Any studies on why parents circumcise?

[liliaceae]

Does anyone have links to any surveys done on the reasons parents choose to circumcise their sons?

[glongley]

A recent one (from 1999) is at:
http://www.cirp.org/library/procedure/tiemstra/

"Predominant reasons were ease of hygiene (67 percent), ease of infant circumcision compared with adult circumcision (63 percent), medical benefit (41 percent), and father circumcised (37 percent). Reasons for no circumcision included unnecessary (73 percent), painful (36 percent), and father uncircumcised (18 percent)."

I believe there is one since then that shows a higher number of parens choosing to circumcise for medical benefits rationales (reflecting the fact that more and more studies on the potential "benefits" of circumcision have been done and gotten press in recent decades). Can't pull up the citation at the moment however.

[MommytoB]

Even when you mention how easy it is for a kid to do a simple 3 R's (how many seconds does it take you intact me to do that ?) vs how long does everyone take at Hair Washing with Shampooing ?

They use the argument of how you know kids don't keep clean all the time and I'm like I'm betting a shower or a bath will keep the parts clean .

Just like how us females don't put soap down below because it would burn !

I used to do that because that's what mom taught me & I got so dry there so I stopped doing that so then Mom does that and so when I grab her garbage to clip my nails into it ! Her garbage Reeks!!!!!!!! It's like that's what I call a Bad Odor but who knows if maybe that odor comes from Menopausal wise!

[SlackerDad]

3 Rs? You lost me there.

I would suspect btw that hiding behind the hygiene and medical reasons responses is a whole lot more "to match Dad" than people are openly admitting.

[calngavinsmom]

Originally Posted by SlackerDad

3 Rs? You lost me there.

I would suspect btw that hiding behind the hygiene and medical reasons responses is a whole lot more "to match Dad" than people are openly admitting.

retract rinse replace.
i totally agree with you on the look like dad angle. i think it has a lot to do with dads self esteem. it's the "i'm circumcised so it must be the best!" kind of attitude. i think some men have a hard time facing that being cut might not be the optimal way to be so they do it to their sons so they don't have to face that possibility

take care,

[SlackerDad]

Ah, well I don't retract, just wash the outside as I mentioned before...but to each his own.

[jenP]

Originally Posted by calngavinsmom

retract rinse replace.
i totally agree with you on the look like dad angle. i think it has a lot to do with dads self esteem. it's the "i'm circumcised so it must be the best!" kind of attitude. i think some men have a hard time facing that being cut might not be the optimal way to be so they do it to their sons so they don't have to face that possibility

take care,

Yep, I think it is 100% to boost Dad's self-esteem. The "hygeine" and "medical benefits" and "hurts worse to be done as an adult" and so on and so forth are the same things cut guys tell themselves so they can feel good about being cut. So when they use those excuses to cut their sons, they are just cutting their sons to, again, convince themselves that cut is good. Then there is the "because it is our culture" argument (not talking about religion here, talking about "American" culture.) That's the one our neighbors used. Okay, dude, your grandpa came from Spain in the 40's; you or your dad are likely the first man EVER cut in your family, but if it makes you feel better to cut your son so you can convince yourself that you are part of some grand cultural tradition...

Jen