I’m sure a lot of you guys have noticed the sudden uptick in anti-circumcision advocates in western countries in the last couple of years. I think there have probably always been groups against it or at least debate, but it’s ramped up really aggressively in the last… hm 4 years or so?

Now I have a few theories on that, but that’s not really what I care about at this point. One of the things that genuinely makes my blood boil is this frequent comparison I see made between male circumcision (where the foreskin is cut off the tip of the penis after birth) to FGM (aka Female Genital Mutilation). I saw a question today:

Why is female circumcision called mutilation (FGM) but male circumcision isn't?

Which might be a fair question…. But I feel like this question is asked very much with the intention of trying to make out the two to be roughly equivalent and trying to “call this out.” In fact, FGM used to be referred to as “Female circumcision” but it was changed to mutilation in the 70s to properly reflect its severity as compared to the male practice. Anyway.

I’m sure most of you are at least tangentially aware of the horrors of FGM but just for those who might not know, I’m going to just copy and paste here:

Types of FGM

Female genital mutilation is classified into 4 major types:

Type 1: This is the partial or total removal of the clitoral glans (the external and visible part of the clitoris, which is a sensitive part of the female genitals), and/or the prepuce/clitoral hood (the fold of skin surrounding the clitoral glans).

Type 2: This is the partial or total removal of the clitoral glans and the labia minora (the inner folds of the vulva), with or without removal of the labia majora (the outer folds of skin of the vulva).

Type 3: Also known as infibulation, this is the narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal. The seal is formed by cutting and repositioning the labia minora, or labia majora, sometimes through stitching, with or without removal of the clitoral prepuce/clitoral hood and glans.

Type 4: This includes all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, e.g., pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterizing the genital area.

There are, of course, tons of complications from these barbaric procedures (especially considering that some of them are done to prepubescent girls who are held down by their female relatives on a bed and carved up with no anesthetic and a relative to muffle their screams).

A lot of FGM is done to prevent women from feeling sexual pleasure (as this is dirty) and/or to “insure” virginity for their future husband. Basically, only the husband gets to unwrap his prize: usually by cutting her open with a knife or forcing her open with his penis. She is sometimes opened further for childbirth and closed back up again.

It is still widely practiced in many African and Middle Eastern countries, and in some cases up to 98% (Somalia) of women undergo this at some point in their lives.

So, all this to say that I am seeing people compare FGM to male circumcision and it infuriates me. I don’t have a particularly strong opinion on circumcision, but I’m nominally against it because I don’t believe in non consensual body modification unless it’s absolutely medically necessary. However I see so many men blaming their circumcision for all kinds of problems and honest to god attributing all their lives’ ills to it like they’re being haunted by the ghost of their foreskin. It comes down to the whole external locus of control thing, where if you can’t get women or aren’t feeling satisfied sexually, it must be because you’re missing something that was robbed from you at birth. I hear screeds and diatribes about how circumcision has destroyed their lives.

Do I know what it’s like to have a penis (with or without foreskin?). Nope. So I’m not going to pretend like it’s my issue to speak on. But I swear to god I’m so sick of men acting like FGM and cutting the excess skin off the tip of the penis are even remotely comparable. They are not.