June 16, 2006

• *grits teeth* Will you leave me alone with the parents for a few minutes please . . .
• Yeah, but who wants to be left with a limp?
• I wonder how Dad feels about tonsillectomies?
• And this is just the tip of the iceberg...
• If medical opinion is that the child's foreskin is the cause of these recurring infections, or even simply exacerbating them, then the slice is alright.
• If the kid's having "recurring infections," then that means he hasn't been trained on how to wash the damned thing properly. I say, give the kid a few years and let him decide. It's his wiener, after all, and he'll be stuck with it long after his parents are dead and gone. Unless, of course, it falls off due to a gangrenous infection, or sumptin'.
• Man, that's going to be my new counter-argument to everything: "You could lose your penis!" War in Iraq? You could lose your penis! No change for the bus? You could lose your penis! Vote republican/democrat? You could lose your penis!
• It may be the case that he requires circumcision, but i wonder if the mom is aware of the the sexual function of the foreskin: right click to save wmv male and female circumcision are dramatic procedures which should only be done under conditions of extreme medical necessity. p.s. i'd really like to hear some intelligent feedback from people who are pro-circumcision and have watched the video i've posted here.
• A foreskin needs no additional care over that of labia. Circumcision is an anti-onanism cultural practice nothing more. If this child has been getting infections on his bell-end, something is wrong beyond his cock sleeve, causing this smelly hood. Perhaps he has been frequenting the pound and sticking it in doggy bottoms? Ah.. to be young again.
• MonkeyFilter: You could lose your penis! Well, duh, Smedleyman!
• 21MB, spacediver? is it a sexy video, or is it a gory prolife -type clip? seriously, the more i learn about smegma, aka "dick cheese", the more thankful i am for having been circumcised. and i can assure you that circumcision has been quite ineffective in preventing the wicked practice of onanism. for most guys, "less penile sensitivity" can be a good thing if you know what i mean and i think you do.. lol am i rite ladies? otoh, this whole thing seems more like a petty proxy battle...

  Although the dispute purports to be about what is best for the child, much of Wednesday's testimony was devoted to sniping between the parents. Rizzo tried repeatedly to suggest the father was negligent and his motivation had nothing to do with the boy's health. The father's lawyer, for his part, implied that the mother's aim was to spite her ex-husband and please her current husband. The boy's stepfather is Jewish, and both the stepfather and his biological son are circumcised.

  -from the trib
• Today I am grateful that I have neither a child, a father, nor a penis.
• Smegma occurs just as commonly on female genitals. If you don't bathe then you need to. Simple.
• Smegma occurs just as commonly on female genitals. I've heard emergency-room stories that would make your foreskin curl up in a ball and cry.
• This thread has gotten very cheesy.
• If you put your pants back on the smell will go away. Eventually.
• nunia as a male nurse, I could tell you worse.
• You're a male nurse? I bow to you, sir. I have a friend in residency in an emergency room, and he tells me the most nightmarish stories about his patients. Also, one of my aunts worked in a mental hospital, and regaled me many odd tales (and no, monkeys are not the only animals that fling poo). This is one of the many reasons I became a geologist and not a nurse (like many of my aunts and counsins did). But good on you that you can do it. I'd never make it.
• wedge: 21MB, spacediver? is it a sexy video, or is it a gory prolife -type clip? neither - it's a visual presentation of the structure and function of the male prepuce - quite technical, and it draws upon peer reviewed literature. Basically outlines the complex structure of the prepuce, and its specialized nerve endings. You won't be grossed out - it's quite subtle and discreet, and very educational. Circumcision doesn't just reduce sensitivity in a quantitative fashion. Due to the removal of these specialized end organs there is a qualitative loss. The sensory experience of an intact penis is richer and complex than that of a circumcised penis. For those who are circumcised, try the following: examine your own penis and inspect which areas are the most sensitive. Look at the scar line. Just beneath the scar-line, there is an area of skin which has a unique texture, and touching the nerve endings here elicits powerful sexual responses (especially on the ventral side of the penis). Notice that the textured skin abruptly stops at the scar line. Depending on the amount of tissue excised during your circumcision, there will be more or less sexual tissue. This is a sort of proof that you are missing some important nerve endings. More info can be found by reading this interview
• As an architect I can say the same. I single handedly built the Tower of London, and it's for sale. I feel foolish now, something that should happen more than once a decade, yet fails to do so. I am not a nurse really. But your enthusiasm has reinvigorated my desire to help the old die peacefully.
• Now, see, I've had many decent experiences with nurses, but never had a good experience with an architect (being that I am a soils engineer and all). So, if you're joking about that, tell me now so I can take the time I need to get over it.
• I have a foreskin. There I've said it. It's only purpose is to give an additional bit of pissing pressure, and keep my glans lubed and very sensitive, at least as far as I've been able to study the literature. The only cool thing about a foreskin is the ability it gives to pull it tight at its end, forming a tiny gap through which a laser like beam of high pressure piss can stream, removing graffiti and trodden gum from sidewalks and under-table tops, and even mascara from eyes or eyes from heads. Of course most people don't have a use for these super abilities and so continue wearing ordinary clothing.
• Yes I was joking about the nurse thing.
• Circumcision externalizes the glans...the exposed glans is unprotected from cold and frostbite. Frostbite?!? Um, where exactly are these guys sticking it? Is someone taking "snowblower" the wrong way? Mom: "Take your coat son, it's freezing out there" Son: "No, it's ok mom... I've got my foreskin" from spacediver's video
• Random personal fact: Mr. Oflinkey was circumcised at 21 years of age. He states that sex is better circumcised, and his urologist looked like Al Gore.
• An Inconvenient Urologist I think foreskins are responsible for global warming.
• Circumcision externalizes the glans...the exposed glans is unprotected from cold and frostbite. we once roamed the land as naked mammals. What did you think of the rest of the video though, infra?
• Two summers ago I was on a pedalo off the Canary Islands, without immediately noticing, using my buff thighs, I had moved out of sight of land. I can tell you I was glad to have a foreskin then. Very useful place to keep an analogue watch. Perhaps one day I shall tell you how my fathers war buddy kept it in his own foreskin once my daddy passed it on to him to give to me knowing he was going to die.
• we once roamed the land as naked mammals Yeah, but the gist of the video is why people shouldn't be circumcised in modern times... The video was ok in the "learning stuff I didn't know" sense, but it smacks of an agenda rather than objective data. I think that by not acknowledging any of the potential problems of not being circumcised, it just felt like an infomercial for foreskins.
• As an owner of a penis, I feel I have sufficient expertise to tell all of you what to do with yours. I recommend penis puppets, particularly the Legends of the Old Testament series, critically acclaimed for their realistic beards and pointing fingers of judgment. Furthermore, the scrotum should be twisted in a clockwise manner at least 25 times and secured with a wire twist-tie, in order to keep your testicles fresh and the sperm cool. Finally, I find buying a miniature film projector and showing reruns of "Jake and the Fat Man" on my taint to the neighborhood kids to be both therapeutic and thoroughly entertaining.
• This is a sort of proof that you are missing some important nerve endings. What's truly astounding is that no circumcized male ever seems to refuse sex due to lack of nerve endings. *familiar with two males who had a foreskin removed at ages 16 and 28, neither of which wanted it reattached. (the only regret expressed was that the 28yo had wished he'd kept it, tanned it, and made a watch fob out of it, purely for a conversation starter at bars, you see)
• Circumcision externalizes the glans...the exposed glans is unprotected from cold and frostbite. Yea, and if that were true, all male hair in the crotch area should have been on the foreskin. That way instead of your dickie wearing a dickie, it would have looked like it was wearing a cute little Esquimaux parka. And what's up with armpit hair? It's not my armpits that get cold in winter, it's my nose.
• And what's up with armpit hair? My non-medical understanding is that the hair is intended to act as an interface between your sweat glands and the surrounding air whereby you can cool down faster when you are hot. Furthermore, I propose the same theory for pubes. Any other thoughts on this? And please don't say that the hair is a medium to concentrate and release pheremones, because that's nasty.
• Infra: The video was ok in the "learning stuff I didn't know" sense, but it smacks of an agenda rather than objective data. I think that by not acknowledging any of the potential problems of not being circumcised, it just felt like an infomercial for foreskins. If there was a video presentation which outlined the structure and function of the female breasts, and they didn't mention breast cancer, would you similarly consider it "smacking of an agenda"? Or what about the vulva, which is also prone to infection and disease, just like any other part of the body. Not many people realize that there is not a single accredited international medical institution on the planet which recommends circumcision. For a relatively recent statement by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia, scroll down to medical perspectives over here It is unfortunate that in some societies, parts of the female genitilia are considered a symbol of uncleanliness. Same things can be said about parts of the male genitilia in north american societies. This is a fascinating read (peer reviewed journal of social history) documenting the modern introduction of circumcision into society.
• Bluehorse: *familiar with two males who had a foreskin removed at ages 16 and 28, neither of which wanted it reattached. There are also thousands of women who voluntarily undergo female circumcision and then go on to have their daughters circumcised. There are also many men who deeply regret having been circumcised as adults.
• Sorry - messed up that college of physicans and surgeons link - Here is the correct link.
• There are also thousands of women who voluntarily undergo female circumcision and then go on to have their daughters circumcised. My understanding is that this is done as a social control to discourage promiscuity in females, especially in cultures where sexuality in women is seen as an "unclean" thing. Circumcision in men, however, does not seem to be intended to stop men from seeking sex. Granted, both might be seated in religous beliefs, but the motivation for the two are quite different.
• It's one thing to debate circumcision as done on healthy babies, it's another to try to prevent a medically necessary circumcision. And it is sometimes necessary - a foreskin can stop growing, for instance. If the boy is in pain, then the loss of some sensitivity is worth it.
• Nunia: Granted, both might be seated in religous beliefs, but the motivation for the two are quite different that's not entirely true - from a historical perspective, male circumcision was very much used as a means to curb sexual desire, and hygiene and aesthetics are also used as reasons to justify female circumcision. This quote by Maimonedes is quite telling: For a modern equivalent of this justification see this statement by act-now - a jewish group advocating for circumcision. The link between FGM and MGM (male genital mutilation) is not as absurd as many would prefer to think. For a disturbing view of the similarities, see this chart (by Hanny Lightfoot-Klein, a pioneer in the fight against FGM)
• Peer reviewed literature! *Sniggers in back of classroom*
• spacedriver why do you care so much? If it's an impertinent question, just say so.
• jb yeap.
• If it is not done, she will stink and get worms in her vagina...If the baby's head touches the uncut clitoris during birth, the baby will be born hydrocephalic [excess cranial fluid]. The milk of the mother will become poisonous. If a man's penis touches a woman's clitoris he will become impotent. Genius. It's a good thing those doctors scraped off the worms from my hydrocephalic kids' heads when they were born. And to think of all the sterile men I have left in my wake!
• Well, impotence isn't really sterility, but it might as well be.
• a foreskin is integral to certain tableaux in penis performance art: cloven pig in a blanket wwi memorabilia in a bag the anonymous trainspotter it's also a very handy place to store your stash.
• *familiar with two males who had a foreskin removed at ages 16 and 28, neither of which wanted it reattached. Why did they undergo circumsicion at those ages, Blue? Health issues, societal pressure?
• randomaction: spacedriver why do you care so much? If it's an impertinent question, just say so. care about what? which question? I'm confused! :p
• About cock skin of course. This is the cock skin thread I hope.
• i still don't follow - is there a particular question that you saw me responding to which you think i may have perceived as impertinent? Are you asking why i'm interested in male circumcision in general? If so, it's because I find ritual genital cutting, in both sexes, to be an example of a deeply wrong cultural practice, and have spent a fair amount of time learning and reflecting on it.
• Flagpole, for one it was a health/comfort issue, for the other it was a desire to fit in with the rest of the family--adopted son. The younger had commented after that it certainly didn't make *ahem* killing kittens any less fun.
• the international penis tableaux world championships, in an effort to make the art form more inclusive and multicultural, recently allowed circumsized competitors to substitute thin slices of cold cuts for those tableaux requiring a foreskin.
• randomaction, sorry missed this post the first time round: I have a foreskin. There I've said it. It's only purpose is to give an additional bit of pissing pressure, and keep my glans lubed and very sensitive, at least as far as I've been able to study the literature. We all have foreskins - even circumcised men have foreskins. It would be virtually impossible to remove the entire foreskin. Think about which part of your penis is the most sensitive - examine it carefully - you'll notice that it's not the glans, but actually the bit beneath the glans, notably on the ventral side. Just retract your foreskin fully and examine it. As an intact male, you have more of this sensitive skin than circumcised males. So the inner surface of the foreskin does much much more than merely maintain a moist and sensitive environment. The foreskin itself is a sensitive piece of tissue. This is a good read. Also see this page for a collection of circumcision literature & info.
• Boy, this one's a toughie. I have been examining my penis carefully, and I've gotta admit, that ventral side area IS pretty darn sensitive. On the other hand, the glans is soft and makes me all tingly. Then again, the whole darn thing feels pretty good. But, the nosey people in nearby cubicles are starting to make comments, so I'll have to leave further examination for another day. And I'm told I have an afternoon appointment with HR, which is odd, at it doesn't appear on my Outlook calendar anywhere...
• OMG! Ralph works in a cubicle? The scandal!
• MonkeyFilter: The sensory experience of an intact penis is richer and complex than that of a circumcised penis.
• ...extreme medical necessity... Check! The stitches were like barbed wire.
• MonkeyFilter: Just retract your foreskin fully and examine it. MonkeyFilter: I have been examining my penis carefully.
• Monkeyfilter: the whole darn thing feels pretty good Hey, how could this one slip by you, GramMa? ; >
• Good on you, Flags. I say run it up the Pole, and see if it salutes!
• *blushes, then gets confused*
• Enough of this self-abuse!
• Honestly, I don't understand why people get so excised about this.
• Just remember, boys: every time you fill 'er up, check under the hood.