Male And Female Circumcision

[ariaka]

In the USA there is a law against all forms of female circumcision performed on females under 18. When a female turns 18 she has the right to choose to get circumcised if she wants just as at that age she has the right to get a tattoo if she wants one. However the situation is different for men in America. Males can be forcibly circumcised against their will when they are infants, babies, and toddlers. The most common form of female circumcision practiced in the world is identitical to the form of male circumcision practiced in America. In this form of circumcision the prepuce is removed. Both males and females have a prepuce. In males this is known as the foreskin and in females this is known as the clitoral hood.

The only way to achieve gender equality in America is through one of two avenues. Either female circumcision of female infants where the clitoral hood is removed should be made legal, therebye granting males and females equal genital protection under the law.... or male circumcision should be made illegal.

I prefer if circumcision was illegal both males and females until they turn 18 when they can decide on their own to get a body modification operation. If when a man turns 18 he decides he wants to have his foreskin removed then he should have the right to do that just as at that age he could decide to get a tattoo if he wants.

There are more extreme forms of female circumcisions practiced however these are rare. However these forms of female circumcision are most often used as examples by activists who oppose female circumcision. However the form of circumcision where the clitoral hood is removed is barbaric enough to justify being made illegal(just as the form of circumcision where foreskin is removed should be made illegal).

Similarly there are very extreme versions of male circumcision practiced in the world that are as brutal as those very extreme forms of female circumcision. It is so barbaric that I don't feel comfortable describing although if you do a search with the words "australian aborigines circumcision" you will find information on it.

Some activists oppose both male and female circumcision. Some activists only oppose female circumcision and this is a form of sexist bigotry.

Opposition to male circumcision does not oppose religious freedom. In judaism there is a way of welcoming a baby boy in to the world called a Bris Shalom. This ritual does not involve circumcision and welcomes boys into the world without torturing them. If you have any doubt about circumcision being torture look up videos of baby boys being circumcised and watch the tears roll down their cheeks and their cries of pain and agony.

There is also a jewish group opposed to circumcision called Jews Against Circumcision. At their websie you can learn about the ritual known as Bris Shalom.

http://www.jewsagainstcircumcision.org/

Similarly there is no circumcision requirement in islam. Although circumcision has grown to be associated with islam there is no requirement to be circumcised and so a man can be fully muslim without being circumcised.

Other cultural groups which practice male circumcision are various tribes in Africa, although many tribes in Africa do not engage in circumcision. About half of all the men in Africa are circumcised. Africans, both males and females, have a right to determine what happens to their genitals. But the same is true for those of us in America. We are in the same boat as Africa when it comes to circumcision.

Similarly about half of baby boys born today in America are circumcised, although the percentage did used to be higher. As people are learning about the pain such a ritual puts a boy through they opt out of it, especially since it is unnecessary and cruel.

Outside of America and Africa male circumcisions generally only occur among religious groups that practice circumcision. The majority of men in the world are not circumcised.

His body his choice.

http://www.circumstitions.com/

Some men who were circumcised at birth are resorting to non-surgical techniques to restore their foreskin. These techniques involve applying gentle pressure to the remaining skin on the penis over a extended period of time. This pressure encourages cell division to occur which results in stimulating the growth of skin. After about a period of six month the penis looks and functions like a penis that was never circumcised.

If one wishes to learn about foreskin restoration one can visit this website.

http://www.norm.org/regimen.html

If one is interested in more specifics one can look here.

http://www.norm.org/devices.html

And for a forum to interact with people involved with restoration one should go here.

http://foreskin-restoration.net/forum/index.php

Another forum is here.

http://www.restoringforeskin.org/

And below is a link to the exact wording of the law that bans all forms of female circumcision however it does not include males under the same protections.

http://mgmbill.org/usfgmlaw.htm

[Fortis in Arduis]

*** waits for the wails of circumcised men and their circumcisers, trying to justify these evil mutilations ***

I suspect that many of these exponents of male circumcision have been influenced by Christian Protestant neo-Judaizing, or Jewish doctors.

[Kazimiera]

There are varying degrees of female circumcision, and although the equivalent of male circumcision would be removal of prepuce, it is not always practiced to such a "minimal" degree.

The norm is to cut most of the labia minora, including clitoris, away completely.

The vaginal opening is also sometimes too small for intercourse, and many men take pleasure in "opening her up" for the first time. They take a knife or razor and cut her open to make her big enough for penetration.

Working as a midwife I frequently came across female genital mutilation in Somali women. It is a terribly traumatic experience. What should be a stretchy vagina to allow childbirth is a hard mass of scar tissue. These women often need 2 or 3 episiotomies to make the birth canal big enough for the child to pass through, and then need to be sewn back together again. Not only are they going through the trauma of being cut as a child, but again and again for every baby they have.

I once came across a 13 year old girl whose abdomen was severely distended. During circumcision as a child they had sewn her vagina shut completely. When she started menstruating the blood had nowhere to go and caused severe infection. Who knows how many times she menstruated before she got to this point. She died a few days after admission to hospital.


Diagrams which show the degrees of female circumcision

Spoiler!

Normal female anatomy



Type 1 circumcision


Type 2 circumcision

Type 3 circumcision

Below are pictures of real female circumcision. They are very graphic and not safe for work.

Spoiler!

[Smaland]

My attitude towards female circumcision:

To me, a woman's loins are one of the focal points of her beauty. Performing female circumcision on a girl is the same as ramming a butcher knife into the Mona Lisa.

[Bobby Martnen]

There are varying degrees of female circumcision, and although the equivalent of male circumcision would be removal of prepuce, it is not always practiced to such a "minimal" degree.

Genital cutting of a child, regardless of the severity, is wrong. I'll never forgive the doctors who talked my parents into doing it to me just so they could make a quick and easy $300.

[Bobby Martnen]

*** waits for the wails of circumcised men and their circumcisers, trying to justify these evil mutilations ***

Anyone who has ever circumcised a child should be banned from this forum.

In an ideal world, they would suffer legal consequences for committing a violent sexual assault against a helpless infant.

[Kazimiera]

Genital cutting of a child, regardless of the severity, is wrong. I'll never forgive the doctors who talked my parents into doing it to me just so they could make a quick and easy $300.

I don't think little boys should be circumcised at all unless it is MEDICALLY indicated and necessary. The body is the way it is for a reason. You don't cut pieces off. If the guy wants a circumcision at a later stage then the choice is up to him.

In some African tribes, removal of the foreskin during rights of passage is practiced widely. They attach so much weight to it that a man who isn't circumcised will be seen as a 'boy' for the rest of his life, no matter how old he is. In a third World country which is rife with HIV/AIDS, circumcision reduces the risk of transmitting the virus. If a man has sex with an HIV+ woman, the chances are very good that he has the virus brewing under his foreskin and can readily pass it on to someone else. Thankfully circumcision is a part of the rights of passage, so it's actually doing good under those circumstances.

As for Joe on the street, he has no problems with his foreskin. Let him have it.

[Bobby Martnen]

I don't think little boys should be circumcised at all unless it is MEDICALLY indicated and necessary. The body is the way it is for a reason. You don't cut pieces off. If the guy wants a circumcision at a later stage then the choice is up to him.

I think it should be illegal to circumcise minors unless it's a medically necessary last resort. Parents should not be allowed to cut healthy body parts off of children.

In some African tribes, removal of the foreskin during rights of passage is practiced widely. They attach so much weight to it that a man who isn't circumcised will be seen as a 'boy' for the rest of his life, no matter how old he is.

This belief can be eradicated just like the belief that "a woman with a clitoris is still a girl" can.

In a third World country which is rife with HIV/AIDS, circumcision reduces the risk of transmitting the virus.

Debatable. Read this: http://www.circumstitions.com/HIV.html (side note, how do you link on TA?)

If a man has sex with an HIV+ woman, the chances are very good that he has the virus brewing under his foreskin and can readily pass it on to someone else. Thankfully circumcision is a part of the rights of passage, so it's actually doing good under those circumstances.

It should still be up to the man whether or not he wants to undergo it, and steps should be taken to protect him from familial and cultural pressure to get cut.

As for Joe on the street, he has no problems with his foreskin. Let him have it.

Agreed.

[Joso]

Genital cutting of a child, regardless of the severity, is wrong. I'll never forgive the doctors who talked my parents into doing it to me just so they could make a quick and easy $300.

I want to give an award of best doctor to the doctor that circuncised you

[Bobby Martnen]

I want to give an award of best doctor to the doctor that circuncised you

I want to punch the doctor who circumcised me repeatedly in the face, stomach, and testicles.