Why is it considered wrong to commit female circumcision, to the point of it being illegal in many US states, yet the practice of male circumcision is still widely practiced and hardly a peep about it?

homo__schedule · 2021-04-09T02:56:53+00:00

Actually us are pretty backward in this result. About 70% of boys are intact worldwide.

Vista_Seagrape · 2021-04-09T03:05:58+00:00

A lot of times you see people defend or dismiss circumcision by saying "FGM is worse." But that's not a valid argument, you don't justify something by comparing it to something else.

Imagine this:

"It's ok to cut off someone's hand, because cutting off both hands is worse."

"It's ok to steal $10,000 because stealing $100,000 is worse."

Do those arguments make any sense? No, it's absurd.

Circumcision does significant damage and loss of erogenous tissue.

NSFW

Parts removed in circumcision:

The Frenulum

The ridged band

Meissners corpsucles

How can you justify cutting that off a baby at birth? Anyone who says they support body autonomy should be against that.

BeastMcQueen · 2021-04-09T13:44:48+00:00

It is an example of people caring more about women than men.

pillar-of-salt42 · 2021-04-09T15:44:39+00:00

In Canada, the hospitals will not perform circumcision unless it is for a medical emergency or necessary to the boy/man's health. It has to be done by a private clinic for a fee and it is not endorsed by doctors here. My friend tells me that at her child's daycare, most of the infant boys are uncircumcised and that it, "surprised her" to hear that. Women and girls of a certain age have been conditioned to think, "cut" is better and cleaner and more attractive. I like to believe we are moving toward a cultural shift where "intact" is natural and the future sexual health of the child is the first thing considered.

flowerpassion2112 · 2021-04-09T10:38:52+00:00

As a circumcised man what am I supposed to do? Other than not having my son circumcised.

Vidar34 · 2021-04-09T08:31:16+00:00

There's a bunch of (bad) reasons.

1) It's culturally ingrained in the USA. NEarly everyone does it, so it isn't seen as wrong.

2) There's a medical industry tied to it. Look up foreskin-based products.

3) There's at least 2 religions that have male circumcision as part of their rites. If there is any noise about making male circumcision illegal, there will be lots of cries about Islamophobia and Antisemitism. Not even Iceland with its tiny Jewish and Islamic minorities managed to get the practice banned.

In short, male circumcision isn't going anywhere soon. I think the best thing we can hope for is reducing the practice by normalizing not being circumcised.

pacsatonifil · 2021-04-09T03:06:44+00:00

Religion and hypocrisy. I was listening to NPR and they were interviewing Muslim women that were defending female circumcision and I was pretty surprised they aired that. I think both are wrong and that adults chopping up infants without their consent is a crime

CentiPetra · 2021-04-09T11:40:35+00:00

The place, by far, where this is debated the most, is Mommy birth club groups.

It always becomes a shit show. Also, many women who are expecting boy babies say things like, “Well, I personally don’t want him circumcised, but I am leaving the decision up to my husband because he has a penis and I don’t. He is circumcised so he wants the baby to “be like him.”

Then other Moms will dog pile on and says, “He’s your son too, and so you are just going to let your baby go through horrible torture so he can ‘look like Daddy?’ That’s a stupid reason. First, you need to stand up to your husband, second of all, that reason is weird, why does your baby’s penis have to match your husband’s? That’s gross.”

But seriously, some of the biggest anti-circumcision activists are Moms. They are called, “intactivists.”

The threads almost always get locked because it gets pretty nasty.

leknerd · 2021-04-09T15:26:11+00:00

One more example of the glass ceiling holding women back.

pkarlmann · 2021-04-09T09:41:07+00:00

Well, here in Germany they always bring up the Jew-Card for obvious reasons. No kidding, there are some court rulings that forbade (infant/child) male circumcision for non-medical purpose, but our federal parliament made a law that (re-)allowed it.

Francis_Dollar_Hide · 2021-04-09T07:18:17+00:00

You can thank Kellogg for popularizing it in the US:
See: Masturbation prevention

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harvey_Kellogg

cistacea · 2021-04-09T14:14:49+00:00

i cannot give you a good reason. I am equally perplexed by this. I guess just traction, as it is so familiar to americans?

GraemeRed · 2021-04-09T15:25:09+00:00

You think they equate to the same thing? Seriously? Maybe a little bit more investigation on your part...

-Soggy-Potato- · 2021-04-10T15:18:02+00:00

Doesn’t male circumcision have a more ritualistic / rite of passage side to it compared with FGM (at least in the West)

A sign of identity or culture, when the same doesn’t really apply for FGM?

FGM has less cultural significance, being pretty universally irredeemable due to its main purpose being to make sex unpleasurable in the West

Male circumcision has the cultural aspect to it, which some people can use along with religious help to justify it when the same isn’t really possible with FGM

Kalkunben · 2021-04-11T01:17:43+00:00

In Denmark, where I live, a recent ish law was enforced that told the preservation of Jewish culture was a goal and focus. That includes circumcision. Yet circumcision for girls are illegal and considered mutilation.

I think it's fucked. What's the difference? They're both involuntary surgeries that serve no medical importance other than religious and very specific medical issues.

Why I bring up Denmark, considered one of the most equal country in the world, but this is a blight on all of it. It's embarrassing.

sanctimama · 2021-04-11T23:28:21+00:00

This is not about caring more about women than men. Jfc. It's just that it's cultural precedent. Male circumcision is a disgusting violation of bodily autonomy that should be described as what it is - mutilation.

I'm a mother (two intact boys) and in various mom's groups do you know who most frequently insists on circumcism against the mother's wishes? The father. Countless women who feel awful and guilty that they gave in and allowed their sons to be mutilated because their husbands insisted that their penis "look the same". A lot of my groups are also focused on gentle birth & parenting & therefore very anti circumcism, working to educate other parents.

Are there women who support male circumcision? Absolutely. Are they wrong? 100%. But framing it as "we care more about women in the US than men because FGM laws" is inaccurate. It's mainly precedent, capitalism, erroneous information peddled by drs (partially because of aforementioned capitalism) and spousal pressure. There's also a healthy dose of anti-muslim sentiment where I think people suddenly care more about mutilated girls because islam is evil.

If you're not hearing a peep about it, you're moving in the wrong circles.

DrNiceGuyMan · 2021-04-09T09:52:13+00:00

Womens circumcision causes almost always pain for lifetime and makes sex painful for many or even most women. Men's circumsation causes long term pain mainly when botched. I think the orginal decission to ban women circumscision has little to do with their right to choose, sadly.

throwaway50bil · 2021-04-09T03:40:37+00:00

Not to sound anti-Semitic, because I'm not at all, but the short (and complete) answer is 'Judaism'.

GreaseKing420 · 2021-04-09T04:25:34+00:00

It’s likely due to religious significance. I’ve heard “If it was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me” as an argument before

Kimchi_Cowboy · 2021-04-09T07:07:28+00:00

Because female circumcision is the complete removal of the clitoris. I for one (and every woman I've been with) am thankful I am snipped.

UCanSeeMeOnMySleeve · 2021-04-09T08:24:33+00:00

Uh. Well one literally removes a women’s sensual sensation and the other does nothing but make your peen look chill.

TAPriceCTR · 2021-04-09T03:54:03+00:00

Um, I'm pretty sure it's illegal nation wide.

Muh-So-Gin-Knee · 2021-04-09T13:53:02+00:00

Why is this question even asked? The answer is obvious. Things are this way because women want them this way. Whatever women want to happen happens and whatever they don't want to happen doesn't.

LateralThinker13 · 2021-04-09T17:32:05+00:00

Because nobody cares about men. That's why. We're disposable.

2021-04-10T14:14:20+00:00

I think it’s religious for boys and makes the dick bigger. Idk I’m pretty stupid

salehrayan246 · 2021-04-11T17:54:24+00:00

I like posts like this about circ, but i don't like that it only gets posted in mens rights subreddits, because we already know it's bad, other people should be informed

callmeairplane · 2021-04-15T23:09:27+00:00

Male circumcision should definitely be banned but there is literally no reason to compare it to female circumcision. When a female clit gets cut off there stays no possibility to feel pleasure. Both should be banned but here is no "woman have a privilege" issue

Probablylikewaifu · 2021-04-09T09:47:32+00:00

im a woman in a country were nobody is circumscised, yet im pretty sure it's because the way both of them are framed. Female genital mutilation is done to pretty much fuck up with the woman rights were as a man in the us your mother may decide to circumcise you because she belives this is the healthy way

World_Wide-Weeb · 2021-04-09T13:26:42+00:00

I think it's because female circumcision is taking away a woman's ability to orgasm, and they also often sew up the vagina to make sex painful. This is because the men doing it to them don't want the woman to cheat, which is borderline oppression (I know that's a word feminists tend to throw around all the time, but in this case it's not even subjective).

Male genital mutilation isn't as bad, but it's often done without anaesthetics and can be botched. Those times do also have long lasting affects, but the main difference is that even if a woman didn't have her mutilation botched she'd still lose the ability to oragasm or ever enjoy sex.

Dimitrius99 · 2021-04-09T21:39:32+00:00

Women circumcision has appalling consequences on a girl sex life by making it impossible for her to feel pleasure. Man circumcision has little to no consequences compares to that. The question is basically equivalent to "Why is stealing my bike only a misdemeanors while raping and torturing a child is a crime ?". I certainty don't defend male circumcision but fighting excision all around the world is far more important than fighting male circumcision.

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