posted March 16, 2006 08:40 PM         

Enjoy.

( Compiled by participants on the "Case Against Circumcision" forum on www.mothering.com )

1. Preserve HIS choice.
2. Avoid unnecessary pain.
3. Not interupting bonding.
4. Avoiding trauma, sleepiness, and pain that could affect breastfeeding.
5. No need for a surcose pacifier=less chance of nipple confusion.
6. Virtually no chance of meatal stenosis.
7. No urine/feces in an open wound.
8. No wound-care. No vasoline. No gauze.
9. No need for giving Tylenol to a newborn.
10. Not circumcising is FREE.
11. No medical reason to do it automatically at birth
12. It's not my penis
13. The foreskin has functions that are removed with circ.
14. If HE doesn't like being intact, then HE can change that. You
can't undo a circ.
15. Avoid the 71% risk of adhesions that comes with circumcising.
16. No risk of bleeding.
17. No risk of post-op infection.
18. No risk of taking 'too little' or 'too much'.
19. He gets to keep 3-4 feet of blood vessels, interupting normal
blood flow to the penis.
20. He gets to keep 240 feet of nerves.
21. He gets to keep tens of thousands of specialized nerve endings
(Meissner's Corpuscles).
22. His penis retains it's 'gliding mechanism'.
23. The foreskin protects his glans throughout life, keeping it soft,
supple, and sensitive.
24. No frenulum damage/amputation.
25. No scars on his penis.
26. No skin bridges.
27. Less risk of inconspicuous penis/buried penis, conditions
caused/aggravated by circumcision.
28. No risk of reaction/allergic reaction to anesthetics like EMLA or
Lidocaine.
29. No wound/entry point for nosocomial infections, like MRSA.
30. No risk of glans/partial glans amputation.
31. (Responding to #1): It shouldn't be a "choice," at all, for
anyone. (Just like leaving my daughter intact wasn't a "choice" that
I saved for her to make.)
32. No risk of the parents or physician being sued when the boy turns 18y.o.
33. It looks nicer to be intact and, as the circ rate drops, intact
men will be in demand as lovers.
34. it enables the man to enjoy the skin of the penis fully (1/3 to
1/2 is removed by circ.)
35. no worry for the parents about the baby dying (200 per yr in the U.S)
36. parents don't need to apologize to their son
37. his future sex partners will thank you
38. he'll save money on lubricants, counselling and restoring equipment.
39. foreskins are sexy
40. his glans will not be skinned alive.
41. you can start a college fund with the money that doesn't go to a
circumcisor.
42. Because they were born whole and perfect. (this one got left out
of the last list, so I'm adding it here.)
43. No unnecessary rise in cortisol levels, that impact brain development.
44. Avoid having one of baby's first experiences with his genitals be
violent/painful/traumatic.
45. Baby avoids the discomfort of being strapped down on a molded,
plastic board.
46. No pain from shots in the penis!
47. Medicaid savings.
48. No discovering hemophilia a day or two after birth because of a
circumcision-caused hemorrhage.
49. Promotes gender equality.
50. Reinforces, from the earliest age possible, that we love our
children, just as they are.
51. Reinforces children's acceptance of their bodies, and that
changing ourselves to fit in/follow the crowd isn't necessarily
healthy or wise.
52. Increasing the rate of intact children forces doctors to become
more familiar and comfortable with intact penis care.
53. Leaving your son intact presents an opportunity to educate others
about your decision, circumcision, and the proper (and simple!) care
of intact penises.
54. Not circumcising preserves the frenular/ridged band and it's functions.
55. Preserves the temperature-sensitive Dartos Fascia (smooth muscle
sheath) of the penis, of which circumcision removes approximately 50%
of.
56. Preserves the immunological system of the inner foreskin.
57. Preserves the pheromone-producing Apocrine Glands of the inner foreskin.
58. Preserves the bright, rich, shiny natural coloration of the glans.
59. Circumcision removes part of the penis, therefore making the
penis-at least to some degree-smaller.
60. Not circumcising prevents damage to the dorsal nerves which, if
severed can cause a drastic decrease in sensation to the top 2/3 of
the penis.
61. Intact penises are much easier to deal with- both as babies in
diapers AND for future sex partners!
62. Your son will enjoy doing the "penis trick" (When he figures out
that his foreskin retracts!)
63. BECAUSE IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO!!
64. Circumcised men suffer erectile dysfunction/impotency 7 - 10
years earlier than intact men.
65. Male circumcision is believed to be the main or only cause of
female arousal syndrome or painful sex after menopause.
66. this may sort of be a repeat of #42, but.......because that's the
way Nature made him!!!
67. Leaving your son intact might just really **** off the in-laws,
and hey, that's always good for something!
68. Somehow, your circ'd dh will be able to heal his own childhood
through leaving your son intact. (The cycle of violence will be
broken)
69. When your son is 15 and wants a tongue piercing, you can HONESTLY
say that you don't believe in body modifications!!
70. It took 9 months to help him grow that perfect foreskin! Why mess
with a work of art?

posted March 17, 2006 09:03 AM         

It makes one wonder how the whole circumcision thing started.

posted March 17, 2006 03:16 PM         

And the pain isn't any greater at 2 than as a newborn. In fact, some studies indicate that newborns actually feel pain more intensly than older children.

As a source, I'll cite http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/

EDIT: And if you want to know how it got started in the first place, this page explains it.
http://www.noharmm.org/FAQ.htm#Circumcision%20Beginnings

'taint pretty. Did you know there was a campaign in the 1880s to circumcise all African American men to reduce their sex-drive and protect White women from rape? Good to keep the Negroes in line and keep good White boys ( and girls ) from touching themselves.

posted March 18, 2006 04:21 AM         

I read somewhere about deep pyschological scarring, it may have been on an OSHO site...I'll see if I can dig up that article.

posted March 19, 2006 11:08 AM         

I don't have any boys, but if I did, they would be intact.

I was listening to Howard Stern the other day, and they were talking about circumcision.

Howard was saying that medical doctors don't do the procedure as well as a Mohel. He also went to say that he (as a circumcised Jewish man) does not support circumcism... then he went around the studio and had all the guys say whether they were circumcised or not. Most of them weren't.

posted March 19, 2006 12:55 PM         

Our 7 year old son's foreskin is very tight still and the doctors were saying he should be cut right from the age of 2 or 3. We were frowned upon because we said we would wait until he is of an age he can decide himself....

I hope we are doing the right thing.......i feel in my heart we are.....

Thanks guys for your posts....eases my worries !!

posted March 19, 2006 06:56 PM         

It's supposed to be tight when a kid is young! It's skin, for Christ's sake! I recommend anyone who's doctor tells them to lop off the tip of their son's penis for "medical" reasons go consult the "Doctors Opposing Circumcision" site, or one of the dozens and dozens of other medical groups who oppose MGM on the net.

posted March 20, 2006 09:05 AM         

Thanks so much again....

I have been looking for answers on this.

I can guess why you are so angry and would love, if you are able to speak about this,to hear how you become so disgusted by the subject. Of course if you want to email me, do.....

Bless you.....today you are my guardian

posted March 20, 2006 06:23 PM         

Of course, cutting off the skin on boy's penises has been a popular rite amongst animist African and Aboriginal tribes (as a way to test a boy's pain tolerance, usually) and among Jews, for a loong time. But you know how it got started in Western culture? To punish little boys for touching themselves. I kid you not. Victorian doctors blamed masturbation for causing mental problems, and decided that the best way to prevent it is to make it so there's no feeling. Turns out the foreskin contains about 80% of the nerves in the penis, and without it, the entire organ dries out and keratinizes, like any other part of the body would if it was skinned alive. These lovely doctors made sure not to use anesthesia when they sliced off a boy's most sensitive body part, too - they wanted him to associate the horrendous pain with the sin of sex. Interestingly, anesthesia is only rarely used in infant circumcision today.

So yeah. As you can see, it's hard for me to *not* be angry about this subject. I hope I haven't raved on for too long about it - it's just that, whenever I hear about some innocent little boy about to be taken advantage of by the medical industry (because that's what it surely is) and maimed for life, I can't keep my mouth shut.

posted March 20, 2006 06:48 PM         

I am SO glad you didnt keep yer mouth shut, truly I am....

OMG....I was so angry when I read yer words......thank God I went with my intuition and didnt listen to those stupid, money grabbin, power crazy doctors.....

And I am so glad I didnt follow my daddy's advice and become a nurse..can you imagine having to witness this butchery.....oh no....I would have gone crazy on those stupid medical people.

Johnny you are a star....thanks for having the courage to post this....love yer honesty, love yer passion and love the fact you also realise what a cruel and corrupt society we are living in.....

And I thought we had become civilised......uuuggghhhh!!!

posted March 20, 2006 06:51 PM         

Thanks for your comment about being "caring".....I really do try....hope my baby dont hate me when he is a man....

Bless you brave man......

And if ever you wanna talk about yer mother or anything, you know where to find me.

The pleasure would be mine Johnny.

posted March 21, 2006 03:27 AM         

You are much, you are very special.....plese remember that !!!

Love to you

posted March 21, 2006 06:36 PM         

You take away all of the fun in being a teenage boy!

posted March 21, 2006 08:21 PM         

quote:

---

for religious reasons ( i e being jewish or a tribal thing) i can tolerate the idea... but otherwise?

---

Um, not to be combative, but what the hell difference does that make? It's still child abuse, regardless of why it is done.

posted March 21, 2006 10:40 PM         

Not that I know from experience, but I've read that the um... you know... is pretty much self cleaning - I've heard it compared to the eyelids, which you don't pull back to clean, of course.

Dunno. Makes sense to me, since the medical industry invented all the hygiene BS to scare parents.