Jim on Circumcision March 10, 2009

Or, alternately, male genital mutilation.

This video is a routine infant circumcision.  It’s graphic and, to my eyes, extremely disturbing.

Here are some photographs of the tools and procedure.

My position on circumcision should be clear at this point.  I was 4 years old when I was routinely mutilated and it was a pretty unpleasant experience, as you might guess.  However, I’ve never really seen an uncircumcised penis so, while I read that the tissue is more sesetive and healthier, I hadn’t guessed that the difference in the appearance of the tissue would be so dramatic.  Caution: the following images contains (gasp!) photos of penises.  View at own discretion.  Cicumcised versus uncricumcised penises.  You’ll imediatly notice that the tissue on one of these penises looks vastly healthier than the other.

We’ve been discussing this issue at home, obviously, since we don’t know if we’re having a boy or girl.  There are arguments for circumcision.  For example, there seems to be evidence that circumcision makes it less likely to acquire HIV during unprotected sex with an infected partner.  We’ve also been told that American women are ‘grossed out’ by foreskin and that uncircumcised penises smell.  However, I would like to leave it to my son, should I have one, to make that decision for himself when he’s capable of it.  Strapping an infant down and taking a knife to his penis seems, to me,  barbaric and a violation of the child’s human rights.

See also:

• Circumcision Resource Center
• Mothers Against Circ
• National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers