Some questions about male circumcision(sp?)?

Question

okay, so the other day in class, we were talking about FGM (female genital mutilation) and before my question could be asked, the bell rang, so i decided to google it, while i was googling it, i found a debate about male circumcision and how its just as bad as fgm. to be totally honest, i didnt think that it was that bad. like, i just thought it was something almost every baby boy went through when he was born....but apparently its much more than that? do boys remember it when they get older? if they do, do you remember if it hurt? what % of american boys go through this? and are the babys drugged to make it not hurt? idk...any other info would be helpful too please!

and my question is meant to be directed ONLY towards american boys. how do they do it in america???

Answer 1

It's not as common in the USA now as it used to be, but there is still a cultural bias there that circumcision is a good thing, other countries do not practice it.

Harriet

Answer 2

The debate over male circumcision, while perhaps not as loud as that over FGM, is something that has been ongoing in many countries for years.

In most countries, boys are uncircumcised. In fact, in some it is actually illegal to perform a circumcision without a medical or religious reason. However, in other countries, circumcision had been or is the norm, including the United States, Israel, South Korea and most Muslim countries. Several countries, such as Canada, the UK and Australia all used to have very high rates of circumcision, but today a majority (or in the case of the UK, super majority) of boys are uncircumcised.

In the United States, most boys are circumcised at birth. Although the rate has dropped to about 50% of newborn boys today, it was as high as 90% in the late 70's and early 80's, and only really began to sharply decline in the 1990's, as people became more educated about the pros and cons about the procedure, and the American Pediatric Association stopped actively recommending the procedure (taking the neutral stance on it they still have to this day). Boys who are circumcised at birth do not remember the procedure, much as they do not remember anything from being a baby nor being born itself. For boys (and men) who are circumcised later in life, they most likely will remember it. While the procedure itself doesn't hurt them (usually for circumcisions done later in life anesthetic is used) the recovery process can be very painful. For infants, in the past, no anesthetic was used (so it did almost certainly hurt) but today most doctors will apply a topical anesthetic to the p***s before cutting.

As mentioned, today only about 50% of American boys on average go through circumcision. However, that figure varies widely from region to region. On the West Coast, the rate is closer to 32%. In the Midwest, it is closer to 85%. And in the Northeast and South it is between 60-70%. Data for the Southwest is less conclusive, as it varies widely by state. The circumcision rate in the US also varies widely by ethnic group, with about 70% of White and Black boys circumcised, and only about 20% of Latino and Asian boys circumcised (usually for medical reasons).

In America, most circumcisions are done by a general surgeon or sometimes even an OB GYN shortly after birth (usually a few days) before the baby leaves the hospital. Either before the birth, or immediately after, the parents are given the option to have their son circumcised. In most hospitals, once the parents have consented, the baby is taken to a room where he is strapped into a device called a Circumstraint (basically a table with a baby-shaped indent, and straps for the arms and legs to hold the baby down so he does not move during the procedure). Forceps (think scissors, except not sharp) are then inserted under the f******n, and widened, to literally tear the f******n off of the glans (the head of the p***s). In infants the f******n and glans are attached, much like your finger nails are attached to your fingers, however as a child grows, the f******n slowly detaches until puberty, at which point it can be retracted back and forth over the glans (look up pictures online, its kinda hard to explain).

Once the doctor has separated the f******n from the glans, he/she will determine what kind of cut the baby will get (i.e. how much skin to remove...believe it or not there are different options) and then has 2 options: he can use clamp style device to essentially crush the connection between the f******n and p***s, and then cut it off (called a Gomco clamp), or can pull the f******n forward and cut it (without a clamp). Additionally, a relatively new device called a Plastibell can be inserted between the f******n and glans and the f******n can be cut around it. Most babies who were circumcised in the US in the 70's and 80's had it done via a Gomco or Mogen clamp (similar to the Gomco) whereas most today are split between Plastibells and Gomco clamps.

Once the circumcision is complete, the doctor will stop the bleeding (in a clamp this is accomplished automatically via the clamp design which crushes the blood vessels in question) and will then wrap the p***s with instructions on aftercare for the parents. Very rarely a suture (stitch) or two may be needed if bleeding doesn't stop. The baby will then go home where, provided there are no complications, the wound will heal in 2-3 weeks or less.

So there you go, that's a brief overview of the nature of circumcision in the US, and medically how the procedure is performed. Basically, we're the last Westernized nation to keep up with the practice. Only about 30% of Canadian boys, 20% of Australian boys and less than 5% of British boys are circumcised. The rest of Europe and Asia (except Muslim countries, where it is a religious practice) also do not circumcise except for religious reasons.

At the end of the day, if you are a boy in America, be happy with what you have.

Answer 3

Nowadays, 50% of American boys are circumcised, and 50% are not.

Anesthesia is usually used to reduce the pain, but it is difficult to completely eliminate the pain.

It is now seen as an unnecessary procedure to do to boys. The American Academic of Pediatrics says circumcision "is not essential to the child's wellbeing."

The f******n is a natural and important part of the p***s, and since the invention of the shower it is real easy to keep clean.

Answer 4

the sensitivity lost

http://www.nocirc.org/touch-test/bju_668...

do they remember it

http://knol.google.com/k/george-hill/cir...

the circumcision percentage is about 50/50 now, in the past it has been higher

a good book to read is "circumcision: the hidden trauma, it covers the effects of circumcising, such as circumcised male babies experience far more pein during later vaccinations then intact males or females do, circumcised males also tend to be fussier then intact babies

it truly is a barbaric act, we started to do this in america because of the harm, religious people thought s*x was bad, especially masturbation was very bad so they circumcised to remove pleasure, ever since we have been trying to justify it by medical reasons that never stand up over time

the commonly claimed advantages are:

cleaner - saves a few seconds of cleaning

std reduction - this is often claimed however statistics never agree, out of developed countries america has the highest STD rate and the highest circumcision rate, even within same populations observational studies more often than not show no difference between cut and intact men

reduction of later problems- like removing an arm to prevent an ingrown toenail, the most common problem with the f******n is phimosis and can be treated with stretching techniques and cream, short of frostbite nothing requires amputation of the f******n although some doctors especially american doctors will recommend circumcision when it's not needed as they themselves don't have a f******n and see no value in it

it's a horrible practice

I restored as an adult, it never felt right before but after restoring everything just seemed to work right, the gliding skin felt so normal, no friction it's more sensitive, well worth the effort

Answer 5

It is NOT like FGM and is done for entirely different reasons. Granted some of the reasons are cultural and religious, but there is excellent evidence that shows that male circumcision helps cut down on the chance of developing urinary tract infections and some sexually transmitted infections.

=Babies do not remember being circumcised . More and more doctors use and advocate using a local anesthetic before the procedure. Normally a clamp or similar device is fitted over the glans to protect it before the f******n is cut off. Google has an unfortunate bias against male circumcision as do certain people who inhabit Answers.

I was circumcised as an adult and I can assure you that it is just great and does not harm sexual pleasure.

Answer 6

This is the info I senbd to mothers who are trying to make this decision for their sons. It sahould give you a better understanding of circumcision as practiced in America. :) ...

First, only 50% of boys nationwide are circumcised. You may actually find that your son is in the minority in the locker room if you cut him. (I don't advocate making this decision on those grounds, but if you were leaning towards doing it because you don't want him to be "different", you should know that the boys will be pretty evenly split between cut and intact and noone will think intact is weird)

Second, it is VERY painful to an infant. Most doctors still don't use any anesthesia, those that do rarely offer adequate anesthesia because the only stuff that works is not safe enough to use in infants for such a "minor" procedure. Further, some of the pain meds offered to infants aren't even reccomended for use on babies! Further, some doctors argue that it has beenb done "for thousands of years" without anesthetic- what they neglect to tell you is that a medical circumcision can take over 15 minutes to complete. A Jewish ritual circumcision, by contrast, takes under 60 seconds to complete (and the bay is given wine) Here is some info on the pain.....

http://www.cirp.org/library/pain/

http://www.circumcision.org/response.htm

http://www.cirp.org/library/pain/taddio2... (note in this one that even infants offered pain meds for the procedure showed signs of post traumatic stress!)

You should also know that studies have shown that the most sensitive parts of the male anatomy of ON the f******n- NOT the head of the p***s. By cutting off the f******n, you remove a mans most errogenous genital tissue. Here is a study about that.... (note that other studies found no difference, but they neglected to test the sensitivty of the f******n- they only tested the glans p***s of intact and cut men and didn't pay any attention to the f******n at all) http://www.nocirc.org/touch-test/touchte...

You should know that infant boys are EASIER to care for when they are intact. The f******n does not retract until late childhood or even puberty, so you do nothing special, just wipe the outside of his p***s clean and leave it alone. In a cut boy he will be extremely sensitive for a few weeks because the head of the p***s is raw and exposed (they have to tear the f******n off of the head in infants, it is naturally fused). During this time you will need to keep it VERY clean and may need to cover the wound with vaseline and guaze. Furthermore, to prevent painful and bleeding erections later in life, doctors are now commonly leaving more skin behind- in a cut boy this means you may have to push the left over skin back at every diaper change and clean beneath it to prevent it from readhereing or infecting. The very thing that mother's think they avoid by circumcising! In short-

Intact = wipe like a finger, NEVER retract

Cut= vaseline, clean thoroughly, push back remaining skin to prevent adhesions etc (the last step perhaps for several months or years)

Here is an excellent tutorial on the basics of intact care and circumcision....

http://www.lactivistintactivist.com/?pag...

Another factor in your decision is that circumcised boys experience a 12% increase in their risk of MRSA infection. MRSA is commonly picked up in hospitals (where circumcision is performed in non-sterile conditions) and has been known to kill adults. I wouldn't want to deal with it in an infant. Also, 12% is a BIG risk, the risk of a boy "needing" a circ later in life is WELL below that- under 1%. http://www.nocirc.org/publish/12-Answers...

The so called "benefits" of circumcision are generally trumped up. A big one now is that it "prevents" AIDS. All the studies showing "benefits" like this have been poorly designed and inconclusive. Also, for every study that finds a "benefit" there are more studies that find no benefit. http://www.icgi.org/

It is rather eye-opening to see how circumcision first became popular in the US to begin with. It was virtually unknown in this country until the 20th century. This slideshow takes you through the rise of circumcision.... http://youtube.com/watch?v=f4unKTMpBGA

Finally, you should watch a video or two of the procedure so you are fully informed of what your infant will go through. I will warn you that these are graphic. If you can't handle watching them as an adult, why would you expect your infant son to endure them?

There are two main methods for circumcision here is one of each-

Gomco Clamp- note that the father is in the room, and the doctor claims to have used anesthesia (although whether or not he did is debateable, and he is dissmissive about the whole idea) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=...

Plastibell- I include this because some parents will have you believe it is "painless" or "requires no cutting/blood" I'll let you judge for yourself.....

http://youtube.com/watch?v=qaqQ5Glro84