I met a guy on OKC and we dated for a while. At first he said he lived in Portland, but actually live north of Vancouver, WA. Small lie, but he was nice, albeit strange. Then he started to go crazy; talking about the barrel of a gun looking mighty tasty, questioning the loyalty of his family. Then he went bat shit crazy!!! He was against circumcision and anyone who disagreed with him was a rapist. He would go on tirades about how he was raped as a child because he was circumcised and how he wanted to “actively restore” his foreskin. He also claimed that male circumcision is the same thing as female genital mutilation – it is NOT!!! He also claimed he could remember his circumcision and was “emotionally traumatized” by it.
When we broke up he took to facebook to rant his aggression and told everyone he “got dumped” because of his stern beliefs. Then he sent me a message stating that if I am soooo pro circumcision (as in not anti, so therefore pro), then I should have no problem cutting my lips off if I didn’t want to brush my teeth, or that I should cut my ears off if I didn’t want to wash behind them, blah blah blah. Crazy.
This one sounds totally made-up. But, I always love it (not really) when women sort of discount circumcision, and in most cases, actually make fun of the practice. It isn’t funny or right to inflict needless pain onto an infant boy.
Christopher Hitchens (RIP) said it best: “Full excision, originally ordered by god as the blood price for the promised future massacre of the Canaanites, is now exposed for what it is — a mutilation of a powerless infant with the aim of ruining its future sex life. The connection between religious barbarism and sexual repression could not be plainer than when it is “marked in the flesh.” Who can count the number of lives that have been made miserable in this way, especially since Christian doctors began to adopt ancient Jewish folklore in their hospitals? And who can bear to read the medical textbooks and histories which calmly record the number of boy babies who died from infection after their eighth day, or who suffered gross and unbearable dysfunction and disfigurement? The record of syphilitic and other infection, from rotting rabbinical teeth or other rabbinical indiscretions, or of clumsy slitting of the urethra and sometimes a vein, is simply dreadful. And it is permitted in New York in 2006! If religion and its arrogance were not involved, no healthy society would permit this primitive amputation, or allow any surgery to be practiced on the genitalia without the full and informed consent of the person concerned.”
Thanks for sharing your story, Anonymous. I wish you success in all your relationships.
Good news! Scientists have learned how to use stem cells to regenerate all sorts of tissue. Indeed, an organization called Foregen is researching how to apply the techniques of regenerative medicine to fully regenerate the foreskin in circumcised men. The foreskin contains up to 80% of the nerve endings in the penis and 30-50% of the penile skin. I am amazed that community funded science-based medicine may one day be able to reverse such severe damage to the penis. See http://www.foregen.org/human_foreskin for more information.
Some men experience circumcision as emotionally traumatic. Others may not. Let us remember that the personal experience of every person is valid and worthy of compassion. To learn more about the long-term psychological effects of circumcision check out a book by Ronald Goldman called Circumcision: Hidden Trauma (http://www.circumcision.org/cht.htm).
Kudos to your ex boyfriend for his courage and perseverance in the face of injustice. May he find the healing he seeks and so richly deserves.