Circumcision - a rational debate

[Gawdzilla Sama]

What is upbrining?

With Exi it's probably salt water daffy.

[Existentialist1844]

What is upbrining?

With Exi it's probably salt water daffy.

Upbringing, douche.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

What is upbrining?

With Exi it's probably salt water daffy.

Upbringing, douche.

That would be a very salty douche indeed.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

OK - back to serious discussion, or we will have to split off the derails again.

Babies and children can bounce back from trauma as Exi says, especially if it is a one-off trauma (such as is usually the case with circumcision!) I am not at all convinced by the theory of long-term psych damage caused by the snip. I am convinced that it is wrong on many other levels however.

My first thought is, if not for religious hoodoo reasons, why do it at all? It seems to be almost compulsory in North America (a fact that I was unaware of until I went to NYC and got into a few conversations on the subject - don't ask how, I think it started with Brits having crooked teeth and moved on from there!)

[Shaker]

It seems to be almost compulsory in North America

Less so, though. The rate for neonatal circumcision was past 90% in the 70s but it's now down to 50-odd per cent, apparently, so things are going in the right direction.

[JasonK]

I was snipped as a child, and despite how some people who are in no position to know anything about think I should feel, I am totally fine with it. Doesn't bother me in the slightest. Never has. I don't have any negative side effects, am plenty sensitive, and don't wake up shivering with night terrors. I experience no ghost-pain like amputees. And though I have plenty of issues, none of them have anything to do with missing a little piece of flesh from the head of my cock.

I also have piercings, tattoos, and some scarification, as well. Guess it's just not anything to get all worked up about to me.

[Existentialist1844]

I was snipped as a child, and despite how some people who are in no position to know anything about think I should feel, I am totally fine with it. Doesn't bother me in the slightest. Never has. I don't have any negative side effects, am plenty sensitive, and don't wake up shivering with night terrors. I experience no ghost-pain like amputees. And though I have plenty of issues, none of them have anything to do with missing a little piece of flesh from the head of my cock.

I also have piercings, tattoos, and some scarification, as well. Guess it's just not anything to get all worked up about to me.

+1

[Comte de Saint-Germain]

There are cases of sexual abuse of children that do not result in trauma. This hardly means, however, that we should tolerate - let alone encourage - sexual abuse. What your post shows is that a taboo on circumcision will not help. I don't think anyone is suggesting that here. What I think is suggested, however, is that whether you are snipped or not should be up to you. If you want to cut off parts of adult your penis, feel free.
In the mean while, while fighting for that liberation - we should not traumatise individuals who are snipped.

[lordpasternack]

My son has the same thing, unsurprisingly, but he/we will look at the options as and when it becomes an issue as he gets older.

You can't really say if your son is will have pathological phimosis at this stage. Some boys don't loosen off fully until puberty, and this is perfectly natural. I believe Seraph mentioned on this forum somewhere that his dad was phimotic but had chosen to leave his son well alone as you have, and Seraph has been pretty much alright with regards to his foreskin.

The only advice I could give you with regards to dealing with you son as-is, is not to give him into trouble when he pulls on the thing. This actually helps stretch the foreskin and break the adhesions with the glans (along with erections), aiding future retractibility. So unless he's in public and embarrassing you - let him play with himself.

[lordpasternack]

...the more he spoke the angrier I got about the whole affair and now I'm more than just a little angry about my mother's choice to get me cut.

If your mother had known what your friend was telling you - do you think she'd have gone ahead with it? She presumably did it with the best of intentions.

Blame the doctor who lulled her into it; and blame the medical school s/he attended for not educating him/her properly; and blame the medical schools that the doctors who taught this doctor attended. And blame the cultural unwilligness to discuss/investigate these matters, and the whole plethora of pathological ignorance and apathy that surrounds this particular anachronistic rite. Patients naturally presume they are giving informed consent when they take a doctor's advice - but sometimes the doctors are actually lacking the requisite knowledge to provide the information that would allow "informed" consent.

Your mate is lucky that in his circumstance he had me on one end biting on your ear to bite on his - and he happened to have a doctor who had spent more than 30 seconds looking into this matter, and knew some stuff, and responsibly informed his patient - with the upshot being that you are now more informed to that end and are now on the bandwagon of biting his ear about trying to resolve his phimosis sans surgery.

If you feel a bit put out by your own circumcision now though, you could perhaps make that opinion heard in the hope of preventing other boys from the same treatment.

LordP talked me through some of the alternatives too and at least my mate can avoid going through the same ordeal as me because of it.

And the funny thing is - they shouldn't be "alternatives". They should be the first resort. Full amputation of the foreskin should be the alternative, when all else fails.

I hope your mate makes some progress, and gets a properly fulfilled sex-life while avoiding the cut.

Thanks for that LP

Don't mention it.

[charlou]

You can't really say if your son is will have pathological phimosis at this stage. Some boys don't loosen off fully until puberty, and this is perfectly natural. I believe Seraph mentioned on this forum somewhere that his dad was phimotic but had chosen to leave his son well alone as you have, and Seraph has been pretty much alright with regards to his foreskin.

Not phimosis in Seraph's (and his father's) case, but frenulum breve, for which he had a frenectomy aged around sixteen, by his own choice. His foreskin is still intact, but all that's left of his frenulum is a little 'tickler' ...

[lordpasternack]

Not phimosis in Seraph's (and his father's) case, but frenulum breve, for which he had a frenectomy aged around sixteen, by his own choice. His foreskin is still intact, but all that's left of his frenulum is a little 'tickler' ...

It's saddening that he had his frenulum removed - since it is, as every man with an untouched frenulum will tell you, a very exquisitely sensitive part of the penis. Certainly, it's a sure way to get instant gasps

Still, at least he chose it for himself, and has the rest of his foreskin intact - including the frenar band, or ridged band. It's just that I'm very attached to frenula and can't but feel some regret at someone losing theirs. Please give him a blowjob tonight for me, taking care to swirl around the ridged band and listen to how it makes him feel. I'd like to convey my sympathy through you.

[charlou]

Not phimosis in Seraph's (and his father's) case, but frenulum breve, for which he had a frenectomy aged around sixteen, by his own choice. His foreskin is still intact, but all that's left of his frenulum is a little 'tickler' ...

It's saddening that he had his frenulum removed - since it is, as every man with an untouched frenulum will tell you, a very exquisitely sensitive part of the penis. Certainly, it's a sure way to get instant gasps

Still, at least he chose it for himself, and has the rest of his foreskin intact - including the frenar band, or ridged band. It's just that I'm very attached to frenula and can't but feel some regret at someone losing theirs. Please give him a blowjob tonight for me, taking care to swirl around the ridged band and listen to how it makes him feel. I'd like to convey my sympathy through you.

He chose to have the snippage because the frenulum was so tight it would actually tear and bleed when he had an erection, so the net effect is that his pleasure has been enhanced by the procedure. He has a very, very nice penis, foreskin and scrotum which gets plenty of appreciative and appreciated attention ...

[lordpasternack]

He chose to have the snippage because the frenulum was so tight it would actually bleed when he had an erection, so the net effect is that his pleasure has been enhanced by the procedure.

Yeouch! In a way it's a pity that it wasn't look at while he was still young, in that case, where they might have had better luck stretching it a little before erections became much of an issue.

But in his case, I can see exactly why surgery was apt there: the more his frenulum bled, the more inflexible non-elastic scar tissue that developed, the worse it got. It was what was most likely the best option for his overall pleasure in this instance. Though I still do feel sympathetic about his loss of frenulum.

He has a very, very nice penis, foreskin and scrotum which gets plenty of appreciative and appreciated attention ...

Good to hear.

[Thinking Aloud]

The only advice I could give you with regards to dealing with you son as-is, is not to give him into trouble when he pulls on the thing. This actually helps stretch the foreskin and break the adhesions with the glans (along with erections), aiding future retractibility. So unless he's in public and embarrassing you - let him play with himself.

I've got no intention of stopping him! Good Catholic boy that I was meant I didn't touch anything down there for years, as it was "dirty". Wouldn't wish that on him.