Do you consider this child abuse???

Question

Circumcision and ear piercing of babies and small children...

Personally, I feel that circumcision should only be performed for a medical reason... I don't feel that it should be performed on a whim (and I don't feel that a religous reason is sufficient either)... There have been outcries in recent years about circumcision of young girls in Africa - so where is the difference???

In addition, who in their right minds performs ear piercings on babies and toddlers??? What medical need is there??? And those of us that know kids, know that they do all sorts to themselves, so what is there to stop them causing lots of damage to their ears if the stud, etc gets caught on something???

Answer 1

No.

Answer 2

Is it abuse to pierce the ear of a baby? I don't think so. If it were dangerous than the law would forbid it. What people do this: crazy ones.
Is (male) circumcision abuse? Never. But South Park has a hilarious episode on this subject.

Following your logic "what medical need is there" you could say that placing a baby in a crib and going to sleep yourself shouldn't be done either. Since the baby could roll over and stop breathing.

The genital mutilation that you talk about in Africa is totally different. It actually hurts those women to even have sex and can be very painful making sex unappealing to women and meant only to reproduce. These women have been treated like mindless humans who can't protect themselves from lust so the men that surround them (and sometimes the women) insist that the little girls have parts of the vagina removed. Make no mistake this is not the same thing as male circumcision. It is a terrible thing, it can lead to death. I have never heard of a baby boy dieing of circumcision. Check out Amnesty International's website below.

Answer 3

Circumcision is to help the man stay cleaner. Have you ever met a man that doesn't have one? I have and he hated it. Think about. How many boys, that are too old to be bathed by their mothers, will completely clean the inside of the foreskin? If it is not cleaned well, the area will not only smell, but become infected.

Circumcisions of young African girls is to take away all pleasure of sexual intercorse. The woman are not supposed to enjoy sex, however the man is. That is why there is such an uproar.

Ear piercings is something totally different. People do it b/c they want to. Yes I had my daughter's ears pierced at a young age. Only b/c I wanted mine done when I was older, and it hurt like hell. Of course now I have had them pierced several more times, but I'm older and the pain doesn't bother me. I did it so she would not have to go through the pain that I did.

However, someone else will have a different story.

Hope this sheds some light on things.

Answer 4

Well, male and female circumcision is different. In girls in Africa, it is designed to make sex painful or at least unenjoyable. In men, it is mostly done for sanitary reasons (easier to clean etc). Now, though, since almost everyone is circumcised its probably going to be easier on the kid to just do it (they won't remember the experience or the pain when they're older). It is much easier for them to have it done when they're young than potentially feel embarrassed enough later to have it done as a teenager or adult.
And they won't have to get it done later if they happen to want to marry a Jewish girl later.

And by the way, circumcision is a pivotal part of being a Jew, as it is the physical sign of a covenant with God. Given that there is no real downside to circumcision, that seems a pretty compelling reason.

Ear piercing is a little less justifiable, but again there is little downside (the odds of a really small stud getting caught on something and causing damage rather than just pulling off are small). I don't think I'd do it, but it hardly calls for violent opposition.

Answer 5

I don't think you can put male circumcision and female circumcision in the same context. Ok, so you object male circumcision because you question the need for it. However being circumcised does not impede the boy's sexual functions. A circumcised girl would be deprived of clitoral stimulation - for a girl to be circumcised is to deprive her of her right to her of a basic sexual function.

Ear piercing on babies.. well, I do tend to agree as there's no telling what a baby does. An itch on an ear may just lead to the baby pulling on the earring/stud and this could be dangerous. So from a health and safety point of view, not a good idea.

Answer 6

I'm sorry, but I think a lot of the circumcision crap is just that...a load of crap. If I have a son, I'm getting him circumcised and there's nothing anyone can tell me to change my mind. My friend's child was born last year and if they hadn't begun a circumcision on him, they wouldn't have known his penis hadn't fully formed (a problem fixed easily by minor surgery). My significant other is circumcised and has had no problems, so unless it's strongly advised against by a pediatrician, it's getting snipped.

A lot of toddlers actually request to have their ears pierced. It's not always something a mother does without the kid having a say in it. I certainly agree that the child should be responsible enough to keep the piercings clean herself and change them out, but to consider it abuse???? That's just ridiculous.

I don't know what it is with people running around screaming abuse so damned much. It's attitudes like this that keep American children soft and weak. Actual abuse is one thing, but jeez, people, give it a rest.

Answer 7

those are 2 totally different comparisons. If you poerce a babies ears before 4 months, they feel no pain as the nerve endings have not reached the ear lobe, and that is why most do it so early. Babies usually cry because of the noise not the pain. Circumcision on the other had is a cruel and unnecessary act causing an extremem amount of pain by tying an infant down and loping off the excess skin that protects the penis. In Canada you now have to pay in order to circumcise your boy as they deem it unnecessary

Answer 8

Circumcision without any reason is one of the most significant child abuse done by the parents. It deprives the child to live life normally and love like a normal human being, as designed by the nature.
Same may be true with ear piercing, if done only for the societal purpose. But it may not have that type of effect at all like circumcision.

Answer 9

http://www.eskimo.com/~gburlin/mgm/facts.html

I feel that the ritual mutilation of millions of male genitals a year is JUST as valid an atrocity as the so called 'female circumcisions'.

It is an extremely common practice in the US for non-medical reasons, purely 'it's just the way it is' and it has become ingrained into the social & medical culture. It's less common in the UK, but becoming more popular again for social reasons rather than medical.

There are very few health benefits from being circumcised...and virtually no sexual benefits, infact it WILL reduce male sensation as the glans that would have been protected by the prepuce & the associated sebatious oils (under the foreskin) develops harder keloid skin from rubbing on clothing & being permanently dry. Also, unless the 'operation' is done correctly - it can result in nerve damage, deformation and unsighty scars - not what I would call normal. As for being 'dirty' or risking infection, any young boy is capable of washing himself, and besides, it's the way we are made. This body modification to meet social standards is pathetic.

There ARE a few reasons for legitimate circumcision in my views. And although I don't agree with the PHYSICAL 'mark' I appreciate how important it is to the Jewish faith & some others.

Nearly ALL young boys have very tight foreskins - so no reason there, but during puberty in VERY rare circumstances, it can become too tight for comfort - in general, this phase will pass so no intervention is required. In very sandy locations (such as the Jews wandering in wilderness for 40 years), urinating during a sand storm may lodge sand grains under the foreskin which could in turn cause infections - being circumcised in this instance is possibly a good thing.

The myths surrounding 'increased pleasure' or 'better sex', are just that - myths. As i already mentioned the reduced sensation (I know, how can a circumcised man tell if it has been reduced....) for the male. Granted, this WILL increase his 'staying power' and extend the time taken to climax (much like an intact man wearing a condom) - but better use of technique can do exactly the same thing ;) How it affects the woman is more obvious, rather than having the entire surface of the vagina abraded by an insensitive penis, the foreskin (although fully retaracted) allows for a bit of 'slack' during intercourse.

In short - no child of mine will be subjected to this barbaric practice to 'conform'.

Answer 10

male circumcision can cause more problems that it solves. many men suffer from chronic itching of the scar site and the penis becomes de-sensitised due to the constant contact with clothing etc which has huge effects on their sex lives.. a foreskin is there for a reason. there is no hygene issue with retaining a foreskin, and if men are unclean with one, they'll sure as hell be unclean without one!!! there are alternatives to full foreskin removal, such as stretching of the skin. my son is 3 and it has been obvious from birth that he'll need something done as his foreskin is very tight, but every doctor i have seen has refused to perform the operation before the age of 4 as the penis changes so much. if the op is done on an infant, there is a very big risk of too much skin being removed.
female circs are a totally different catagory, the nerves surrounding the clitoris are cut out, and often the labia are sewn tgethert. it's a crude, cruel and completely unnecessary form of genital mutilation.
as for ear piercing, that should be the choice f the individual. if it hurts as an adult, it's going to inflict the same amout of pain on a small child, and the child doesn't have the luxury of being able to rationalise this pain.

Answer 11

Circumcision, I believe gets more painful the older the boy gets, so you are probably doing them a favour by having the procedure done when the child is too young to remember, however it still seems a bit barbaric to me.
Ear piercing I think is another story. This is done purely out of vanity....the parents vanity.
However, more importantly to me is the fact that babies, toddlers and small children run and play in a way not suited to having jewellry attached to their ears (although the same applies for any jewellry on children) and it becomes a dangerous obstacle. I get angry at parents who let their 5 yr old girls run around with hooped earrings etc...as they can so easily get hooked and tear the ear lobe. I think that piercings should be left until the child is old enough to understand and appreciate it.