Comments on: Crossover Blog #3: Circumcision

By: Jillian Frank

Jillian Frank — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 03:04:59 +0000

Hey Leah,

No, at 12, I would not allow Jude to get it done. Until he reaches the age of 18, It’s my job to protect and care for him (legally, that is. Protecting and caring don’t stop at 18). i don’t think a 12-year-old would be able to truly understand what he was losing by under going this horrible surgery.

I’m glad you’re reading and at least thinking about the issue. The truth is, it’s unnecessary, cosmetic surgery. Circumcision HURTS the baby, the boy, and the man he eventually becomes.

There is not one good reason to circumcise our boys, just like there is no good reason to circumcise our girls.

This is an issue that is near and dear to my heart. I have a hard time not getting emotional when I talk about circumcision. While most issues in life aren’t cut and dry or black and white, this one is. With circumcision, there is no gray area.

If you want to talk more about it, Leah, email me: jgracefrank @ gmail.com (remove spaces). I hope we can have some good discussions when you and the (almost!) hubby decide to have kids. In the mean time, I would love to know why it is you’re torn on the issue? (Honest question.. not being snarky!)

Oh.. and thanks for reading an commenting!

By: Leah Sisk

Leah Sisk — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 02:48:11 +0000

If Jude wants to have it done at let’s say 12, would you do it? I as you know, don’t have any children yet, but if I ever have a boy, I am torn about this matter.

By: Joe

Joe — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:55:23 +0000

Excellent post Jillian! I often find it difficult to understand why this practice persists in the US despite it clear lack of necessity and clear violation of the rights of baby boys. I can only assume that it is due to ignorance but there seems to be a light at the end of this tunnel. More and more I see posts like yours and it give me hope that more and more people are educating themselves and the more parents are educated the more boys will be left intact. So keep it up I hope you continue to get positive comments and perhaps you’ll help change some minds.

By: Mark Lyndon

Mark Lyndon — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 10:58:49 +0000

(I tried to post this earlier, but the “Submit” button doesn’t appear in Internet Explorer 6. Firefox works fine.)

Yeah, circumcision sucks, no doubt about it. It’s worth remembering that we wouldn’t even be having this discussion if it weren’t for the fact that 19th century doctors thought that :
a) masturbation caused various physical and mental problems (including epilepsy, convulsions, paralysis, tubercolosis etc), and
b) circumcision stopped masturbation.

Both of those sound ridiculous today I know, but if you don’t believe me, then check out this link:
http://www.noharmm.org/docswords.htm
(A Short History of Circumcision in North America In the Physicians’ Own Words)

Over a hundred years later, circumcised men keep looking for new ways to defend the practice.

The good news is that it’s dying out:
USA: from 90% to 57%
Canada: from 47% to 14%
UK: from 35% to about 3% (less than 1% among non-Muslims)
Australia: 90% to 12.6% (“routine” circumcision has recently been banned in public hospitals in all states except one, so the rate will now be a lot lower)
New Zealand: 95% to below 3% (mostly Samoans and Tongans)
South America and Europe: never above 5%

By: Hugh

Hugh — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:24:55 +0000

Great post! More and more people are getting it, thanks to posts like this. I maintain The Intactivism Pages (www.circumstitions.com) which, as its URL suggests, grew out of a list of bad reasons to circumcise. One of my main themes is the extraordinary compulsion to cut babies’ genitals (especially boys’, probably because it’s easier). I have a go at explaining it as a cluster of “memes” (units of culture, transmitted by imitation) at http://www.circumstitions.com/meme.html.

In the US (but not the rest of the English-speaking orld any more) , time after time we see circumcision presented as a parental decision with “reasons on both sides” and at the end almost a tossup. (I have one reported instance of a coin actually being tossed.) Shouldn’t it be obvious that you don’t cut a healthy living part off a baby (least of all off their sexual organs) unless the reasons are utterly compelling? Apparently not. Custom and conformity, but I think also something peculiar to circumcision itself, blind people to the extreme strangeness of what they are doing.

By: Jim

Jim — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 10:46:48 +0000

your are right i have always believed that if someone where to see a circumcision they would be less likely to have it done

check out my blog for more info on circumcision http://nocircumcision.blogspot.com i have posted this blog to my blog
thanks

By: Jillian Frank

Jillian Frank — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 02:22:20 +0000

Thanks for your thoughts, Clarissa. Kudos to you and your husband for “bringing home the whole baby.” Your son is lucky to have such thoughtful, caring parents.

By: Clarissa

Clarissa — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 01:00:52 +0000

Interesting and informative!
I wish more parents would leave their boys intact or at the very least research intact care and the purpose of a foreskin before they make the circumcision decision.
I’m a nurse and I’ve seen major complications from circumcision but I’ve never seen anyone nearly die from bleeding due to having a foreskin.
My husband is circumcised but my son is not. My son has never had a problem and honestly, the issue of “looking like daddy” has never come up. My husband isn’t all insecure about it either. My son isn’t a clone of my husband and they have plenty of differences besides their penis.
As far as sexy, famous men with foreskin goes, I’ve also read that Will Smith and Leo DiCaprio are uncircumcised. Not that I’d know that personally, but if I ever find out, I’ll let you know!