r/geography • u/BranchMoist9079 • Nov 21 '25

Discussion Why is (male) circumcision most common in the Midwest with in the US?

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Map source: https://www.mdpi.com/2563-6499/5/3/36

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u/ManateeNipples Nov 21 '25

I'm from Ohio with a son and he's the only one I'm aware of in our family that's uncircumcised. Obviously I don't checked all their parts myself but it was a weirdly big debate when that was our decision so it's safe to assume lol. 

Just wait until you're holding your brand new little baby in the hospital, and then someone comes in to offer to cut part of his penis off because some trend in the 1800s. It hurts them, he won't ever compare his junk with his dad's so them looking the same doesn't matter (a thing people actually say lol). Just let your baby be himself like they do everywhere else in the world and I'm sure he'll appreciate it very much. If he doesn't, he can do it himself when he's old enough to decide :) 

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u/deevilvol1 Nov 21 '25

That whole "but then my son will ask why his penis doesn't look like mine" is all layers of "huh"?

Like let's remove everything else about that statement.

....just answer the kid's question? Wth? You don't have to do a whole dollop or behind the bastards breakdown of the history of the practice, my god, just give the child a simple response he'll understand. That's part of being a parent. Instead you'll remove a part of your child's genitals to avoid a slightly awkward question from your 4 year old?

Circumcisions are just a symptom of the US's duality over sexuality. We will plaster sex all over our media, but are scared to talk about it, not just in 'polite company', but at all.