Circumcision: A Feminist issue?

[vexx]

Is Circumcision a Feminist issue that should be decided by women?

 

[HiddenLacey]

Circumcision should be decided by the person whom it's being performed on when they are old enough to make the decision to go under the knife. I don't see what being a Feminist would have to do with the decision.

 

[dranko]

How about female genital mutilation, shouldn't that be a feminist issue first? I don't understand why anyone could think that it is OK to perform elective surgery on their children's sex organs without their consent, religious or cultural.

 

[maxcok]

I assume you're referring to male circumcision and not female genital cutting, which includes procedures often referred to as 'female circumcision'. That most definitely is a 'feminist issue', and all forms are outlawed in the US. I don't see how male circumcision is particularly a 'feminist issue', but as you didn't lay out any thesis to explain your thinking, I'm not going to puzzle over it.

Regardless, I'm in total agreement with submissivegirl. It's a 'human issue'.

 

[HiddenLacey]

I assume you're referring to male circumcision and not female genital cutting, which includes procedures often referred to as 'female circumcision'. That most definitely is a 'feminist issue', and all forms are outlawed in the US. I don't see how male circumcision is particularly a 'feminist issue', but as you didn't lay out any thesis to explain your thinking, I'm not going to puzzle over it.

Regardless, I'm in total agreement with submissivegirl. It's a 'human issue'.

I actually watched a few vids on the FGM and went to some of the sites earlier this week while researching piercings. I was so incrediably upset. It doesn't matter how many times I read about it, I will never be able to understand the things that people who this is a custom for say about it. One man said something along the lines of, "when you cause your wife pain it makes you feel like a man." :frown1::frown1::frown1: The girls whose Mother's protected them would later come back to the Mother's and beg them to be circumcised because other children made fun of them and they would never get married. The Mother's would agree, then they get married and sex is so painful they begin to refuse their husband's advances and then they become divorced. I almost posted something here about it, but most of the links involve children. It's so upsetting and sickening that people can mutilate the bodies of those that are defenseless.

I also watched a few documentaries on the male circumcisions performed in Africa and how the boys would be confined to tents and not allowed to drink any water until they heal. How the "doctor" would spray his knife with disinfectant to prevent the spread of STI's. :yuck:

 

[vexx]

I don't believe Female Genital Cutting to be an Issue in the United States or Canada. Male Circumcision is different and I believe that people that are both for and against it have something to say, if you don't agree well sorry!

 

[B_liono]

Circumcision should be decided by the person whom it's being performed on when they are old enough to make the decision to go under the knife. I don't see what being a Feminist would have to do with the decision.

This! I'm in total agreement. It has nothing to feminism, or anything but humanitarianism. All people should have the right to their own bodies. And this decision, to be circumcised or not, should come when they are old enough to make a valid and informed decision on it, such as at the age of 18. A man's penis doesn't belong to anyone but himself, so he should have the choice.

 

[SprinkleMe69]

It's completely up to him when he becomes an adult man to make that decision for himself. There's really no purpose for it. Just my opinion.

 

[Opalite]

Female Genital Cutting does not always have to be something done against a ladies will or for political or religious reasons - just as much as circumcision doesn't have to be. It's just still more taboo in most cultures. This taboo sadly makes for those that do have genuine, meaningfull interest do not speak openly, and only the horror stories reach the surface.

Ladies that might be interested in such procedures may have as "lighthearted" reasons as aestetics (labia minora reduction is becomming more popular in plastic surgery!), but can also do so because they would feel it would increase their sexuality as a whole or feel as if the specific part just shouldn't have been there/feel more complete without it. I'm aware that last bit is still a HIGHLY debated subject (as the same might be true for other kinds of voluntuary amputees - think toes/fingers/arms/legs - its more common then you'd think), but that doesn't invaludate any or all feelings these people might have. I know I might this is taking it out of the comfortzone for many, but I have met plenty of voluntuary amputees to say I truely believe that many of them did so with honest intentions in the best possible way and not nescesarily making bad decisions; they're intelligent, warm and very comfortable in their bodies - not something I could say about many others. While I don't share their believes for my body, I will refuse to believe they therefore couldn't excist for someone else.

We're still only scratching the surface of what we think is possible with our bodies or within what we call body modification. Instead of fearing everything that isn't the norm or we can't relate with, we should rather try to at least read into a subject before forming an opinion. The piercings petite was researching wouldn't be here if people would have never done just that (google "Jim Ward" or "Gauntlet Piercing").

While I do believe neiher FGC or circumcision should be done without a consent of the person itself (beeing atleast 18), I don't think it's fair to say one is multilation and the other perfectly okay; it's the same thing on different sexes. One is just less known.



Okay. That was VERY offtopic. Excuse me :tongue:

 

[HiddenLacey]

I agree with you Katt. I don't have anything against body modification, I just believe people should be old enough to make the informed decision for themselves. Whether male or female, no one should be subjected to unneeded body alterations as a child.

Sorry Vexx, for going off topic.

 

[IntoxicatingToxin]

I chose the fourth option as well. No reason in the world to perform circumcision on a child. Let them decide if they want it.

 

[maxcok]

I don't believe Female Genital Cutting to be an Issue in the United States or Canada.

It's not a big issue, true, only because it's not widely practiced. Still it was a big enough issue that there's a federal law against it being performed on minors in the US, in addition to many state laws. I believe the same is true in Canada.

Male Circumcision is different and I believe that people that are both for and against it have something to say, if you don't agree well sorry!

How is male circumcision "different", beyond the fact that we've been culturally conditioned to accept one as perfectly "normal" and think of the other as cruel and barbaric?

I'm also curious to know the OP's motivation for posting the thread and the poll. Are you in discussion or disagreement with a mother or prospective mother over the circumcision of a child?

 

[AlteredEgo]

Circumcision should be decided by the person whom it's being performed on when they are old enough to make the decision to go under the knife. I don't see what being a Feminist would have to do with the decision.

Yeah.

 

[Hardballin]

It is banned in certain parts of the world. Its BS its not banned everywhere. To me it is like saying murder is allowed in some parts of the United States.

 

[The Dragon]

I'm leery of any man who brings up the topic of circumcision in a woman's forum and then tries to couple it with "feminism".

Sorry, but this just reeks of troll bait.

 

[1kmb1]

out of curiosity, why are you asking? what link does male circumcision have with feminists?

 

[maxcok]

I'm leery of any man who brings up the topic of circumcision in a woman's forum and then tries to couple it with "feminism".

out of curiosity, why are you asking? what link does male circumcision have with feminists?

That was pretty much my question from the beginning too. Still waiting . . . .

 

[Drifterwood]

I'm leery of any man who brings up the topic of circumcision in a woman's forum and then tries to couple it with "feminism".

Sorry, but this just reeks of troll bait.

There was a thread a long time ago about mothers having the right to decide to have their sons cut or not. Some women thought that it was their right to decide.

I never understood that.

 

[B_subgirrl]

out of curiosity, why are you asking? what link does male circumcision have with feminists?

This.

 

[petite]

I chose not to circumcise my son. That was the choice I made. If it had been a choice left up to my husband, he would be circumcised.

I felt that it was something my husband and I should decide together, so I brought it up with him for discussion and we talked about it. I'm disappointed that it wasn't an option on the poll. The last option is basically choosing "uncircumcised" since someone has to choose whether to do it or not when he's born and it's not the baby who makes that choice at that time.

We talked about it and came to a decision together after each of us listened to the other one. My husband is circumcised and perfectly happy with his penis the way it is, so he was unconcerned that his son would be unhappy, based on his personal experience and feelings about his own penis, but he didn't feel strongly one way or the other. I felt uncomfortable with the possibility that something could go wrong (I've been with one man who had a botched circumcision) and that it was becoming an outdated practice and that my son could opt to get circumcised later on in life if he wished. I also felt that it was cruel thing to do to a tiny little baby. My husband thought that since I had stronger emotions about the issue that we should do what I wanted.

I chose the fourth option, but only because my real answer "it should be decided by both parents together" wasn't offered as a choice. Ideally, all decisions about the child should be made by both parents discussing it together and coming to a consensus. That way the child benefits from the combined wisdom of both parents. Just because I don't have a penis, it doesn't mean that I'm not better informed about circumcision issues, since I'm the active one on LPSG and he isn't and I'm the one who has been with both cut and uncut men and one man who was cut twice because the first one was botched.

I'm leery of any man who brings up the topic of circumcision in a woman's forum and then tries to couple it with "feminism".

Sorry, but this just reeks of troll bait.

This thread gives me the same feeling.