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Originally Posted by Bond
Well... I don't know if circumcision perpetuates an anti-sex/pleasure mentality (maybe it does this because it is perceived of doing this), but circumcision is certainly, at least partly, grounded in religious tradition dating back thousands of years.
Now, one can debate the legitimacy of these traditions, whether they still apply to today's time, etc, but there is always (I think) intrinsic worth in practicing traditions.
As far as the societal impact of circumcision goes, I'd say it is minimal. There isn't much discrimination that can result from a man being or not being circumcised, minus in the bedroom, of course.
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The adoption of circumcision into our culture is where I think some of the anti-sex context comes from (the Victorian era was fuuuckked up):
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Several hypotheses have been raised in explaining the American public's acceptance of infant circumcision as preventive medicine. The success of the germ theory of disease had not only enabled physicians to combat many of the postoperative complications of surgery, but had made the wider public deeply suspicious of dirt and bodily secretions. Accordingly, the smegma that collects under the foreskin was viewed as unhealthy, and circumcision readily accepted as good penile hygiene.[72] Secondly, moral sentiment of the day regarded masturbation as not only sinful, but also physically and mentally unhealthy, stimulating the foreskin to produce the host of maladies of which it was suspected. In this climate, circumcision could be employed as a means of discouraging masturbation.[73] All About the Baby, a popular parenting book of the 1890s, recommended infant circumcision for precisely this purpose. Interestingly, a 1410-man survey in the United States in 1992, Laumann found that circumcised men were more likely to report masturbating at least once a month.
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http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/...ion/id/5389099
There's also the whole church thing which dates back thousands of years.
And even from a biological standpoint; removing thousands of nerve cells that elicit sexual pleasure, seems sort of anti-pleasure.
There's so much gray area, it makes this a fun topic.
For the record, I also agree there is intrinsic worth in practicing tradition. Circumcision was used as a rite of passage into adulthood, a symbol of virility, improved cleanliness (which probably is void by today's medical knowledge), and religious significance.
But hey, call me old fashioned....but there's something creepy about the first person who decided it would be cool to chop off part of their own penis or a child's penis...