LalaMama81: bmoscowitz: There is a very important point that none of you are considering, because you are all/mostly women. You have to also be aware of the culture you are raising your child in. The Western US is the only region where the majority of boys are not circumcised. In the South, a majority are, and in the Midwest and Northeast, an overwhelming majority are.
I grew up in the northeast and can tell you from gym class that only one boy in my entire grade, all through grammar school, was uncircumcised (and this is in a school where I was the only Jewish student, mind you). He was the boy with the "funny" or "ugly" wiener. Religious reasons aside, if it is purely a cultural decision then looking like daddy is not nearly as important as looking like his peers.
As a man, I can tell you that in childhood and adolescence, having the "weird junk" is NOT a good thing and can affect your son's confidence for a lifetime. Whether it is circumcision or an unusual bend or turn, do not underestimate its effect. You know how important a man's penis is to his personality! I am not joking here!
Are you kidding me? There are so many things wrong with your post, I don't even know where to begin.
Sounds like you are just perpetrating the idea that uncut men look, "weird." Ridiculous.
I've heard this stupid locker room line before, but it's usually from women. I've asked men about this and I've been told that the weirdo is the one checking out the other guys' penises. My husband played baseball all through high school so he was in the locker room a lot besides gym - no one looked at each other, no one cared. Most kids don't even have to strip down beyond underwear anyway.
Do you plan on teaching your children to look, think and act like their peers? I mean, if their penis needs to look the same then I guess you want them to take the same drugs, wear the same skimpy clothes, go to the same parties, etc. Wouldn't want them to get made fun of, would we?!
Sorry, but you are wrong. Perhaps by high school the maturity begins to reach an appropriate level but in grade school it certainly hasn't. It doesn't matter if I think it looks ugly or weird, kids are cruel and tease each other. Of course I am going to raise MY kid with an open mind, but it doesn't mean that other kids will have the same. Your further comments about peer pressure are reaching, hard.
It is the parents' choice, of course. I was simply presenting another factor. You can call it trivial, you can go by your locker room interviews of men that you know, but it IS a factor and one that parents should keep in mind along with others.
Our son will be circumcised, not for religious reasons but for cultural and health reasons. The chances for complications are slight, and definitely outweighed by the significantly lower risk of STDs, UTIs, and some cancers. I do not even have to think twice about a tradeoff of 0.2% complication risk for 15% drop in chance to get HIV, and big drops for herpes and HPV. Seems like a no-brainer to me, but to each his own.