Circumcision was considered a cure for blindness, deafness, dumbness and so forth because it was believed that those ailments were caused by masturbation and it was believed that circumcision would stop masturbation in all but the most hard-core evil boys.

As for the black men raping white women … well, that’s just pure ignorant bigotry. There is a cure for that, but it involves cutting off the big head, not the little one.

A history of “reasons” for circumcision throughout history:
http://www.icgi.org/2007/04/medicalization-of-circumcision-an-online-slide-show/

“Circumcision once considered a cure for blindness, deafness, dumbness.” Most shockingly: “Circumcision once considered a way to prevent Black men from raping White women.”

40,000 nerve endings in my foreskin, the natural protection of my glans and the ability for my foreskin to glide back and forth during sexual intercourse means I’m at my default level of maximum sexual sensitivity.

http://www.sexasnatureintendedit.com/
“Top Ten (10) Ways Circumcised Male Sex Hurts Women!”

Firstly, my husband is 29 years old and is an intact male. Not once in his life has he ever had any sort of penile infection. His comment was “It is not hard for a parent to teach their son the proper way to clean themselves.”
Boys, and girls (as some have said), are not ignorant and can fully grasp the importance of cleaning their bodies to prevent illnesses and complications. It is the parent’s role to impart this hygiene onto their child as much as washing their hands after going to the bathroom and brushing their teeth to prevent dental problems.

On a side note, to #48 PolkaDotMommy, I am not happy that my mother chose to pierce my ears as a baby. No, I do not remember the pain. However, as I grew up both holes are now noticeably uneven. I also suffered from earlobe infections as a child because of a sensitivity to not only metals but plastics. I wish she had waited for me to decide for myself.

Circumcision persists because of its powerful psychosexual effect on both men and women. It’s a cycle of sexual abuse and violence that is passed from one generation to the next under the cover of culture, religion, or medicine . Understandably, many parents who make the decision to cut sexual tissue from their children, male or female, have to justify what they did using whatever reasons are given to them by their society and their doctors, even when those reasons are absurd, e.g. cleanliness, fear of cancer, fear of masturbation, “infections”, etc. Would you cut the skin from around your daughter’s clitoris? After all, it would have exactly the same potential future benefits: vulvar cancer is just as common as penile, and just count the number of “feminine hygiene” products in your grocery store or pharmacy.

We did not cut off part of our son’s penis. May the genital mutilation end with my generation.

There is also an effort to get more states to drop medicaid funding. If you want to help with that contact NOCIRC http://www.nocirc.org.

I am glad the times are changing and that an pointless and hurtful procedure is slowly becoming obsolete.

Here is an American male’s response…

The amputation of a male child’s nerve enriched prepuce is a penile reduction surgical procedure that unfortunately still infects our civilized, capitalistic, and so-called “equal rights” society. Not only is the circumcision of male infants and young boys considered a human rights violation by many, it’s a men’s health issue and perpetuates an irrational belief in our country that all little boys are somehow born imperfect or faulty requiring surgical correction of their penises upon birth ! This idea is a sick one and is absurd to not only me, but the vast majority of people on earth.

Evolution and God has perfected the human body making every part sacred, miraculous, useful and functional. Circumcising male children is medically unnecessary, disfiguring, disabling, unnatural, non-Christian, abusive, unethical, painful, and a profit driven surgical procedure confronted by parents of newborn boys in most American hospitals, especially in the mid-western states. It’s a “cure” still in search of an identifiable disease. Most parents have and are given minimal knowledge about the appalling history, unjustifiable reasons, and adverse consequences of circumcision. Many parents and many physicians in America acknowledge the male prepuce as an “extra flap of skin” and are uneducated about its protective, sensory, and essential sexual functions. In my view, all lack common sense and many also lack the courage and intuition to follow their maternal / paternal instinct to protect children from easily avoidable harm, enough said.

I am grateful that the male newborn circumcision rate in America continues to decline with the current rate being about 55-60%. I am also grateful that ALL national and international medical associations do not recommend the practice of routine childhood circumcision for both boys and girls ! I am deeply saddened and vitriolic that many Americans encourage and welcome circumcision surgeries for male children due to parents’ personal preference and ignorance, cultural or societal influence, physicians’ profits, religious dogma, numerous other irrational reasons, or flip of a coin.

My heart goes out to all those mama’s and papa’s who learned too late the adverse consequences of consenting to have their little boys circumcised. I commend them for standing up and spreading the word to end the practice and protect other boys. The regret in their voices is so sincere and painfully heartfelt. Their voices need to be heard to help end the still popular practice of amputating parts of male children’s penises in the 21st century. It is highly probable that in your son’s lifetime the U.S.A.’s 1996 Federal Female Genital Mutilation Act will be amended to protect the genital integrity rights of all little boys too. What a day it will be for rejoice as well as a reflection of sorrow and regret for the millions of males who have undergone genital cutting and unnecessary amputative surgeries without their consent.

I don’t understand the hygiene argument because the penis is self cleaning like the vagina. It just needs bathing. As for men being mutilated sexually, that’s very true but also his wife will have less pleasure because the intact penis operates differently during intercourse which happens to be more pleasurable to the woman. I won’t go into detail on this PG rated blog but there is plenty of info on anti circ sites.

I’ve also talked to women with intact husbands who agreed. ;)

I am also glad this post is getting good attention. It is an important issue that people need to educate themselves on and not just do because of popularity, vanity, religious obligation, or bad science/studies.

Parents are responsible for keeping their children clean and healthy…period. They need to step up and handle their business not proactively cut off body parts so they don’t have to be bothered.

It goes back to my other argument…appendicitis can kill your child so does that mean parents should all opt to have the appendix surgically removed at birth? No? Why not? It is the same thing. There is no good reason to remove a perfectly normal piece of the body.