Ask Lemmy

This will be of no help to you OP, but: damn, this all seems so bizarre read from France.

How likely is it that your kid’s going to be bullied, though? I looked at some state-by-state data (warning: it’s not that recent, and I haven’t checked its accuracy), and it seems to vary a lot depending on where you live. Also, even in West Virginia, where circumcision seems to be the most common, almost one male in ten seems to be left intact. Obviously, I don’t know what I’m talking about, but even if your child ends up being in the minority, he might not seem that strange to his classmates and friends.

Absolutely barbaric practice. Obviously not in favour of genital mutilation.

You'd be removing a lot of sexual function for masturbation (now you need lube) and a lot of nerve endings that give pleasure are now chopped off. Dried out numb penis head/gland. Less sliding when having penetrative sex so it's also worse for women.

For what? In honor of weirdo American puritan? Kellogg brother who hated masturbation? No,it's bullying. What a rancid country the USA is.

Male circumcision is genital mutilation, and I think it's pretty gross that it's still so common. I'm grateful that I'm American and my parents didn't mutilate my dick when I was a baby.

I'm glad you're asking and taking people's opinions with validity because it's important that you don't do that to your baby.

Have I ever wished someone had genitally mutilated me as a baby?

IMO circumcision is genital mutilation and that's always wrong in general. In the very few cases where it actually has health benefits you can still do it later in life, it's not a big problem. You're not missing out on anything if you don't do it.

I'd never sacrifice 50% of the feelings for the sake of a shriveled tip to please some invisible sky daddy.

Male genital mutilation should be as outlawed as female.

And... Kids bullying others over their foreskin? I don't think I ever saw any classmate's dick in my life. Why is that even a thing?

Nope. Heavens no. It’s a feel-good part of the body, hell no.

The only requirement is to keep it clean. Parents shouldn’t shy away from educating your boys about this and have some open conversations about it.

Might as well ask if you wouldn’t mind having one fingertip shaved off at birth, the difference being you’d know what you were missing because you have the other fingers to compare it to.

Nope. Don’t mutilate your child.

I agreed to do it for my first son.

the screaming broke me. I can still hear his cries.

my second son, they didn't even ask and just did it. I was furious.

don't do it.

America has a 90 percent circumcision rate.

Canada has a 40 percent rate.

Most of the rest of the world doesn't do that.

I'm not letting any stranger cut a piece of my boys parts off.

I have no idea where this American obsession with male circumcision comes from. It is an unnecessary medical procedure that you only share with Jews, but they at least can cite their ancient religion as an excuse.

Anyone else in the world just shake their heads about this.

Nope, never.

I live in the UK, I’m in my 40’s and I’ve only ever known a single person who needed to be circumcised for medical reasons.

Beyond medical reasons, which are honestly pretty rare in reality, there’s no need.

I’ve literally never heard an uncircumcised person express a desire to be circumcised.

Never even crossed my mind.

women who are generally grossed out by uncircumcised men

And this must be an American thing, because I haven't met one and from what I've been told, most women find uncirc more attractive.

And as for bullying, in my school, if anything, the circumsised would have been bullied for having "half dicks". Not that I ever saw anyone be bullied over their dicks, that's just fucking weird.

Penis owners is a good band name

Male circumcision is genital mutilation.

If it’s your culture, your culture is dumb.

Drum Roll

No

Why is Christianity always so obsessed with little boys penises? It’s fucking gross.

Fuck no.

I was circumcised at 40 for medical reasons, due to phimosis. That was a blessing after several years of issues with having normal intercourse and having little operations done that were ultimately ineffective.

Anyway, it's definitely different and I am much less sensitive. I definitely prefer being uncircumcised, just not, you know, with phimosis.

Nope

Dude I have a foreskin and it's fucking rad. I can pinch it closed when I pee and it'll fill up like a balloon. How could you deny your son that?

Don't do it. Let your kid choose as an adult. You can't undo circumcision.

Don't mutilate your kid. If there's a medical reason go ahead, otherwise leave it be.
Your son can't put it back if you remove it, but he can remove it if you leave it. Let it be his choice over his body.

The idea that you would cut off a part of your kids genitalia just so they could 'fit in' culturally is kinda blown away by the fact that it is now less common to be circumcised than being natural, even in the USA. By the time your kid is old enough to care, it will be a complete non-issue, and they can always get one as an adult if they want. Don't take that agency away.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/pediatrics/generalpediatrics/117464

The idea that it has a population-level health benefit is completely debunked. It is medically advisable in only a tiny fraction of kids (sub 1%). The fact that %60 of the US population is circumcised is all thanks to religious hooey from puritans who don't want children to masturbate, and think chopping a sensitive part of their genitals off to make it harder to enjoy is the best way to go - thanks to education and a wider exposure to the rest of the world via the Internet, US parents are finally realising this which is why it's in decline.

Parents who perform unnecessary surgery on their children because society says they should are bad parents.

That might seem harsh, but it's true. You have a responsibility to make the right choices for your kids, and "society" doesn't get a vote.

I faced the same question, but found it to be a no-brainer. You don't perform unnecessary surgery on a baby.

The reason it is performed in the US is to stop boys from masturbating.

Ignore any excuses for doing it that people have come up with since. That's the only reason the US started doing it, and every other reason is just people trying to rationalize why they keep doing it.

The "reasons" people come up with to explain it now are based on extremely unlikely events. All the serious issues that come up are avoided with proper hygiene. Unless they still have a stupid masturbation hangup, it all comes down to this:

Parents feel icky about having to explain to their child how to wash their penis.

If you can't handle that, I'll tell you right now that you're going to have a hell of a lot tougher conversations.

What I told them was to imagine they were wearing a hoodie in the shower. You'd need to pull the hood back before shampooing your hair. Same thing goes for the little head, but don't use shampoo, that might burn.

Not circumcising my kids only caused me one problem:

My mom reacted like it was a direct personal attack on her, because I was circumcised. She saw it as me saying she was wrong. I found it difficult to convince her that I was not judging her. She didn't have the same information available to her as I did. When I was born, she didn't really have a choice.

No, of course not. That’s weird.

You can't be bullied if everyone is uncut. And as you say it's cultural, it makes absolutely no sense for me and I don't understand parents who voluntarily butcher the genitals of their children. I can't believe it still exists.

I’m uncut and went through my childhood and teenage years in the US. No one cared in preschool, and no one cared in the Highschool locker room, none of the women I slept with cared. It might be painful as an adult to do, but it’s a choice the person gets to make for themselves. I am grateful my parents stopped the doctors from cutting.

Frankly, it's a bloody weird thing to do unless medically required. Leave him be.

Nope, not even once. I find the idea of circumcision really bizarre.

I have never met anyone circumcised before, nor even heard of one outside of celebrities and internet randoms like this.

So the thing about some being grossed out is purely cultural and not a universal thing. I find it odd that some would be grossed out about a thing like that, but if you choose to remain within that culture, it’s probably sensible to account for that. But I would bet it’s really not a big deal for anyone despite what they say. There are more important things going on whenever people end up in a situation where that comes up. I wouldn’t worry about that, but the again I don’t know your culture, maybe it is a big deal.

For me personally, I really like my “hood” so to say. Keeps the senses more heightened there when the delicate part does not chafe around and touch everything all the time. On top of that, I find much more hygienic to have a natural “shield” that is easy to clean and keep regulated in terms of pH and all. No doubt it would be more problematic in hot climates where there might be more sweating and stuff, that would require more intense and frequent upkeep, but here in the global North, I think it would be disadvantageous not to have the natural luxury.

Not only would I not want a circumsization, I find it actively harmful to myself and my personal health. I also find the practice extremely off-putting and horrifying, but then again all cultures come with their own “barbaric” traditions so to say, so I’m not about to yuck anyone’s yum. You do you, I say, live your best life.

It does come with some required upkeep and work, but so do our teeth. If you maintain them, they’re going to be healthy and beneficial overall. No need to cut them off in my opinion, just because it’s extra work. But that’s not the justification for the cut, so I also don’t mean to sound patronizing here. Just my view on it.

Never! Just wash your penises with soap, it's not that hard!

If society jumped off a bridge, would you also?

I'm circumcised and my three children are, too. However, I made that decision when I was still working my way out of a conservative upbringing. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't and have left my children uncut.

There is no point to it. I just did it because it is considered strange not to in religious circles and I hadn't broke away from that stupid yet.

If your kids want to be, let them make that decision themselves when they're older. You can't undo it.

Hell no I like the extra skin wouldnt it hurt if my dick was out in the open the whole time wtf, also jerking of with skin is like 100 times better lol

Don't do it. That guy in high school had a choice and he made it, you'll be robbing your child of any choice and it does have many downsides.

Not for a fucking second. Ever.