My Stance on Circumcision

I look at my sweet, innocent, perfect little boy and I try to imagine what goes through another parents mind when they are faced with the decision of circumcision. How can you hold a new baby in your arms, a baby who is utterly dependent on you for everything, a baby who trusts and loves you completely and then hand that baby over for a procedure that is unnecessary, violating, terrifying, and excruciating because it's "what you do"?

Many parents are pushed into it because they don't know there are other options and/or they don't know all of the details and facts surrounding it. But, there are still so many more who simply do not want to know or who do know and spout cliches such as "it's a personal choice" (personal for whom?). People need to wake up as parents and open up their hearts and minds to deeper levels of compassion. Our children need us to.

The more you know the more you are against it!

The arguments for circumcision should not be based on potential health benefits. They should not be based aesthetic reasons. They should not be based on hygiene. They should not be based on society reasons (i.e. it's the most common thing to do) The only things that should be considered when making a decision about circumcision are: Does it cause them pain? Can it harm them? Is it mutilation without the consent of the individual? Is it really necessary?

Health Benefits:

Circumcision is a surgery performed on a new-born baby to prevent problems that may never happen. I've often heard people say that circumcision reduces risk of UTI's, STD's and some forms of cancer. Last I checked, UTI was not a surgery worthy issue, easily remedied with antibiotics, I would much more highly recommend to people to practice safe sex as a more effective means of disease prevention and the foreskin has nothing to do with cancer. And, in any health issue that will arise, isn't it a better method to deal with problems when (and if) they happen as oppose performing surgery on so many baby boys that don't need it as a "just in case"?

Aesthetics:

Hearing the phrase "an un-circumcised penis looks ugly" makes me want to scream! It is utterly selfish for anyone to expect their man to be cut because they think it looks nicer. Our world is superficial enough and this is only adding to it. It is a cosmetic surgery performed on an infant! That is completely unacceptable.

Hygiene:

A scalpel is not a substitute for a bar of soap. If you really think about it the concept is ludicrous. I've heard everything from intact men all smell bad to little boys don't have the capacity to keep themselves clean. First of all, women produce far more smegma then men yet most of the world thinks that cutting on a girl is heinous. If a man cannot keep himself clean with his foreskin intact, he's probably not going to be doing worlds better if he was circumcised. Lazy is lazy and we only perpetuate that it's acceptable to be lazy because "we'll just cut that nasty little part off". As for little boys, they are perfectly capable of learning good hygiene as long as their parents are willing to make sure that they teach them. If he truly is beyond all hope and you can't teach him to be clean...well, foreskin or not, he's still gonna be dirty anyway.

Society

Doing anything just because it's "more common" or "normal" is no way to live. Circumcising our boys so that they won't get picked on later is both a wasted effort as well as a bad message to teach . Trying to stop your kids from being picked on is nonsensical because kids pick on each other, it happens. I know any number of circumcised men who were picked on plenty regardless of the condition of their penis. We should never encourage our children that they should be altered in some way to be more accepted, we should be trying to instill more confidence in them and teaching them that they are wonderful, lovable people.

Seriously, this is surgery and surgery is serious. It should never be brushed off as "not a big deal" especially not with a newborn baby. When our children begin in this world is when they need our protection the most. It is our instinct to worry about every bump and bruise that they get during their earliest years, why would we have their very entrance to the world be one to encompass something so extreme as being put under a knife? When they need us the most why would we expose them to an experience that is so very horrible?