I was disturbed by the short shrift given to the benefits of circumcision in Carolyn Reinhold’s Sept. 18 letter, “Circumcision hurts sexual satisfaction,” and her praise of Patrina Fidel’s Sept. 9 letter, “Male circumcision an inappropriate act.”

I wonder how Ms. Fidel and Ms. Reinhold know a circumcised male enjoys sex any less than the man who “has it all.” As far as the lawsuit Ms. Fidel’s letter mentions, I think parents are still allowed to make medical decisions for their kids, even truly stupid decisions. Even if circumcision is a bad idea, its widespread and longstanding practice means that boys with more downstairs will be subject to possible ridicule in the locker room.

Whatever the motivation for the operation, parents should get to decide. And if Ms. Fidel and Ms. Reinhold felt that a parent’s hands-on medical decisions should be second-guessed by the courts almost 20 years after the procedure, I say “cut it out.”

Steve Borgman

Alumnus