Wrapping my head around circumcision is difficult. Maybe it’s because I am a woman and I often wonder how men feel about the fact that their parents chose to circumcise them – causing probably unbearable pain. Could this be the reason so many guys are obsessed with the size of their penis? So guys, would love to hear your thoughts/perspectives on it.
Being a woman and having experienced intercourse with both a circumcised and an uncircumcised man, I cannot say that there is a difference. Esthetically, for me, there is also no difference. If there is a difference I would have to comment that it is when performing oral sex. There tends to be a different taste – not nasty or anything – and at first a different feel, there is extra skin that needs to be pulled back – GENTLY – but not too gently of course!
My first born is a boy. Actually, I am raising two boys (if you count my husband, it’s three – but that’s another post). When I was pregnant the first time, the decision of whether to circumcise or not circumcise didn’t even show up on my radar. Until we took pre-natal classes.
Our instructor talked about all the medical reasons why you may choose to and all the medical reasons why you didn’t need to. At that time the “in” thing in the Canadian medical establishment was that it was not a necessary thing. Hence, OHIP (Ontario’s Medical Insurance) no longer covered the procedure and I can’t remember what it cost, but that is nor here or there. That perspective is not something that all doctors agree on. Damn, wish the medical world would make up its mind!
My husband is circumcised. My sons are not. Both my spouse and I made the decision to not have them circumcised because we did not want to subject our son to that type of pain within 48 hours of his coming into the world. Given that it takes 10 to 14 days for that area to heal; and given that in a diaper the wounded penis (which is not bandaged) is exposed to the feces, urine and the rubbing of the diaper – I just could not put my child through that. There was no medical reason to do so. I am not aware of any medical reason why this procedure MUST be done to a newborn. From my perspective, it is male mutilation. Not dissimilar from female mutilation.
Yes, there are religions that require it. In the old testament of The Bible, all Jewish boys were to have this procedure done. And that’s all fine and good. From my perspective I’ve never understood why – until I started to think more logically about things.
From what I understand for a man who has foreskin (is uncircumcised) it is important from a cleanliness perspective that they are careful to pull the skin back and wash themselves with soap and water. I taught both my sons to do this by the time they reached the age of 3 – didn’t make it a big deal, it was just part of the body that they needed to wash, like under their arms, in their ears etc. The foreskin covers the tip of he penis – it protects it. However, sweat and bodily fluids etc. will tend to make their way under the foreskin so therefore it is important to clean that area so that infection does not ensue. Hmmm, good idea back in Biblical times when soap and water was not that readily available.
Yes, there have been medical cases where for whatever reason the foreskin seems to grow over the tip and does not allow for the normal or smooth flow of urine or semen and can be painful. That is why I taught my sons at an early age to pull back the skin each time they were in the bath. There are procedures that can be done when a child is older if this is the case. Still painful as hell of course.
For those men who are circumcised, I suppose that although they still need to “cleanse” the area, it is exposed to the water flow and soap and also there is very little folds that would capture and hold onto whatever bacteria can get there. I’m no medical expert so I am basically going by what I have read and discussed with other males and nurses.
As I understand it, for the older male who is not circumcised, there is more sensitivity at the tip of the penis which can result in greater sexual arousal for him. Is this true? Men, let me hear from you! For those who are circumcised it seems that although still sensitive, having the tip of the penis always exposed causes it to be less sensitive and requiring a little more stimulation for full arousal – especially as a man gets older. Is this true?
For more information, this may be a helpful website:
http://www.canadiancrc.com/Circumcision_Genital_Mutilation_Male-Female_Children.aspx
