researching religious myths is fun!

[ohgoddontcare]

excerpt from wikipedia:

Turkish, Balkan, and Central Asian Muslims typically circumcise boys at between six and eleven years of age, and the event is viewed communally as a joyous occasion and celebrated with sweets and feasting. In contrast, Iranian Muslims are typically circumcised in the hospital at birth without much ado.

"viewed

Comments

[lazer_wulf]

The only thing more cringeworthy than cutting of part of a baby's penis is cutting off part of a little boy's penis.

[elizaveta]

oh, being a girl!

i wonder how circumcision got started? i mean, i know the biblical background, etc, but i just want to know what in the world provoked the first instance of the practice? the idea of agreeing to have your child (or self, eee) circumsised is strange enough, but i figure people do it because they know that it's not going to kill anyone, and that the pain goes away. but really! who in the world would take a knife to that without any precedent?!

[mbmargarita]

well, "oh, being a girl" in America you mean... You've probably heard of "female circumsion" aka genital mutilation in certain parts of Africa, etc. It takes cringeworthy to a whole new level...

(What a fun topic of conversation, Jenny...)

yikes, you're right-- that looked pretty dumb on my part

[elizaveta]

I have, of course, but female circumcision is a pretty different (much worse) thing from male circumcision. My comment was meant in a lighthearted sense-- even (ouch ouch ouch) male circumcision at age ten or eleven is fairly lighthearted in comparison to female circumcision. I don't really know that they can be compared at all-- the procedures are done for totally dissimilar reasons, and with quite a different amount of concern for those being operated on. Even though they share the name, I feel like they're in a totally different category

Re: yikes, you're right-- that looked pretty dumb on my part

[mbmargarita]

Ah, careless, bristling, indignation, not at all. I just decided to procrastinate on some of the million YEARS worth of work I should be doing by, I guess, bringing up one of the few things more horrifying than my workload. (how's that for flippant?)

haha I knew you would appreciate Ron icon... I definitely imagined him making that face in response to the concept of any of this circumsion business. And then I thought that was a pretty weird thing to think. Yeah. Hey if no one has ever turned you on to "Wizard People, Dear Readers" (the Brad Neely commentary for HP) you should definitely check it out, that's what the quote on it is from.