Except, from all accounts, it appears to have a meaningful impact on the likelihood you'll contract an STD. Obviously safe sex is a better way to avoid that, but it's not just a hygiene consideration.
Qctually Wiki has a decent article discussing the data. It certainly is not "by all accounts" in favour of using circumcision as a tool to prevent HIV transmission. For one thing, if you tell people that circumcision will prevent AIDS, then you run the risk that they will get the idea that they don't need to use condoms anymore, or they can take on extra sexual partners. For another, this applies only to female-to-male transmission, which as I'm sure has been pointed out elsewhere on the board, does not occur with the same frequency as the reverse (or male-to-male). Sadly the wiki article only discusses relative risk, ie, "the risk of hiv transmission was reduced by half", and not absolute risk, ie, "the incidence of hiv transmission was reduced from 2 per 10,000 to 1 per 10,000" (those numbers are made up). The article lists the number of circumcisions required to prevent one HIV infection (the NNT in statistical terms) at 72. You don't have to use 72 condoms to prevent one HIV infection. There's a few other interesting bits in the wiki article, too - one link to a study done in the U.S. Navy (which has far more relevance to North America than the studies done in Africa), references to HIV caused by circumcision in Africa. <a class="postlink" href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumcision_and_HIV" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumcision_and_HIV</a>
I'll echo the sentiments of thinking circumcision was more or less the standard here in the US, and not knowing more than 1 or 2 guys that are uncut. I'm not cynical enough to think its some hospital revenue conspiracy, but rather assumed it was for cleanliness and aesthetic purposes. I realize that its not true for everywhere, especially Europe. I was in London and a drunken British girl was hitting on me and aggressively and half jokingly stuck her hands down my pants to grab my junk. She kind of gave me a surprised look and said she hadn't been with a circumcised (or "cut" or something, dont remember what she called it) since she had studied in the US. I felt like a unicorn and was viewed as some sort of sexual prize. That is until she was puking and her friends dragged her out. But that is a story for another day.
I'm a female and I never gave a fuck. But if you're uncut, you better clean that shit right. Dick cheese isn't fun boys.
Yeah, washing is important, especially after ejaculation. It can get smelly within an hour if you don't wash up. But it takes a few seconds and you just include that washing when you teach your kid to wash. The worst excuse that I have heard about why you should get your kid cut is "he might get made fun of in the locker room". Well, just tell your kid if some jock makes fun of their birdbeak to reply "why are you so interested in my dick faggot?"
This. If lost condoms were treasure and pussies were subterianian caves on the Oregon Coast I'd be Captain One-Eyed Willie. Fuck me.
I truthfully cannot understand how someone could look at their newborn baby with adoration one moment, and then lop off the most sensitive part of their body the next (without a medical reason), all because of some ancient religious superstition or because "that's just how it's done". I know they don't remember, but who cares? It's fucking cruel. They probably wouldn't remember chopping off the tip of their finger either. I can't link to it at work, but Youtube Penn and Teller's "Bullshit" episode on circumcision and watch a clip of a baby screaming (and listen to the info, I guess) and see if you feel the same. Genital mutilation seems like the perfect term for it to me (again, without a medical reason). Re: condoms slipping off...never had this happen. Don't you guys pull the foreskin back when you put a condom on? Re: girls getting weirded out...has this seriously happened to you guys? Like to the point where she'll stop right in the middle of things and say she's no longer in the mood? Yes, rubbing warm soapy water on my more-sensitive penis is easily the worst part of my day.
I have a question for the guys who never pull it down, even when they're hard. Never experienced it myself, but I've had several girlfriends tell me about guys who leave it up all the time. Why? Is this a product of never having pulled it down in your younger years? Because I've heard it hurts for some guys to pull it down, but all the uncut men I was with had no trouble yanking it down. Enlighten me, please.
I'm circumcised. I supposed it was the general consensus back then that it was the healthful thing to do. I don't remember it, and honestly the only time I think about it is when the topic gets resurrected again here as a thread. Why don't we have a thread about women's nipples? Pink and perky or Tollhouse cookies?
Not sure I follow. You're saying your GF's knew un-cut guys who never pulled their foreskin back? How is that even possible? Mine pulls most of the way back on its own when I'm hard and I don't get how a guy could pee (without making a mess) without pulling back. Or you're asking why cut guys don't pull down?
Yeah, but just to be sure that having unprotected sex prevents AIDS, you need to collect more data points.
Yes, doesn't seem to help for me. Cue the small dick jokes. (I'm average size and circumference) No, but I've heard plenty of chicks say "ewwww" or "that's gross" when asked about the subject. Most that see if can't tell the difference when it's hard. Clearly your sarcasm detector is broken.
uncut, never had issues so didn't bother to inflict it on the kids. Haven't had one doctor yet mention to me that I should have had it done so my kids will be less at risk when fucking people infected with HIV, and the last time I checked Canada had running water and soap. I've also found that not screwing people with HIV cuts down my chances of infection by 100% It does however seem like the Canadians are the ones keeping their dicks intact, and of course I have a theory. Doctor : "Wood ya like me ta sercumsize yer boy there Fred?" Fred : "Better let him keep the toque eh, it looks like it's gonna be a cold one oot thair"
I'm cut. Which I never spent much time thinking about until just recently. My wife is pregnant with our first child and we were asked the other day at the Doctor's office what we would like done if we were to have a son. I felt like I got looked at like I was some sort of fucking weirdo when I said I didn't have any idea and had never thought about it. Like either I was supposed to automatically say, 'yes, for go it' or was just supposed to do whatever was done to me without looking into it at all.