Mandatory Circumcision for All Boys? petititon

[Matthew J. F]

Hey bros!

I just got this in my mailbox earlier today.

No medical society in the world recommends male circumcision - yet newborn circumcision is the most common surgical procedure in the U.S. and carries serious risks, including hemorrhage, infection, surgical mishap and death.

Help prevent a government recommendation of routine newborn male circumcision >>

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is reviewing new health claims about the "benefits" of circumcision - and may recommend this unnecessary surgery for our baby boys based on flawed studies that ignore the risks and ethics of circumcision.

Safer sexual practices and abstinence - not circumcision - prevent sexually transmitted diseases. And we know that there is NO link between infant circumcision and better health.

As a U.S. agency safeguarding public health, the CDC has a responsibility to share the truth about this painful and unnecessary practice. Ask that the CDC not recommend circumcision as a means of preventing HIV/AIDS and formally recognize the risks and harms of the procedure >>

Go to http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/760537185 and sign the petition.

Checkout the graphical (weak stomachs should not watch this video!!!) video clip of a circumcision procedure done to this helpless baby... notice how the baby is screaming in pain while the doctor is butchering this baby's most sensitive area without general anesthesia.

Graphical video

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6584757516627632617

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1482347046642439341

[placeholdername]

Didn't watch the video but it was done to me and I don't remember a thing.  I don't think I'm alone in wishing there *had* been a mishap and they'd have switched me back then!  Not that that's good for everyone .

[Janet_Girl]

I started to watch but it became way too technical for me.  But Circumcision is nothing more than a Jewish/Christan tradition that goes back to Abraham.  Medically it is nothing but a doctor or parent forcing their religious view on the child.  And because doctors screw up many a child has been scarred for life.

This barbaric practice must stop as a general rule for baby boys.


Janet

[Flan]

a fringe benefit of health insurance companies being cheap is this (male infant circumcision) is covered less and less because of lack of medical necessity :p

[Silver]

Signed it. It was a little disturbing to watch, I didn't finish the video.

I stopped at the part where they were poking around inside his foreskin with a pair of scissors.

SilverFang

[Maebh]

One can imagine what impact such barbarity has on the mind of a child. No wonder they blot it out of their conciousness, but somewhere this unnecesary traumatic and sadistic experience must have an a lasting effect. I am glad this was never done to me and that I refused for it to be done to my son.

HL&R

Maebh

[thestory]

It doesn't mention it here but I have heard it also reduces sexual stimulation that is caused by the friction with the skin. Apart from that it is an unnecessary procedure and I have no clue why so many people do it, especially when it is not beneficial to anyones health.

[Silver]

It doesn't mention it here but I have heard it also reduces sexual stimulation that is caused by the friction with the skin. Apart from that it is an unnecessary procedure and I have no clue why so many people do it, especially when it is not beneficial to anyones health.

Religion is a funny thing.

At some point I read that they did it in Victorian times to prevent masturbation although I don't know how true it is.

SilverFang

[thestory]

Religion is a funny thing.

At some point I read that they did it in Victorian times to prevent masturbation although I don't know how true it is.

SilverFang

The Victorian age was a strange time. Women were sent to the doctors so that they could masturbate them. Apparently to control their madness or whatever....wtf....

[Nero]

I hope that the video is not really the norm for routine circumcision. God, the baby's screaming and the dad is becoming alarmed like asking the doc if he's sure he used an anesthetic. Where was this video filmed? Third world? I can't believe the baby isn't given a painkiller of some sort.

[placeholdername]

One can imagine what impact such barbarity has on the mind of a child. No wonder they blot it out of their conciousness, but somewhere this unnecesary traumatic and sadistic experience must have an a lasting effect.

If you've never had it done then what do you know about the effect it has?  It's no different than men giving opinions on PMS or abortions -- they can't possibly know and neither can you.

What's more is that more often the lasting effect is the other way around -- kids who don't get circumsized are often teased by their peers about it.  Now that can be blamed on society's standard for circumcision being the norm, but the fact is that I don't know a single guy who has been 'traumatized' by this 'barbaric' procedure.  Kids are more likely to be 'traumatized' by getting a bad haircut.

I am however open-minded... if there's someone here who HAS been circumcised and feels it had a negative effect then that's a different story and I'd be interested to know more.

[Alex_C]

The US has to stop this, it's nothing more than imposing religious mutilation on boys without their consent. It's been allowed to go on because it's profitable. The backlash is just beginning to build.

[Hannah]

I rather liked the origin of circumcision as portrayed in the movie "year one". If you can make it through the absolute horribleness of the rest of the film to get that far, it's cute 

[Silver]

So why is this posted in the FTM section if you know, none of us were circumcised? Why not a non-transsexuality focused board?

SilverFand

[Alex_C]

I think it's because if we take T we're developing foreskins of our own and may be in sympathy of our fellow guys who didn't get the choice to keep theirs. Signing the petition is a no-brainer.

[Silver]

I think it's because if we take T we're developing foreskins of our own and may be in sympathy of our fellow guys who didn't get the choice to keep theirs. Signing the petition is a no-brainer.

Really? All this time I thought the foreskin/hood stayed the same size through HRT.

Nevermind then.

[finewine]

Well I happen to be a roundhead rather than a cavalier.  Not for religious or social reasons but because my foreskin was too small and it caused discomfort (I can't remember it, so I can't say if it hurt or not).  My younger brother had the same problem but they realized by then that there are other solutions that don't require cutting.

My understanding is that there is no medical need for circumcision.

As for sexual stimulation, yes - by virtue of the fact that the foreskin is removed, the underlying flesh of the glans dries out and is not as sensitive.  This hasn't prevented me from having a very enjoyable and fulfilling sex life although, of course, I wouldn't know what (if anything) I'm missing.

I guess a minor advantage is that there's no smegma but that's hardly a supporting justification.

In summary - there's no necessity, so it shouldn't be done.  However, as far as I can tell, it hasn't negatively impacted my life in any way whatsoever.

[Lachlann]

If you've never had it done then what do you know about the effect it has?  It's no different than men giving opinions on PMS or abortions -- they can't possibly know and neither can you.

What's more is that more often the lasting effect is the other way around -- kids who don't get circumsized are often teased by their peers about it.  Now that can be blamed on society's standard for circumcision being the norm, but the fact is that I don't know a single guy who has been 'traumatized' by this 'barbaric' procedure.  Kids are more likely to be 'traumatized' by getting a bad haircut.

I am however open-minded... if there's someone here who HAS been circumcised and feels it had a negative effect then that's a different story and I'd be interested to know more.

Only in the US. It's more taboo where I live to be circumcised.

People are allowed to have opinions. Just because you were born a certain sex does not mean your opinion does not matter, because there are a lot of women who don't experience PMS or have the chance to be in a situation where abortion is an option. Persons born male who didn't get circumcised can still voice their concerns and still be validated in that.

There are men who are very upset they got circumcised and are looking for treatment while there are ones who don't mind. One person's experience does not equate to a fact, it all depends on the individual. You think there's nothing wrong with it, and that's just fine, but Maebh is completely justified as well.

[Radar]

Circumcision is barbaric, cruel & unnessasary. It should never be done to an infant who has no say-so. If an uncut adult wants it done fine... but not a baby. My husband & his brother aren't circumcised because of a circumcision mishap that happened to a cousin. The knife slipped and took off half his head. Nothing could be done about it.

It's not difficult taking care of an uncircumcised penis. It's all about personal hygiene and common sense. There are many benefits to being uncircumcised, few being circumcised. Most other countries don't circumcise as a rule. There's a reason for that.
Post Merge: October 09, 2009, 07:03:47 AM

I hope that the video is not really the norm for routine circumcision. God, the baby's screaming and the dad is becoming alarmed like asking the doc if he's sure he used an anesthetic. Where was this video filmed? Third world? I can't believe the baby isn't given a painkiller of some sort.

No my friend- that's how they do it in the U.S. They use NO anesthesia because they believe it doesn't hurt and the baby screams just because he's scared. Swear to God. All they put on them is something to sterilise- like iodine in the video.
Post Merge: October 09, 2009, 08:12:06 AM

Really? All this time I thought the foreskin/hood stayed the same size through HRT.

Oh no. Quite the opposite. Also, the bigger/longer it gets the more enraged I get about circumcision- and I was very anti-circumcision waaay before that.

FYI there is female circumcision too. It's done in some African cultures when the girl starts going through puberty. The main reason it's done is because it decreases sexual satisfaction for the woman to "help" prevent her from sleeping around. ALL circumcision- male & female- is unacceptable.

[Miniar]

All circumcision is mutilation in my mind.
In male circumcision they remove a large portion of the surface skin of the penis, with a large amount of nerve endings, and they do it without anesthesia.
They do this without consent!

There are men who're born with foreskin "problems" that can be helped with some trimming of it when they're of age, but they're nowhere near common enough to justify this.

The excuses (and yes, these are excuses, not reasons) used to continue to knowingly force excessive pain as well as mutilation upon a non-consenting infant have all been debunked save for one, and that is "everyone else is doing it".

It makes me angry.
Actually angry.
And very few things make me "actually" angry.

I've dated men who've been robbed of a portion of their penis at birth, and I've dated men who still have their whole penis.
There's a significant difference in function, sensitivity, ability to control, etcetera, and it is considered to affect the man's size into adulthood, negatively.

This is a purely aesthetic and social choice to do something extremely violent to a child that has NO chance to defend itself.
...

..
sorry 'bout ranting.

Anyway, I signed, and posted the link forward to FB, hoping some of my people sign it and post it forward.