Trauma

A couple of weeks ago, somehow I got on the subject of circumcision with C. I think I just asked him whether or not he would want to circumsize his sons....and of course his answer was yes. I cringed - I couldn't help it - and started a discussion of why. I got the usual answers - 'so he'll look like me' - 'it's cleaner' - 'it's healthier'. And ya know - I can get with all that....but I can't get with putting my hypothetical son through more pain than he has ever experienced in his young life for a cosmetic choice. We parted - agreeing to disagree at this point in time.

I was reading an entry of Timmy's where he was talking about the regrowth of his 'fauxskin' and that put the bug up my bum to go and check out some circ sites. *deep breath*

I actively looked for 'balanced' sites - so that when I presented it to C. it wouldn't be some mad radical rantings. And - I thought that circumcision.org was a rather balanced site - it presented the times when circumcision is medically needed (which you can't determine until the kid is four or so) and the history of circumcision (didja know it became popular in the States as a way to stop boys from mastrabating?) and - pictures of an infant circumcision. I'm still slightly nauseated - and normally I'm totally cool with bloodish pictures. But - that? to a week old child? so he'll LOOK right? And potentially WITHOUT anesthesia since it came make the already tiny member swell to the point that the circ will be 'incomplete'?

So - I thought - okay - let's try to find some 'reliable' sites. The American Association of Pediatrics states that circumcision is NOT medically necessary, nor is there any proof that an uncircumsized man has a higher rate of catching STD's (circ'd or not - use a damn condom!), UTI's or penile cancer. And - the care of an infant uncir'ed is actually EASIER - because you don't have a open wound to deal with - nor do you have any risk on the kid getting infected from unire or feces in the open wound. The AAP was even kind enough to provide information on the care of an uncirc'd baby - you just wash it. You don't have to pull it back (in fact that is a BAD idea as it's still partially joined to the glans and you can cause tearing and bleeding by doing that) and you don't have to take any special care. Once the child is older - all he has to do is pull back the foreskin, wash under it with soap and water, and rinse. I don't have a dick - but damn that sounds easy. And the smega? Girls produce the SAME thing - and in slightly larger amounts - yet in the States we prosecute people who try to cut their daughters labia's off so they won't mastrabate and so they stay cleaner - instead, we teach our daughters how to wash their bits.

So far - I hadn't seen a single thing that said, or even suggested - you will do harm to your son if you don't get this done. In fact - so far everything I had seen and read suggested that you inflict more pain and do more harm by getting it done. But - people still do it - why? So - I went looking for some pro-circ sites. *sigh* Three were obviously jewish, and one *shudder* one was just a weeeeee bit fetishtic. Outside of religion (and arguements about cleanliness which the AAP squashed - and sometimes, yeah - I will listen to the good doc's) I didn't find a single pressing reason to put a infant through a 'minor surgical procedure' in the first week of his life so that his ding-dong would look right. Hell - they even wait longer than that for children who were born with FACIAL defects.

So - I'm not sure when, but at some point I'm going to sit down with C and go through these websites - I'll save the pictures for last. I'm not sure what I would do if one we had a son he would still want him circumsized - I'm not sure how far I would go to protect my child. I know that I would make sure that he watched the procedure to see exactly what he is putting his son through for cosmetics, and I think I would cry. Yeah, I would definitely cry. Before I saw the pictures I cringed at the thought of doing it - afterwards - I think I'd be sobbing knowing that the child I cherished, nourished, and protected inside of me for nine (ten really) months was going through that kind of pain for NO GOOD REASON. I'd be traumatized.