Male Circumcision Banned In Demark?
Penis.
There, I said it. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, apparently several parties in the Danish parliament are proposing a ban on circumcision for both boys and girls. This would be one of the few rare times for this, as almost always circumcision bans are focused solely on girls.
Now, I don’t want to get into the debate of which is worse. Yes, female circumcision is a horrible human rights violation and reading about it makes me sick. Especially when I read it being done on older girls who have to live with that memory on top of the horrific scaring, pain, and brutalization for life. BUT, just because one thing is terrible does not mean we should ignore all others. As a mom of boys who has been there, male circumcision is a very barbaric human rights violation also.
In case you couldn’t tell I’m pretty much in the anti-circumcision camp for boys. I’ve written before on my experience being a mother of sons, one of whom was circumcised shortly after birth. I’ve read the arguments, the studies, and the claims. Frankly, for every arguement for it there is an equal counter arguement against it. In the end it comes down to this – a newborn cannot give consent. If you want to protect your son from HIV and reduce cervical cancer as the supporters claim it will do, then fine. When he’s old enough to have sex sit down, have the talk, and if he chooses to send him off to the doctor then. Unless your 2 day old baby is out running around having unprotected sex, there is just no valid reason to have it done. (Want him to look like daddy, want him to look like other kids in locker room, and everyone else does it are stupid reasons. Sorry, they just are.)
And seriously, the “I think it looks better” arguement is disgusting. Are you seriously thinking about sex with your infant son? Then who the hell cares if you think it looks good or not. Pervert.
I’m anxious to see if this proposition goes anywhere, and just how they intend to enforce it. Will they begin a public awareness campaign on circumcision or just ban it and expect parents to go along? As Ampersand at Alas, A Blog said:
I probably favor this ban, and think Jews and others should begin using alternative ceremonies. The main reason I say “probably” is that I wonder how effective the ban will be; if the only effect is to make religious minorities feel unwelcome while they have circumcisions performed anyway (either illegally or by making a day trip to Norway or Germany), then a program of pubic education to convince people to voluntarily move away from circumcision might be more effective.
(On the other hand, if an actual ban persuades all but the most orthodox members of religious minorities to leave their sons uncut, then good.)
I’ve heard than many Europeans are less intense on circumcision than Americans are, so this might not be as big a battle in Denmark as it would be in the US. Though I can see the same myths are present even in Denmark, such as “just a flap of skin” (not even close). Who knows, maybe if this passes through it could start a whole new trend! I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed.
For additional info:
- Mothers Against Circumcision
- National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Center
- Norm UK
- Circumstitions
- Nurses For The Rights of the Child
Image source – Shune
If only such a ban would be made in the US!!
Of course I agree with everything you said 100%. Thanks for putting this out there.
As a mom of two intact boys, I’m obviously not for circumcision. I think, in most cases, it is very much an uninformed decision. Doctors do not give full disclosure to the parents and instead treat it as if it’s clipping a toenail.
My husband was on the fence about not circ’ing until I showed him a video of a circ being performed. He changed his mind in an instant and said no son of his would ever be circ’d.
Should it be banned? Well, on the one hand, we don’t think twice at outlawing female circumcision. We call it mutilation, in fact.
On the other hand, it’s a slippery slope when you begin to allow the gov’t to dictate what you can and can not do to a body.
I suppose there are two sides to that coin. I think in the US the best we can hope for is advocacy instead of legal action. And maybe that’s how it should be.
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This is a subject that I don’t have really strong feelings about, one way or another. I’m sure I should, as a mom of 3 boys, but it doesn’t get my panties in a wad. My boys are all circumcised. The oldest because that’s what everyone told me was what I should do. I was seventeen at the time and figured they (drs, nurses, family) knew best. With my younger two, when asked in the hospital, my husband answered with a “yes” so quick when we were asked that I never second-guessed him. He’s a man so I figured he knows a little more about those parts than I do. Was I wrong to have it done? Maybe.
I think it’s downplayed as being the “normal” thing to do, so many mothers (and fathers) just immediately agree because it’s what they know. The fact of the matter is most just aren’t educated on the pros and cons because it’s mostly assumed that parents will elect to have the circ done.
I’d have to agree that there should be more advocacy against it and the medical profession backing up the decision to not circumcise and maybe those who just never put that much thought into it, like me, would make different and more informed decisions.
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Our amazing pediatrician, Dr. Paul Fleiss, wrote a very enlightening article on this very subject.
Here’s the link:
http://www.mothering.com/articles/new_baby/circumcision/against-circumcision.html
We are so happy not to have circumcised our ds!
I’m not going to have children, but if I did, and had sons, they would NOT get circumcised. I’m violently anti-circumcision for any sex.
It’s good that we’re not having kids because my partner and I would probably break up over it. He’s Jewish and adamantly pro-circumcision. But I would not let any child that came out of my body ever get cut until said child was old enough to make an informed decision.
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This is defiantly good news. I did want to correct one point though. Secular circumcision is very very rare in Europe so nearly the whole population doesn’t do it anyway, only certain religious groups (Jews and many Muslims). I hope this will gain some traction and get people (especially here in the US) to stand up and take notice. If it passes, I couldn’t say how happy that would make me.
The best thing we can do as a country to bring the rates down is to pressure our state medicaid programs to stop endorsing circumcision by funding it. 16 states have successfully made this transition. Here is a a publication from NOCIRC of CO that describes the current state of the issue
http://www.coloradonocirc.org/files/handouts/Medicaid_and_Circumcision.pdf
Good for Denmark! Now the US needs to follow suit!
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Heather, the slippery slope argument cuts, or rather slides, both ways. If people are allowed to cut baby boys’ genitals what will they be allowed to cut next? Male genital cutting in the US is already used to justify female genital cutting in Africa, and in fact only one small tribe cuts females and not males (and they used to). The campaign to end female cutting would be greatly strengthened if those who do it couldn’t say “Look at yourselves!”
Shannan, a man who doesn’t have all his penis doesn’t know what he is missing, and doesn’t know better than his son how much of his penis the son is going to want to keep.
Great post! Thank you for sharing this!
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I am soooo with you! I think it is stupid and unnecessary barbaric and cruel!
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I’m completely against circumcision, but won’t dig into my friends that have done it to their sons after it’s already done.
I will put my word in while they are pregnant, but after that… phew, you will lose some friends with this topic! SO touchy! geez!
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As a Jewish mother of a son (now 25) I have to disagree to a certain extent. You have the right to do whatever you please regarding circumcision. But, to ask someone with strong religious beliefs that they shouldn’t do this isn’t right. For Jews, circumcision is supposed to be a mark that they are Jewish. As a mom, it WAS hard to watch, but the Moyel who performed this was also a medical professional. More & more parents are having this RELIGIOUS ceremony done in the hospital, rather than in the home.
Perhaps if it weren’t such an IMPORTANT ritual in my religion I would feel differently. As for those Jews who disagree, you must understand that like Christianity, where there are different “styles”, Judiasm has different “styles” as well (perhaps STYLES is not the right word). We range from orthodox (very strict), to conservative (just how it sounds) to reform (much more lax about the “rules”), so quoting a rabbi that might be “reformed” would do nothing to change the mind of an orthodox Jew.
I agree, that for those who do not see this as a religious practice – it may not be necessary. But, to ban us from our religious practices is frankly Anti-American (since America was FOUNDED on providing the free practice of religion – remember, that’s why the Pilgrims left England and came here).
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I just cannot get behind “religious freedom” as a reason to trump human rights, the slope is too slippery. Will we then allow men to take multiple wives, fathers to stone their daughters to death, and rape victims forced to marry their attackers. We have seen the rights of the children being used to trump religious freedom before, when judges have stepped over JW parents who would rather let their children die than get a life-saving blood transfusion. There is no reason why to not allow the child to make the choice for their own body when old enough to do so.
I have heard this thing about RhetComp offering more job opportunities, but that’s for people who specialize in it, I thought.
That’s the biggest thing for me. I think circumcision is similar to tattoos and piercings. (And it bugs me when people pierce their infants’ ears, and I’m sure that makes me culturally insensitive or something, but I’m already insensitive about circumcision so there you have it!) There’s a reason I had to get my parents’ permission to have my ears pierced in 5th grade, a reason I didn’t get a tattoo until I was 23.
Plus, on the religious aspect. If circumcision is a symbol of faith, or of religious identity, wouldn’t it mean more if an older child/adult underwent the process voluntarily, rather than having it done before said child was really even cognizant of the world around it?
I’m not saying I’m trying to change what Judaism is or means, it would just seem more like a commitment to one’s beliefs to undergo circumcision when one could make that choice.
Also, people have fallings out with religion sometimes. I think that had I been circumcised for religious reasons, and then I had become an atheist, I would have been upset with my parents for making a permanent change to my body in the name of a belief I no longer shared.
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Fascinating. I’ve never really read anything on the topic. …I feel a little more informed now [smile].
~Luke
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I don’t agree with it either. It should have been banned worldwide a long time ago.
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The Brit Milah is a covenant between Jews and G-d. That you would suggest an alternate ceremony shows that you are in the middle of a perfect storm of arrogance and ignorance.
A human rights violation?
I just stopped reading.
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Hey! This is wonderful news! Circumcision of both girls and boys should be outlawed! Why is it okay to perform cosmetic surgery on an unconsenting minor? Oh, I know, because of the Jews. I’m not a hater of the Jewish people, I have a dear friend (childless) who is a Jew. But please tell me WHY it’s a human rights violation to cut a girl in Africa (those BARBARIANS!) yet it’s NOT a human rights violation to strap down a 8 day old white Jewish kid from New York, USA???
Ahhh, the hypocrisy!
You know, my religion requires me to slit the throats of kittens and ponies every fortnight, to perform blood-letting from my first born daughter every time she gets her monthly menses, and to sacrifice a virgin Asian midget once a decade. Will the US government allow me to practice these acts in the name of MY religion? Of course not! My right to religious freedom stops when it violates the safety and rights of animals and humans, as it should. Why is that same right not afforded to Jewish boys, and even those receiving a non-religious circumcision in hospitals?
The cutting must stop! It’s simply insane that any government, any people would allow this. Good for Denmark for taking a stand. It’s time for America to do the same (Africa too – equal protection please)!
Infant male circumcision is a human rights abuse. Why is it that we can’t see that yet when someone pierces their kittens ear, tinyurl.com/9k9hj6 the humane society removes it from its house?
We are treating pets with more respect than we treat our boys.
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Yes Jessica, human rights violation. Some Muslims believe it’s their religious duty to circumcise their daughters btw, but that’s wrong too.
Not all Jewish people believe in circumcision. Brit Shalom is an alternative naming ceremony to celebrate the birth of baby boys to Jewish families.
These sites are all run by Jews opposed to circumcision:
http://www.jewishcircumcision.org/
http://www.jewsagainstcircumcision.org/
http://www.circumcision.org/