Attitude Toward One’s Circumcision Status Is More Important than Actual Circumcision

bellend

Academic paper: "Research exploring the impact of circumcision on the sexual lives of men has failed to consider men’s attitudes toward their circumcision status, which may, in part, help to explain inconsistent findings in the literature. The current study explored the potential relationship between attitudinal factors toward one’s circumcision status, timing of one’s circumcision, and sexual correlates. A total of 811 men (367 circumcised as neonates, 107 circumcised in childhood, 47 circumcised in adulthood, and 290 intact) aged 19–84 years (M = 33.02, SD = 12.54) completed an online survey. We assessed attitudes toward one’s circumcision status, three domains of body image (Male Genital Image Scale, Body Exposure during Sexual Activities Questionnaire, Body Image Satisfaction Scale), and self-reported sexual functioning (International Index of Erectile Function). Men who were circumcised as adults or intact men reported higher satisfaction with their circumcision status than those who were circumcised neonatally or in childhood. Lower satisfaction with one’s circumcision status—but not men’s actual circumcision status—was associated with worse body image and sexual functioning. These findings identify the need to control for attitudes toward circumcision status in the study of sexual outcomes related to circumcision. Future research is required to estimate the number of men who are dissatisfied with their circumcision status, to explore the antecedents of distress in this subpopulation, and to understand the extent of negative sexual outcomes associated with these attitudes."
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Squirrel

In summary:
Men who chose to undergo circumcision were happier about it than those who were forcibly circumcised without their consent.
Men who decided not to get a perfectly healthy and sensitive part of them cut off were generally happy that they didn't do this.

Thank the Imaginery Sky Wizard that we have career academics like these to explain the bleeding obvious to us simple folk but then lock their research behind a paywall so that the people who have already paid for it via public funding have to pay again to read their findings.

intact

Did they delve into the cognitive dissonance/buyer's remorse aspect?

In my hours of reading on the subject of adult circumcision, I've found that most (not all) men who choose circumcision deny that they've lost any sensation, or that they're glad they did, and they tend to go on at length about how much their sex life and life in general have improved since the loss.

Such claims fly in the face of common sense. They remind me of the guy who buys a house in a shitty neighborhood, thinking he's going to improve things. It doesn't turn out so good for him, but he ignores the downside and brags about how well he's doing. He really has no choice but to deny reality. And he can't sell at anything other than a loss.

So, yeah, I don't care what guys who give up their foreskin have to say about it, unless they're realistic.

Bonemail666

Squirrel wrote
In summary:
Men who chose to undergo circumcision were happier about it than those who were forcibly circumcised without their consent.
Men who decided not to get a perfectly healthy and sensitive part of them cut off were generally happy that they didn't do this.

Thank the Imaginery Sky Wizard that we have career academics like these to explain the bleeding obvious to us simple folk but then lock their research behind a paywall so that the people who have already paid for it via public funding have to pay again to read their findings.

I had the same thought - research seems to confirm the obvious. Worse, it ends with the wishy-washy conclusoin that more research is needed; why not conclude that circumcision should not be imposed on minors except when medically required?

phillytugger

Exactly. Butt fucking an underage kid is illegal but if two consenting adults do it then there's no problem. It should be the same for dick cutting.

Also, one thing the 'studies' never consider is the wide variety of circumcisions and the amount of inner foreskin cut away and/or whether the frenulum is excised. This will have a dramatic effect on the satisfaction levels of the victim/patient. I would hazard a guess that someone cut as an adult is more likely to be operated on by a urologist who's more likely to do a gourmet circumcision which preserves more sensitive tissue than an OB/GYN who knows nothing about male anatomy and isn't even a properly trained surgeon and is operating on a small infant's organ where it's hard to see what they're doing.

And then there's the variable where an adult male who has perhaps has suffered with cronic phimosis for years will have a very different view of what constitutes a successful outcome.

intact

Squirrel wrote
I had the same thought - research seems to confirm the obvious. Worse, it ends with the wishy-washy conclusoin that more research is needed

Translation: We need another grant next year. Kinda how they keep the whole climate change research logroll going.

Bonemail666

intact wrote
Squirrel wrote
I had the same thought - research seems to confirm the obvious. Worse, it ends with the wishy-washy conclusoin that more research is needed

Translation: We need another grant next year. Kinda how they keep the whole climate change research logroll going.

Uh...no.

Squirrel

All good points.

phillytugger wrote
Exactly. Butt fucking an underage kid is illegal but if two consenting adults do it then there's no problem. It should be the same for dick cutting.

Can you imagine the outcry (and possible legal consequences) if you announed that you were going to get your baby son's foreskin pierced "because it looks nicer".

phillytugger wrote
Also, one thing the 'studies' never consider is the wide variety of circumcisions and the amount of inner foreskin cut away and/or whether the frenulum is excised. This will have a dramatic effect on the satisfaction levels of the victim/patient. I would hazard a guess that someone cut as an adult is more likely to be operated on by a urologist who's more likely to do a gourmet circumcision which preserves more sensitive tissue than an OB/GYN who knows nothing about male anatomy and isn't even a properly trained surgeon and is operating on a small infant's organ where it's hard to see what they're doing.

Yep. No doubt the amount of the more sensitive skin which has been retained would affect someone's experience significantly. If they got to choose the style of circumcision they would probably feel a sense of ownership and pride regarding the outcome which would also tend to make them more positive about it.

phillytugger wrote
And then there's the variable where an adult male who has perhaps has suffered with cronic phimosis for years will have a very different view of what constitutes a successful outcome.

This is always the largest biasing of the data, especially where studies conclude something like

most people who have experienced being in both states were happier after being circumcised. We therefore recommend compulsory circumcision so that we can charge people for the surgery and then sell the foreskins to Big Pharma for them to make face cream.