My mom said that when I was a kid, it was pretty common to circumcise your son when he was born. Times were different back then though - my mom also said it wasn't "proper" to whip your boob out in public, so instead of breastfeeding, the nurse put ice packs on her breasts.
Nowadays, we know how important breastfeeding is to the baby's health, and circumcision - well, some people are starting to disagree with it, calling it immoral, and against the baby's wishes (you can't really ask a baby boy if he wants his foreskin removed or not!).
In the 1960s, nearly 90% of American baby boys were circumcised, and in the 1970s, that rate began to drop. In 2004, it was reported that only 57% of baby boys were circumcised. So there has been a definite decline in the amount of newborn males having this operation.
Still many parents do agree with circumcision for many reasons - some want their baby to look like their father, others are following Jewish tradition (boys are circumcised during a ceremony called a bris), and others feel that it's cleaner and may help prevent certain infections, STIs or types of cancer.
So I want to know...
Monsoon
thanks for having option #4.
1It never even entered my mind, I have to say. So no.
2I don't want to do that to my litttle baby boy (if I have one), but my fiance would want to because he's circumcised and he's happy about it.
3I wouldn't... I understand and respect those who do it because of religion, but personally i wouldn't do it bc i find it unnatural in a way. Boys are born with foreskin for a reason...
Regarding cleanliness... It's all relative, you just gotta learn how to wash yourself properly and do it regularly (my fiance is the cleanest boy down there I've encountered and he's uncirc)...
as far as STIs go... wear a condom!
Also.. I've read that a circ penis is less sensitive than an uncirc one... I'm conscious that this is a very subjective topic tho... It would be hard to find a patient willing to try out both and report his experiences afterwards
4I agree Stefapie. I am not having children but My friends that have decided to have children have gone with whatever Dad has.
5My son is circumcised. It's how his dad's was (is, we're divorced so I'm assuming it hasn't changed haha) Also, considering i had seen my fair share of penises at that point
with most being circ; I was more comfortable with it.
6yes.
7There are many benefits to circumcision so I say why not? My husband says that it avoids a lot of potential infections that can occur. IMO, an uncircumcised penis is aesthetically not appealing. Plus it's over and done with really quick and the child never remembers.
8unnatural and immoral. to me, it's the exact same thing as cutting off a female's labia. they are both there for a reason: to protect the genitalia of both sexes. all you need to do is teach your child, male or female, how to properly wash themselves, and there are no problems. imagine walking around with no labia. it would hurt and desensitize the clitoris. that's what circumcision does to males: desensitizes the penis. nope nope nope, and i encourage others i know not to do it either.
9oh, and if anyone does it to their son because it's not "pretty" to have a circumcised penis, why would you want your son to be with a woman who cared? personally, any woman who wouldn't have sex with my son because they thought it looked weird is not a woman i want my son to be sleeping with!!
on a personal note, i've found that uncircumcised penises are honestly the best to give oral sex to because it makes it SO much easier to use your hands.
10I personally think circumcision isn't medically necessary. However, given the (unfortunate) aesthetic and identity issues involved, this is a decision I would ultimately leave up to the baby's father. I know this is something my brother-in-law struggled with and he settled on circumcision *purely* because he didn't want to explain the disparity to his son in the future.
11LOL katie, Of COURSE it would hurt us if our labia was clipped (cringing at the thought). But ask any man with an already circumcised penis if it hurts, and ask them if they're "numb." It's not the same thing for men and women.
12well said Katie... you've completed my thoughts more effectively than me!
13One other thing... Here in the US, circumcized penises are the norm and that's why many would find it more attractive. But go to Europe, for example, where uncircumcized penises are the norm and they will tell you that a cut penis is not as attractive or good looking as an uncut one!
We probably will. Being uncircumcised can make you mor prone to contracting an STD - assuming you come into contact with one - this is only because fluids etc. can be "trapped" closer to a opening in the skin. ...huh, I didn't know about the desensitizing though. We'll have to think about it somemore I guess.
14Luckygirl, You're right about the difference in what's appealing to different countries.
Blackjade, my husband is circumcised and let me tell you that he has noooo problems with sensitivity!
I'll stop there 
15GROSS of course I would, nothing worse than cheese d!ck.
16Yeah, chop it off. Seeing a hoodie is a novelty and it freaks me out.
17NO way. I think it is unnatural.
Cheese Dick? What is that...? My boyfriend is not circumsized and I've never had a problem with it. He's never had STD or STI's. I like it much better anyways because he is so much more sensitive when I give him oral.
18you know what? i never really knew what the diff was b/w a circumsised vs. uncircumsised penis was or at least i didn't really know WHAT to look for. it never mattered to me but maybe that's cuz i never liked to look at them!
penises are just not very attractive to me, no matter how good they feel.
otherwise, my boyfriend is uncircumsised and everything is A-okay in the bedroom.
19PLEASE CUT THE XTRA SKIN, ITS S0 N0T & I NEVER EVEN SEEN AN UNCIRCUMCISED 0NE.
20I MEANT ITS N0T H0T...
21I would let my husband make the call on this one. He would vote "yes" because he thinks the positives out way any negatives. He can't imagine being uncircumsised and thinks it would be better for his son. If he gets his way we will have girls so we won't have to deal with it.
22honestly this is the man's decision...silly we are asking the women as if we really would have the final say...i'd never demand to make this decision...i dont have a penis so i'd have no idea the psychological affects it'd have on a guy...i actually think the ahem act has been better with circed guys but i guess it really depends on how they use it
! besides this is something "dad" will sit down and have a chat with him about so he should
be strong in his decision...
23When I had my son, I had him circumsized. I think it would be tough trying to teach a 4 year old boy how to properly clean and make sure that he's a-ok down there. It minimizes the risk of infections and uncleanliness. Plus, when newborns are uncircumsized, they virtually feel no pain, as their nerve endings are not completely developed at birth.
24*circumsized, I meant.
25Ok, total spelling errors there...ignore that.
26I remember my first reaction to an uncircumsized penis and wouldn't want my son to have to go through that with a girl!!! *cringe*
27It's not common here in the Netherlands, so why should I?
28Yes.
29I agree 100% with what Masqueraded_Angel said.
yes... 1 it's healthier 2 Why give him something to be self conscious about...
30yes... 1 it's healthier 2 Why give him something to be self conscious about...
31DearSugar was right to say that people feel that circumcision is cleaner and may help prevent certain infections. In fact, science doesn't back that up. The American Association of Pediatrics' official position is that the difference between circumcised and uncircumcised contractions of infections and cancer is so minimal that they labeled it "negligible". That and the fact that the small risks involved in the procedure outweigh the negligible benefits are why their stated position is against routine circumcision.
As for people worrying about their children being embarrassed, you have to remember that in our generation (born in the 70's) only 10% of boys are uncircumcised but in our kids' generation already 40% of boys are uncircumcised and that number has been (and shows every indication of continuing to be) steadily rising. I think it's kind of silly to think that girls will find what almost half of all boys have to be odd.
You also have to remember that it's only Americans that practice this. People around the world think *we're* odd for chopping off bits of our childrens' penises for aesthetic reasons. And, I can't say I disagree with them...
32Oh dern it. I hate when I forget to close the html. Sorry for the tilting comment.
33Here, this should be easier to read...
DearSugar was right to say that people feel that circumcision is cleaner and may help prevent certain infections. In fact, science doesn't back that up. The American Association of Pediatrics' official position is that the difference between circumcised and uncircumcised contractions of infections and cancer is so minimal that they labeled it "negligible". That and the fact that the small risks involved in the procedure outweigh the negligible benefits are why their stated position is against routine circumcision.
As for people worrying about their children being embarrassed, you have to remember that in our generation (born in the 70's) only 10% of boys are uncircumcised but in our kids' generation already 40% of boys are uncircumcised and that number has been (and shows every indication of continuing to be) steadily rising. I think it's kind of silly to think that girls will find what almost half of all boys have to be odd.
You also have to remember that it's only Americans that practice this. People around the world think *we're* odd for chopping off bits of our childrens' penises for aesthetic reasons. And, I can't say I disagree with them...
34omg...I can't seriously believe you are thinking 'Yes'!!
It's barbaric. I have known uncircumcised men, and believe me, there has been no medical, hygiene or sex problems!
And if you think it just doesn't look aesthetic ... how shallow is that? Imagine if you were told your breasts weren't "aesthetic", and they should be changed!
If a man wants to be circumcised later in life, fine. But it's his choice, not yours.
35I have a boy and he is circumcised.
36Ewww! Ones that aren't snipped are so ugly!
37I would get my child circumsized
38First - it would be my (future) husband's choice.
39Second - if that man is my current boyfriend, then I think he would say "NO" as he isn't circumsized.
Third- my bf wasn't because he was a premie baby and they didn't want to do anything that would cause him to bleed or lead to possible infections, so his dad also skipped it for his 2 brothers. None of them have STI/STDs, and my bf certainly doesn't have hygine issues - and I am guess neither do his siblings.
Fourth - when we first got together I didn't even know that he wasn't circumsized, as I was only seeing his penis when it was erect, and it looks the same as all the others I had seen. Not that I studied any of them closly!! hahaha
i actually feel so strongly about this - that it's mutilation of a poor child who DOES feel it (though not as much as a full-grown man does, the babies do feel it!), and that the so-called "benefits" actually don't exist at all - that i actually want it to be outlawed except for religious purposes. or at least doctors should advise against it in all cases (which i'm pretty sure most doctors already do!). aesthetically pleasing? wtf?! they're NATURALLY born that way! i can't believe people are so shallow as to care! have you ever seen your vagina from the perspective of a guy about to give you oral sex? it's not pretty at all! would you want to be having sex with someone who cared? i sure wouldn't.
let's think about this from a different perspective: females get yeast infections, yes? and sometimes they're caused by bad hygiene, yes? well, imagine someone saying, "hey! let's cut off the labia of female babies shortly after birth to lower the [already low] chance of infections and, of course, that nasty 'cheese vagina'. yeah sure, it will end up desensitizing the clitoris, but who cares? the girls will never know the difference since they've been this way since birth!"
40definitely would circumcise. all of our friends felt the same way. a little child can't be expected to clean that part of himself adequately and who's going to do that FOR HIM until he can at say age 8???? it cuts down urinary tract infections, on hiv, infections in the foreskin. some of our friends did it for religious reasons. it's personal decision really.
41I have two sons who are not circumcised. I'm not against the practice in general, but my children's bodies are NOT MINE. I wouldn't cut off their earlobes because it was in fashion. If they reach adolescence and feel they need it done, we'll have it done. But it's their bodies, and it will be their decisions to make.
About the cleanliness issue, it's not a big deal to clean little boys in the bath. My older son is 4 now and does it himself- and the 2 year old watches him and imitates him. I don't see it being a very big deal.
As far as aesthetics, I've seen cut, and I've seen uncut, and I don't have any feelings of one being "prettier" than the other. A penis is a penis, and as long as it works just fine, what's the problem?
I guess overall, I don't see any reason to have it done. It's a painful procedure done to a child who has not given consent, which like any surgery comes with the risks of complication, and which gives little benefit to the child. So why do it?
42My husband made the call and decided to circ. both our sons. I was in the room with both of them while it was done (they were both in NICU at birth so it was done at the pedi's office during checkups), and neither one cried at all.
431000s of men are enduring a tedious multi-year process of tensioning the shaft skin to cause new skin cells to grow. After a few years they have enough skin so that it acts like a foreskin.
Obviously, if you make a choice for your infant to amputate body parts, you run the risk that he'll be really ticked off about it at you while he engages in non-surgical foreskin restoration.
HIS body HIS decision
44I would get my son circumcised... But that's just me. To each his own...
45Apart for religious reasons, why would you?
46Ccsugar- I suggest you stop picking up men that can't wash themselves properly, it says more about you than them(if you know what I mean).
i am pregnant right now and NO WAY !! it is barbaric.
47besides i have never come across a man who didn't like to soap it up in the shower; besides we live in europe and people really only do it for religious purposes.
not just a jewish tradition but muslim, too, so yes.
48i never thought that it was ok to tell someone that there choices for there children were barbaric nor have i ever found it to be any one elses business do what you do and i wil do the same.
49My children are both circ'd I never even knew there was such a controversy over this issue till recently. I had heard from my dr that there were benefits to it and I never knew there were horror stories attatched to the sitution (even death) Both my boys are fine and were "over it" not in pain the very next morning. The choice was up to there father and thats fine with me.
I have gotten very upset a before bc some women are so rude with the fact that some of us do choose to do this. Honestly its no one elses business. To show someone the facts is one thing but to chatise anothers choices is an entire different story. Course women are the same way with breastfeeding to. They sometimes dont know when to shut up.
I would also hope that those that say its there bodies there decsion feel the same way about those dogs that get there tail chopped and there ears snipped bc its the style for that breed.
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