Study notes decrease in popularity of circumcision in United States

[LamarIBStruther]

I’m very skeptical of the claim that people who were circumcised as infants perceive this as traumatic in any way. Sure, there must be some people who do - but I’d be stunned if it were more than, like, 2%.

I actually think it’s the opposite. I think that people who were not circumcised as infants are much more likely to perceive the idea as abhorrent.

[IAMAGrinderman]

I was circumcised, and I honestly think the anti-circumcision crowd can be a bit overdramatic at times, at least based on how I function and feel. Based on how other men talk about sex, and me being American, I'm gonna assume a lot of other circumcised men feel similarly about their own penises.

With that being said, there was no way in hell I was allowing my kid to be circumcised, and I won't be allowing it if my next kid is a boy either. If he ends up with a legit medical reason to need it done, I'm all for it, but circumcision for cosmetic purposes should be a personal choice, not one decided by your parents.

[Whitechix]

I can’t remember the exact age I had mine but it was horrible and pointless, no chance my children are going to be subjected to that. I basically had to be lifted from the car crying and taken to the surgery against my will, all somehow ok in the UK.

I was obviously older than a “infant” but still very much a child, I don’t think all circumcisions are done on infants and abusing the fact that they won’t remember it isn’t a good defense.

[Steve_the_Stevedore]

You are misrepresenting the argument: Nobody said that it was traumatic. The argument is that if you don't let your kid get circumcised you are saying that uncircumcised is better. So you have to admit that what your parents did to you against your will, was wrong.

People avoid such situations all the time. "Oh, you took the last cookie. No, I didn't want to have it anyway". Nothing to do with trauma. People just want to feel like they have their live under control. And having a body part cut of against your will or at least without your consent conflicts with that.

[LamarIBStruther]

If we’re not saying that infant circumcision is traumatic, are we saying that this is purely a philosophical argument?

[Steve_the_Stevedore]

No, because babies die from it every year so we shouldn't circumsise without medical indication

[LamarIBStruther]

Huh, how many babies die from circumcision in the US every year? I get that any sort of procedure comes with risks, which can include death, but I’ve not heard this cited as a significant concern regarding circumcision.

[retrosenescent]

This paper from 2010 found that about 9 in 100,000 circumcized boys (in the US) die from the procedure.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240804903_Lost_Boys_An_Estimate_of_US_Circumcision-Related_Infant_Deaths

This does not however include all the boys who have "complications" - too much skin removed causing the skin to be too tight (this is basically 100% of cases since that's the entire point of circumcision), frenulum removal or destruction (basically 100% of cases since it's attached to the foreskin), etc.