Dear Pynch,

Both my sons were born in Los Angeles
and they were both circumsized.
It's automatically done there for
health reasons. Neither of them suffered
or were mistreated in any way. Plus,
I feel in a warm climate like Australia's
its far healthier - and I've never
regretted it being done.

Suze, I'm with you on this one! It sounds like this kid is lucky,
protected from his grandma :)

I don't buy the health argument, it is not rocket science to teach
modern kids hygiene. After, all it could be argued that all those
labias would be more hygenic if removed, yet we leave them for
you girls, as nature intended.

I was told that circumcision became popular in the US, for very
different reasons. During the Nazi times, dropping your pants to
see who was circumcised, was one way to determine who was really
Jewish and who was not. So Jewish doctors in the US popularised
it, to make sure this would never happen again.

I personally think it should be my decision, if I want to have
bits of my penis cut off or not, just as I think that you girls
should have free choice as to what you do with your labias.

If your parents wanted to cut them off, for whatever reasons, I
would protest loudly.

Dear Pynchme and Foxy, I am not trying to hang a guilt trip on anyone.
(And I know I am off subject with this, but am a passionate opponent to the practice). My father and brothers were all circumcised, as was the trend in those days.

I know things are different now than they used to be with rates of circumcision, but very few boys actually end up having to be circumcised for medical reasons.

Therefore the mass destruction of newborn foreskins was really an overkill.

If they do, then they have an anaesthetic, whereas the newborn circumcisions I attended were not afforded that luxury unfortunately.

Most boys these days (in Australia anyway)live in quite clean environments, so cleanliness is not really an issue anymore.

These days, as the little boys line up at the urinal, the ones without the foreskins will be the odd ones out. Amen to that!

Yabby wrote: I was told that circumcision became popular in the US, for very
different reasons. During the Nazi times, dropping your pants to
see who was circumcised, was one way to determine who was really
Jewish and who was not. So Jewish doctors in the US popularised
it, to make sure this would never happen again.

Dear Yabby,

I think that's nonsense. What's your source?

Dear Yabby and Suze,

The practice of circumcision is very widespread
in the US - where my two sons were born.

It is no longer regarded simply as a religious
rite.

The arguments for this operation are primarily
hygenic. It makes for greater cleanliness.
Normal infants frequently are born with a tight
and adherent foreskin that cannot be pulled back
to expose the end of the penis. Beneath it certain
secretions tend to accumulate . Occasionally
infection can set in, causing a painful inflammation.

It is frequently not possible at birth to be sure
which babies may have such troubles later on.
If one waits, a fair percentage of foreskins that
are difficult to retract at birth may be normally
retractable later. But the operation of circumcision
becomes much more troublesome with each passing week.

On the newborn infant - the incision is quick, the
pain fleeting. The infant does not seem to be
uncomfortable once the operation has been completed.
But an older infant is much more aware of body
sensations. He will also need anesthesia, which
requires that all feedings be withheld for at least
eight hours. This, in itself is a formidable undertaking.

As a medical procedure - circumcision is usually
done at any time during the newborn's week in hospital.
It is customary not to perform the procedure on a baby
bordering on premature size.

The religious ritual of circumcision must be performed
on the eight day following birth. It may be deferred
if the condition of the child is not satisfactory at
this time, but it cannot be done earlier for any reason.

As I stated earlier - my two boys were circumsized
automatically in Los Angeles - for health reasons.

Dear Suze,

I understand your feelings on this subject - your
experiences were different to mine with this - and
don't worry you're not laying any guilt-trip on me.
I know that your intentions are only the best!

Foxy, a snip from Wickipedia:

*There are several hypotheses to explain why infant circumcision was accepted in the United States about the year 1900. The germ theory of disease elicited an image of the human body as a conveyance for many dangerous germs, making the public "germ phobic" and suspicious of dirt and bodily secretions. The penis became "dirty" by association with its function, and from this premise circumcision was seen as preventative medicine to be practised universally.[22] In the view of many practitioners at the time, circumcision was a method of treating and preventing masturbation.*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumcision

Its hardly as straight forward as you claim, never mind my human
rights to determine about my sexual organs. Unless of course you
agree that parents should have rights to snip off parts of your
labias too! It gets pretty yucky down there sometimes :)

David F, that is what a number of older Europeans told me, when
I asked about it, many years ago now. In Central Europe few kids
were circumcised, not so in the US and some other English speaking
countries. The US is of course also the most religious and
puritanical Western country on the planet