On infant circumcision.
Feb. 11th, 2005 12:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conuly
Here's the thing. Parents do not own their children. Parents do not own their children's bodies.
Parents can't refuse lifesaving medical intervention for their children, even if their own religions forbid it, and they can't, ethically (screw the law, the law sucks) cause unnecessary damage to their children.
Circumcisions are unnecessary for the vast majority of boys. A small minority have diseases that do require the removal of an unhealthy foreskin.
An boy who will not be circumcised is not at risk of having part or all of the penis lopped off. This has happened, and not so long ago. A boy who will not be circumcised is at less of a risk of having infections during infancy, because the foreskin protects the penis from all the nasties in the diaper. A boy who is uncircumcised can grow up and change this. One who is circumcised can't. This is irreversible.
There is some evidence that removing the foreskin, even when it's done correctly, permanently impairs the ability to enjoy sex. Oh, not that guys still don't, but that it'd be easier if they were, y'know, intact. Like God made them. There is significant evidence that this sort of pain in infancy (and most circumcisions are still done without anesthesia) permanently rewires the pain receptors.
There are, of course, a number of good, perfectly valid reasons to circumcise.
1. Religion.
I'm not tackling this.
2. "He won't feel weird taking showers with other boys"
Does anybody still take showers like that anymore? No offense, but that seems like a way to encourage homosexuality, and I'm amazed the fundies still allow this.
At any rate, some 35% of infant males aren't circumcised. That's nearing half. These kids won't feel that weird.
3. "He should look like his daddy"
Is he a clone? No? Then he's not going to look like his daddy anyway. He'll live. And while I'm thrilled if you're actually comfortable with your own nudity, a lot of families who use this argument aren't. I don't know why they think their son will care.
4. "There are health benefits"
Actually, there really aren't, except that it helps you avoid cancer of the foreskin. And lopping off my breasts would help me avoid breast cancer, and performing routine appendectomies at birth would help people avoid appendecitis.
5. "It looks better"
Only if you're used to it. And dude? You're not fucking your son. If you are, you need to get serious help.
Well. Guess I didn't think these arguments were so valid after all.
Let's say I did. Let's say I really thought that circumcised guys look better, inherantly, and should all fit some obscure standard of conformity.
I still would be against routine infant circumcision.
In China, for many years they thought that small feet looked better, and bound girls feet, without their consent. This permanently damaged them. This is unacceptable.
If we thought that brands looked pretty, we still wouldn't find it acceptable to brand infants just because "it looks good" and "they won't remember it". We reject the concept of FGM, even though all these arguments have been used to justify it. Why is our custom different?
To be fair, I completely support the right of consenting adults to do whatever the fuck they want with their bodies. If you really want to cut off your labia, that's your own business. And if you really wish you'd been circumcised, and hate that foreskin, go ahead, get it chopped off. I support you.
But don't fuck with babies' private parts. You don't own them.
Parents can't refuse lifesaving medical intervention for their children, even if their own religions forbid it, and they can't, ethically (screw the law, the law sucks) cause unnecessary damage to their children.
Circumcisions are unnecessary for the vast majority of boys. A small minority have diseases that do require the removal of an unhealthy foreskin.
An boy who will not be circumcised is not at risk of having part or all of the penis lopped off. This has happened, and not so long ago. A boy who will not be circumcised is at less of a risk of having infections during infancy, because the foreskin protects the penis from all the nasties in the diaper. A boy who is uncircumcised can grow up and change this. One who is circumcised can't. This is irreversible.
There is some evidence that removing the foreskin, even when it's done correctly, permanently impairs the ability to enjoy sex. Oh, not that guys still don't, but that it'd be easier if they were, y'know, intact. Like God made them. There is significant evidence that this sort of pain in infancy (and most circumcisions are still done without anesthesia) permanently rewires the pain receptors.
There are, of course, a number of good, perfectly valid reasons to circumcise.
1. Religion.
I'm not tackling this.
2. "He won't feel weird taking showers with other boys"
Does anybody still take showers like that anymore? No offense, but that seems like a way to encourage homosexuality, and I'm amazed the fundies still allow this.
At any rate, some 35% of infant males aren't circumcised. That's nearing half. These kids won't feel that weird.
3. "He should look like his daddy"
Is he a clone? No? Then he's not going to look like his daddy anyway. He'll live. And while I'm thrilled if you're actually comfortable with your own nudity, a lot of families who use this argument aren't. I don't know why they think their son will care.
4. "There are health benefits"
Actually, there really aren't, except that it helps you avoid cancer of the foreskin. And lopping off my breasts would help me avoid breast cancer, and performing routine appendectomies at birth would help people avoid appendecitis.
5. "It looks better"
Only if you're used to it. And dude? You're not fucking your son. If you are, you need to get serious help.
Well. Guess I didn't think these arguments were so valid after all.
Let's say I did. Let's say I really thought that circumcised guys look better, inherantly, and should all fit some obscure standard of conformity.
I still would be against routine infant circumcision.
In China, for many years they thought that small feet looked better, and bound girls feet, without their consent. This permanently damaged them. This is unacceptable.
If we thought that brands looked pretty, we still wouldn't find it acceptable to brand infants just because "it looks good" and "they won't remember it". We reject the concept of FGM, even though all these arguments have been used to justify it. Why is our custom different?
To be fair, I completely support the right of consenting adults to do whatever the fuck they want with their bodies. If you really want to cut off your labia, that's your own business. And if you really wish you'd been circumcised, and hate that foreskin, go ahead, get it chopped off. I support you.
But don't fuck with babies' private parts. You don't own them.
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no subject
Date: 2005-02-10 11:09 pm (UTC)I completely agree, even if it hadn't shrunk. My father was born with a dark red birthmark that covers part of his forehead down to his eyelid. (Pic here if you want to see it. (http://www.sonic.net/mustang/moggy/photos/me/Dad_and_I_April_004.jpg) :) It's never been a problem for him. Once in a while a little kid asks him where it came from, he still reponds with what his parents taught him ("I was born that way") but that's about it. He wasn't teased or harassed at school or anything... He told me that when the laser surgery to remove it became available, he very briefly thought about it, but then realized it'd be an awful lot of hassle and pain over something that gives him no trouble!
no subject
Date: 2005-02-10 11:38 pm (UTC)Sometimes kids will ask, but mostly they're ok. One kid on the block called it 'disgusting' when braiding her hair. (You can't see it normally.) But yeah, kids are not bad, for the most part.
The thing is, one of the pioneers of laser surgery for it evaluated my daughter as well as her pediatrician and said 'don't bother'. That made me happy, knowing I had medical professionals around me who cared about patients, not the bottom line.
My daughter's mark was similar in color to your dad's, but faded as well as shrunk. It's more mottled, now.
But if she ever wants it removed, I'll support her. It's up to her, now, she's 9 and old enough to express how she feels about it.