Parents - don't circumsize your sons!

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I don't think female circumsicions (genital mutilation) should be compared with male cicumsision.

As regards whether its better for sex or not, as I have not yet (and do not expect to) have sex with men, I think only women who have experienced a statistically significant sample of both would be qualified to comment.

Why not? One form of female circumcision involves only cutting off the hood of the clitoris, and is pretty much equal to male circumcision. It's not the kind that gets all the media attention, but it is still female circumcision. Is it because they are boys that it's ok to cut off part of their body for no good reason without their permission? Do they need to learn to be tough? Is that why? No medical benefits to circumcision have been proven, and the ones that "might" be a benefit are not considered good enough to outweigh the risks of the procedure. No medical association in the world, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, or even the Israeli Medical Association, recommends routine infant circumcision.

I think he was referring specifically to amateur clitoridectomies.

i maybe way off here but this has very little to do with a parents discussion of raising a child with AS.. to beat people up because of their religious/personal choices is shallow and wrong. its my choice to do this and I have done it.. my son did not or will not loose his life because of this.. as far as females having this done it happens in countries where the teenage females are forced to do this and plenty of died because of it. why because its in 3rd world countries and their is no medical treatment if it goes wrong.. there is no comparision to the male as a baby and a teenage girl in South Africa. my child no difference.. my friend who chose not to have her male baby done is now 3 and has suffered many infections, UTI's even a yeast infection. she really regrets this because of the infections he has endured. but that is one moms choice.. but she will not have him done after the fact because he will endure the pain much more than if he was an infant... stop beating people up and take up a cause that means much more.. stop the mutulation of females in third world countries who are forced to endure this with no pain killers, and several die! Naomi Campbell has taken up the cause because she knows what the females of her villages have endured because of this barbic procedure.

talk about real issues on this forum such as raising children with AS.

Female circumcision should be a crime (and probably is in America), male circumcision, if done in a hospital when the child is young, is not mutilation, effects nothing, and as one who is circumcised, I can tell you it certainly doesn't get in the way of your sex life. But then too, it is a part of my religion.

Sex is (or should be) as much a part of an Aspi discussion as anything else.

btdt

I find it very interesting that the same arguments for female genital cutting in Africa and male circumcision in the US are frequently given. It's cleaner, prevents infection, looks better, etc. I would like to say that I am not the person who started comparing male circumcision to FGM. I don't think they are on the same scale. The mildest form of FGM, where only the foreskin or hood of the clitoris is cut off, I think is pretty comparable to male circumcision, but the forms involving clitoridectomies are not. HOWEVER, if you read interviews w/ the doctors who do female circumcisions (and doctors do A LOT of these! Not everybody in Africa is poor, many live similar lives to what we do.) they'll tell you they do them for the same reasons they do it to males, it prevents infection. If you read interviews of mothers who had it done to their daughters, they'll ask how can you claim it hurts their sexuality? After all these women were circumcised and they still enjoy sex very much.

As for the person who wrote that a friend w/ an intact son got repeated infections, sorry, we've all heard those stories, but the fact is that's very rare. My oldest son did have repeated yeast infections for a short time, but he hasn't had a single one since his doc told me not to let him wash under his foreskin with soap and to not use bubble bath anymore. I think most parents who find their children have these problems have had doctors give them poor advice on the proper care of the intact penis. The foreskin should never be retracted by anyone but person on whose body the penis is found. If that person is not old enough to pull the foreskin back himself, it doesn't need to be done, and in fact, the foreskin is probably still fused to the head of the penis at that young age. Unfortunately, many doctors in this country still tell parents they need to (forcibly) retract their infant or toddler son's foreskin and clean under it w/ soap. This is really bad advice for several reasons. Number 1, it allows entry of foreign bacteria, and number 2, using soap on mucous membranes is irritating and also washes away the natural oils and antibodies found there, leading to an imbalance in the natural flora, which could lead to infection, either bacterial or yeast. And of course, bacterial infection leads to yeast b/c of antibiotics. That's a no brainer. But I'll tell ya, nobody better ever recommend cutting off MY genitals b/c I've had a bacterial infection followed by a yeast infection, both of which are much more common in women! And UTI? UTI's are extremely rare in boys, intact OR cicrcumcized. If a boy is getting repeat UTI's, it's time to look for stuctural problems internally. My second ds was born w/ an abnormality in one of his ureters and the hydronephrosis this caused. No one recommended circ as a cure, and he has never had a UTI.

As for the religious argument, I don't really want to go there. I can understand and respect the intense pressure to circ for religious reasons, and I do not hold it against people who do circ for these reasons. After all, we are a Jewish family, and our decision was a hard one. We don't regret it at all, but it has caused some arguments in the family and awkwardness at the synagogue (where we are among the more active familes.) It's definitely not easy to stand up to those pressures, and probably even harder to keep your mouth shut when you don't agree. BUT, if you are circ'ing for religious reasons, you don't need to find "other" reasons to justify it. If you are finding "other" reasons, perhaps medical, then I strongly suspect you are not really circumcizing for religious reasons. This is one of the reasons we decided not to circ. We realized that like most Jewish familes (non-Orthodox) our families didn't circ for actual religious reasons, it was more for medical or social reasons. And once the myths surrounding those reasons are dispelled, what reason is left to do it? A friend gave us this book: http://www.amazon.com/Questioning-Circu ... 0964489562 and pointed us to this article: http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision. ... ition.html

We didn't circumcized our son, because we had no strong religious belief to do so. I did alot of research while pregnant and found there was no valid medical or hygenic reason for it in most cases. It apparantly dates back (as a widespread practice in America) to a belief it would discourage masturbation at a time when people thought it unhealthy and evil. It's painful and it's pointless..so NO we didn't go there. As for infections and such, little girls get infections too, we don't surgically alter them in an attempt to prevent it, we deal with it when and if it does occur.

once again what does this subject have to do with raising a child with AS?

Circumcision doubles the risk of bulbourethal abrasion

Yes, I wondered that myself. Personally, I am against routine circumcision of little boys. Only a very tiny minority need the operation and in those cases, it is usually done at about 12 months of age and under anaesthetic.

I agree with the lady who said a little boy's foreskin should never be forcibly retracted by the parent. This will cause soreness and infection.

I only had girls but if I'd have had a baby boy, I wouldn't have wanted him circumcised (well, unless he had a very tight foreskin and it was causing him pain). I think it is really cruel to cut little baby boy's foreskins off without an anaesthetic.

As for FGM, I see NO REASON why it should ever happen. There is no advantage to it apart from some stupid cultural things in some places. It is cruel and unnecessary and just another example of how women and girls are exploited and mistreated.

my son is not cirumsinm its not really needs

Yeah, only a minority of little boys need circumcision for tight foreskins and little girls never need any form of circumcision. I don't think girls who have been subjected to FGM would enjoy sex as adults. In fact, it often causes childbirth difficulties for them so it should be made illegal everywhere as it is a form of torture.

my brother had to be circumsized because the foreskin was too tight which unfortunatly made peeing straight a difficulty.

Latest info says circumsized men are less likely to contract HIV so the health experts are recomending the procedure for men in Africa.

http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/heal ... 14.article

I think you should see it this way they halted research? now how many people have done that and 25 years or so down the line the people who said it take they lifes because they can not take what they done....

Best way of not getting HIV is " safer sex ", also to have everyone to be screened, it's illegal to make someone have HIV if you knowingly know you have it here, unless they is a underlining medical reason for it the parents should not be aloud to butcher they child, I have heard the storys fromt he people who have been forced into it in them countrys...

I still don't think it is correct to compare the situation with men in Africa to that of women or girls anywhere or males in countries where HIV is uncommon.

I can see that sometimes it is necessary to circumcise a little boy because their foreskin is too tight but it isn't common for that to be a problem.

I can't see any justification for ever mutilating the genitals of a female. It is a barbaric operation and if the little girl survives the initial blood loss and shock, she is likely to have serious problems later on with childbirth.

Last edited by Pandora on 04 Jan 2007, 11:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.