I've never seen a materialist takedown of circumcision before

I can't watch the video at this moment but is there a reason "infant genital mutilation is not cool" doesn't work? It's the only argument I've ever needed

Once you confront someone with the stark reality that they performed genital mutilation on an infant, you enter the stages of grief, and it's not so much that it doesn't "work", but instead, now the person confronted with this reality has to dig and dig to justify the genital mutilation, and they've NEVER had to do that before.
They'll deny that it's actually mutilation.
They'll get angry at your persistence and your unwavering position.
They'll plead and bargain over how it's actually a good thing, and how no one wants the child to be "different".
They'll become saddened by the idea that they could have done this at all, if what you say is even true.
Until, after much persistence, they finally accept your position, and realize what they did was not necessary.
This would be true for those who are cut too. For a long time, it was just "normal", and when these men are confronted with the reality that they've been living with an unnecessary mutilation, they will do the same thing. It's hard reconciling the parents you love, and the idea that they consented to your genital mutilation at birth.
I will say, among my group of friends, none of them had their sons circumcised, and among us, it's a large majority of boys within the group of kids. I don't know if that's a growing trend or just one local to me and my friends. We talk pretty openly about it, which is probably why.
- They'll deny that it's actually mutilation. They'll get angry at your persistence and your unwavering position. They'll plead and bargain over how it's actually a good thing, and how no one wants the child to be "different".
  This is what happened when i asked my mom about it. We did not reach the next two stages. We no longer speak but not at all because of this matter so i guess I'll never know if she feels bad for doing it.
  I realize I'm making it seem like it's something that I think or talk about a lot but I only get obstinate about it when it's brought up by someone else
- and how no one wants the child to be "different".
  my brother had his son circumcised even though he was thinking he wasnt going to do it because his gf/wife brought this up. i was honestly kind of flabbergasted, i didnt even know what to say, seemed like such a dumb reason i couldnt believe i was hearing. small mercies that his son will probably not really care, but still such a shitty thing to do to your child,...
I think that argument does work, but a lot of regular folks have literally never been confronted with any argument against circumcision.
- I didn't need an argument to be against it
It's fine, tbh. I'm just used to anti circ people and arguments online being mostly terrible. (not your fault, reactionaries will always be shitty)
- What exactly are the terrible arguments? Like women do it because they feel jealous of our dicks? Ok now that i imagined that strawman it looks a lot more believable

Circumcision is so fucking weird, it's just a weird cultural american/jewish/arab/mena no one else does it. Like, by default you shouldn't be cutting kid's foreskins off, but if you do there's no need to get deep about it it's just a tradition.

This post has been fact checked by real intactivists

There's depth to it. I heard that it started as an adult rite of passage into a patriarchal cult that explicitly was building bonds between men against women. When the men began to take power they implemented it as an infant mutilation ritual.

This is a materialist takedown?

It's neither. I wish there were some sources cited. Wikipedia says Brown & Brown (1987) found that the biggest correlative factor a child being circumcised is whether the father is, but doesn't explain how it got so widespread in the first place.
Circumcision was an ideology of the ruling class.
- IDK I think there's more to materialist analysis then just saying "it is what it is because of rich white men". No support for rich white men they should all get gulaged but when people shrug that off as all the explanation you should need it always makes my eyes glaze over. Just feels super lazy, and especially so in this case because it's not just a white tradition and it can be found in non-patriarchal societies as well.

I've heard the argument that it can desensitize your dick but as someone who is circumcised I have a related but opposite issue. ::: spoiler CW CSA and sex stuff My glans is permanently out because the hood isn't there anymore due to circumcision. That means the most sensitive part of my sex organ is just hanging out there, rubbing on the fabric of my underwear and so on all day every day. It's a problem with no damn solution. Some days it feels so sensitive and you are just trying to go about your day any every time you move its like, "hey, let's rub your dick; party time." It sucks. Combine that with CSA I suffered and the hyper-sexuality I've experienced my whole life, it's a struggle with being overly horned up all the goddamn time. I used to look forward to getting older when your libido drops naturally. Mine hasn't and doesn't seem like it ever will. :::

It just seems so cruel to me.

My absolute favorite discussions on the Internet are in vegan Facebook groups where people argue whether circumcision is vegan or not.