Ask Lemmy

Why is Christianity always so obsessed with little boys penises? It’s fucking gross.

No

I definitely would leave it up to them. It is a very long recovery to regrow that skin if they have regrets or issues later in life.

Nope.

Hell no I like the extra skin wouldnt it hurt if my dick was out in the open the whole time wtf, also jerking of with skin is like 100 times better lol

I'm circumcised and my three children are, too. However, I made that decision when I was still working my way out of a conservative upbringing. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't and have left my children uncut.

There is no point to it. I just did it because it is considered strange not to in religious circles and I hadn't broke away from that stupid yet.

If your kids want to be, let them make that decision themselves when they're older. You can't undo it.

Never, I'm very happy to be in cut. Just wash myself in the shower, and it's more sensation and fun.

I think its a lot less common in the US these days. My 6yo isn't, and to my knowledge none of the little kids in the family are either. My friend has 3 little boys all uncut

Never ever regretted being uncircumcised. In fact, I regularly feel especially grateful to my parents for not getting me circumcised. If it were socially acceptable, I'd talk to more people about it and why it's great not being circumsized. I would get me parents a "Thanks for not mutilating me as a baby" thank you cake.

GenX USAmerican here. I felt 'different' as a kid when we had to shower for gym class. Besides that, it's been fine. Teach your son proper hygiene and it will be okay. I have never had a negative sexual encounter about it, or been otherwise teased by women. Circumcision is so much less common here than it used to be.

1. If you aren't Jewish, what reason do you have to do it to an infant that can't possibly wait until they're old enough to decide for themselves?

2. Would you be struggling with the same decision to surgically alter an infant's genitals if we were talking about your daughter instead of your son?

Ok, so I'm a 38 year old uncircumcised Canadian male and on this issue, I have two opinions:

1.) Circumcision for moral, traditional, covenantial, or social cohesion reasons is child genital mutilation. Full stop, no second guesses...

2.) I have a larger-ish penis with a proportionally smaller frenulum and tighter foreskin. I am not bragging about size, I wish I was smaller because, when I get very aroused it can be quite painful. The foreskin frenulum pulls right against the tip of my penis and bends it down. If I were to excuse the frenulum and loosen my foreskin, I can imagine having sex when I am very erect would feel much better. This would be great because right now it feels like I'm trying to fuck with reigns on.

I have been exploring the idea of the loosening surgery, but obviously this is my choice, for aesthetic and pain management reasons.

The child has no choice, it's abuse. I have a choice, it's a medical procedure.

Nope, not even once. I find the idea of circumcision really bizarre.

I'm circumcised, but I can give the answer to if I wish I were uncircumcised. I would only want to choose circumcision if I looked into it and determined it to be good.

There's someone whose name I forgot who called this out as being barbarism at Harvard or Columbia before getting kicked out for basically giving the truth on circumcision.

No why would I want to mutilate my dick

I did as a kid because I was different from everyone else.

As an adult I'm so incredibly thankful that I didn't suffer genital mutilation because of social pressure from people I couldn't care less about.

I'm very happy being natural.

Genital mutilation is a caveman practice...

I'm circumcised and it has caused me so much mental anguish and pain. I've done the work of nurturing myself back to a mentally healthy place about it, but I beg you not to put another person in that position if you can avoid it.

Not for a fucking second. Ever.

I'm circumcised. My young adult sons are. Looking back, I would have made a different choice for them. I don't have a super strong reason for feeling that way except that I don't have a good reason to have done it other than "tradition". But that's a dumb reason to do things.

While it is still more common than not in the US, the rates have been falling for the last 10-15 years.

The rates are falling in America so you son probably won't be the only kid with a foreskin. That said do remember there is a small chance of death from blood loss. No really that happens a few times a year.

This one of those topics where you will only get one side because the options are very very strong and anyone voice that deviates from a "no" will be silenced and they know it so they just won't participate here.

The idea that you would cut off a part of your kids genitalia just so they could 'fit in' culturally is kinda blown away by the fact that it is now less common to be circumcised than being natural, even in the USA. By the time your kid is old enough to care, it will be a complete non-issue, and they can always get one as an adult if they want. Don't take that agency away.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/pediatrics/generalpediatrics/117464

The idea that it has a population-level health benefit is completely debunked. It is medically advisable in only a tiny fraction of kids (sub 1%). The fact that %60 of the US population is circumcised is all thanks to religious hooey from puritans who don't want children to masturbate, and think chopping a sensitive part of their genitals off to make it harder to enjoy is the best way to go - thanks to education and a wider exposure to the rest of the world via the Internet, US parents are finally realising this which is why it's in decline.

No. It's child mutilation. Just. No.

Love my penis, love my foreskin. All good.

I'm not a parent but I think in general unnecessary cosmetic surgery should be left up to the individual especially when it is related to genitals. I understand wanting to help them conform to norms to try to give them an easier life and there are some surgeries I think make sense like a cleft palate or an infant with burns, but if it's not necessary you're taking away their bodily autonomy and I think that's a very important line morally. You need to determine if you think it's necessary or unnecessary, and if the discomfort of a possible later in life surgery pushed it past the moral boundary or not.

British penis owner here. Cirumcision is rare in this country and as far as I know the rest of the world. I imagine most British people would find it strange, the inverse of your friend's experience. My instinct is to say don't perform an unnecessary medical procedure on your child and let them decide as an adult. You can't put a foreskin back on. But I sympathise with the cultural aspect of it you're having to contend with in the USA.

Side note: I once considered getting circumcised. I was in a BDSM relationship. My penis was consensually "hers" and she liked it after being with a Jewish guy. If it had become a long term relationship I might have done it.