I have been reading the posts on the negative consequences of infant circumcision, specifically the psychological damage that may be done. I can't speak for others but I can tell my story.
I was circumcised shortly after I was born but I did not go home. I had an infection that kept me in the hospital for a week. I know this for a fact but my mother wont tell me any more. In fact she won't speak to me about circumcision at all.
I know that when my brother was born a year later it was a natural birth and he was circumcised by tying the foreskin with a small rope. After this is done the fore skin falls off a few days latter. He did not even cry I was told.
It is hard to say what goes on in a child when they are that young because no one remembers. Well, that is not exactly true. I and a few other people I have known have memories as far back as 12 to 14 months of age. I have these memories and I have amazed relatives when I have told them about the things I saw happen back then.
My circumcision scar left very little sensitivity on my penis. There is a little skin at the base that has a little sensitivity but the rest, even the glans is numb to anything but pain and pressure. I remember the way my genitals felt when I was around a year old. I remember masturbating at that age. I felt pressure in my prostate area and I would rock back and forth on a pillow or something until I felt tension and then a release. It was not pleasant, more like a biological necessity and I did not feel good about it afterward. This frustration was fairly constant.
There is a question of how a baby feels pain. Some people believe a new born does not feel any pain. Anyone who has heard a new born scream when cut by the circumcision knife knows that is ridiculous. Some say a new born does not remember pain and I question this. I can tell you what I remember from that time. My father was an alcoholic. When I was a year old he burned me with a hot clothes iron. The pain a baby feels can not be compared to an adult. The pain builds until it over whelms the nervous system. It does not end there. The baby is in a state where it can not believe it is alive because the pain is so intense. This lasts for a long time before the baby passes out or or the pain subsides. Maybe 6 months or a year latter my father picked me up, took me outside in the dead of winter and put my bare legs in the snow. It was as painful as the burning and again my mind could not believe I was still alive and in so much pain. That kind of pain is devastating to the development of social bonds, obviously. It can provoke a psychotic disposition. So why would the agony of circumcision not have an affect? Adults are in pain from this procedure for weeks. So how long is an infant in pain? And how is it affecting the development of social bonds? My mother was there both times my father hurt me and she could not console or reform the bonds broken by my father. Instead there was a psychological scar.
I continued to masturbate, not for pleasure but necessity. I felt a lot pressure. I would try to relieve it by humping a pillow or something. I know circumcised boys masturbate more. I think that not having the fore skin or having it damaged in some way causes unnatural pressure or discomfort. I figured out something happened down there before I knew what circumcision was because something did not feel right there.
I was 11 when noticed the skin at the top of my penis looked and felt different than the skin at the bottom. Specifically I noticed the skin at the top did not feel good, it felt a little bad. I looked at a scar on my arm and noticed the tissue looked the same. I asked my mom and that is when she told me I was circumcised. I said what is that? She said my penis was cut because boys needed it done. I felt bad. I did not understand how someone could cut or hurt my penis. The nerves remembered that something was painfully cut. It was an event I did not remember but from the way my penis felt it was obvious something happened. It was almost like it hurt like a phantom pain, but I could forget about it and I tried to forget it. I did not know what a fore skin was so I did forget about it, for the most part.
I did not form many friendships and got into many fights.
When I was hurt a rage would come over me.
A kid forced me to fight him after school when I was 14 and I beat him unconscious with my fists.
The majority of my dreams entailed me being chased with a weapon and many times ended with me attempting to kill my pursuer in the dream. These type of dreams persisted until my late teens.
I was not interested in sports until I watched football up close and then the violence interested me. Later I quit to wrestle because it was more intense. I begged my parents to let me box but they refused.
I had some, tiny success with girls in high school building sexul tension and a connection but I could not find a way to release or orgasm.
I was not and am not a sociopath. I was antisocial. I did not like people touching me unless it was during a sport activity. My brother an I were in a sledding accident. We went down a steep hill together only at the bottom we ran into a tree. I threw him off but I had to hit the tree myself. I was lucky I was not killed. I only suffered a neck and shoulder injury. I stood up for friends many times and was beaten up for it.
I have taken medicine for depression since I was twenty.
The only orgasms I have experienced were few. Once I was having sex and I felt pressure on my prostate and I orgasmed. While there was pleasure, in a way, it is just not something I would try to do. I have felt sexua| excitement and it can make me climax but I have no functionality on the outside of my penis. When a woman strokes my penis it is great until she gets to the upper half where the scar tissue is. Then the excitement encounters the totally numb tissue and a psychotic feeling settles on me. The tissue remembers the damage, it remembers the trauma. If I could have sex and avoid that area that would be a solution but that area is too vital.
Did I have a botched circumcision? Probably. Does the tissue remember the trauma? Definitely. Are there psychological scars? What do you think? It is hard to say what is damaged in a child circumcising him days after birth but the agony at the time will inhibit any bonds needed to be made. Just as the physical scar is there, the psychological scar has to be there as well. Needless to say, not being able to sexually function with ones partner is a detriment to the relationship.
I remember pain as an infant and it is a hundred times more intense than what an adult feels. There is no way to compare it really. I went into severe shock from being burned with an iron when I was about one year old. The thought that went through my head was this pain is so bad I am going to die from it. All mammals have a natural fear of death even infants. And this was done to me repeatedly. As an adult I was burned by molten metal on a job. It hurt like hell but I just put on a bandage and went back to work.
Circumcision severely impaired my sexua| function. I can feel the scar tissue and in my case I know something was hurt. The nerves still hold the memory of the damage. I suspect I was psychologically scared by the circumcision and because the remnants of pain were left behind I carry it to this very day.
Circumcision is genital mutilation. Even when done with anesthesia and correct medical procedure the male is still losing most of his erogenous nerves and an important part of his penis, the glide function and the protection of the glans.
Some 'Men' who want it done might be happy with what they have left, if it still works. I have heard Jews, Muslims and others say it was just fine. That is their choice and I guess the glass is half full or what ever and I am happy for them. Then again, there are sick people out their who just enjoy hurting themselves and their views should never be forced onto anyone else.
If you torture a baby this way there is no way to describe how sadistic and sick you are. If your child finds that his penis is not working the way he would like it to, you have robbed him and scared him for life and to knowingly do that is sadistic and sick as well.
They are sick-in-the head. People who were lied to and were told that circumcision would not hurt their baby but that there were benefits have an excuse. Doctors should know better. I have seen videos of circumcision and they are atrocious. You would have to know the baby is being tortured. You would have to question why healthy tissue must be removed from the penis.
There are so many people who hated being circumcised. Ben Affleck to name one. I can't find any 'real' people who were happy with it. I just find anonymous bloggers saying how great it is.
Medical problems with fore skins are almost unheard of in the UK. There is no medical justification for circumcision yet these sick people keep on wanting to push it. They end up severely desensitizing the penis. But circumcision can also impair sexua| function and even kill some babies.
There is no way to measure how much I hate what they did to me.
I for one have absolutely no problem with being circumsized, either physically or emotionally. I had a son who I had circumsized, and if I did it all over knowing what I know, I would do it again.
You appear to be suffering more emotionally than physically with your issue.
Stop dwelling on it, and move on with your life.
So #133264, you know that circumcision removes about 70 percent of erogenous nerves in the penis, desensitizes the glans, no medical association in the world recommends it, most often it is performed with out anesthesia and it kills about 200 babies a year and you would still do it? It is hard for me to understand how people like you think.
You may have been lucky that they left you with enough of your penis for it to work. If you had fore skin and then lost it I know you would be bitter. The practice started in America to inhibit the enjoyment of sex.
About 2 percent of the time there are complications. The baby gets an infection or damage to the penis. Sometimes they amputate the penis like in the case of David Riemer.
I had a an infection that kept me in the hospital for a week. Whatever happened left me with nerve damage there. No feelings in the upper half of the dick except pain and pressure. I have a phantom pain, like something used to be there and is now gone. It really psychologically disturbed me as a teenager when other kids were enjoying sex and something was not right with my own genitalia.
How would you like to be an eleven year old boy who was curious about girls and wondered why his penis did not feel good? If some one cut off half your dick would you be bitter?
>If you had fore skin and then lost it I know you would be bitter.<
obviously I did at one time, and I had...but I'm not.
I use my dick for basically two things...pissing and ejaculating.
Both functions work fine, and I dont spend a lot of time thinking about either one.
Maybe you should (not) do the same!
#139224, I am glad you can piss and ejaculate just fine. There is more to it than just that. You can't appreciate that.
Many people were genitally mutilated and can piss and ejaculate fine but they lost the ability to enjoy sex. You might be happy with what you have left but if you knew what you lost you would be bitter. If you were not bitter there would be something seriously wrong with you. Every man I came across who was circumcised latter in life was bitter, very bitter. Can you point to any men who were happy after being circumcised? I would like to see the links.
"You might be happy with what you have left but if you knew what you lost you would be bitter."
doubtful. A foreskin looks like the neck of a chicken. I'm perfectly happy with what I have.
"If you were not bitter there would be something seriously wrong with you."
This isnt about me, its about you remember? You're the one that's bitter. And yet, I think theres something seriously wrong with YOU. Ironic, huh?
"Every man I came across who was circumcised latter in life was bitter, very bitter."
umm, maybe because it hurts like hell?
"Can you point to any men who were happy after being circumcised? I would like to see the links."
What good will that do? Not everyone thinks the same way you do.
hmmmmmmm, I would have to say thats wrong.
Speaking from experience, I know the difference between relief and pleasure.
Just knowing the difference makes that statement incorrect.
#133264, the point of my argument is that most men want their fore skin. And most men deeply regret losing it. I know you have something against fore skin. I know there are other men that think the same as you. But you are in the minority. You may be a decent person in other areas but yeah I think there is something severely wrong with you to want to cut off a piece of your own body just the same as if you wanted to cut off a nose, ear, finger or what ever. I think it is wrong to do to a child before he becomes an adult who can make his own decisions. It is a human rights violation. I am still interested to see who you can find on the net who would say circumcision was the greatest thing that ever happened to them. I don't think you can because most normal men would never knowingly do that to that to their body. The only thing you will get is religious nuts and circum-fetishists.
"the point of my argument is that most men want their fore skin. And most men deeply regret losing it"
..and my point is I think you're full of crap, and dont really know how most men think. Something against foreskin? No, you have something against you LOSING it, and you need to think about something else other than the head of your dick for a change.
Your analogy of losing a finger or an ear is directly proportional to how much emphasis you place on that chickenskin hanging off the head of your weiner.
Personally, I think its a waste of time to get into a pissing match(no pun intended)with you about 'who thinks circumcision is ok', because I just dont think most men dwell on it like you do.
If clipping that skin on the end of your dick caused you permanent physical disfigurement (but not according to YOUR opinion)or some permanent physical and medically proven pain, then I can sympathize with you and hope there is something available for you to help you deal with it.
But again, I dont think thats the case.
I think you're putting too much emphasys on the last two inches sticking out from your groin, and not paying enough attention to everything else behind it.
#133264, I don't really care to argue with some one like you either. This is an emotional topic for me, though. You have not come up with any men who have said circumcision was great for them. I can easily give you 50 men who have said circumcision was the worst thing that ever happened to them.
The infection after my circumcision kept me in the hospital for a week. I noticed my dick did not feel right when I was eleven. It bothered me so much I asked my mom about it and that is when I learned I was circumcised. My dick goes from feeling great to horrible when I get to the circumcision. There is no feeling there just a little pain like something used to be there. I can not tell you how much that ruins sex.
Do you think all these guys are lying? Do you think the medical reports that say the fore skin holds 70 percent of the erogenous nerves are BS? Maybe your circumcision left some sensitivity there. Maybe you just don't know what you lost. Not every one thinks like you. That is, most of the world outside the USA does not think like you.
I read of this one guy who was held down and circumcised. He latter came back and tried to kill the doctor who did it to him. That is a pretty powerful emotion. That guy put a lot of emphasis on the last two inches of his dick.
With all that there is out there, from testimonials to medical reports you are just looking ignorant and uninformed and you have nothing backing you up but your own mouth.
Circumcising a child with out anesthesia is torture. Sometimes the child is going to have permanent damage that is going to severely affect sex. That is just hideous. I can't wait for them to make it illegal for boys as it is now for girls.
For those of you who think that doctors are normal folks:
I know a man, have known him for years. He is not a liar. He told me that when he was born,his genitals were normal (ie, he had a foreskin) but he was born with an extra digit on one hand, ie, an extra finger.
2 days later, without anesthesia, while restrained, one doctor cut off his foreskin at the same time that another doctor sliced off the extra finger. (I've seen the scar from the finger removal.)
Today, that man has a penis that barely functions, and he is half-mad. He is under psychiatric care.
Next time you have some odd need to have ugly images in your mind - and you know who you are - set the scene up in your mind of a screeching, howling newborn, strapped down, naked, with 2 ogres standing over him, cutting him up, drawing blood.
I am a hater. And proud of it. Some people deserve to be hated.
#133264, I think polite debate is lost on you. All you put forth are crude remarks. I like how you called the fore skin chicken skin. Really nice. All you care about is 'pissing and ejaculating', very nice. I don't know how men think? Not really an issue as I have the links of how men think after being circumcised. Calling some one full of crap is a great way to win a debate. No medical data from you or testimonials. There is nothing anyone would want to hear from you, all you give is your own biased opinion. Thanks for the sympathy but I don't need it from you. I fall in the 2 percent group that had complications from circumcision and now have to deal with dick pain when ever I try to have sex. That is true whether you believe it or not.
I am not debating you any more. I feel you have nothing intelligent to say.
Check out 'this is a Must Read'. It is a post on circumcision in this forum. It is about the function of the foreskin during sex, the pleasure it gives and how men are affected with out their fore skin.
For me sex is cruel. I get excited with a girl then when I make contact with the circumcised area I feel pain. Not a lot of pain, just enough to sense something is not right. That is due to some damaged nerves. It is a viscous cycle. It is like I was forced into a sado masochistic sexua| life style by the circumcision that was performed on me. It is disgusting. I can not believe this was done to me.
For the longest time I flinched when a girl moved close to my groin and I did not know why. Then I was like duh, that hurts. I grew up not understanding why my body was like that.
I have looked into what I can do medically, but I have not found anything yet except a couple ways to restore the fore skin. If anyone has any ideas, especially for damaged nerves, I would appreciate them.