we all have our own feelings about it. I'm not trying to say that the way you feel about your own circumcision is right or wrong, or how any man who decides - on their own, as an informed adult - is right or wrong to do so.

but I would vehemently argue that it is an adult man's decision to make, not a parent's decision to make for their infant son-- unless some medical condition makes it necessary to do so at that time (which are quite rare). and, yes, I understand that there are religious considerations, but, as an atheist, I'm not so sympathetic to that, either, as I classify all genital mutilation in the same category, regardless of age or gender: it is a decision to be made by the subject of the procedure, and only when they are a consenting, informed adult.

So the problem is a lot of Americans/Catholics think a circumcision is something responsible adults do to their children to help them avoid potential health problems. They also erroneously believe the foreskin serves no purpose and is one of those we evolved with it, but it is useless kind of things.

They dont know the truth that it actually has a large number of nerve endings and its removal was originally pushed for to reduce the pleasure boys felt from masturbation, in the hope they would not masturbate. Because sex should only be for reproduction according to those who originally pushed for circumcision... It is like what is done to some women in muslim communities. Difference being woman have even more nerve endings in the clitoris and men can still experience some pleasure without the foreskin, but much less. This is why circumcision is often considered mutilation, except for those rare medical exceptions. Parents are unknowingly removing their childs right to sexual pleasure under the guise it is for their health.

It really needs to end as simple hygiene is all that is needed for the health reasons.

There are several possible reasons why other men might be upset, although your own equipment still works perfectly normally:

• Just like women's sexual responses differ, men's sexual responses may differ, as well. I've learned from a friend, who's had many male partners, that some men get intense pleasure from manipulation of their foreskin. Some can even reach orgasm that way. I've learned from several (intact) men on Reddit and Lemmy that their primary source of sexual sensation is their foreskin, rather than their glans. Losing a major source of pleasure could be upsetting.

• This same friend also reports that, in his experience, intact men have better awareness of their own state of arousal, and better control of it. In brief, they can "last longer." This is anecdotal, of course, but I seem to recall reading some research to back that up. That's part of the reason why he's upset by his being circumcised.

• "Circumcision" is not just one thing. It ranges from the traditional bris (a small snip at the tip of the penis, so that the tip of the glans just peeks out) to amputation of the entire mobile skin system of the penis (about 15 sq. in. of adult tissue gone). I would imagine that men who have drum-tight skin on their penises, and must use lube to facilitate penetration or masturbation, might not like it, whereas a man whose glans was still covered when his penis was flaccid might not notice much difference.

• The dorsal nerve of the penis can be severed during the procedure, removing sensation from the glans almost entirely, leading to erectile and performance issues, as well as greatly reduced enjoyment of sex.

• The healing of the circumcision wound can go not-quite-perfectly, leading to adhesions, assymetry, tight frenulums, phantom pain, and scarring. Journalist Gary Shteyngart wrote an essay about the odyssey of pain that he was thrown into when a skin bridge (an adhesion) on his penis became infected. Worse, I recall a letter published in Savage Love from a man whose circumcision scar was so thick and inelastic that it caused the end of his penis to go ischemic, then necrotic, and then fall off when he was an infant. He's left with a stub of a penis, and a pretty good reason to be upset about circumcision, I'd say.

ETA: I did not think of this, but @theleadensea@sh.itjust.works pointed out that removal of the foreskin complicates bottom surgery for trans women, I would guess because it gives the surgeon less tissue to work with.

I mean, you lost a significant amount of your sensory nerves in your penis, but you do you.

Anyway, I fucking didn't do it to my kids because it is unconscionable to mutilate a child's (possibly) completely functional penis for aesthetic reasons.

BTW, You are bragging that you happened to be lucky. Many are not.

Obviously most circumsised people have no issues with their dicks. And a lot probably sees it as a positive. I have heard a people claim that they look better.

Doing plastic surgery on babies is still a bit weird to me.

How can you know that everything works perfectly normally if you've never experienced life with a foreskin?

Because sometimes there are scars. Sometimes they cut WAY too much and the skin left is too thin.

Nature designed that weiner, no need for cosmetic customization.

So, if you’ve every had to clean out the inside of your son’s penis, you might feel a little bit differently. Circumcision was considered a standard hygienic practice for decades. There are some marginal benefits to health and safety, particularly wrt transmission of STDs. But given the modernizations in health and safety (particularly condoms and milder skin-friendly soap) it definitely feels archaic.

It feels archaic because this is archaic bullshit. it takes about a second to pull back the foreskin and wash it with the rest of the penis/pubic area during a normal bath the bathing a baby/toddler, and teaching a child this very normal habit is very simple and easy. The vast majority of human males on Earth handle this very normal task, and have done so for the entire existence of humanity.

Just because the misinformation you just repeated was pushed by the American medical establishment for a few decades doesn't make it fact, and it has been widely repudiated by the medical establishments everywhere else, and even here in the US in recent decades.

It is no longer widely recommended, even in the US.

And your personal preference isn't really medically relevant.

I'm uncircumcised and my son is uncircumcised. Really goes a long way on understanding how to deal with a normal uncircumcised penis. Cleaning it doesn't take any extra effort.

Unfortunately for you the information on how to care for a normal uncircumcised penis on a younger child is not easily available because of the expectation that all American children are circumcised.

You are not supposed to retract the foreskin until later in life. When? Well it's different for everyone but can be as late as age 10 or more. Until that time it's "self-cleaning" just wash the outside. Tell the kid to keep trying to gently retract it when he pees or baths, if it doesn't pull back easily it's not ready.

You don't need to get soap up in there until it starts retracting on it own, the skin begins to naturally separate. If you force it, you can cause scaring and damage, you're literally ripping the skin from the glans. Once it retracts, pull the foreskin back wash the glans and ta dah.. clean dick.

It's made out to be this big inconvenience and believed by men with their foreskin removed. It's not at all an inconvenience. You also don't have any idea what your missing out on by having a circumcised penis.

Anyway thought I'd share before you mess up your kids dick. Lot of doctors I've talked to I had to correct on the proper way to take care of an uncircumcised child's penis, it's very unsettling and you might have got incorrect information yourself.

Lucky for me a have the proper equipment to know what I was talking about.

here are some marginal benefits to health and safety, particularly wrt transmission of STDs.

Bullshit.

It has no discernible impact either of our lives,

Then why would you chop it off?