Once, a few years ago, when I was bored during an all staff conference call at work, I decided to test my theory that if I was forced to eat foods only beginning with one letter for the rest of my life, that "C" is the best letter to select. (Examples: cookies, cake, chocolate, cherries, cheese, crackers...) The second best is "S," but that's another story.
Anyway, over at BlogHer, where I blog about Feminism & Gender twice a week, I opened up a ginormous can of worms with a seemingly innocuous post about whether there are any medical benefits to circumcision. I think there is evidence either way. Circumcision is interesting to me because while I generally am averse to major body modification for beauty purposes (ie - breast implants, liposuction), I personally prefer foreskinless dicks. (Not that I have so much experience handling penises...)
Some of the comments on that post likened circumcision to female genital cutting or mutilation, but I think that is overstating the effect of circumcision. If done properly (and the main risk is that it will get fucked up and was not necessarily needed in the first place), men seem to function fine after circumcision. If it really prevented men from enjoying sex, the entire Jewish population would basically have vanished centuries ago, as men could not have orgasms and impregnate their Jewish pussies. (Ha! Like how I sneaked in "Jewish pussy?") Incidentally, I was once accused of being anti-Semetic on BlogHer by someone who didn't like that I said that Israel was not perfect. If my accuser wants to see things that really verge on anti-Semetic, I suggest she read the nasty comments I got when writing about my cultural preference for circumcised dick.
Female genital cutting/mutilation, on the other hand, really destroys women's genitals, leading to pain, no ability to enjoy sex, and sometimes even death during child birth. It's like comparing getting a babies' ears pierced to lobbing off her entire ear. Not the same consequences at all.
My newest controversy involved a c-word is about c-sections, although I don't see why what I wrote is controversial at all. C-sections are serious surgeries and should not be taken lightly. Anyone who ever had to have one knows that. There are some brave women who shared their experiences with birth and c-sections who prove my point. Check it out.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I prefer my dicks uncut.
ReplyDeleteThat is the nice thing about diversity: to each her/his own! There's someone for everyone. Life is good.
ReplyDeleteMan. That whole circumcision debate is just... just... I can't even find the words for it. I bowed out quickly when i realized how very irritated I was likely to get with people forcing their opinions and being judgmental about my choices for my son, discounting my actual experience as a 'meme used solely as a scare tactic' *Snort.*
ReplyDeleteAnd comparing it to female mutilation is just insane! The two are completely different scenarios as you noted.
But I do love that you enjoy popping up those hotbutton topics!
When I started letting people know I was pregnant, "Will you circumcise" was a standard question. Oy! There are a lot of anti-male circumcision people out there. I share your preference for snipped dick (and have seen, tasted and had both, thank you very much ;-) but when it came to making any decisions about our as yet unborn gender-unknown child, my partner and I decided not only to look into the health issues but also into the cultural issues. Our child will grow up in places where virtually no one is circumcised, and we'll take into account the teasing factor should we have a boy . . . .
ReplyDeleteCircumcisions are actually healthier for the cirumscribe because they leave the wang cleaner and less prone to infection. I like them better too, and the world is meant for my pleasure.
ReplyDeleteHowever, femal genital mutilation is exactly the opposite... all those things you said.
I was kind of shocked at the number of comments you received. It surprised me that so many people had such strong opinions on male circumcision..
ReplyDeletemara - where will your kid(s) be raised? Circumcision levels in the U.S. are at ~65%, and on the West coast it's sometimes as low as 35%.
ReplyDeletesuper des - do you realize that modern Africans who defend female genital mutilation give the same excuses Americans do for male circumcision? They say it's cleaner, it's healthier, and it looks better.
Except that with female genital mutilation, there is no proof for that it is cleaner or healthier and in fact, a lot of proof that it is instead NOT cleaner or healthier (unless one considers all kinds of problems with menstruating and enjoying sex to be cleaner or healthier.) Whereas with circumcision, unless it is botched (which I fully acknowledge is always a risk one undertakes when doing surgery of any kind), it is no less healthy than an uncircumcised penis. Cleaner is at least debatable.
ReplyDeleteAgain, if circumcision really destroys mens' ability to have and enjoy sex, I would love to understand why most circumcised men seem to function well and often.
I haven't had the time to read the Blogher post but I know that I was recently hearing on the BBC that health officials in Africa are pushing for circumcision to help fight the war on HIV...among other things like condom usage too.
ReplyDeleteI can speak for the circumcision issue...my guy is not circumcised and I cannot tell you how many yeast infections I've had. I've never gotten yeast infections like I have with my B.F. My doctor thinks the two factors are related.
Suzanne - I wasn't making a determination that male circumcision is or isn't cleaner or healthier.
ReplyDeleteI am merely pointing out that those African men and women who consider themselves to be "modern" (meaning that they claim they are not influenced by patriarchal tribal traditions) and who still defend FGM (yes, there are "modern" mutilated women who defend it!) use the exact same reasoning Americans do to defend male circumcision. I find that disturbing.
I think that your point is interesting. People will latch onto many ways to justify things to themselves. People are sheep, and I usually hate them. Baa.
ReplyDeleteKatie - England and New Zealand, where virtually no one is circumcised. In fact, the London hospital where I will give birth does not provide the service.
ReplyDeleteAnd while we're on the subject -
ReplyDelete"Circumcision can halve HIV transmission"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/aids/story/0,,1971526,00.html
your blog-her post brought on some excellent commentary. as a surgeon, i think it is SO important for people to realize that while great benefit can be had from a csection, ANY surgical procedure, no matter how small has risks involved. and, as the comments on blog-her said, some of those complications are pretty serious things that women have to live with for the rest of their lives.
ReplyDeleteHundreds of thousands of American gay men, despite being mostly cut, have died of AIDS. The results from the African clinical trials do not carry over to the USA, where AIDS is seldom transmitted heterosexually.
ReplyDeleteAll sorts of STDs have ripped through American young people, even though most of them are cut. The Fergusson study in New Zealand is in limbo.
I don't understand very well men who are angry about being circumcised in a culture where circ is the norm. But circ is a nontrivial alteration of the male equipment, usually done without the consent of the owner/operator of the equipment. Moreover, before malpractice litigation became common, it was not unusual for an American maternity ward to circumcise all baby boys by default. It would not be done only if the parents thought to object (and sometimes this led doctors and nurses to behave less than professionally), or if the baby was born premature. Also, at the time they were done, there was no good reason for the vast majority of American routine circumcisions. The research currently cited to claim that circ lowers urinary tract infections, HPV infection, etc., was published only in the last 20 years.
As for personal experience, the foreskin makes handjobs and foreplay a good deal easier. Blowjobs are OK if he washes beforehand. I don't know about the foreskin and intercourse because I've used a condom with every intact man I've known. It's a bit harder getting a condom onto an intact man; the frenulum can be a bit fussy to work around.
To get oneself cut around the age of majority, with the full consent of the patient and before beginning one's sex life, is not a very big deal. So why not wait till then?
South Koreans are cut around puberty, and have begun to question that. About 10% of Canadians and Australians are routinely circumcised at birth. In other advanced countries, USA excepted, only Moslems and those with a foreskin problem are cut. Yet there is no evidence of an epidemic of urological problems in other countries with a good standard of hygience and medical knowledge.
I respect the male foreskin same as I respect the pubic hair on my woman's body. Men who want to see my pussy bald can all go to hell. Likewise, Mother Nature rightly enjoys the benefit of the doubt.