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Everywhere you look, you'll find arguments all over social media sites about parenting. Some call these the "mommy wars." I'll agree, some of these arguments are pointless and a "to each their own" battle that nobody will ever win.
However, there are some of these that should have a winning side. There are some of these that when I read, I want to slam my head into a wall and scream "WHY DON'T YOU GET IT!?!"
One of these is circumcision.
Routine infant circumcision to be more specific.
For those of you who are unaware of what RIC is, it simply means a circumcision (removal of the foreskin) in a child, usually a neonate (baby younger than 28 days), without a cause- essentially.
After watching these so-called mommy wars take place over days and months and years, I have compiled a list of the most common arguments, and my (factual) responses to them.
Ridiculous argument 1- A circumcised penis is cleaner than an intact penis.
Valid argument 1- How is having a newborn sit in a feces and urine
filled diaper with an open wound "cleaner" than one with his entire
penis intact?
Ridiculous argument 2- Intact penises get infected too often.
Valid argument 2- Our ears get infected
but you don't see people opting to chop them off at birth because of it. Ingrown toenails-ouch! Should we start routine toenail removal at birth too?
Ridiculous argument 3- Circumcision reduces the risk of STD's
Valid argument 3- The foreskin contains/consists of specialized cells
called Langerhans cells. These are a main component of the immune
system. The risk of STDs is actually lower with an intact penis because
of these special disease fighting cells that are not found in the
circumcised penis. And people shouldn't have to worry about an STD if
they are having safe, responsible sex, regardless of what their penis
looks like.
Ridiculous argument 4- Circumcision will prevent urinary tract infections.
Valid argument 4- UTIs are far more rampant in woman than in men...
The cure is called antibiotics, not cosmetic surgery. I can count on, uh...zero hands, just how many times I've seen a woman get circumcised for a UTI.
Ridiculous argument 5- The baby won't remember it, so do it while they are young.
Valid argument 5- Women get date raped all the time. They don't
remember because they were drugged...so since they won't remember it,
does that make it okay to do? Also, newborn MRIs vs an MRI of a baby who has had a circumcision, have proven in fact, that babies DO remember the pain.
Ridiculous argument 6- You can't compare it to female circumcision, that's just wrong!
Valid argument 6- What is the difference between FGM (female genital mutilation) and MGM (male genital mutilation)? One is
legal and one is not? Well, until the mid 90s, female circumcision was
legal too. With that said, if you are a woman born before 1997 and you have your genitals intact, call your parents and thank them.
Ridiculous argument 7- Calling it mutilation is just stupid and being over dramatic.
Valid argument 7- Mutilation: an injury that causes disfigurement or that deprives you of a limb or other important body part.
Seems like a pretty accurate description, as by-the-book as possible if you ask me.
Ridiculous argument 8- It's easier to clean!
Valid argument 8- I'm sure it would be easier to clean my vulva if
they'd snip it, then again, I'm not lazy and an extra 10 seconds in the
shower is not the end of the world to me. The only thing that makes it easier to clean is because it's less surface area. It is even easier to clean as a child because the foreskin has not retracted so you just wipe the tip of it.
Ridiculous argument 9- It's just a little bit of extra skin.
Valid argument 9- In the average adult male, the foreskin is
equivalent to a 3x5 inch section of skin. That's a lot of skin and
sensitivity lost. Do you know how many nerve endings there are in the
male prepuce? Over 20,000. The clitoris, most sensitive of the female
body, has only 8,000. These are fine touch receptors similar to those
found in fingertips, lips, etc. And we cut them off like they mean
nothing. You ever wonder why erectile dysfunction is an epidemic among
the baby boomers age when circumcision became popular Viagra salesmen
LOVE circumcision.
Thich leads me to....
Ridiculous argument 10- There are no real sexual side effects.
Valid argument 10- The penile frenulum connects the foreskin to the
underside of the head of the penis. It's often referred to as "the male G
spot" because of its high concentration of nerve endings that react to
touch and the stretching and relaxation that occurs as the foreskin
glides back and forth over the shaft and head of the penis during sex.
The penis is large enough as an adult, that during circumcision, the
frenulum is fairly easy to save. However, because of how imprecise the
procedure is as a newborn, with no actual medical standards to go by, how
much, or where cuts are made, infant circumcisions almost ALWAYS leads
to the amputation of the frenulum.
The foreskin is the ONLY movable part
of the penis, as is the intended design of nature/God/whatever you
believe. The intact penis is a dynamic sexual organ because of its
moveable foreskin. The circumcised penis has no moving parts and is a
static organ, just pounding away. During sex (with an intact penis), the
foreskin glides up and down the shaft of the penis and over the flared
edge of the head of the penis. The foreskin and glans stimulate each
other during the gliding motion. The frenulum, like the foreskin, also
is full of thousands of nerve endings, so this stimulation is also very
pleasurable. I will save the MANY differences that women feel, for another day.
Ridiculous argument 11- It's a simple, quick, SAFE procedure.
Valid argument 11- With a circumcision performed in infancy, and a
doctor just guesstimating how much to cut off, lots of times it leaves a
penis with too much skin for the desired effect, but more often than not, it leaves a penis (in
adulthood) that has had too much cut away, make full erections tight
and painful. 1 in 10 circumcisions is botched and needs secondary
surgery or cannot be fixed. Over 55% of circumcisions result in at
least some form of complications.
SAFE?? 115+ neonates die from circumcision
each year. That's more than double the number that die from suffocation
(44), car accidents (8), and drop side cribs combined...and yet all of
those cribs were recalled.
Ridiculous argument 12- It looks nicer.
Valid argument 12- My first response is...Of course it does, if you like a dried up, calloused
penis. If you've ever looked at pictures or seen in person the
difference in an intact penis and one that was circumcised at birth,
you'll see that the head of the penis looks "moist" or lubricated in an
intact one.
This isn't to make anyone feel guilty or bad about themselves, it's just the fact that circumcised penises just don't "look" how they are supposed to be, usually at no fault to its owner. The foreskin preserves the natural male lubricants that
keep the internal parts of the penis responsive to sensual stimulation,
and aids in its own movements, as well as reduces chafing and abrasion
during sex. This is taken away by routine circumcision. The meatus (the
hole a man pees from) in the intact penis is usually a long slit that,
when compressed by a finger or under pressure of urinating, becomes a
wide opening. When a penis has been circumcised from infancy, it's had no foreskin for protection, causing the meatus to narrow over time. This happens mostly because of
exposed urine, diapers, and underwear rubbing it all day, restricting
urine flow and sometimes causing UTIs. And they say that circumcision PREVENTS UTIs...hmmm.
On second thought, if intact penises became the norm here like they are in all of the other developed countries in the world, maybe our views of what is attractive and what isn't, would change.
Ridiculous argument 13- Circumcision reduces penile cancer.
Valid argument 13- I am going to skip right over the part where that has been disproven time and again and just say this... When was the last time you saw a baby having their breast buds removed to prevent breast cancer later on? What about ovarian cancer? Should we just perform hysterectomies at birth? Since when is it okay to remove any normal, perfectly functioning body part, and then hope and pray that it prevents cancer down the line? Answer: It's not.
Ridiculous argument 14- I want him to look like his daddy.
Valid argument 14- That's great! We spend hours fantasizing during pregnancy over whose nose, eye color, and hair type our baby will come out with. It's normal. But let me let you in on a little secret...
Your child, no matter what, will not be a clone. It just doesn't work that way. And I don't know about you, but I have no clue what my mother's vulva looks like- not to mention, I heard they are like snowflakes, no two are alike. With that said, most little boys don't really know what their daddy's genitals look like either. But what about potty training, you might ask? Sure, maybe they will catch a glance here and there. I can assure you this...any two year old child looking at their daddy's "privates" are not going to notice whether or not he has more or less skin on the end. They are going to notice that daddy has big privates and daddy has icky hair.
Ridiculous argument 15- I am not the one with the penis, so I left the decision up to my husband.
Valid argument 15- You may not have a penis, but luckily it doesn't take a penis to stand up against what is morally right. It's simple as that. You don't have to let anyone harm your child.
Ridiculous argument 16- I don't want him to get made fun of.
Valid argument 16- Kids are mean. No matter where you go or how great of a school your child attends, you'll always find bullies. Kids get made fun of their clothes, their glasses, their hair, and their skin. You name it, it's a topic. When was the last time you saw on the news that a parent had their child's freckles surgically removed because she was bullied over it? It doesn't happen. Bullying sucks. It does. But we don't give our kids lap band surgery because someone called them fat. We teach them how to deal with bullies without changing themselves.
I will also add that since the circumcision rates are RAPIDLY declining, chances are, the kids getting made fun of in the school bathrooms in a few years (and no I do not condone this), will be ones with parts of their penis missing.
I am not against
circumcision, I am against routine infant circumcision.
Big difference.
If a grown man wants to cut off a 3 inch by 5inch section of skin from
his penis, more power to him, at least he was able to make that choice.
NOBODY should be able to make the choice for anyone else.
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You can read more about circumcision here:
www.thewholenetwork.org/
http://www.circumcision.org/
http://intactamerica.org/
www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/
http://www.birthresourcenetwork.org/resources/107-circumcision-an-unnecessary-procedure
http://www.nocirc.org/
Christians and circumcision: http://www.udonet.com/circumcision/
http://www.circumstitions.com/Restric/Botched1sb.html
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