转一个不应割包皮的短文

The moment that most parents find that they are expecting or have just birthed a baby boy, the inevitable question of circumcision often arises. Should we have our baby circumsized or should we leave him the way he is? Often parents face pressure from each other, from family members, doctors and society in general to have the procedure done. They are given arguments that a circumsized penis is more aesthetically pleasing, cleaner, less prone to disease and just generally easier to care for than one that is not. Often if the father has been circumsized, he wishes his son to also be circumsized so that he won’t feel different. Many parents choose to have the procedure done without very much thought at all. It’s just what you do.

Before you make this decision for your child you must consider the whole picture and make an informed choice. Here are the arguments from the other side of the coin – the ones you do not commonly hear.

Circumcision desensitizes the penis

What most parents do not know is that circumcision for non-religious reasons is a relatively new phenomena arising in the late 1800’s and gaining popularity up to the 1950’s in England and North America. It was suggested originally as a cure for masturbation, which was seen as a great vice and linked to disease such as blindness, madness, alcoholism and many more serious diseases. In today’s world we know that this is, of course, not true.

Cutting off the foreskin of the penis leads to a loss of sensation and pleasure. It makes sexual activity less pleasing, as there is no longer a give of skin and the glans becomes desensitized due to the constant touch that occurs without the protective covering that the foreskin provides. The skin of the glans becomes keratinized and tough with a build-up of skin leading to a decrease in sensation. Without the natural lubrication that the foreskin provides, the skin of the glans can become dry and in some cases incur problems with cracking.

One must also consider that the foreskin contains 50% of the surface area of the penis. Each circumcision cuts off what would grow to be 6 inches of tissue, laden with 240 feet of nerves and 1,000 nerve endings Removal of it can only lead to a drastic loss of sensation during sexual activity.

Many doctors in an attempt to create what they believe to be a more aesthetically pleasing look to the circumcision will go so far as to remove the frenulum of the penis. The frenulum is a very sensitive flap of skin found on the underside of the penis where the foreskin meets the glans. This flap of skin is a source of intense pleasure for most men and is often likened to being the male version of the “g-spot”.

It may be hard to think of your sweet infant as a fully functioning and sexual adult male, but as his parent making this life altering decision on his behalf it is imperative that you do. Few intact male men ever make the choice to be circumcised later in life, which is something to be considered.


Circumcision carries the risk of complication

The practice of circumcision is not without risk or complication, which can range from discomfort or cosmetic problems to infection to fatality. The rate of complications during circumcision is one in 500 surgeries. There are many documented cases of botched circumcisions resulting in loss of the glans, loss of the entire penis, disfigurement and abnormal scarring and uncontrolled bleeding. The rate of death from circumcision is 1 in 500, 000. Many circumsized males suffer from common complications such as scarring, skin tags, tight and painful erections, and curvature of the penis. In the attempt to create what some deem as a more aesthetically pleasing penis, the penis can actually be disfigured.

The foreskin is, at birth, completely attached to the glans of the penis. When the foreskin is removed, it is not only a small incision that needs to heal on the penis, but the entire glans as well that has been left raw and with only underdeveloped tissue left to cover it. When separating the foreskin from the underdeveloped glans, parts of the glans surface are also sometimes removed, leading to scarring. It leaves the penis susceptible to infection and complications. It is especially vulnerable as the unprotected penis is exposed to feces, urine and chemicals from disposable diapers, substances which it would normally be kept clear of by the foreskin.

Circumcision is painful for infants

Circumcision is routinely performed without any anesthetic for the newborn baby on the premise that the newborn’s nervous system is not developed enough to register pain. The other theory is that because the newborn does not have the ability to remember the pain of circumcision, that that makes it ok. Anyone who has watched an infant undergo this procedure will indeed verify that the infant is highly distressed throughout. In fact some current researchers propose that infants go through severe pain during circumcision that can produce long lasting effects on the infant’s brain and can damage the neural centers that register genital pleasure. The pain of circumcision is so great for the infant that it is not uncommon for the infant to go into a kind of shock during the procedure, where they become suddenly quiet and withdrawn. Recent studies from the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto imply that male infants who undergo circumcision have a markedly reduced threshold for pain months after the procedure compared to male infants who remain intact. They state “injury and tissue damage can influence behavioral responses to painful events months after the wound has healed."

Anesthetic may not be the answer to the problem of pain management either. One must consider the risk factors associated with potent pain killing drugs and anesthetics on the newborn’s system. Researchers are still looking for the safest method to provide pain relief for the infant without causing undue risk.

Circumcision is not medically necessary

Many parents are still under the impression that circumcision carries medical benefit and protection from disease. We now know that this is not true. Since 1975, in fact, the Canadian Pediatric Society’s neonatal circumcision policy has been that there is no medical indication for the circumcision of the newborn male. In 1996 the CPS issued further statement saying that routine circumcision should not be performed.

Circumcision is no longer covered by Medicare in Canada, with the exception of Manitoba which reimburses doctors approx. $20 for the procedure. It is classified as cosmetic surgery and must be paid for by the parents of the infant.

The majority of Canadian babies are no longer circumsized

Current circumcision rates in Canada are fairly low, at less than 17% based on statistics from Statistics Canada in 1994, in comparison to the US where rates soar as high as 60%. The rates fluctuate across Canada with some parts of Ontario as high as 70% and Quebec reaching a low of 2.7% in 1987. The argument of wanting your son to fit in in the locker room is no longer a viable one. Circumcision rates are on a decline as the public becomes more educated on the procedure and medical literature no longer backs it up.

Circumcision does not make the penis cleaner

Many people are under the mistaken impression that the circumsized penis is easier to care for and is cleaner than the intact penis. This could not be farther from the truth. In infants, the skin of the glans naturally sheds. Because the foreskin is a relatively small and enclosed part of the body, the skin cells are not sloughed off as would be from other parts of the body, but are trapped by the foreskin and gradually work their way out the end of the foreskin as small white balls of smegma. This natural skin shedding actually serves several purposes in the infant male. It serves to help separate the foreskin from the glans over time. Smegma also serves to protect the delicate glans from irritation from urine and feces.

In the adult male, smegma continues to serve a useful and essential purpose. It lubricates the glans and keeps the skin moist and sensitive. It allows for easy movement of the foreskin during sexual activity. It is nature’s own lubricant, and is not the unclean thing that we have been brought to believe.

The intact penis is not the complicated organ that it is made out to be. It needs less care in fact, as it does not have to heal from surgery. The foreskin does not need to be retracted, and in fact retraction should not even be attempted as the foreskin and glans in infants are naturally fused to one another. The intact penis basically takes care of itself. You need only wash it as you would any other part of your baby. As your child grows older, he will discover on his own that the foreskin is retractable and should be guided at that time to simply retract the foreskin during the course of his bathing and wash himself. It is not any more complicated than that.

Circumcision is a human rights issue

In today’s world we have begun to place a greater value on the rights of each individual, and these rights should naturally, and perhaps especially, extend to our children. To be kept whole, as nature intended one to be, is almost undeniably the most just decision. It is what we were made to be, how we were designed to function. To make the decision to permanently alter by surgery an essential part of one’s person without consent is a violation of that person’s rights. It should be every child’s right to keep their body and their genitals whole and intact. A grown male can always choose later in life to have a circumcision performed. He cannot, however, re-grow the foreskin that he has had taken from him without his consent.

We have taken a stand against female circumcision, a practice that endangers life, scars, disfigures and causes a loss of sexual pleasure in women. We call it barbaric and genital mutilation. We pass laws against it. However female circumcision has never been a prevalent practice in the western world. It is easy for us to shake our head in disdain, and call the practice cruel and a violation of rights. When it comes to the circumcision of males, a practice that can also cause varying degrees of harm and loss of sexuality in our sons, it is taboo. It is so clearly seen as a normative practice in our society that to even begin to make the comparison often incurs outrage and denial. But the facts remain that we are permanently altering our sons, putting them at risk for complications and reducing their sexual functioning without their consent.

所有跟帖： 

• Well,我的意见是包皮还是出生就割了的好.原因比较自私 -醉里吴音- ♀ (229 bytes) () 12/10/2010 postreply 07:56:52

• 错错错 -目饵- ♂ (301 bytes) () 12/10/2010 postreply 08:12:48

• 你是男的吧? 你怎么知道女性感受?一发言就把男人女人都代表了... -醉里吴音- ♀ (460 bytes) () 12/10/2010 postreply 10:11:30

• 站这儿。从女同学的体验看绝对是割过的干净，舒服 -天子脚下- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/10/2010 postreply 09:11:55

• 我儿子“试图”割包皮的经历 -vest2005- ♀ (927 bytes) () 12/10/2010 postreply 08:31:38

• 美国割的大概在50%左右还在下降，除了宗教原因割的 -目饵- ♂ (151 bytes) () 12/10/2010 postreply 08:36:57

• hoho, you gals are unlucky, men should know how to clean well .. -ryr- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/10/2010 postreply 09:21:10

• 我的两个儿子中老大没做.当时在北京,我很早就带他去见医生,因为觉得包皮太紧,我妈的经验, -julie116- ♀ (2143 bytes) () 12/10/2010 postreply 12:55:16

• 谢谢分享，但是不能以12岁作为标准 -目饵- ♂ (249 bytes) () 12/11/2010 postreply 07:27:10

• 中国有很多这样的译文，非常有道理。楼上几位，不知道你们是否有过比较。 -退隐老妖- ♀ (1217 bytes) () 12/12/2010 postreply 02:22:54