The glans (head) is meant to be a semi-internal organ, protected from friction and kept moist by the foreskin.
Many guys, especially straight men, are oblivious to the damage that circumcision has caused. They don't realize that the two-toned color of the shaft, brown rings of the cut line, or mistakes like skin bridges and adhesions are not normal.
There is a mistaken belief that the foreskin is just "a small piece of skin". When erect, the average penis has a length of 5.2 inches and a circumference (girth) of 5 inches.
Most circumcision procedures will cut 1 to 2 inches behind the tip of the penis. Let's do the math:
1.5x2=3 length of skin removed (average of 1.5") times 2 (the foreskin is a doubled-layered fold)
3x5=15 length times circumference
In an adult, that's at least 15 square inches of densely innervated penile skin that has been removed.
Soraya Miré, Somalian human rights activist, victim of FGM: "The thing that really shocked me when I came to America was the reaction I got when people find out what was happening in those parts of the world about female genital mutilation. And people were horrified, they were shocked, they were angered; it was not even a feminist stance, it was the rights of the child, taking her humanity and integrity.
But behind closed doors they were mutilating their own young boys, sons.
And it's an everyday ritual here, but people don’t see it as a ritual. But to me it's the same thing because mutilation is mutilation. What amazed me is once she showed me a tape of a young boy, who was just born having the surgery done, exactly the same way they tied us like a goat on a table. I think all of us need to protect young children's bodily integrity."
The type of male circumcision common today is not at all like the method Jews used to perform in antiquity.
The previous practice was called Brit Milah, which only removed a tiny piece of the foreskin. Often this ended up being nothing more than a nick on the penis, resulting in just a small scar. An example of this method of circumcision would be Michelangelo's statue of David. (Yes, there is an almost imperceptible circ scar line on his penis. To modern eyes, the statue looks uncut.)
After Roman Jews began to "hide their faith" by keeping their foreskin pulled over penis head, the procedure evolved to Brit Pariah which completely removes the penis' foreskin and frenulum... a "high and tight" circumcision.
When people say "circumcision has been done for thousands of years", they probably don't even realize much it has changed. The old Jewish rite of circumcision could be considered very similar to the Sunat method that Muslim families do to their daughters... just a small cut, a drop of blood, but leaving fully functioning genitalia.
There are over a dozen subcategories of FGM. What you described is Type III, infibulation, where the external clitoris, hood, and labia are removed with the vagina stitched almost shut. This is also the rarest type. Type IV is the most common worldwide -- scraping, incising, piercing. Essentially, fully functional genitals.
Routine circumcision in the US was originally promoted as a way to curb masturbation. If we are to believe that FGM is wrong on the basis that it's meant to suppress female sexual pleasure, the same reasoning can be applied to circumcision, regardless of who is promoting the practice.
Every society that practices FGM also circumcises their boys. For a given culture, the methods and conditions are the same. Tribes in the middle of nowhere in Africa that cut girls with dirty glass do the same to boy's foreskin. Wealthier Muslim countries such as Egypt and Malaysia have both done in a hospital by doctors. FGM is not always done to prevent women from having sex, nor is it always done in a heinous and barbaric way.
For example, last year a doctor in Michigan was acquitted of cutting several young girls belonging to the Dawoodi Bohra sect. It was the first, and last, case of the 1996 Federal anti-FGM law. Their method (performed in a clinic) is just a tiny nick on the clitoral hood, leaving otherwise fully fuctional genitalia.
Some opinions on male circumcision:
Nahid Toubia, anti-FGM activist and Sudan's first female surgeon: "Cutting any healthy part of a child's body, including the genitals, is wrong. The female clitoris and the male foreskin should be guaranteed the same protections as the nose, the hand, or any other body part.
Cultural and religious reasoning must be respected, reviewed, and possibly reformed on the basis of interpretation inspired by the values of social justice inherent to all cultures and religions. We must respect all parts of our children's bodies. Medical reasons for cutting the genitals should be the same as those that govern surgery on other parts of the body."
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Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Somali-born activist, feminist, victim of FGM: "I think male circumcision is worse than an incision of a girl. With boys, a lot of skin is removed."
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Soraya Miré, Somalian human rights activist, victim of FGM: "The thing that really shocked me when I came to America was the reaction I got when people find out what was happening in those parts of the world about female genital mutilation. And people were horrified, they were shocked, they were angered; it was not even a feminist stance, it was the rights of the child, taking her humanity and integrity.
But behind closed doors they were mutilating their own young boys, sons.
And it's an everyday ritual here, but people don’t see it as a ritual. But to me it's the same thing because mutilation is mutilation. What amazed me is once she showed me a tape of a young boy, who was just born having the surgery done, exactly the same way they tied us like a goat on a table. I think all of us need to protect young children's bodily integrity."
In western countries, female genital cutting is almost always portrayed using the most severe form (Type 3, infibulation) where the external clitoris, hood, and labia are removed with the vagina stitched almost shut. This is also the rarest type. In raw numbers of baby girls, South East Asia has the highest rate of FGM. However their practice, called Sunat (Type 4, scraping), consists of just a small cut on the clitoris or clitoral hood, leaving otherwise fully fuctional genitalia.
Every society that practices FGM also cuts their boys. For a given culture, the methods and conditions are the same. Tribes in the middle of nowhere in Africa that cut girls with dirty glass do the same to boy's foreskin. Wealthier Muslim countries such as Egypt and Malaysia have both done in a clinic by doctors. FGM is not always done to prevent women from having sex, nor is it always done in a heinous and barbaric way.
Even worse, the foreskin remnants are now made into a "rejuvenating" facial cream for women.
[The Guardian: Does the ‘foreskin facial’ mark the end of the world?] (https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/shortcuts/2018/nov/26/foreskin-facial-kate-beckinsale-serum-anti-ageing)
Both Ellen and Oprah have promoted it on their TV shows. And they laugh while describing how the foreskin was removed from boys