Reply #220: Cleanliness was the reason, I believe. During the 1980s and even earlier, there were women and men

[Radio_Lady]

debating this issue, both Jews and non-Jews.

I didn't really think much of having my son circumcised; it was a "fait accompli" for Jewish people in 1969.

Later, my stepson (who was circumcised in my husband's former marriage with the wife who is deceased) along with his wife, a non-practicing Catholic nurse/administrator, decided against circumcision because of their lack of involvement with any religion, but mostly because it seemed like the wrong choice for that particular mixed couple.

So, my 19-year-old grandson isn't circumcised. He went to an almost all Jewish grade school and high school, and I once asked him if he felt "different" than his father and the other boys at school. He shrugged it off as "no big deal." He's a pretty happy go lucky kid and I think his exact words were, "It's just a piece of skin... whatever..."

I also dated two men, both born in the 1920s, who were "natural". They were not Jewish and they said they had to be more rigorous with cleaning, but that was about it.

Cordially,

Radio Lady