circumcision, revisited!

I wrote about my reasons against circumcision already, but I want to redo it and expand on it a little.

Fast Facts!

• No major health organization in the world recommends routine circumcision.  
• Circumcision kills more neonatal boys than suffocation or care accidents, yet those deaths are nearly 100% preventable.
• The Bible does not recommend circumcision for Christians today.
• Every circumcised man has a circumcision scar.  They just might not realize it. 
• No circumcision method is “no-cut” and no anesthetic options provide complete numbness or pain relief.
• The same reasons people advocate for female circumcision are the same reasons many advocate for male circumcision.  (it’s cleaner, looks better, religious reasons, tradition, prevents diseases)

There is no reason to routinely circumcise healthy baby boys.  (or girls!)  Doctors take an oath swearing not to perform procedures that are unnecessary, yet many doctors (and only every medical organization on Earth) admit that routine circumcisions are not necessary.  Trusting your doctors and pediatricians is great, just make sure that they are actually trustworthy before you hand over your newborn to be disassembled.

There is no method of pain management that can completely numb a boy’s genitals for circumcision.  (aside from that, why anesthetize your baby if you don’t need to?)  Circumcision is painful.  Babies react with crying, entering a shock like state, and can even have heart and breathing problems.  Infections, botched procedures, or losing (even more) parts of the penis are also things to consider.  Even after the procedure is over, baby has an open wound that’s regularly exposed to urine, fecal matter, and the constant pressure and agitation of a diaper. Death is also a side effect.  That’s fact.

Circumcision is not a method of STD or infection prevention.   A little perspective - Vaginas are technically less “clean” than a penis and infections such as UTIs are much more common among women.  We don’t circumcise them (anymore), we just teach them proper hygiene and how to have safe sex.  When it comes to males, we jump to amputating body parts as a supposed preventative measure for an issue that may never arise.  Backwards and sexist.  As a woman, would you feel comfortable trusting a circumcised penis as your only form of sexual protection?

Tons and tons of people will say that “This guy I know that wasn’t circumcised” had horrible infections or this problem or that problem.  What these people either look over, or just don’t know, is that inaccurate care information for intact boys is everrryyywherrrre and persists to this day.  For the longest time, people believed that foreskins needed to be forcibly retracted and thoroughly cleaned inside and out with soaps.  This is bad and totally incorrect!  The foreskin is attached to the penis.  Forced retraction literally rips the tissues apart creating a painful open wound (much like circumcision?).  Doing it just once is asking for an infection.  Doing it daily is pretty much a guarantee.  Soap also has no business being anywhere near genitals, girls or boys.  It messes with PH and natural bacteria.  There is a reason soap burns in those places!   This incorrect info is still prevalent in the medical community, despite all the medical research showing the risks and harms.

Intact boys are not difficult to care for.  I’d even say that they’re the easiest out of baby girls and circumcised boys.  Firstly, there is no wound to care for.  Second, there are no folds or creases.  It’s like a finger…  You wipe it off and go!  Done.


Now on to the “personal preference” some people speak about.  I have to admit, these excuses really make me angry.  I can’t blame a parent for doing something they believe is safer or healthier for their child, especially if a medical professional has suggested it.  But when someone says they want to cut off bits of their child’s flesh for aesthetic reasons….ugh… I just get all itchy inside.

Boys don’t need to match their daddies.  They just don’t.  We will not surgically alter our daughter’s body to match mine, and we will not surgically alter our son’s body to match his father’s.  If your son has a smaller/larger penis than his father, would you try to shrink/grow it?  If it was a different color would you dye it?  If it leaned to the right instead of the left, would you strap it down?  Sounds ridiculous, huh?

I also dislike the “he will get picked on” excuse.  Who hasn’t been picked on?  Girls get picked on constantly for having small or large breasts.  We don’t surgically alter their breasts at birth.  We teach them that they are beautifully made and make great efforts to prevent and stop bullying.  If your child got teased for having a big nose or skinny legs or freckles would you have them altered?  All in hopes to appease the potential bullies?  And really, how often is your son going to be showing his penis to his peers?  Also, depending on where you live, intact may already be the overwhelming majority…  Circumcision rates continue to drop, so if you want your child’s genitals to be trendy, you should probably leave them natural.

I think it’s especially disgusting when parents express concern for future sexual partner’s preferences.  Cutting your child’s genitals because you think his future wife might like it better is just disgusting.  There is no other word for it.  If I had my daughter’s breasts enlarged or her labia trimmed because I thought her future husband might get turned on more, I’d go to jail.  Do not sexualize your infant.  Anyone that would base their most intimate relationships on physical appearance does not deserve to be in the same room as my child, must less in the same bed.