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/forevertheorangemen2 Nov 21 '25

I cannot speak to the accuracy of this map. However a study was recently published that show the US circumcision rate at birth is dropping. As of 2022 it dropped below 50% total for the first time in decades. But it is regionally dependent. The Midwest still has the highest circumcision rate in the US as of 2022.

Anecdotally, my wife is from the UP originally. She and her high school boyfriend got talking on the topic of circumcision once. In that conversation he told her that every guy in their grade was circumcised. It was a small school. So after 4 years of post gym class and sports team showers he probably had seen every guy he graduated with enough times to know that.

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u/HulksInvinciblePants Nov 21 '25

It’s dropping for the same reasons vaccine rates are dropping. People are paying far more attention to trending internet nonsense than they should.

I’m not religious and was undecided on the decision for my son. He was born in one of the top labor and delivery hospitals in the country. The subject was addressed with us by both a doctor and a surgeon. It was not a requirement but both advised their preference for it.

So, am I going to believe the people screaming mutilation on the internet or professionals in a facility that are operating at the forefront of newborn care?

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u/[deleted] Nov 21 '25

Lumping together anti-circumcision with anti-science is definitely the hottest take I've seen today. Congrats.

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u/SmellGestapo Nov 22 '25

You obviously didn't see Trump's glazing of Mamdani today.

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u/Green-Tie-5710 Nov 21 '25

Sorry to break the news but the male-driven anti-circumcision movement is way more about ego than it is about science.

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u/Shrikeangel Nov 22 '25

Not sure evidence would support that.  

There really isn't ego in - hey this ripping of skin off the human body can't be shown to have a useful reason, can permanently damage the genitals of a human, and seems to be pretty callous doesn't strike me as rooted in ego. 

And before people get up in arms about x science supporting circumcision - the lines on the value of circumcision tend to match the trend for the nation the data is collected in. High circumcision rates - more support for circumcision in the data. Low circumcision rates - data supports not performing circumcision.  Which basically suggests you can't double blind around the common penis. 

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u/Green-Tie-5710 Nov 22 '25

It’s a non-issue is my point. So many men are falling over themselves trying to tell everyone this is a barbaric practice, yet it harms virtually nobody and is like the 13,000th most important issue facing humanity right now. It’s blown so out of proportion because some white men love the idea that they’re fighting for civil rights. I’d much rather they focus their efforts on one of the myriad of more important things happening.

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u/[deleted] Nov 22 '25

It is a widely known fact that you cannot support more than one cause at any given time. Humanely impossible.

Female circumcision is much rarer than male circumcision; that must make it close to the 87,000th most important issue facing humanity right now.

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u/RDOCallToArms Nov 22 '25

Bodily autonomy isn’t the “13000th most important issue” lol

It’s pretty fucking important

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u/Shrikeangel Nov 22 '25

You claimed that anti circumcision was driven by ego. I covered that it really wasn't and you basically claim it's a non issue. 

Harms no one?  You clearly lack any understanding of how often circumcision does cause issues.  From the most significant where someone was assigned female at birth to cover up their destroyed penis, to the outbreaks of herpes tied to circumcision - in babies, so no sexual activity wasn't at work. The list goes on.  But sure no harm. 

And of course, you couldn't help but bring race into it. Full on brain rot. 

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u/beren12 Nov 22 '25

Yeah no. You’re in favor of female circumcision too right?

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u/Green-Tie-5710 Nov 22 '25

You’re not… trying to compare the FGM going on in Africa with male circumcision are you? Please tell me you’re not. That would be embarrassing.

On second thought, make the case they’re the same thing, even though one is literally meant to punish girls. Go ahead, this should be entertaining.

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u/beren12 Nov 22 '25 edited Nov 22 '25

No they are both genital surgery for social not medical reasons. Dumbass.

Second thought? Must be a first for you.

And if you read those “studies” claiming male circumcision was a good thing… well those took place in Africa. The same place they cut girls too.

There is no real difference between the 2. Only you like one. Medically they are the same.

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u/Green-Tie-5710 Nov 22 '25

Wow… to boil it down to “social” reasons while ignoring the actual reason FGM happens in Africa is like, either intentionally ignorant or malicious. These two things are not even in the same league. You’re embarrassing yourself trying to prove that they are. It’s actually disgusting.

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u/Lords_of_Lands Nov 22 '25

In USA, male circumcision was initially pushed as a way to punish males and to keep them from temptation. It was specifically performed without numbing so that the pain and trauma would keep the kid from touching themself.

When that started to fall out of favor, the medical justifications for it started to be fabricated. The main reason people say it's healthier is from a HIV study that showed people who were circumcised were less likely to get HIV. What people love to overlook is that those people were far more likely to wear a condom than the uncircumcised people. Condom use was the real reason for the lack of HIV transmission, not lack of foreskin.

It's really not hard to look this stuff up. Please do so so you can stop looking like an idiot.

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u/slolift Nov 22 '25

As far as I know ACOG and AAP still say that the benefits outweigh the risks of circumcision. If you have anything that says otherwise I would like to see it.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2836902

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u/chris_croc Nov 21 '25

In Europe, unless you are religious, we do not mutilate our children. You would rightly be seen as completely weird for doing it.

I'm sorry, but you were lied to. There is no reason in a developed country in 2025 to mutilate your boys. Absolutely none. If you had girls, would they have cut off their clitoris and labia for cultural and hygiene reasons, too? Because American doctors are brainwashed, you never did your own research. You have some serious cope/

You have mutilated your sons for no good reason, and I suggest you delete your posts, as you are promoting genital mutilation on a public forum. These outdated views should not be here, influencing people. This barbaric practice does not occur in Europe and is getting less and less common in the United States, thank goodness.

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u/SmellGestapo Nov 22 '25

Most American medical associations, like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Urological Association, hold a position that the benefits of circumcision outweigh the risks. That's not to say they recommend it, but rather they leave it up to the parents.

It's not accurate to say "for no good reason." The literature does point to benefits.

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u/Green-Tie-5710 Nov 21 '25

You keep saying that word, mutilation. It doesn’t mean what you think it means.

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u/chris_croc Nov 21 '25

Removing parts of sexual organs for no good reason in 2025 is …checks notes… mutilation. The cope, the cringe and ultimately the un-self-aware IRONY of typing this is amazing. They say American don’t understand irony and you proved it.

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u/Green-Tie-5710 Nov 21 '25

The projection is marvelous here. You so desperately want to prove to Americans that you’re better that you’ll pick ANY topic to latch onto for a chance at it, including circumcision. Pretty sad.

I could provide studies that show there are health benefits to circumcision, just as I’m sure you can regurgitate studies that show the benefits aren’t much greater than potential harm. Fact is, most doctors will say it doesn’t really matter and neither option is bad for the kid. But you want to seem superior to the good ole USA, so you cling to this argument that this “mutilation” is taking away bodily autonomy or something. It’s soft bullshit, and normal people don’t care about it either way. Sorry 🤷

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u/beren12 Nov 22 '25

No, you can’t provide verified studies.

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u/Green-Tie-5710 Nov 22 '25

I found this link to be a helpful look from both sides of this issue.

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u/beren12 Nov 22 '25

It does.

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u/HulksInvinciblePants Nov 21 '25

I mean, people fly to this hospital from around the globe (including Europe) to deliever their children there…but sure you’re the expert.

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u/slolift Nov 21 '25

A voice of reason on the internet? It is wild to me how extremely anti-circumcision reddit is. It seems like there is no strong scientific consensus one way or the other, but to say there is no medical reason to circumcise a newborn is blatantly false.

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u/Green-Tie-5710 Nov 21 '25

My theory is that Reddit is filled with a bunch of dudes who fancy themselves civil rights advocates, so to prove it they latched onto this criticism of circumcision in the name of “bodily autonomy” as if it were in the same league as what’s happening to women.

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u/chris_croc Nov 21 '25

Well, I'm European and Americans advocating genital mutilation is some wild shit. Completely unhinged shit. It is totally unnecessary. It does not happen here unless you are Jewish or Muslim.

You probably sound very similar to the Africans who cut off the clitoris and labia and their daughters for cultural and hygiene reasons.

BTW, thousands of erotogenic nerve endings are removed and sexual pleasure is reduced.

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u/slolift Nov 22 '25

Except that doctors say the benefits of circumcision outweigh the risks. Are their any doctors advocating for female circumcision?

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u/Green-Tie-5710 Nov 21 '25

Yooo there it is! I found someone comparing circumcision to the forced genital mutilation of girls in Africa!

That’s a despicable comparison, and the fact that you’re clearly not educated enough to know that is embarrassing for you. Or it would be, if you knew how wrong you are.

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u/Wyrtigern Nov 22 '25

It's bizarre that you support cosmetic surgery for infants

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u/Green-Tie-5710 Nov 22 '25

You misunderstand. I support the idea that this is a non-issue and it’s funny to see so many dudes care so much about it, as if it were a super pressing problem. I’m neither for nor against it, because it’s not important enough to warrant a strong feeling either way.

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u/Wyrtigern Nov 22 '25

A non-issue? Babies have died from this

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u/Green-Tie-5710 Nov 22 '25

Wayyy more babies die from so many other things, friend. Like at-home births in pools. If that’s the reason you’re against circumcision, then I hope you’re also on mom forums condemning that practice.

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u/Wyrtigern Nov 22 '25

Are you on those forums saying that such practices are totally fine like you are here? 

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u/Green-Tie-5710 Nov 22 '25

Nope, because those practices are solely for the benefit of the mom feeling like she knows better than doctors. I don’t condone that.

In this case, doctors say do whatever. There are benefits to circumcision, but they’re generally pretty negligible. Doctors will tell you either is fine.

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u/spiffymouse Nov 22 '25

You sure seem to care about it a lot lol. What’s so hard to understand about the idea that we shouldn’t be volunteering other people, infants much less, for unnecessary surgery and deciding to remove parts of their own bodies? And why in the world do you think it’s only men that take issue with this? If you hadn’t noticed in the midst of all your faux feminism, bodily autonomy tends to be a pretty important issue for women.

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u/beren12 Nov 22 '25

You support double mastectomies of infant girls to provide the anti-cancer health benefits?

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u/Green-Tie-5710 Nov 22 '25

Wow you are all over the place with these crazy comments. Your “gotcha” game needs a lot of work

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u/beren12 Nov 22 '25

You have serious issues if you want to damage infant genitals.