Parents, protect your babies. Support intactivism. The following list includes blogs, articles, and websites of interest to Intactivists that were published in the past week. This is a running tally of the ones I found interesting.

The image on the right is from Facebook. It shows a new t-shirt design that lets the world know that some men do not like that they are circumcised. The t-shirts are offered by Made by Momma, who sells peaceful parenting advocacy apparel for the whole family.
 

Monday, May 30, 2011

Male Circumcision and HIV: VIDEO: Jewish American Scholar Leonard Glick on Circumcision
YouTube video by Bonobo3D: Jewish American Scholar Leonard Glick - Circumcision

YouTube video of Jewish American scholar Leonard Glick, author of "Marked in Your Flesh: Circumcision From Ancient Judea to Modern America." He speaks of his life, his academic career, and his research on the history of circumcision. He talks about how male circumcision is a sexist practice.

Choose Intact: Think From the Beginning, Not the End
A critique of a common argument used by critics of the proposed male infant circumcision ban for San Francisco and Santa Monica, California. Critics often claim that it is better to circumcise babies because men will not like to have their sex organs cut as an adult. Duh! The critique is that, generally, adults do not get circumcised in any great numbers. Very few men willingly choose to be circumcised. Why should we do it to baby boys?

No Right to Believe: Radical, blind, fanatic, distorted
An analysis of the language used in an article in The Jerusalem Post. Inflammatory,derogatory language is used to describe intactivists and their effort to ban infant circumcision in San Francisco. Ambiguous language is used to describe the ritual of male circumcision. The net result of the cited article is to instill the idea that "they are bad, we are good" in the reader's mind.

Edge - Boston, Massachusetts: The Unkindest Cut? Gay Men vs. Male Circumcision
A more in-depth article about male circumcision and the proposed ban in California than is often seen. The article quotes various intactivist sources in a favorable light. "It is extremely offensive for someone to say it is ethical to cut off a normal part of my penis without my consent because they think I am too stupid or too irresponsible or too lazy to practice safe sex," he said. "Whether you are circumcised or not, you always need to use a condom when you have sex outside of a long-term relationship, so why cut off a part of your penis that feels good?"
 

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Sexis what you want it to be: The Circumcision Ban: Is Circumcision an Assault on Human Rights or Religious Rites?
Both religious freedom and human rights apply to the individual. Any person is free to practice their religion as long as they do not harm another person. This is where the conflict arises. Certain religions wish to cut off parts of somebody else's body, which is a human rights violation for that other person, unless they consent to the cutting. Just because a religious practice has a long tradition does not mean it should be tolerated when it impacts somebody who has not yet decided for himself to practice that religion. We should allow baby boys to grow up unmolested so that they can decide if they want part of their penis cut off when they are an adult. If their faith is strong, they may choose to do so. Many men do for religion.

The Good Men Project: What’s Missing From the Discussion About Male Sexuality?
Rachel Rabbit White's The Man Project investigates the aspects of male sexuality that don’t get discussed. This article has several men speaking out about various issues ranging from masculinity to the complexity of male sexuality relative to female sexuality. The comments provide better insight into male sexuality than does the article itself. I hope that more men speak out so that we can have our issues taken seriously. For example, how often does someone write an article about male circumcision without making bad puns and ridiculing men?

Saving Babies: Sharing the Intactivist Message
An intactivist tells how to be an intactivist. She describes ways that anyone can spread the message about the harms and risks of circumcision. The best way to ensure genital integrity for all children is education and awareness. The more people know, the better they can do. Ignorant people do not have the information and knowledge to make good decisions about protecting children from unnecessary genital cutting.
 

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

The LookOut News: Meet the Woman Who Wants to Outlaw Circumcision in Santa Monica
An interview of the concerned citizen who is seeking a male infant circumcision ban in Santa Monica, California. She is a birth educator seeking to protect the genital integrity of all children, not just girls. “There is no medical reason for cutting babies.”
 

Thursday, June 2, 2011

The Jewish Reporter: Questioning circumcision
A Jewish mother tells why she opted out of having a Bris Milah for her son and left her son intact. She has a website, Beyond the Bris, where she advocates for genital integrity and against circumcision.

Stay at Home Momologues: It's Cleaner Now...
A different way of looking at infant circumcision. What if a wife took her husband to the hospital, strapped him down,and . . . Read the post to see what this wife and mother has to say about circumcision. A great read.

Saving Babies: The Easiest Decision You Never Have to Make
A circumcision decision-making flowchart that takes a real look at infant circumcision. An easy decision is one to choose NOT to do something. A baby boy is healthy and he does not need to have a healthy part of his body cut off unnecessarily. Deciding not to cut off part of your son's penis is an easy choice. Why do so many parents make it so difficult?

Calgary Herald: Babies' Rights
A short, common sense reply to a circumcision editorial. The author notes that the right to practice a religion needs to be compared to the rights of a non-consenting person to have their whole body. The author notes that the Canadian Paediatric Society says that the complications of infant circumcision include bleeding, amputation of the glans, acute renal failure, life-threatening sepsis, and death.

Vita.mn: Alexis on the Sexes: Boy in the Hood
A report on the ManHood, underwear for the circumcised penis. The ManHood protects the glans from rubbing and irritation from clothing. When a man is circumcised, his glans is exposed to the world, or at least his shorts and clothing. The glans is sensitive mucous membrane. Over time, the eposed mucosal tissue of the glans callouses and sensitivity is lost. The ManHood protects the glans, like the original foreskin would, to prevent the irritation and callousing of the glans.
 

Friday, June 03, 2011

DrMomma Peaceful Parenting: Ballooning in the Intact Child
Penis Balloons! A description of the normal development of the intact penis. Boys who are not circumcised and grow up whole often exhibit ballooning. The boy's foreskin balloons when the foreskin wholly or partially separates from the glans and the preputial sphincter remains narrow, that is, the foreskin opening is not sufficiently large to expose the meatus. Ballooning is normal and not harmful. Parents should leave the ballooning penis alone to develop normally. If the boy is in pain or distress from ballooning, then a foreskin friendly pediatrician should be consulted.
 

Saturday, June 4, 2011

New Your Times: Efforts to Ban Circumcision Gain Traction in California
A mother is seeking to ban male infant circumcision in Santa Monica, Cal. Intactivists are seeking to protect baby boys from having part of their penis cut off. Circumcision is an old practice, but many are now learning that it creates problems for babies and the men they grow up to be.

Santa Monica Mirror: Circumcision Ban Group Targets Santa Monica
This is one of the better news reports about the Santa Monica, California, proposal to ban infant circumcision. The report briefly describes the history of circumcision and also discusses the possible constitutionality of the ban. Ultimately, the battle will be over parental rights (which includes religious practices) versus personal rights of the person whose body will be directly affected by the circumcision.

Beyond the Bris: To the Mohel Who Cut Me
A young man writes a letter to the mohel that circumcised him. He writes about how the circumcision changed him in a way he does not like. He constantly feels discomfort from his penis rubbing against his undergarments. His glans is no longer supple, sensitive mucosal tissue. Instead, his glans is dry, calloused, and losing sensitivity. He wants the mohel to know that he does not like his circumcision and wishes that he had been left whole.