Well, Maurice, it's taken me awhile to do the necessary research, but I'm ready now, so I would like to seriously discuss male circumcision, a topic you discussed painfully over here some time ago from a personal perspective.
I had written a political statement on female circumcision, which has the added dynamic that the possibility of sexual pleasure is destroyed forever, and is a barbaric custom most often performed by men without any painkillers on young preteen girls in the third world. A planet that allows this practice to continue is savage and barbaric to me, and I would just like to add that I feel the same way about male circumcision as well. I have discovered that male circumcision is probably the most ancient operation performed on earth. It probably started during Biblical times. When people lived in the desert, without very good personal hygiene or even an adequate water supply, infections in men were apparently fairly common, and there may have been a valid health reason which then became ritualized. There isn't any longer any reason to do this to little boy babies!! And I discovered that male circumcision is also thought to reduce sexual pleasure, something I didn't know offhand, being a girl. The baby is literally strapped to a board, snipped and sliced without any anaesthesia after the family is sent away. I still remember vividly waiting a block away with my mother and grandmother when they did that to my little brother. It was horrible! The baby cries and screams, and then often falls into a deep sleep reflective of a serious trauma. If you are thinking of just plodding ahead on automatic pilot because this is a custom, and letting them do it to your babies, please stop and reconsider. American pediatricians no longer recommend it, and some conscientious doctors will no longer perform the operation. As parents, your very first responsibility is to protect your children from harm. I believe this is very harmful, babies feel pain just as intensely as we do, contrary to common beliefs. I wonder what permanent traumatic affect, the total absence of trust in its parents and the universe, the boy baby must experience when this pain occurs. If you can influence just one decision--most of you are also going to be grandparents one day also--this would be a wonderful way to change things so that babies aren't mutilated any more. |
