Week of 6/8: Live!

[Kryptonite]

Howard Stern is live this week on SiriusXM Howard 100 and the SiriusXM app. On today's show, Howard mentioned having to go to his grandson's bris. Matt Friend was the impersonator when the grandson called in to talk about it. Ronnie and Sam also had a moment.

Patton Oswalt is doing a guest DJ spot on Howard 101 this Friday night.

 

[scotchandcigar]

On today's show, Howard mentioned having to go to his grandson's bris.

Guess he gave up his battle against circumcision, along with marriage.

 

[Kryptonite]

Guess he gave up his battle against circumcision, along with marriage.

One of his daughters is apparently a "super-Jew" and yeah, he didn't apparently get much of a say. Honestly, if he had a son, I think he would have done it only because Allison and maybe his parents.

On the WUS, they had all sorts of callers talking about their own kids. Someone said they did it but regretted it. The vast majority of people didn't seem to have regrets.

I think someone mentioned the whole "match the friends" argument and that makes absolutely no sense. I can't imagine what happens in a women's locker room, but imagine if someone sees another woman/girl who looks different, the mouth is kept shut.

When it comes time to change clothes, there's almost always an option that involves being in private.

Pools? Change at home. If changing in the locker room happens, there's a towel or a private stall, just as there is in a women's locker room.

Sleepovers? There's always another room if getting naked happens.

Summer camp? There's towels and stalls if other kids are around. For showering, it's not like you're gonna get totally clean anyway, so if anyone is shy, shower in a bathing suit...

I'd imagine all that stuff applies to girls too.

When I was in the college dorm, our showers were private stalls. I had a roommate and we'd wrap in towels. I went the entire academic year without knowing his circumcision situation.

The only times it *might* be a situation is some sort of situation where the kids all pee on the fire at the same time (or a Richard and Sal "share the toilet" thing) or they get in a line for a distance contest...and that's obviously voluntarily for all involved.

The other time? If the kid wants to show it to friends...and that's obviously only with consent of the owner.


During the WUS, a woman called in and said her son had his fall off a few days later, but the second son came back and it was already cut off. (The first was Plastibell and the second was Gomco Clamp where you need gauze and Vaseline, but they didn't know that.)

Someone I know said her son hated the gauze and Vaseline. They only did it because the dad was and wanted it for the kid. The mom didn't know or care either way. Along that note, another mom I know was relatively ignorant and wanted to do it "it seems most everyone is and it doesn't seem like a huge deal" but the dad pushed back and the son wasn't...partially because of something they found that said it could affect the brain. He has friends of both types and it's not an issue.

 

[scotchandcigar]

I always thought Howard's opposition was reactive and ignorant. As in "it's an unnecessary religious tradition, conceived by barbaric, warring people. Beth and I save cats; we would never do anything violent or abusive to a living thing."

But the truth is that it has practical benefits, and is based upon sound science, like all ancient Jewish customs. And, of course, the big thing is that it has nothing to do with Judaism (the Bris does, but not the procedure). At one point in the US, I think 70% of boys were circumcised. That's a lot more than the 2% of the population that's Jewish.

 

[Kryptonite]

I always thought Howard's opposition was reactive and ignorant. As in "it's an unnecessary religious tradition, conceived by barbaric, warring people. Beth and I save cats; we would never do anything violent or abusive to a living thing."

But the truth is that it has practical benefits, and is based upon sound science, like all ancient Jewish customs. And, of course, the big thing is that it has nothing to do with Judaism (the Bris does, but not the procedure). At one point in the US, I think 70% of boys were circumcised. That's a lot more than the 2% of the population that's Jewish.

What's interesting is that the ancient version wasn't what we know of it as. It was more like removal of the overhang. (Something about the guys changing theirs because of nude baths, but I sort of forget that angle.)

Anyhoo, the fear/hysteria in the 1800s was that masturbation lead to blindness. Dr. Kellogg was the guy who lead to the total removal/amputation as we know it now. Once the whole "masturbation=blindness" was debunked, the medical industry basically thought up new reasons to keep the money train moving. I once saw a "reasons through the decades" and it was interesting to see them change. The reasons in the 1920s were different than the 1960s, etc etc. Basically, ever since the 1990s or so, it's basically "because Dad/brothers are".

Considering most of the world isn't...where are these diseases or whatever that people keep talking about? Just like any other thing, it can be kept clean by washing.

You're right on that percentage. In the 1980s, I think it really was close to 90%. The one kid in the locker room who wasn't would have been born in another country or had hippie parents.

Within the last few years, the national average dipped below 50%, although that's partially due to western and southern states that have more immigrants. Florida might be a good example. Their rate of newborns leaving the hospital is about 30% being circumcised. I wouldn't be surprised if immigrant-centrific cities like Miami push it way down whereas "FloridaMan" areas like the panhandle and the north-central part probably keep it up. I don't believe insurance there pays for it anymore.

Someone I know lives in Tampa and she said she wouldn't do it to her son if a son ever happens. She also got her sister not to do it, although they probably weren't going to anyway. Their brother is, as was basically found out due to their mom's fat mouth during a diaper change. ("Gosh mom, I really wasn't needing to know what my brother looked like down there.")

Colorado is another good example. A few years ago, their insurance stopped paying for it and the numbers saw a decrease. It resumed and the numbers went up a bit.

It's not that people will automatically do it if the insurance pays for it, but it causes people to stop and think if it's medically necessary.

In terms of Howard being Jewish, he doesn't seem to be the type to even want to go if he wasn't a celebrity. He always seemed to be pulled into it via family association.