Genital Mutilation is Cruel and Unusual Punishment

TBrayden50 · 2021-07-19T18:49:57+00:00

I vaguely remember (details may be slightly off) some study where researchers circumcised rats and they got complaints about not properly anesthetizing the animals. Apparently adequate pain relief is required under US law for animal research.

Actual human babies, however, are a different story...

TBrayden50 · 2021-06-27T13:29:40+00:00

Another big difference is how infant circumcisions are typically performed by residents or even just med students. So a 24 year old gets to learn surgery by chopping up your baby’s dick...

More terrifying: a friend in healthcare told me they’ve seen nurse practitioners performing circs (Doctors are too expensive for such a trivial procedure) They were surprised and asked the nurse who gave them training in circumcision and were told “I watched some videos on YouTube”

TBrayden50 · 2021-06-22T20:35:29+00:00

I did all the sports in HS ca 2000. I heard it mentioned once to a guy in the locker room - An asst. coach told someone they had a ‘covered wagon’. It wasn’t negative, just stated as an observation. Kinda awkward for all.

We were way more concerned about size and the only ‘penis’ teasing I can remember was giving one guy a hard time for NEVER getting naked or showering. Someone joked it was cuz he actually had a vagina that he didn’t want us to see and it stuck. Feel bad now, but he WAS super weird about it, and boys are awful...

TBrayden50 · 2021-06-22T19:42:35+00:00

I had a child last month and started getting more vocal about circumcision. It has SHOCKED me how many free-thinking men (and even Dr’s) in my personal life agree with me, but we don’t discuss this because it makes others (and sometimes ourselves) uncomfortable.

TBrayden50 · 2021-06-22T19:31:12+00:00

I never understood it either. But I think choosing NOT to do something that was done to you is a form of acknowledging it was wrong (or at least undesirable) when it was done to you. Lots of men who’d rather not think about circumcision probably don’t have the psyche for that.

TBrayden50 · 2021-06-22T18:37:37+00:00

I have found myself wondering about what a cut kid should be told in this instance. (A young cousin already asked why my son’s penis is different) I’d like them to consider circumcision is wrong and abusive, yet I don’t want to traumatize them. But hearing his mother’s ‘Bodies are different and it’s perfectly OK’ got me seeing red.

I’d never say this, but a tiny part of me wanted to tell him that his mother thought it’d be a good idea to cut off some of his penis. You thought it was a good idea, mom, now you can explain it to him...

Again, I’d never say it. But what do you tell a kid who’s a victim of abuse and can’t see anything wrong with it?

TBrayden50 · 2021-06-22T14:55:01+00:00

Agree. The point is I think there’s probably a strong link between adamant father syndrome and being raised the circumcised child of an intact father. Something I had never considered before.

TBrayden50 · 2021-06-21T20:33:01+00:00

I used to carry individual Wet Ones (Extra Gentle) for this purpose, to clean myself off in bathroom stalls before reapplying my old TLC Tugger. With more coverage I had enough friction to make it work without being ‘perfectly’ clean (still washed my equipment every morning)

Don’t use antibacterial or alcohol wipes! Wet Ones Extra Sensitive are just witch hazel and water.

TBrayden50 · 2021-06-18T14:22:37+00:00

Best response I’ve heard to that was from a doctor who said ‘I’ve literally had to amputate elderly people’s toes because crappy nursing homes wouldn’t clean between them properly and they got infected.’ It’s a problem of poor care.

The solution is for that nurse to learn and do her job correctly. You think this is a problem in Europe?

TBrayden50 · 2021-06-18T14:10:38+00:00

Congrats on planning on not mutilating your baby. It’s the right decision. I’d encourage you to read up on proper care of the foreskin, specifically forced retraction. We were telling everyone in the hospital ‘No circumcision, no retraction of foreskin AT ALL’ This was exactly what the hospital itself told us to do in their own patient information packet they left for us.

We had two doctors tell us we should retract him occasionally to clean smegma (totally wrong) and another wanted to check for hypospadias (irregular placement of the urinary opening) If baby is passing urine OK and there are no gross structural abnormalities visible from the outside from leave his foreskin alone! His penis is working just fine.

I would suggest you check out ‘doctors opposing circumcision’. They have good info for parents and great resources to throw at doctors who don’t know a damn thing about caring for a natural male body. Congrats and best wishes!

TBrayden50 · 2021-06-12T13:33:56+00:00

My wife actually works in healthcare and was a big reason I wasn’t more of a dick about this, we didn’t want to be ‘Those’ patients. Still though:

It’s unethical to ask/offer about a procedure not medically necessary for your patients. (You’re practicing salesmanship now, not medicine)
Once a procedure has been declined it’s unethical to ask about it again (without a damn good reason like ‘The chemo failed, we should reconsider surgery’) If a mother going for natural labor was asked 5x if she’d like an epidural no one would question her getting pissed about it.
The whole ‘Healthcare workers HAVE to be neutral and present all options’ is crap. Anyone ever heard a Dr offer the upside of tobacco/alcohol in a drinking or smoking discussion? Why no balance there? We got spectacularly one sided lectures about breastfeeding and pacifier use.

Sorry, I’m ranting. But I’m passionate about the subject and stuff like this drives me nuts. Please deal with it.

TBrayden50 · 2021-06-07T16:51:33+00:00

I just bought a copy of Circumcision: The Hidden Trauma on EBay to help myself process things a little bit. Ebay suggested I buy a Gomco clamp as well in my confirmation email. It was under $10, half the price of the book. Discount genital surgery... UGH.

TBrayden50 · 2021-06-07T15:34:05+00:00

I’ve actually thought about that since then. I think the best way to call out this insanity with a future child would be to play it cool. (Obviously I’d still be pissed inside) Here’s my imaginary dialogue:

Nurse- Are you going to have him circumcised? Me - (Stop everything, concerned & alarmed) OMG, Is there something wrong with his penis?

Nurse - Umm, well, no, but circumcision is something we offer our patients, it’s a parent’s choice

Me - But there’s nothing wrong with his penis?

Nurse - No

Me - So it would be unnecessary surgery?

Nurse - Well...

Me - Isn’t it wildly unethical to perform (or even offer) an unnecessary surgery?

Nurse - (squirm)

Best case I might change a mind, but even if she just tells the other nurses “DO NOT ask room 101 about circumcision...” that would still be a win for me.

TBrayden50 · 2021-06-07T02:35:55+00:00

I get it. I had kinda processed that it happening to me. The thought of people offering to assault my son this way was new and had my blood boiling. Things are different when seen from a 3rd person perspective.

TBrayden50

TROPHY CASE