Wednesday, June 4, 2008
uncircumcised
I go to a life drawing class once a week. The girl beside me is Gina who does the comic Red String and she manages Strawberry Comics (and she re-designed my website). She doesn't wear a red string, it's just from her story. And she doesn't have a strawberry shirt that I know if, but you get the idea. It wasn't until we were driving to dinner that night that she asked about the model. It's not often we get a male model much less one who is uncircumcised. I find it fascinating. You don't get to see that too often.
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24 comments:
Uhg! There are so many girls make such a big deal if guys aren't circumcised but then when they do it to girls they call it an unjustified barbarism and female genital mutilation. To those girls I'd like to say until you get your labia minora removed to please shut the bleep up.
No, really it's not that big of a deal. Which is kind of what they're talking about.
How funny! I reacted in a similar manner the first time I saw a circumcised penis.
Arikiel, I'm sorry you thought the comments were negative. I meant to express that I think uncircumcised is unique and different. Unique and different is never bad.
As far as I know circumcising a girl means cutting out the part that gives most women orgasms.
i just think its kinda funny that Jennie hasn't misspelled a single word in her blog ... i'm readin it and thinkin... is this REAAAALLY Jennie?
(ok.. so next time she sees me ..she's gonna circumcise ME for that comment :P)
is it immature to like the fact that the word circumcised has the word CUM in it? :P
I think it's funny that she's all quiet and confused. I read her stuff when she updates. I wish she was daily like you.
an uncircumcised penis has a more heightened sensation factor than a circumcised one because the foreskin allows the penis to retain its status of being a mucous membrane instead of drying out, becoming hard and desensitized. every part of the male anatomy is analogous to a part of the female anatomy. foreskin is the equivalent to a woman's inner labia, if i remember correctly. fgm, female genital mutilation, where the clitoris is cut off or mutilated, would be the equivalent of cutting off a man's penis, as the clitoris is analogous to the penis.
interesting conversation, to say the least.
jennie, love the comic, my husband started me on this a while back and we're regulars, daily. we're hoping that someone might start up a con here in OK and that you'd grace us with your presence and we'd gift you with presents, mainly booze and home-cooked food...
keep it up. love the comic. (do wish that blood & water over at vampire rave would update, i love that one)
have a good one!
Its sad that here in the US male genital mutilation is common place. When body modification is done without the choice of the individual for non-medical treatment, its mutilation no matter what excuse you try to put on it. I was lucky enough to have enough left to get mine restored. As some of the girls have pointed out, it is VERY much like having your labia removed. Sure, your still functional, but it takes a TON away. I like my sensitive skin damnit! hehe.
I fainted in class once because some girl was presenting on female genital mutilation and had some details...
Personally i like how circumcised looks better. Plus its been mentioned to me by my husband in the army that guys who aren't tend to smell very badly.
Sorry my comment wasn't directed at you or your friend Jen. You're cool about it. I'm just frustrated by the pseudo-rational arguments and gross responses that I always end up hearing from others whenever this topic comes up.
My fianceeis uncircumsized and it doesn't really change much, though he wouldn't give up the extra sensation for the world.
It did kind of startle me at first, though. Being 16 and having only minor sexual experience/knowledge, and being "exposed" to his difference was confusing, but easily accepted. (Yes, I lucked out and met my soul mate early. Was 16, now 21, and still happily together)
And Renlar? There isn't any smell at ALL as long as the guy cleans underneath it when he showers. Uncut kids need to be taught to do things like that when they're learning basic hygiene. It needs to be cleaned just as critically as FEMALE mucousy foldy bits. We are in just as much danger of having genitals that stink to high heaven if we don't wash. Of course, if the guy doesn't shower often it'll get nasty...But then the ENTIRE guy is probably going to smell pretty rank as well, not just the dangly bits.
the main reason for getting it done (other than religious), is because it is easier to keep clean when cut. You really need to make sure you clean it will under the foreskin and such or else you can get infections (and as a previous blogger said, it would smell).
I gotta say, being cut myself, I have often wondered what it might feel like if I wasn't, on the other hand, it feels just fine the way it is too.
To the people who claim an uncircumcised penis is more sensitive- If you are correct, I'm GLAD I was circumcised. If sex were any more pleasurable, I think it might kill me.
As for the difference in "female circumcision" (actually Female genital Mutilation-FGM) and male circumcision is night and day-
In most types of FGM, the entire clitoris is removed. Often times the outer labia are also removed, and sometimes they are positioned to heal together.
In Male circumcision, the foreskin (which covers the glans) is removed.
In order to approximate Male circumcision in a woman, one would be limited to removal of the clitoral hood. While some FGM (Type 1A) does this, it is significantly rare for FGM to be limited to that practice.
In order to approximate FGM in men (excepting type Ia), one would need to remove some or all of the Glans (head), and possibly cut and stitch the penis to the scrotum.
In short- not the same thing.
As for Jennie and the Spelling, I'm betting she's using Firefox- which has built in spell check.
-+G
genital mutilation on an innocent child is still genital mutilation. no matter what gender it happens to. there are varying degrees of mutilation, but still its wrong to permanantly scar and disfigure someone elses body other than your own.
circumcision is a very personal choice, and its a choice that should be left up to the person owning the penis.
(also, have you SEEN female bits? have you SMELLED female bits at the end of a long hard sweaty day? SO MUCH grosser than an intact penis!!!!!)
I think the next generation is going to see more of them. People that aren't required to circumcise their sons by their religion are more often not having the procedure done. I left the decision up to my husband with our son. He opted not to get it done, because he saw it as putting our baby through unnecessary pain, just to conform to societal norms. We're not really ones to conform, anyway. ;)
Penises aside, I just wanted to say thanks for telling us about Red String, which is now occupying way too much of my reading time.
I've never been a fan of circumcision, and feel bad I'm not intact. My wife was under the same misconceptions that most people in the US are. Over 80% of little boys have their foreskins forcefully removed in the USA. Other countries, the ratio is reversed, and in some it's completely unheard of! There's this amazing show called Penn & Teller's Bullshit on Showtime (it's kinda like a political MythBusters), and they did an episode all about circumcision. After seeing that, my wife swore NEVER to circumcise our sons. It'll be their choice, when they're old enough to make the decision rationally. It wasn't because of any of the arguments either side of the topic made, it was hearing a baby scream. It wasn't an "I want my Mommy!" kind of scream, it was a "I feel like my genitals are being pulled off with tweezers and I want to die!" kind of scream, and her mommy instincts kicked in right away.
PS. Been reading since 2006 and enjoy every panel!
"I meant to express that I think uncircumcised is unique and different. Unique and different is never bad. "
well that is a positive attitude to have!
hopefully if you ever have a child of your own, you will let them decide for themselves if they want to have part of their body cut off or not.
:p nice post! :p
Hi Jennie!
I've been reading your comic for a while now, and it's been such a pleasure. I love your comic relief. :)
Thanks for telling us about Red String! I devoured it all last night. Truly delicious.
As for circumcision, I'm pretty neutral on the issue. Not planning on having kids, and definitely not getting married yet, but if the matter ever came up between my hubbie and I, I'd probably leave such a decision to him.
I stumbled across Red String via one of the other webcomic's ads (not sure if it was this one or not) read all of it in a week! I just love it.
Circumcision: I'm from the US and haven't ever seen an uncircumcised penis first hand. I'm on the fence on whither or not to have it done if I have a son. Surely being circumcised is easier to clean, but I can't imagine the pain such a small baby must go through...Something my fiance and I'll have to discuss and decide on in the future. I'm leaning towards not doing it though.
but of course. it just makes perfect sense to leave the mutiltaion on a childs genetalia up to someone who has already been mutilated....
how about we as parents make informed decisions instead of leaving it up to someone who probably thinks "well i dont mind it too much"
besides, womens folds are MUCH harder to keep clean than intact penises. but you dont see a surge of female genital mutilation here in the US cause "its easier to keep clean"
why would our sons deserve any less protection from uneccessary surgery and pain (and possible BAD consequences like death) than our daughters do???
I keep forgetting that people actually do this in the US. It's not unheard of in Sweden, it's just not something that's done here. I've seen it a couple of times, but only on non-European immigrants. To us (culturally biased, of course), circumcision is something strange, and a bit barbaric, people in strange, and a bit barbaric, countries do. Whenever people mention things like looking better and keeping clean I feel something along the lines of "you (would) cut off a bit of a small child's penis because it looks better and you're afraid he won't learn to wash it?!". Ah, well.
//JJ
male circumcision also reduces your rate of getting (and transmitting) certain STDs.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15593753/
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