. Please no harsh comments!!
ReplyDeleteI'm curious as to what people DO class as reliable research, given that Google has been rubbished (which is only a search engine, it's the content you read that's important).
ReplyDeleteMost people who say they researched and decided to circ quote Brian Morris' 'circinfo' site as what made up their minds. They don't realise that Morris is a circumcision fetishist who is viewed by the medical profession in his home country as a zealot and a quack. He's so desperately in need of someone to support his viewpoints that he teams up with another fetishist, UK computer programmer Jake Waskett, to write letters to support circumcision and in protest of studies that come out against it. If you don't believe me, Google it, it's freely available. Jake has a death-grip over every foreskin related article on Wikipedia. Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.
The only other research that has ever supported circumcision - though it's all been superseded or contradicted by other research - has been conducted by Jewish, American, or Jewish American doctors with a culturally vested interest in seeing circ continue. Peer review means nothing when your peers share your bias. It is telling that research in other parts of the world has found routine circumcision to be worthless, and as such it isn't practiced.
I respect that some of you feel as though you've researched the issue, but what made your minds up? I'm interested to know. I don't hold any one source up as being the ultimate well of knowledge, that would be dangerous and unwise - but I do know what makes sense, from medical and ethical standpoints, from risk vs. benefit analyses, and comparative practices.
I can tell you this much:
ReplyDelete-Female circumcision analogous to male circumcision is practiced for all the same reasons elsewhere in the world. Historically it was legal in the USA and funded until the 1970s. It is now illegal in the US. If you accept that one is unethical, you must accept that the other is too - human rights legislation doesn't allow for discrimination on the basis of gender. This is written by Hanny Lightfoot-Klein, who has been campaigning against FGM for 30 years: http://www.boystoo.com/fgm&mgm.htm This is a casual discussion about female circumcision amongst mothers: http://www.mummysg.com/forums/f40/have-you-sunat-your-girls-29826 and this is a short history of FGM in the USA: http://www.drmomma.org/2009/09/history-of-female-circumcision-in.html
-Circumcision has common and horrifying complications. They're outlined rather well on this page: http://www.circumstitions.com/Complic.html You can argue that the benefits are worth the risks, but in order for it to be ethical, you have to establish that the benefits are real, that the procedure must be performed immediately in order to reap them, and that these benefits outweigh the risks. That simply doesn't hold up, which is why most of the world - around 80% - is intact: http://www.circumstitions.com/Maps.html
-There is no real-world evidence, i.e., any studies that have shown benefits to being circumcised in preventing STDs, HIV etc are based on flawed methodology such as lack of controls, lack of follow-up and confusing correlation with causation. Parts of Africa and the USA, who already have the highest rates of cultural circumcision, also have the highest rates of HIV & STDs. Participants in the African studies were also given condoms and sex education. One study, abandoned early, was showing a similar increase in HIV transmission to the partners of circumcised men. There's much more about it here: http://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/full/10.2217/17469600.2.3.193 However, from a medical ethics procedure, even if it WAS protective, it does not warrant circumcision. Babies are not at risk of STDs. Similar arguments are posed for female circumcision, yet this is outlawed. There is absolutely no reason why it can't be his choice when he's older.
ReplyDelete-UTIs are treatable with antibiotics. They are rare in males, circumcised or not, and extremely rare after the first year. Much more serious a urinary complication is meatal stenosis, which is seen in somewhere between 9-11% of circumcised boys, and ONLY in circumcised boys. This high risk of painful narrowing of the urinary opening should be enough to stop circumcision tomorrow. There's well laid out information here - which again, is not my only resource, but is easier to read for the lay-person: http://www.circumstitions.com/Utis.html
-Penile cancer is extraordinarily rare. It is rarer than male breast cancer. It is also a disease of old men, i.e., after the age of consent. We have, in the latter part of last century, moved away from amputative medicine even when it involves troublesome body parts, let alone healthy ones. The tonsils and appendix are now recognised to be useful parts of the immune and digestive systems, and are left in place unless their removal is absolutely necessary. We don't remove male breast buds, arguably useless, even though the risk for male breast cancer is much higher than that of penile cancer. Circumcised men have been known to develop penile cancer on the circumcision scar, so while you could argue that having less penis is somewhat protective, only a full penectomy would eliminate the risk, and why? Comparatively, from a medical ethics perspective, circumcision to prevent penile cancer makes no sense. http://www.circumstitions.com/Cancer.html
Seriously, where is the pressing need to amputate this useful body part? I have had partners both circumcised and not, and I can tell you that it's useful. Most men where I live are living fulfilled and happy lives with the penises they were born with, and are filled with horror to hear that in the USA they're commonly taken to with clamps and scissors. No one makes right decisions all the time as a parent, and as the mother of a dead son, I understand the guilt, the denial, the soul searching, I really do. But many mothers have worked through this, questioned their decision, made different decisions for future sons and apologised to the sons they had cut. Marilyn Milos, director of NOCIRC, had all three of her sons circumcised, but her experiences as a nurse changed her point of view. We never stop growing and learning in life, and when we know better, we do better.
Safer sex practices, like condoms prevent STDs.
ReplyDeleteCircumcision on a minor without specific medical indications with less invasive solutions is reprehensible. The 14th Amendment provides equal protection of the law for all citizens, yet girls still benefit from the fact that it is illegal to circumcise them, yet perfectly legal to remove healthy genital tissue from their brothers.
Religious cutting of children IS WRONG.
If my religion required I cut someone I've only known for 8 days without their consent, I could be thrown in jail for it, regardless of the fact that my religion stipulated it.
Freedom of religion is not freedom to practice one's religion on the body of another.
Children are our responsibility to protect, care for, and nurture. They are not property. They can not be legally bought nor sold, they can not be traded in at the flea market, and they have fundamental human rights just as surely as anyone reading this blog post.
Thank you for this brilliant analogy, as ultimately, infant circumcision is an elective cosmetic disfigurement performed on nonconsenting children.
I actually have similar feelings about the piercing of baby girls' ears, though I console myself that at least if the girl doesn't want those holes later, she can let them grow shut (in theory) whereas men are not starfish, and their foreskin will not grow back.
If anyone thinks a circumcised penis can't get a STD they need to do some research! The US is full of grown circumcised men and the US also has one of the highest STD rates in the world, especially for chlamydia. In other places where the vast majority of men are intact (Norway, Denmark, France, Brazil), they have MUCH lower std rates. Despite what doctors say(who happen to get paid to perform circumcisions - can anyone say "conflict of interest"?), circumcision doesn't fully protect against penile cancer. Sure, you can't get a tumor on a foreskin if it's not there, but circed men do in fact get cancer on the circumcision scar line. As someone already said, men have a higher rate of breast cancer than penile cancer, and the American Cancer Society doesn't endorse circ for cancer prevention.
ReplyDeleteIt's just wrong, even if you try to justify it w/religion, for anyone to amputate HEALTHY, FUNCTIONAL body parts in absence of disease. It's insane that anyone thinks this is a good idea.
Pinch tightly the skin over your knuckles and then try to bend your finger. Feel how tight and uncomfortable that is? That's what a circumcision does to your son's penis. It makes something that was designed to work like a piston into something that can only work like a stick.
I have friends and family members who have circed their sons. They love them. They made what they thought was the right choice. But it wasn't. It's not ever the right choice unless a grown man makes it for himself. Just ask my cousin who almost lost her son 14 years ago to a hemorrhage after a circ. Why would anyone risk their child's life over a cosmetic procedure? Why is this even legal???
Pardon me, I must leave. I'm taking my newborn daughter in for labial removal and a breast augmentation. I'm getting a jump start on cancer prevention of the vulva for her and all the boys now days just love big, perky boobs! I'm sure she'll appreciate all I'm doing for her one day!!!
Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it???
http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/cancer/vanhowe/
ReplyDeleteYes penile cancer can be diagnosed in Circumcides men
I made the comment today @ 7:58am. For some reason my LiveJournal wouldn't work. Sorry for the anonymous posting.
ReplyDelete"You are being inherently ignorant by assuming I made a 'mistake' in my decision to circumcise."
ReplyDeleteAnyone who has cut their child's healthy penis when there wasn't an immediate medical need has made not only a MISTAKE, but they have violated that child's inherent human right to an intact body. People seriously need to get out of the mentality that a baby boy's penis is suitable material for the chopping block.
"I have 2 boys both cir. and its for religious reasons."
ReplyDeleteReligion isn't a justifiable reason for violating the bodily integrity of a non-consenting human being.
=====
"Whatever happened to people just supporting others parenting?"
Would you still think this way if someone wanted to remove their daughter's clit for 'religious' or 'parenting' reasons? Or beat their child with a coat hanger every day for good measure? Would you still think this way if parents wanted to bind their daughter's feet? How about if they wanted to cut off her labia? Remove her clitoral hood? Would you 'support' those 'parenting' 'choices'?
I doubt it.
It amazes me what people will grasp at to defend the sexual abuse and mutilation of their babies. I hope I live to see the day when this barbaric practice becomes illegal in America.
ReplyDeleteyou guys have your opinion on petty crap on this, well this is my opinion, people are getting more dumb as each day/years that go by...literally people have their own opinions on what they want to do with their child and by they way our children are not ours we borrow them GOD sent us kids to watch over his kids to make sure they have a good long and healthy life so stop judging people who want to circumcise their son. If you think about it long time ago it was wrong not to do so and now its being turned around come on you guys need to think better.
ReplyDelete-UTIs are treatable with antibiotics. They are rare in males, circumcised or not, and extremely rare after the first year. Much more serious a urinary complication is meatal stenosis, which is seen in somewhere between 9-11% of circumcised boys, and ONLY in circumcised boys. This high risk of painful narrowing of the urinary opening should be enough to stop circumcision tomorrow. There's well laid out information here - which again, is not my only resource, but is easier to read for the lay-person: http://www.circumstitions.com/Utis.html
ReplyDelete-Penile cancer is extraordinarily rare. It is rarer than male breast cancer. It is also a disease of old men, i.e., after the age of consent. We have, in the latter part of last century, moved away from amputative medicine even when it involves troublesome body parts, let alone healthy ones. The tonsils and appendix are now recognised to be useful parts of the immune and digestive systems, and are left in place unless their removal is absolutely necessary. We don't remove male breast buds, arguably useless, even though the risk for male breast cancer is much higher than that of penile cancer. Circumcised men have been known to develop penile cancer on the circumcision scar, so while you could argue that having less penis is somewhat protective, only a full penectomy would eliminate the risk, and why? Comparatively, from a medical ethics perspective, circumcision to prevent penile cancer makes no sense. http://www.circumstitions.com/Cancer.html
Seriously, where is the pressing need to amputate this useful body part? I have had partners both circumcised and not, and I can tell you that it's useful. Most men where I live are living fulfilled and happy lives with the penises they were born with, and are filled with horror to hear that in the USA they're commonly taken to with clamps and scissors. No one makes right decisions all the time as a parent, and as the mother of a dead son, I understand the guilt, the denial, the soul searching, I really do. But many mothers have worked through this, questioned their decision, made different decisions for future sons and apologised to the sons they had cut. Marilyn Milos, director of NOCIRC, had all three of her sons circumcised, but her experiences as a nurse changed her point of view. We never stop growing and learning in life, and when we know better, we do better.
To Anonymous. I just wanted to tell you that your doctor is giving you incorrect information about STD's and circ. In any event, babies absolutely do not get STD's, unless they contract it coming through your birth canal, or if they get them from sexual abuse. In neither of those instances will the presence or absence of a foreskin have any impact at all.
ReplyDeleteBabies don't get STD's but grown men do, especially if they have multiple partners and don't use condoms. This is the case whether or not they are circed. In the United States, about 80% of sexually active males are circed, and we have the highest rates of STD's in the developed world. In Europe where circ is almost unheard of, the rates of STD's are much lower.
I don't care that you had your son circed (though I have a problem with doctors pushing it with misinformation), but I sincerely hope for his sake that you don't communicate to him that he is somehow protected from STD's or the consequences of reckless sexual behavior due to being circed. If you do that, he is almost certain to get STD's, and then might end up being really angry with you that you had him altered for no good reason and then gave him false information.
I think everyone would do well to remember, you are not anything but a human, thus you were given the ability to think and act on your own accord. MY SON IS CIRCUMCISED, I will never feel bad for my choice, and yes I had it done for many reasons. One of the most important reasons....Uncircumcised males have a greater risk (like sky high) of spreading HPV. I researched this and spoke to my OB,My son's pedi, and 3 urologist. I did my research. But I would never tell any one that the choices they make for their kids are wrong. SO unless I can Smack the crap out of your kid for misbehaving in the store or snatch that paci out of your 4 year olds mouth, right in front of you because I think you are being a bad parent, I expect you to worry about YOUR son's penis and not make judgement on other's parenting choices
ReplyDeleteAs an Orthodox Jew, I resent the idea of being told how or when my son can be circ'd. My husband even did our son's cutting. It was a beautiful moment for me, seeing my husband bring our son into our Covenant with G-d. I am, however, all for the banning or limiting of non-religious circ. IF there were a religion that dictated child be tattooed, I'd support that as well. just like I think it's finr for the Greeks to dunk their squalling infants into a pool 3 times, or Muslim boys at 13 to be circ'd, or even, although I consider it to be scary and barbaric, for the Sunni to make a small cut on their child's head and let it bleed rather than covering it with a bandaid. That's what religious freedom means, that you allow he practice whether or not it appeals to you. If you're not of that persuasion, don't do the practice.
ReplyDeleteYour husband cutting off part of your babies sex organ was a beautiful moment for you? Barf. That's the most sickening thing I've ever heard. I love my babies too much to cause them pain for no medical reason, I wish everyone felt the same way.
DeleteALL OF YOU DUMB BITCHEZ! I HOPE ALL OF YOU ABORT TO YOUR UGLY BABIES HAHAHA
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to read your blog and the comments.
ReplyDeleteI've been seriously thinking about starting up a tattoo franchise operation where we open tattoo offices in the professional buildings that are always right next to the hospitals. I'm totally convinced that mothers would like to get the tramp stamp put on their little girl and fathers would want their little boy to get the neck tattoo of the family gang affiliation. Having this done at the hospital would be more acceptable socially and be more assurance of a clean and sterile environment as well.
As for the legality of things...is it truly the case in some states that a person under 18 cannot get a tatoo at all, or could the parents sign a waiver/agreement for a minor to have a tatoo applied?
Wow!! This argument has always cracked me up.
ReplyDeleteTo circumcise or not isn't the question... it's why parents on both sides are so insecure about their decision that they believe everyone needs to side with them in order to be correct.
Right or wrong doesn't lie in the majority rules, you don't have to win anyone over to your side to be right.
Personally, I think it's creepy that people feel compelled to talk about the penis of other people's children.... some would consider that sick, or even criminal.
So, you do not see body modification on an infant as an issue? Forced body modification?
ReplyDeleteIf you choose to disagree, what is your supporting argument, that infant circumcision is OK?