A guide to convincing parents to circumcise their babies

Reblogged from Intactivists of Australasia:

To convince otherwise well-meaning parents to take their precious, perfectly formed baby boy and amputate one of the most intimate, sensitive parts of his body would take a compelling argument. While cultural and religous influences can be strong, certain pro-circumcision individuals and groups have devised a formula to help parents go against their instincts and have their baby circumcised. We reveal the secrets to their formula to help Australian and New Zealand parents identify when they are about to be conned:

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Every six months or so a group of pro-cutters will issue a press release to the Australian media with the latest 'reason' to rush out and circumcise your baby before it's 'too late'. The formula they use is predictable, and always uses one or more of these strategies. This should be mandatory reading if you are expecting a baby boy, because you will now be able to identify how they are trying to manipulate you. Or if you are a health or lifestyle journalist perhaps you will be able to put that media release under a little more scrutiny.

The top 5 most disturbing things your boy will eventually read about his circumcision

Reblogged from Intactivists of Australasia:

I sometimes hear about parents who refuse to do their research about circumcision. They have made their mind up about it and just want to 'get it done'. That's fine for them. They may not want to read about the immediate damage and risks from the operation itself, or the life-long damage it causes, but one day, their circumcised son will read these things.

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Parents who are thinking about circumcising their baby should put some thought into how they should respond to these concerns. You may not want to read about them, but your boy eventually will.

But isn’t it just a ‘useless flap of skin’?

This is a phrase that I heard quite a bit growing up in Australia. It seems it was used to make us feel better about not having all of our genitals. There are a few things that disturb me about this phrase. Firstly, the word ‘flap’ implies that it is this loose extra bit of skin that just flops around and gets in the way. The truth is that it is not a ‘flap’, but a tight structure that sits snugly all the way around the circumference of the glans. It has many functions, including a sophisticated ‘gliding’ or ‘rolling’ mechanical action during sexual activity – something that is difficult to explain to a generation of Australian men and their partners who have never experienced sex as nature intended it.

Futher information on the function of the foreskin can be found at the following link:

http://skinfore.blogspot.com.au/

 

Honoring David Reimer

Reblogged from The Intact America Blog:

Eight years ago today, on May 5, 2004, David Reimer took his own life. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, a twin son of working class Canadian parents, David became famous as the subject of John Colapinto’s book, As Nature Made Him—the story of a boy forced to live as a girl until, upon finding out the truth about his history, he heroically emerged as… well, as himself.

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David was featured on Australian 60 Minutes many years ago, before he tragically took his own life. This is one the initial things that got me thinking about my own circumcision, and how damaging it is.

Circumcision and cancer of the penis in Australia

Circumcision is often quoted as being “a cure searching for a disease”. It was made popular in western societies in the Victorian period as a cure for masturbation, which was thought to be an evil that then caused all sorts of diseases.

Since then, pro-circumcision advocates have tried to find a disease that circumcision will ‘cure’ or prevent. One of the latest inventions is that somehow circumcision can prevent cancer of the penis.

The only person I’ve ever heard who contracted penile cancer was Al Pacino’s character Benjamin ‘Lefty’ Ruggiero from the Johnny Depp film ‘Donnie Brasco’. Apart from this, does anyone know anyone in Australia who has cancer of the penis? No? Well that is because it is extremely rare, accounting for less than 1% of all male cancers. And those cases occur in elderly men. Even if circumcision was a factor, would you amputate a healthy, functional part of your baby to try to reduce the risk of a cancer he has only a slight chance of getting late in life?

In any case, the medical world agrees that circumcision is unlikely to be a factor. The real world evidence shows that there is no difference in the rate of cancer of the penis between countries with relatively high circumcision rates (such as the USA) and low circumcision rates (such as Sweden). This is from the Cancer Council of Australia:

“In developed countries penile cancer is a relatively rare disease, with an incidence of approximately 1 in 100,000. The absence of randomised controlled trial evidence, combined with the rarity of penile cancer, suggests that circumcision is not justified for the sole purpose of protecting against penile cancer”

Read the full statement here.

Prostate Cancer? Yet Another Bogus Justification for Circumcision

Reblogged from The Intact America Blog:

As more and more Americans realize they've been sold a bill of goods about circumcision, and as fewer parents are willing to allow their sons to be tied down and mutilated for a fee, physicians and others with a financial or psychological interest struggle to find new reasons for promoting the Great American Rip-Off .

This week's example comes via an article published in the journal…

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The Plastibell circumcision technique

The plastibell technique is the most popular method for circumcision in Australia.This technique involves applying the plastibel devcie so that it restricts the blood flow to the foreskin until the tissue dies and drops off. It is similar to a controversial technique used in farming in Australia for docking an animal’s tail and castration, where a rubber band (elastrator) is used.

While the pro-cutting doctors will try to tell you that the risks are minimal, you should know that babies do die as a direct result of being circumcised by the Plastibell technique:

Ontario boy dies after complications from circumcision

Canada: Circumcision questioned following plastibell death

One myth about this technique is that it doesnt involve cutting. See this post from BubHub on the truth of what is involved.

More information can be found at the following links:

http://www.drmomma.org/2009/08/plastibell-infant-circumcision.html

http://www.drmomma.org/2012/03/plastibell-lie.html

Warning: graphical pictures of severe infections as a result of Plastibell circumcisions:

http://www.cirp.org/library/complications/woodside2/

http://www.drmomma.org/2009/11/massive-infection-takes-over-body-after.html

Circumcision decision maker

Circumcision is a permament body modification that will affect your child’s comfort and every sexual experience for life. Therefore it is a decision that should not be taken lightly. The following decision making tool will help you make this decision:

Circumcision decision maker.

A new father’s view of circumcision

Finding out that you’re going to be a parent is an exciting, yet surreal, moment.

But, if you’ve got a boy on the way, one of the decisions you’ll need to make is whether his penis will circumcised or not. This is the decision that my fianceé left to me last year when we found out the sex.

Anna was indifferent about it, and I just assumed our boy would be circumcised, mostly because I am myself. We also live in the United States (New Jersey to be particular) and it just seemed like something everybody does.

Read the full article at the following link:
http://sites.google.com/site/completebaby/father

Guest Blogger: Alan Cumming!

Reblogged from The Intact America Blog:

As you may know, Alan Cumming, star of stage and screen, is a vocal supporter of intactivism, and serves on Intact America's Board of Advocates. Alan was recently asked by the Wall Street Journal to write about circumcision, but the paper's editors ultimately felt his essay was "too raw" for their readers. We are delighted to print it here, with Alan's permission, in its entirety.

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