Taken from metaquotes

[conuly]

I'm not sure if I want to laugh or cry.

Comments

[l33tminion]

This again? *groans* And your use of anecdotal evidence is aggravating, even though I agree with your general conclusion. "Some boys" who weren't circumcised have "much more serious problems than most", too.

Incidentally, since our last discussion on this topic, I did have a chance to speak to my parents about it. Apparently, I didn't have a bris (which was news to me), and my parents did consider the alternatives and the relative risks and benefits, trying to err on the side of caution. However, according to them, medical consensus at the time overwhelmingly supported the procedure as having benefits outweighing its drawbacks. (I know original support for the procedure had to do with stopping masturbation, but I assume that, by '86, the reasonings behind medical consensus had nothing to do with that.)

(On the other hand, my little brother did have a bris. My mom wasn't too happy with me being out of her presence for several hours for my circumcision (since I was only a few days old). According to my parents, my brother was only uncomfortable for about half a minute after his circumcision, but apparently the mohel was particularly skilled. Of course, I only have my parent's word on that. *shrugs*)

According to my parents, if they had another boy now it's very likely they'd choose differently because medical consensus on the issue has changed quite a bit. (However, that won't happen, so it's kind of a moot point for them.)

[conuly]

Yes, this again. I don't think that anecdotal evidence is the same as "that's what most studies are showing" nowadays. Nor do I think that tailoring my talk to avoid being offensive to my friends is any of your concern. I thought it might be a bit rude to say "you risked the chance that your boys would not orgasm, ever, and this has been medically documented, all because you didn't bother to do any research before this procedure - which, if you had bothered to do, would have indicated that nowhere in the world outside of the US is this considered a desirable operation".

You don't have to participate in this conversation when I have already ended it with the person I was originally speaking to.

[l33tminion]

"I don't think that anecdotal evidence is the same as 'that's what most studies are showing' nowadays."

Of course not. I was only objecting to the sentence I quoted.

"nowhere in the world outside of the US is this considered a desirable operation"

As a nitpick, that's not true.

"You don't have to participate in this conversation when I have already ended it with the person I was originally speaking to."

Well, if I was cutting into a private conversation, I apologize. I also apologize if I sounded offended. (I might have been a bit annoyed, but that's not really your fault.)