I think one issue with this topic is that many people have had this done and understand that it was done with all good faith by their loving parents and have lived with it all their lives and so would rightly not see it as negative, as they know no other way and it has not done them any harm.
But I wonder if it was introduced for the first time today how many people would stand against it and say it was wrong.
Over 100 babies in the USA alone die each year with complications after circumcision and if the was a disease that killed that many that could be easily cured if all parents were advised to do a very simple thing (like give their baby some raspberry juice) then who wouldn't do it. So why take the risk with your loved one no matter how small? What we have here really is an unnecessary medical procedure that has been encouraged for decades by doctors and religious leaders that is now outmoded. No parent has done this with the idea of harm but in today's world it is wrong to continue to see this pushed on parents. And I think the map that Anna shared shows that much of the modern world has now moved away from this.
There is no doubt that female circumcision is worse but is either right or needed? There are estimated to be 230 million women/girls alive today who have been circumcised, and most of them live in countries where male circumcision is also common. In 2012 it was estimated that 513000 women in the USA had experienced FGM or were at risk of experiencing it. Up to the 1960s it was performed for various reasons in the states including as a cure to women seeking sexual pleasure and lesbianism.
The misuse and abuse of women is a hot topic, but it is not trendy to consider men, and really in the world of equality we should. Unless there is a specific medical need for an individual they should not be operated on without their adult consent. This should also include transgendering operations, cosmetic plastic surgery etc. Children should not have the right to decide and nor should their parents unless there is a really vital reason based on health.
Many children do have very poor judgement, but so do many parents. Religious needs should also definitely be ruled out until the person becomes an adult, as they may decide that they have no want to follow that religion or any other, or may wish to choose another religion.
18 isn't really old enough for all people to know what they want but at least it gives them the opportunity to reach an age where they can at least say I chose as an adult. Cosmetic surgery, tattoos, piercings, transgender changes and hormone blockers, just like smoking, drinking, sexual encounters and more should be something that is a choice to consider as an adult and speak to medical professionals and others at that time. When a change is made that cannot be reversed that changed should be given to the adult to decide to make about their own body with knowledge and information. I think male circumcision has been too common for too long to allow people to feel comfortable to consider change, it makes society uncomfortable to acknowledge that is was wrong to do it, but it was. There are plenty of medical procedures that were once common and done as a matter of course that are now frowned upon and in reality male circumcision is one of these. We just don't like to admit it because it is being Okayed by parents who love their children and would never consider doing anything to hurt them.
Roundhead or cavalier? a question often asked in locker rooms when I was at school!
I was circumcised at about age 7. It was a particularly traumatic experience to 7 year old me. It was carried out as a result of an infection and resulted in me spending 8 weeks in the Childrens' Hospital in Bristol. 8 injections a day in my bum for 7 weeks. I missed a whole term at school - I was quite pleased about that! The operation was carried out 2 days before I left hospital. Whether or not the circumcision was justified or necessary I do not know. It was carried out with dissolving stitches so there was no need to return to have them out.
I remember walking out of the hospital and down St Michaels hill, holding my trousers away from my groin and being stopped by a kindly old gent who asked my parents if I needed the toilet and pointed out the nearest public convenience! I was too sore to be embarrassed!
So, living with a circumcised penis was different, particularly at bath time. Water that was at a suitable temperature for bathing would sting my glans and had to be eased into - an after effect that occurred for several years, eventually disappearing with time.
There is no doubt that over time the sensitivity of the glans degraded through continuous rubbing on the inside of my clothing and that did affect sexual performance, retarding climax, possibly not a bad thing! It had no effect on arousal or erection however.
Would I have chosen to have been circumcised if given the option as an adult? I'm not sure. I think it looks tidier without the foreskin, and I probably prefer it circumcised - I've had 60 odd years to get used to how it looks!
Female circumcision, however, is a totally different and barbaric practice. Whilst male circumcision has a medical or aesthetic purpose which does not affect the physiology of the body, female circumcision removes the ability of a woman to have an orgasm. This was carried out in an effort to prevent women from being promiscuous, unlike men who were expected to behave like that (a severe case of dual standards) and to make them pliable and stay to look after their elders. That it is still practiced today is unbelievable.
It hasn't done me any harm, I raised a family, my son was not circumcised (neither was my daughter before anybody asks!) and I enjoy a good sex life I don't think anyone can ask for more than that.
at July 24, 2025 4:07 PM BST 