This week the Naked Redhead and I are talking about circumcision. I want to start off by saying that this is an emotional subject for me. I’m going to do my best to be as detached as possible as I write, but I think we all know the chances of that happening are slim to none.

Here we go.

Maybe it would be best to start out by making clear what a circumcision really is. I’ve often times heard it referred to as being “just a little snip,” but honestly, that’s about as far from the truth as you can get. Here is an outline of how circumcisions are done using the Gomco clamp (courtesy of http://intact.ca/vidintro.htm):

First, the doctor straps the baby down to the circumstaint board and applies betadine solution as an antiseptic. A drape is placed over the baby to try to maintain a sterile field. A quick check is done to make sure that the bab’s penis is normal. Because a baby’s prepuce is usually naturally adherent to the glans (this is similar to how our nails are adherent to the nail bed), it must first be torn away in order to perform the circumcision. The doctor applies clamps and inserts the nose of a pliers-like instrument to tear away the foreskin from the glans. Once this is done, the clamp is used to make a crush line for the dorsal slit. The dorsal slit allows the bell to be placed under the foreskin easily. After the dorsal crush has been applied for long enough to reduce the chance of bleeding, the dorsal slit is made with scissors inside the crush line. Next, the doctor puts the bell of the clamp over the glans and arranges the base plate over the foreskin. He then pulls the foreskin through the space between the bell and the base plate, making sure that the end of the dorsal slit is above the base plate. The arm of the bell is now inserted into the yoke and the nut is tightened. When the nut is tightened, the rocker arm will pivot at the notch, pulling on the arm of the bell and crushing the foreskin between the bell and the base plate. Using a scalpel the foreskin is now cut against the bell at the base plate and removed. Now there is a wait to allow the clamp assembly to crush the blood vessels to lessen the chance of bleeding. The clamp is removed. Because of the crush, the remaining skin is stuck to the bell and must be pulled away with the fingertips and gauze. The end result is that there is only shaft skin and glans left. The frenulum and all the inner mucosa including the ridged band, has been removed.

That’s quite a bit more involved than just “snipping” off a piece of “extra” skin, no?

Clicking on the link that is listed above will take to you a web page with photos of a real-life circumcision to accompany the steps that are outlined in the preceding paragraph. At the end of the page, you can click to view a video of a circumcision that was performed in 1998. This video features a baby who was given a local anesthetic. It is very important to note that ” in the U.S. the majority of circumcisions are still carried out without any anesthetic of any kind.”

I frequent the parenting boards over at Mothering, and I’m constantly taken aback by the number of women who either want their sons, or whose husbands want their sons to “look like his father.” Really? Is this a valid argument for performing painful, unnecessary, elective, cosmetic surgery on an unconsenting newborn? To me, it’s a ridiculous argument. Honestly, there are SO MANY DIFFERENCES between a grown man and a newborn… why must a baby’s penis match his dad’s? And if it’s imperative that the penises match, shouldn’t parents who choose to circumcise also outfit their little ones for a pubic toupee? I think little Billy is going to be much more intrigued by the fact that daddy has so much hair down there than by the fact that daddy’s glans are showing and his aren’t.

“Wait!” I can hear it now… “But circumcised penises are so much CLEANER than un-circ, eh, I mean intact penises are!” It is true that once we reach puberty, our bodies create a substance called smegma that’s essentially made up of body oils and dead skin cells and that’s found in our genitalia. Here’s the thing: women produce more smegma than men do. And P.S., women have more folds “down there” than even intact men. Surprisingly, we don’t hack away at women’s labias and clitoral hoods for the sake of cleanliness. The solution to this “smegma problem” is simply good personal hygiene. Once boys hit puberty and become fully retractable, they simply need to retract their foreskins in the bath/shower and rise underneath… it’s really quite similar to how we, as women, go about keeping ourselves clean.

“Okay, okay! So, yeah it’s painful and unnecessary, and, yes, it’s not cleaner, but, BUT! It just LOOKS SO FUNNY!” I’ll grant you this, if you’ve never seen an intact penis before, the first one you do see is going to look funny. But I don’t think that I need to be attracted to my son’s penis (nor do I think that any parent needs to find his or her son’s penis sexually appealing). I give you my word that your sons will not have a problem getting laid. Do you really think women shun Ewan McGregor or Daniel Craig just because they’re sporting a foreskin? I think not.

The foreskin is an integral part of the penis. It has many known functions. Read about those functions here. Educate yourself on what circumcision takes away from our sons.

The choice to circumcise should be left up to the owner of the penis. We, as parents, are simply caretakers of our children. We do not own them. We do not own their bodies. Though they are unable to assert their autonomy as babies, it is not our right as parents to make permanent changes to their bodies for no good reason. And when talking about circumcision, there is no good reason.

And finally, I leave you with this.

Now scoot on over to see what the Naked Redhead has to say about this week’s topic.

Want more? Check out the Crossover Blog archive!