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By Larissa Boeck

Two pregnant moms are sitting together on a park bench after their birthing class. One mom turns to the other and says, “So you’re getting your son the penis reduction surgery right?”

“Penis reduction surgery?”

“Oh yes.  All the men in my family had the penis reduction surgery done at birth. As a matter of fact, I can’t think of a single man who hasn’t had it done. I’ve asked them what they think and they all say it’s way better.”

“Why do they get it done? I’ve never really thought about it.”

“Well, all the other boys I know of have had it done and I wouldn’t want my son to be the odd one out. If he has the biggest penis in the locker room he’ll get made fun of by all his friends! Girls won’t want to date him once they hear about how big his penis is. I mean it would be cruel to make him go through life with a bigger penis! The smaller ones are so much more attractive.”

“But is that really for you to decide? Can’t he do it later if he wants to?”

“Well it’s a personal decision every parent makes for their son based on what’s best for their family. If we get it done when he’s a baby he won’t remember it, and he’ll thank us for it when he’s older! My husband is glad it was done to him as a baby, and we were told if daddy had the penis reduction surgery then his son should too so their penises look alike.”

By now you’re probably saying to yourself, Penis reduction surgery for infants? What a joke!

Believe it or not it’s the most frequently performed surgical procedure in the United States. If you haven’t caught on by now we’re talking about neonatal circumcision. All the commonly believed benefits about circumcision sure sound great. It’s “cleaner,” they say. He’ll have “fewer infections” and “he’ll fit in better.” Sure, when you put it that way, who wouldn’t want to be circumcised? But suppose we called circumcision what it really is- a penis reduction surgery. Does it still hold the same appeal?

It’s one of the most commonly asked questions we hear from insecure men: Does size matter?  Clearly it does, in today’s society anyway. Regardless of your age or gender if you check your spam filter on your email you probably get advertisements daily for “male enhancement” drugs. So in a world obsessed with penis size, why oh WHY would we inflict a surgery upon our sons that reduces the size of the organ? Because that’s exactly what circumcision does. The tissue removed during circumcision comprises roughly 50% (and sometimes more) of the mobile skin system of the penis. If unfolded and spread out flat, the average adult foreskin would measure about 15 square inches - the size of a three-by-five index card. That’s a lot!

In 1995 Australian researchers were measuring the penis size of one hundred fifty participants to better understand condom sizing. An unexpected outcome of the research was discovering the difference in size between circumcised and intact erect penises. They found that circumcised penises were an average eight millimeters shorter than their intact counterparts. Circumcision also meant a reduction in girth of the penis by an average of two millimeters behind the coronal ridge and four millimeters at the glans. (1) Physical size is not the only thing lost in circumcision. An estimated 20,000 fine touch nerve receptors are lost, along with the ridged band, blood vessels, rolling action of the prepuce, and much more. Above all the right to a whole body and the ability to have sex as nature intended is forever gone. 

Would you sign your son up for a smaller penis?

 

(1) Richters, J., Gerofi, J., & Donovan, B. (1995). Are condoms the right size(s)? A method for self measurement of the erect penis. Venereology, 8, 77–81.

Upload the PDF for the study below:

circ.penis.size.condom.study.pdf
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Comments

10/12/2011 18:51

What an awesome post, Larissa! It really is so counter intuitive how our society values "bigger" as better, yet also condones a routine procedure to make the penis smaller.

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05/01/2012 22:30

Such a great information you are sharing in the blog about the body. I like the way you explain the things. Thanks a lot...

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09/30/2012 23:01

After a long time I got something fresh and quality content on related topic. I searched a lot for the related material but got almost replica work. Keep it up! It is really very informative.

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Sam
10/31/2011 06:42

I'd imagine that taking away the skin makes it that much smaller, straight away. But then you ALSO have less room for the penis to expand, which means less of an erection? OR a painful erection. Ouch.

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MommyOf2
12/26/2011 23:16

To me, a penis looks bigger AFTER the circumcision. I personally believe it's up to the parents to decide. I have two circumcised boys. Now, i did not choose the procedure for them. My fiancee (their father) did. He works as a CNA, and has seen first hand what can happen when an intact penis is not properly cleaned. I don't really have an opinion on the matter, which is why i left it up to my fiancee to make that choice as i do not have a penis, and he does. A lot of whats on this website is overeggsagerated(sp) in my opinion, but it DOES have some acctual facts. That being said, everyone has their own opinions, and no-one has any right to tell a parent that their decision was wrong, wether they chose to circumcise or not. I don't really think either choice is right or wrong in and of itself. But if you decide one way or another, do it for the right reasons. Not for aesthetics.

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Larissa
01/04/2012 16:34

MommyOf2, since it's the parent's decision and no one has the right to to tell a parent that their decision is wrong, does that mean you support circumcision of baby girls? How about beatings? Sexual molestation? That's a parent's choice right....?

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Mary Ellen A
02/07/2012 00:15

Having a female circumsized is quite different. You are taking or cutting off her whole sexual organ done for the female to have no sexual satisfaction....not even close to male circum. Although I didn't think much about male cicum. Until attention has been brought to it lately. Much ado about nothing when it comes to male circum. That is already done.

Iggy
01/17/2013 17:42

That is an immature and obsurd comment.

01/04/2012 16:38

There are no "right reasons" to circumcise unless the foreskin is gangrened or cancerous, or if the patient is a consenting adult opting for the procedure with full knowledge of the risks and outcome of the procedure. Routine infant circumcision is unnecessary and harmful.

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Mary Ellen A
02/07/2012 00:31

Generations are all different.....So let the discision be made by the individual when they are old enough to know what is good for them........It will still be the parents decision to let them do that. No one can make me feel guilty or not a good parent for making a decision. Make your own and leave it alone.

JennyM
01/04/2012 16:49

Gee mommyof2 do you think that pedophilia is okay as well? I mean if the parents want it. Seeing as your sons were both sexually assaulted, I guess you believe that parents have that choice. What about car seats, I guess parents have the rights to choose if they want to use them too?

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Mom of 3 whole boys
01/04/2012 17:10

So, as a CNA he's seen first hand the effects of him not doing his job properly. I suppose babies should also have their backsides lopped off to prevent the inevitable bed sores caused by negligent caregivers during their old age.

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Tommy Rocket
05/21/2012 20:59

So because it LOOKS bigger to you that makes it so? Wow. Talk about logic.

In any case, a parent making decisions for a child which affect his health and well-being are vital. A parent making a cosmetic choice is not. Circumcision removes sensitive parts of your child's body. You made the wrong choice and your children may grow up angry at you for it - as I did with my own parents. You have to live with your guilt but your denial is showing.

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SBS
10/06/2012 14:28

So the child has to suffer because of incompetent parents cant clean correctly? You left it up to you BF because you failed to make your own opinion, you should have listened to your motherly instincts and protected your baby. I have the right to remind you that you betrayed your son on your son's behalf. Its not your decision, its his because its HIS body, I dont think that you want someone deciding that your female parts should be removed because they are dirty (my god, dont clean for a day and see what happens) your reaction to this will be drastic, why not have protected your sons? He was BORN with it and was his, you should have let him enter the world whole like how YOU exercise the right to YOUR COMPLETE BODY.

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Erin
01/03/2012 11:03

MommyOf2, perhaps you think an amputated penis looks bigger because of the tremendous buildup of scar tissue required to protect what is meant to be a moist internal organ, the prepuce (head)? An intact penis needs no special cleaning - simply wipe the outside. One of the only problems Americans have with intact boys penises is the misconception that the foreskin needs to be retracted, which is similar to ripping a fingernail from it's bed until the foreskin begins to separate and be able to retract around puberty. 90% of the men of the world are intact, and have no problems! Also, there are a plethora of medical issues that can result *from* circumcision (aside from the obvious - missing the best part of the penis). I have to wonder, would you argue that no one has the right to tell a parent whether or not they can circumcise their daughter? It wasn't until 1997 that female circumcision was banned in the U.S. All of that aside, it sounds like you've never seen a circumcision take place. If you are so inclined, look one up on youtube and watch it. I couldn't have fathomed that our medical community would be accepting of strapping a newborn spread eagle to a circumstraint, and cutting and tearing apart the most sensitive part of a baby while they screamed or went into a traumatic coma. I naively assumed all babies were put to sleep for the surgery. I think, if you see the process and hear those screams, and then do even a little research into how beneficial the foreskin is, you might change your mind about whether it should be a parents choice, or the choice f the boy who's going to live with the consequences for the rest of his life.

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01/04/2012 16:21

Ugh, I'm glad you responded, Erin, since I might have gotten rude to the ill informed Mommyof2. I just get so tired of hearing their pitiful reasons for allowing their sons to be mutilated. UGH again!

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Sarah
01/04/2012 16:26

My best friends husband is an RN working at a nursing home and he has seen what circumcisions can do first hand and all the misconceptions about the intact male, he has 2 intact kids and is currently undergoing foreskin restoration. I wonder which nurse is right? I know your boyfriend has a penis so you think he is better equipped to decide, but actually - you have foreskin- he does not therefore you are better equipped to decide. Circumcision isn't bad as long as it is done with consent, no baby deserves a cosmetic surgery at birth where roughly 117 boys die each year...sick!

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Marie
01/04/2012 16:52

This is the most interesting reading I've done in some time :-). I'm not a reader or a commenter but for some odd reason, this all caught my attention. I remember 28 years ago when my husband and I discussed with our pediatrician about circumcision and our unborn son. I couldn't bare the thought of a knife to my newborn son nor did I understand why. When my pediatrician who at the time was head of a neonatal department at the hospital expressed his opinion and that was that it is not medically necessary. If you teach your child how to properly care for himself, you will have no problems. Not to mention he did feel it was such a medical $$ scam that he was appalled. To this day I have never regretted the decision and was proud of my husband, that he wasn't hung up on the fact that his son would not look like father.

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01/05/2012 12:08

I'm happy to hear that there are doctors out there who admit that infant circumcision is a medical scam! Thanks for sharing that, Marie! My son's pediatrician also didn't think they were necessary and he didn't like doing them. Helped convince my cut hubby not to have it done to our son, not that I would have anyway. More people need to come forward and admit how awful it is, otherwise, the ignorance and greed will prevail! We can't let that happen!

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JennyM
01/04/2012 16:53

When will people realize that this is also institutionalized sexual assault of infants? I mean, what is the difference between a pedophile and a circumciser? The circumciser uses a scalpel. If anyone is considering circumcision for their infant, ask yourself, would you let your infant alone with a known pedophile? And then ask yourself, if not, why would you let them alone with one who's going to cut off part of their genitals? Circ is just sick and ignorant.

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Judith
01/05/2012 12:10

I wish there was a Like button! :)

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KjoS
01/04/2012 17:19

Brilliant post. Well articulated and accurate. Both of my boys are intact. I live in the US. My husband is American and circumcised. I'm British. Circumcision is not common in the UK. It's not common in Australia. It's not really common anywhere but in the US. It was introduced by puritan's in an attempt to make masturbation unpleasant. Why on earth would anyone want to continue that??

The ONLY reason people continue to do it today and father's insist upon it for their sons is that to do otherwise would be admitting that what was done to them was a violation and was wrong. And no one wants to face up to that. But someone has to stand up for the rights of the child. Men need to realize that it's a violation and it's wrong. Society has made people think that this is accepted and I've learned that making people feel bad about their decision does not help to change perspectives it just makes people put up barriers to change. I hate circumcision. I hate that it's something that's routinely done to boys in this country. I would love to see it change, but anger and vitriol to people who have done it will not bring about change, it will just make people more adamant that there's nothing wrong with it.

Educating people with posts like this. Tell parents that we know that they did what they thought was right. They were led astray by a medical system that promotes it. But it's time to put aside any guilt... any bad feeling that may come from what they read here and actually try and see the truth. Figure out the truth about circumcision. Read about it from other civilized nations around the world and then, if you believe what we do here that it's wrong, you make sure you teach as many other people as you can so that we can stop this.

<3 <3 <3

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roger desmoulins
03/16/2012 09:06

I love foreign mums who quietly point out that American routine infant circumcision is a bizarre obsession. But for millions of adult Americans, what is weird is the natural penis! Because American boys are circumcised during the first 48 hours of their lives, before mum has ever changed his nappy, millions of adult Americans have never seen an intact penis in their lives. In particular, the typical respectable and educated American woman has never been intimate with a man who has all the sexual equipment he was born with.

Between 1870 and 1950, a fair fraction of British middle class men were circumcised in childhood or infancy. So much so that in the British Services, the circumcised penis was nicknamed the "toff penis." The UK gave up this practice when a professor of medicine reported that about 10-15 British babies died every year after being circumcised. The NHS defunded routine circ and the practice soon vanished from the UK. The practice continues in the USA because American medicine insists that parents are entitled to make a free choice about how their son's penis should look and function. Of course, this choice is made in ignorance of what the tender moving bits on the end contribute to sexual pleasure and functionality.

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Devon
01/05/2012 14:21

3/8ths of an inch longer... may not sound like much when your partner is saying "slower", "faster" or "harder"...

but "deeper" ?

If there were an all-natural pill w/ no side-effects which would make a man even that little bit longer and have more girth-- most would take it, yet they don't think twice about reducing their son's penis.

No excuse for damaging the natural and complex penile structure. Circumcision is a medical fraud which has cured nothing except for the ability to fully enjoy sex.

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knot
02/06/2012 19:40

Would you please cite (link) the Australian study source? Thank you.

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02/28/2012 17:53

We have now added a PDF of the referenced study at the end of the article.

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Daniel
03/08/2012 14:10

Hi I'm hoping you can help me every time I get close to my partner I get an errection almost immediately and prematurely ejaculate which is embarrassing for both of us.

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roger desmoulins
03/16/2012 09:21

That circumcision reduces the length and girth of the penis is a minor matter. Much more serious is that circumcision could promote erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation, especially after age 40 or so. It can result in an inability to enjoy sex because of scarring or simply because too much was cut off. Some owners of desensitized penises feel little when using a condom and so resist using condoms. Others cannot derive pleasure or ejaculate from slow gentle intercourse, and so perform intercourse in a fast aggressive way that leaves some of their partners feeling date raped. Many America women have difficulty truly enjoying sex. Is the circumcision of their husbands at fault? We don't know much about the possibilities I mention here, because American medical and sexual research has yet to investigate them properly. That alone is an imperative reason to stop RIC: we simply don't know what are the adverse effects on sexual pleasure and functionality.

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Denise
05/03/2012 12:41

It is a sad tragedy that this still happens to babies.
. I guess everybody is getting the checks in the mail to keep this child abuse quiet. Poor babies.
Consider this. An infant is too young for anesthesia, but is old enough to have his penis skinned while awake,
.. THIS IS CRUEL INHUMANE AND DISGUSTING assault on a healthy infant with a deadly weapon, but OK if a parent consents. . If its legal, I can't understand their lingo. So they use a knife to make boys look like dad- What if they want the girls to look like mom? Will that be ok as long as she doesn't remember it? And what will they use to do that?

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04/29/2012 02:43

For loosing weight, this is such a great idea. People can take the advantage of this surgery for reducing fat. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!

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04/30/2012 03:26

Good post it has some really important knowledge about this topic. Hope to have more blogger’s like you sharing such nice things with everyone.

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Nice blog, giving information about penis reduction surgery. I like your site it’s quite informative and I would like to come here again as I get some time from my work and I will share it with my friends.

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Aaron S
09/04/2012 22:14

I'm uncircumcised and I often thought about becoming cut so to speak. But my girlfriend says it feels so much better with. It. But thanks to this blog and my gf begging ill think ill keep lucus's hood

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09/30/2012 22:36

Hi all! This is really a good post. It is going to help me a lot. The stuff and is very well topic related and useful for me.

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Henry
02/13/2013 12:51

I was circumcised at birth and I find that it do restrict the size of my erection. Do anyone know if reconstructive surgery will resolve this issue?

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Lauren
04/28/2013 00:22

Originally circumcision was not intended for aesthetics. It was more a religious reason and is heavily practiced by Judeo-Christian people all over the world. In America, it has turned into something more cosmetic than religious. However, I don't have an opinion one way or another on circumcision. I would rather have it done more for religious reasons as opposed to cosmetics; but this is a little easier for me to say because I do not yet have children of my own. As a young woman of twenty, I suppose I will come to form my own in due time. I'm still not sure that I have enough information on the subject to form an opinion of my own.

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lht
05/16/2013 19:13

Science: Women Prefer Larger Penises

“As you increase penis size, the amount of attractiveness scores gets bigger” in a linear fashion, he explained, until 7.6 centimeters, or 3 inches. After three inches, attractiveness still increased, but in smaller increments.

Not only were the ratings higher, but the women also spent more time gazing at the generously endowed figures, a sign they preferred looking at them as opposed to figures with smaller penises.

http://news.yahoo.com/science-women-prefer-larger-penises-203118125.html

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