Joke in Reader's Digest.

[minkajane]

I saw this joke in Reader's Digest today and thought I'd share it. I think it illustrates the ignorance of a lot of people regarding circumcision (i.e., they think it's normal, not surgery, etc).

The proud father couldn't stop cooing over his newborn in our hospital maternity ward. But when it came time for me to change the baby's diaper, the man's glee quickly faded.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute! That can't be my son!" he yelled.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because I'm circumcised and he's not!"

The sad part is, a lot of people won't get this joke. They'll either think, "But why isn't the baby circ'd if the dad is?" or they'll have to look up the word circumcision because they don't realize their penis wasn't born that way.

[Treece]

I wrote Reader's Digest and stopped reading it after a "joke" about circ a few years ago. Maybe we should all write them again. At least in this one, the baby is left intact.

[tlh]

A few years ago Reader's Digest had a really good article on Waris Dirie and Her struggle to understand her own circumcision which reminded me of my own issues with being circumcised.Everything She said in the article were things I have thought and felt and it also mentioned the fight against it.Was this a joke in the book or sent in by a reader or was it something that actually happened in a hospital?

[2lilsweetfoxes]

Originally Posted by Treece

I wrote Reader's Digest and stopped reading it after a "joke" about circ a few years ago. Maybe we should all write them again. At least in this one, the baby is left intact.

Or, he just had not yet been taken for his circumcision .

[nummies]

Originally Posted by 2lilsweetfoxes

Or, he just had not yet been taken for his circumcision .

That's how I read it.

[tennisdude23]

Originally Posted by nummies

That's how I read it.

I think we need to stop reading more into things than we have to, seriously. Let's for once look at things from a positive standpoint.

[leila1213]

Originally Posted by tennisdude23

I think we need to stop reading more into things than we have to, seriously. Let's for once look at things from a positive standpoint.

I just visualized the stereotypical first viewing of the dad through the nursery window, with the nurse changing his diaper. I get the joke. The dad doesn't understand that a circ has to actually be performed in order for the foreskin to be cut off. It will be done soon enough, and he will breathe a sigh of relief that his son "looks like him" (well, a miniature version that is red, swollen and raw)...

[tennisdude23]

Originally Posted by leila1213

I just visualized the stereotypical first viewing of the dad through the nursery window, with the nurse changing his diaper. I get the joke. The dad doesn't understand that a circ has to actually be performed in order for the foreskin to be cut off. It will be done soon enough, and he will breathe a sigh of relief that his son "looks like him" (well, a miniature version that is red, swollen and raw)...

Or maybe it's not going to be performed. There is nothing to say that it will be done. That's my entire point. Why are we reading more into it than we have to. It's really completely unimportant.

[Treece]

That's what I was trying to say. THIS joke leaves THIS boy intact. THIS may bring me back to Reader's Digest. This one is good. I think there are a lot of people who don't fully understand that circ IS 100% surgery. I really don't see why some are reading this to mean it hasn't been performed yet. With the rates dropping, I think there will be men at least thinking this. (He can't be my son, he's not circed.) Our society is changing, and I think this joke is proof. Esp in comparison to the last one. I read this one as a good thing.