Circumcision is the surgical removal of part or all of the foreskin that covers the tip of the penis. The foreskin has a number of functions. It protects the glans – a sensitive round and bulging structure at the distal end of the penis – from general wear and tear and from irritation when the baby still lacks self-restraint. It provides lubrication and it contributes to sexual arousal.
Male circumcisions are performed all over the world. There is currently a lot of debate about circumcision, and whether it should be carried out routinely on baby boys. Male circumcisions are carried out for a number of reasons; social, cultural, religious and more rarely, for medical reasons. Circumcision is common within the Jewish and Islamic faith communities. Worldwide circumcisions are carried out by people ranging from surgeons, religious leaders, to tribal healers.
In Nigeria, as in most parts of the world, getting circumcised is more of a cultural concern then a medical one.
Are There Benefits?
- Male circumcision has often been carried out for reasons of hygiene. It is known that men who have had a circumcision seem to contract fewer urinary tract infections.
- Circumcision does offer some defense against sexually transmitted diseases and HIV.
- There is also evidence that circumcised men have a lower rate of penile cancer, a very rare form of cancer. Research is unclear about whether circumcision reduces the risk of cervical cancer – the chief cause of which is the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), often spread through sexual contact – in female sexual partners.
Are There Any Side Effects?
- Being circumcised (or not circumcised) will not affect your ability to have a baby at all.
- Since circumcision is removal of some of the foreskin of the penis, there is no reason to think being circumcised may reduce sexual pleasure.
Though, some studies about circumcision are mixed – some say it affects pleasure, some say it doesn’t. The bottom line is both circumcised and uncircumcised men have nothing to worry about as regards sexual fulfillment, or having children. It affects nothing either way!
2 thoughts on “Male Circumcision: What is the Deal?”
This cut-and-paste article is full of errors. The foreskin has several protective and erogenous functions in the man. Men who still have it (let me guess, the author doesn’t) would fight to keep it. The reference to “irritation when the child lacks self-restrain” is a hangover from the days when masturbation was considered such a terrible thing that they resorted to cutting the foreskin off to punish it and make it more difficult. “Irritation” was a euphemism for arousal.
More than 100 babies would have to be cut in vain to protect one from getting a UTI in the first year. They are even rarer after that.
The STD claim is not confirmed by large studies.
It is not a normal foreskin, but a fairly rare, readily detected and treated abnormality that is the risk factor for penile cancer, when it is neglected. As you say it is very rare: more than 1000 babies would have to be cut in vain to protect one old man – who also probably smoked.
“Circumcision” (male genital cutting) is the removal of ALL of the foreskin, which is full of specialised nerves, like the fingertips or the lips, so there is EVERY reason to suppose that cutting it off will impair sexual pleasure. Cut men don’t know what they are missing.
There are risks going all the way to death, and inevitable harms. The benefits are exaggerated when they are not completely bogus.
Thank you Hugh.
But the article did not show any preference for one or the other. In fact, it states that circumcision is more cultural than medical. That whether circumcised or not, it affects nothing in the form of virility and sexual pleasure ( the latter which you dispute).
“And when the baby lacks self-restraint” refers to the period of incontinence when passing out urine is uncontrolled.
Like most things in life that border on individual perspective, opinions cannot be the same, that much is expected. And at the risk of censorship, respected.