I know this whole male “genital mutilation” is the new big thing, but it’s a bit overblown. I remember ages ago reading about full or partial castration or clitoris removal in backwards rural places, and yes, that’s straight mutilation. But the foreskin of a penis? It’s not highly innervated and just has nearly no purpose. This isn’t 10,000 BC and males don’t run around naked dragging our dicks in the dirt. Except on exciting weekends.

I’m a male, and an RN, so I’ve seen, touched, cleaned, and inserted catheters in a whole lot of dicks. Let me tell you who has the nastiest, disgusting, and infected penises out there…. elderly uncircumcised fat guys. So filthy and unclean are those hiding little peckers it’s to the point they get wild UTIs. And a urinary tract infection and >65 years old usually means terrible confusion. Google it. It’s super common.

Also, confusion leads to falls. One out of three deaths in the US over the age of 65 is due to a fall. Not the fall itself, but the hospitalization and deconditioning they face leads to complications and a death within one year. From a simple fall, because they were disoriented, because they had a UTI, from their dirty uncircumcised genitals.

Medical staff in general are starting to argue about this, so I understand a baby can’t consent and it’s an issue to discuss, but conflating rape or sexual assault with circumcision is a stretch.