The Anti-Circumcision Movement Comparing Male Circumcision To Female Genital Mutilation Is Insane
In recent years, there have been anti-circumcision movements gaining steam that mindlessly compares the circumcision of a boy with the genital mutilation of a woman. Circumcision is where the foreskin is trimmed to make the penis look awesome and also reduces the chances for STD’s. What is done to women is equivalent to chopping the head of a penis off.
Before I go on further into this, just know that a lot of the language can be off-putting, and the images, even though just drawings, can be NOT SAFE FOR WORK.
What really got me started on this rant is something that recently happened in my neck of the woods: A Detroit emergency department doctor was arrested for performing female genital mutilation on young girls at a medical clinic in Livonia, Mi (a suburb of Detroit). The doctor, Dr. Jumana Nagarwala, performed the illegal surgery on young girls between the ages of 6 and 8 years old.
“According to the complaint, despite her oath to care for her patients, Dr. Nagarwala is alleged to have performed horrifying acts of brutality on the most vulnerable victims,” acting assistant Attorney General Blanco said. “The Department of Justice is committed to stopping female genital mutilation in this country, and will use the full power of the law to ensure that no girls suffer such physical and emotional abuse.” (Via WDIV)
Here is what happens to a male when a circumcision is performed on them:
As you can see, the foreskin is removed, but that’s it. I know it looks a bit strange since the most people know is just the foreskin being removed, but it’s really quite simple. Oh, and here are the benefits of having it done:
- Easier hygiene. Circumcision makes it simpler to wash the penis. Washing beneath the foreskin of an uncircumcised penis is generally easy, however.
- Decreased risk of urinary tract infections. The overall risk of urinary tract infections in males is low, but these infections are more common in uncircumcised males. Severe infections early in life can lead to kidney problems later on.
- Decreased risk of sexually transmitted infections. Circumcised men might have a lower risk of certain sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Still, safe sexual practices remain essential.
- Prevention of penile problems. Occasionally, the foreskin on an uncircumcised penis can be difficult or impossible to retract (phimosis). This can lead to inflammation of the foreskin or head of the penis.
- Decreased risk of penile cancer. Although cancer of the penis is rare, it’s less common in circumcised men. In addition, cervical cancer is less common in the female sexual partners of circumcised men.
You can clean it easier, cut the risk of a UTI (I have NEVER had one in my life), reduce the risk of an STD, prevent penile problems, and reduce the risk of penis cancer. There are many arguments among experts about the causes of penile cancer. Dr. Williams of Lustplugs argues, however, that circumcision doesn’t have anything to do with penile cancer as long as you maintain proper hygiene.
Now let’s look at what the anti-circumcision movement compares male circumcision with:
Quite terrifying, isn’t it? This is the type of barbarism that the woman in Livonia was performing on little girls. If you know nothing about the anatomy of both men and women, the clitoris can be seen as the equivalent to the glans/penis head. What is done to women in just about every type of female mutilation is the removal of the clitoris.
Imagine if you’re a guy and you look down and have no head of a penis. All I can picture in my head is an angry girlfriend cutting it off and throwing it in the garbage disposal. At that point, my life would be over. Sure, I could live a normal life after the fact, but I wouldn’t really want to.
Now, imagine this happening in religious parts of the world all the time. There are more instances of it happening in America than ever before, but it happens in countries in the Middle East a lot. They have ceremonies for these types of things. It’s not lost on me that there’s the Jewish ceremony of a Bris (Brit milah) that has the male circumcised on the eighth day of an infant’s life. I had mine done the day I was born, but then again, I almost died because I was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around my neck, but that’s an entirely different story.
The problem is that anti-circumcision advocates — that includes women — cannot differentiate the two, but insanely equivocate male circumcision with female genital mutilation. This proves a lack of the fundamental education of the human body.
No one ever seems to bat an eye when a couple mutually decides to have the man get a vasectomy to prevent future pregnancy. This is what that looks like:
The difference between the male vasectomy and the female tubal ligation is that the tubal ligation is major surgery. It’s why men usually offer to get a vasectomy so that the woman doesn’t have to go through that. The vasectomy is also reversible, and again, it’s easier to do that than to reverse a tubal ligation.
What does that all have to do with circumcision? I’m trying to show you the extremes between the two procedures. Both the vasectomy and tubal ligation are similar in that they are procedures to prevent pregnancy. The circumcision of a male versus the genital mutilation of a female aren’t similar. The female genital mutilation has no benefits and it just plain body disfigurement based on old barbaric religious practices. The removal of male foreskin does have a religious background, but the benefits of doing so are incredible. I just hope that the anti-circumcision people can read between the lines. Having some lady yell at me on Twitter because she doesn’t know the difference is baffling.
(Via WDIV Detroit, Mayoclinic)
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Jeff Sorensen is an author, writer and occasional comedian living in Detroit, Michigan. You can look for more of his work on The Huffington Post, UPROXX, BGR and by just looking up his name.
Contact: jeff@socialunderground.com