Current mood:

amused

Foreskins and peenies and brises - oh my!
Yay for Salon.com. While many of their articles (on such topics as the Iraq war, socioeconomics in the far East, and the latest electronic gadgetry flying out of Steve Jobs' ass) generate letters that are interting, thoughtful and even civil, when they put up what are commonly called "lifestyle" articles, the splooge can fly so thick and fast you could very well drown in it.

Herein a tale of a Jewish husband caught in the Circumcision Wars.

A rather amusing story of what can happen when your wife and your parents Do. Not. Agree. on something you really don't care about one way or the other. (Since it's a Salon link, you have to click an ad to get the whole article.) But the real fun happens in the Letters section.

352 letters so far. We got it all here -

"Circumcision is barbaric!" "No, it's clean and healthy!"

"It's religious, so it's idiotic!" "Don't you DISRESPECT MAH JEWISH AUTHORITAH!"

"It's nothing compared to female circumcision!" "That's not relevant, you hairy feminist!"

"It's no big deal!" "It's traumatic and scarring!"

"I did it to myself!" (No, I'm not making that one up.)

And the occasional appearance of a few head-scratchers wondering why people get so freaked out about this. (That included me, by the way, but since I posted my reply very early and nobody responded at all, I don't think it counts in the splooge explosion, which took a while to gather steam.)

NOTE: In order to get the wank stream flowing correctly, remember to click the "Oldest First" button on the first page of the letters, otherwise Salon will list them in the reverse order.

Boy, nothing like an article about bodily functions to make the crowd at Salon go APESHIT.

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	marciamarcia 2007-01-10 05:15 pm UTC (link)
	I was all set to be vehemently against this if I ever had a son. Then I found out that, when having sex with an infected partner, circumsized men are less likely to contract AIDS. Now I'm a lot more floppy (so to speak) on the issue. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	And because this really needs to get into wankitywank territory... birene 2007-01-10 06:48 pm UTC (link)
	... a quote from the mess: B. If your newborn grows up to decide it's worth his while to cut off part of his dick to feel (50%) safer about sex, (in regards to HIV) then that's his choice. Personally, I'd wear a condom. thats all (Reply to this)(Parent)

	frequentmouse 2007-01-10 07:56 pm UTC (link)
	Just remember that the first wave of HIV infections in the US were among an age cohort where more than 90% of males were circumsized. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

chibikaijuu
2007-01-10 08:16 pm UTC (link)

Well, yes, just because your risk is *reduced* doesn't mean it's not there, and if you're in a population where most of you are regularly having risky, unprotected sex, whether or not you're circumcised isn't going to make that much of a difference. If there's a lower instance of infection and a higher instance of comdom-wearing within the population, then the 50% reduction in risk will make a difference.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	squeakytoy 2007-01-11 07:31 am UTC (link)
	Er. This may get me into trouble, but I thought that the foreskin reduced HIV infection for heterosex, not homosex. And the first wave of HIV infections in the US were largely among the gay populace. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	seiberwing 2007-01-10 08:58 pm UTC (link)
	I've never seen the big deal. 4000+ years of men and male babies haven't complained that much. And it's not like they'll remember. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

slwatson
2007-01-10 10:28 pm UTC (link)

I dunno. If I have a son, I'm not gonna allow his first days in this world to be pain from a procedure performed without anesthesia, whether he remembers or not. ::shrugs:: I figure, if he wants to go that route, then he can make the decision when he's old enough to understand informed consent. Not my body, not medically necessary = not my right to make that choice.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	seiberwing 2007-01-11 12:48 am UTC (link)
	By the time he's old enough to have informed consent, he'll be old enough to remember the pain, though. is female, has no informed opinion on the subject Besides, I've seen circumcisions performed with anesthesia. Well, I've seen one, anyway. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	wrazn 2007-01-11 06:32 am UTC (link)
	I've seen several circumcisions performed with full anesthetics. And the anesthetist and pediatric surgeon arguing over the best way to go about it at any other time - local, general, or none? sigh (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	seiberwing 2007-01-11 06:44 am UTC (link)
	But were they singing? (Reply to this)(Parent)

	iwanttobeasleep 2007-01-11 12:04 am UTC (link)
	Isn't that statistic right now just a correlation, and limited to Africa? (Reply to this)(Parent)

	calluna 2007-01-12 01:39 am UTC (link)
	Out of curiosity, is this with or without a condom? I'd assume that with a condom it would be the same risk for both circumcised and not? (Reply to this)(Parent)

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