Neither I nor my brother are circumsized, nor are my five sons or his one son. None of us have ever had a health problem relating to being uncut. Cleanliness is also not an issue (soap and water, anyone?). None of my gf's nor my wife ever had any complaints (quite the contrary ;-)), nor were they apparently even able to tell. I had the conversation with one gf after we had been intimate many times, and she had no idea I was uncut. She was surprised as she had been conditioned to think there would be some dramatic difference. As for the supposed ridicule issue, I really don't understand this as a reason to have your newborn baby modified. I grew up in the days of group showers after gym class in middle and high school, not to mention my years serving in the military, and the thought of possible ridicule never crossed my mind, nor was a word ever said to me about it by anyone. Why would anyone in a locker room be studying your junk anyway, especially to that degree? In fact, my being uncut was such a non-issue that it hadn't even occurred to me as a possible point of contention prior to our first son being born in the late '70s. The doctor asked us if we had thought about it, we said no, and he gave us a brief rundown on the pros and cons. He said in his opinion there was no medical reason for it, but many parents had it done for religious or other reasons, and it was up to us. He also said that if we chose to have it done, we'd have to have another doctor do it because he wouldn't. He wasn't really preachy about it, just very matter-of-fact. He then gave us some literature and told us to think it over. That conversation, in addition to some research and talking about it between us, plus the fact I'd never had a problem with it, sealed the deal. We didn't have it done for any of our sons, and we've never regretted that decision. All things considered, having parts of a newborn baby cut off unnecessarily, especially if the reason is some perceived possibility of a peer pressure issue, just doesn't sit well with me.
We butcher our bodies incessantly for cosmetic reasons. Circumcision is a fairly insignificant thing. I bet more people are injured in hair-cutting, fingernail-cutting accidents every year than babies hurt by circumcision accidents. And with regard to the "just clean it!" crew trying to downplay the hygiene issue... find a more disgusting group of people than teenage boys. They don't clean anything thoroughly. RyanUTAustin: Evolution doesn't "intend" a damned thing. Foreskin is not significant enough to influence sexual reproduction. If evolution had anything to say on the practice, the circumcised wouldn't be successful reproductively.
I'm uncut and don't remember too much grief growing up - it was minimal. The kids who got grief were the ones with tiny ding dongs. Anyway, we didn't get our son cut and I could care less if other people do or don't. It's up to you - no need to get all worked up over it. I personally know how to wash myself and plan on teaching my kid, the same. For those of you who don't feel like washing your dong, maybe it's best that your parents had you circumsized.
Yes, they may not clean their ears either, so we'd better get those cut off, and they may not brush their teeth, so maybe we should get those pulled, too. After all, we wouldn't want anything to get inflected down the road. Those examples may sound ridiculous, but it's the same logic. In the end, it's mostly about peer pressure, cosmetics, and conformity to what we perceive to be the social norms. If those seem like good reasons to have a baby surgically modified, so be it. As for the hygiene angle, instead of the preemptive removal of body parts, how about we teach them to take care of themselves while we set a good example for them? In my experience, that seems to be a very successful approach.
I've had it both ways. Born uncircumcismed and it was a family tradition of sorts. Took some ribbing growing up, but there was better sensation. When I became sexually active, it definitely took longer to get to the goalline. Hygiene is a major issue, things do grow well in the dark. It was an initial surprise to my girlfirends, but, as has been noted, when it is showtime you really can't tell. You do have to wash carefully before beginning intimacy. It hurts like hell to get the foreskin caught in a zipper. For reasons I won't go into here, I had to have a circumcision in my 30s. It was definitely done under a general (no way was I going to watch what was going on down there). So now I am conformed. A note to those who wonder about doing this later in life, it hurt like hell for three weeks, and it took some getting used to when play time came. You have to relearn some functions like potty training. It was less sensitive than before, but much easier to keep clean. Plus, I got over my Protestant guilt complex about not keeping the covenant of Moses with God.
