Say no to circumcision - 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 big news this week was the newly revised Policy Statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) "Ritual Genital Cutting of Female Minors." The policy advocates for allowing female genital "nicking." It also renames female genital mutilation (FGM) to female genital cutting (FGC) because it is less threatening.
 

Sunday, May 2, 2010

socyberty: Circumcision: Good or Bad?
A somewhat neutral discussion on the circumcision decision. The author still believes that it is the parents' choice to chop off part of their son's sex organ, although the author does point out the ethical question of infant circumcision.
 

Monday, May 3, 2010

The Stir: Babies Growing Up Fast and No More Circumcision in Sweden: Baby Links I Love
A short note about doctors in Sweden putting a stop to routine infant circumcision.
 

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

break the illusion: Foreskin envy.
An American asks for a foreskin from Australia, which seems to have a lot. He just wants one foreskin.

Diana Hsieh: NoodleFood: A Story on Circumcision
A mother's story about how she came to realize that male infant circumcision is harmful. She saw some pictures of a circumcision and that was the final straw that convinced her that infant circumcision looks like "mutilation of a perfectly good organ."

PRNewswire: American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Is Advocating for U.S. Pediatricians to Perform Certain Types of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
Press release by International human rights organization Equality Now on the new policy by the AAP. The new policy by AAP advocates for "federal and state laws [to] enable pediatricians to reach out to families by offering a 'ritual nick'," such as pricking or minor incisions of girls' clitorises.

Male Circumcision and HIV: AMAZING: Ronald Gray would rather 100+ infant boys die than to give them the HPV vaccine later in life
A discussion about a recent pro-circumcision researcher's statements in a study regarding circumcision and HPV.  He ignores the risks of male infant circumcision.

with tr@ining wheels... Circumcision...
A woman discusses male infant circumcision. She is amazed that parents decide to rempve part of their son's penis by circumcision to make the penis look "prettier."
 

Thursday, May 6, 2010

PRNewswire: Intact America Blasts American Academy of Pediatrics' Call To Weaken U.S. Ban on All Forms of Female Genital Cutting as Outrageous and Unethical
News release by Intact America about the recent American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) policy change regarding female genital mutilation (FGM). "We believe in the human rights of all babies to intact bodies, but have been focused on male circumcision because we believed the horror of female genital mutilation had been outlawed forever in the United States," said Georganne Chapin. "For this trade association of doctors to call for allowing a form of female genital cutting at the same time they are pushing to recommend for the first time in favor of neonatal male circumcision is outrageous, unethical and indefensible."

Male Circumcision and HIV: AAP okays some forms of FGM, prepares to usher in gender neutral circumcision policy?
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is moving backwards with its new policy that not all female genital mutilation (FGM) is bad. The motivation for advocating some types of female genital cutting is not clear.

NewsReview.com: The deepest cut
A news article about the male infant circumcision decision that many parents face. The article advocates leaving baby boys intact by not circumcising them. But, the article is not easy to follow and the message is not presented clearly. The article closes with a statement about choice. His body, his choice.

Impassioned Platypi: Just Say No To Mutilating Your Babys Penis
The author discusses three common reasons for male infant circumcision. The first reason is religion. "If a child is of an age where he can make decisions for himself about his body and his spiritual beliefs and he decides to become part of a religion where circumcision is required, thats fine." "The second reason, the one related to health issues, is just plain misinformed." "And that third reason about wanting the child to look like the other men in the family, as far as Im concerned thats just lazy parenting. Its also a little creepy."

Salon, Broadsheet: American Academy of Pediatrics
Another critique about the new AAP policy to allow certain types of female genital mutilation. The final paragrah is interesting: "it's key to maintain a little cultural perspective: The ritualistic "nick" the Academy is suggesting is truly not comparable to the widely accepted practice of male circumcision, which is far more extreme."

New York Times: Group Backs Ritual Nick as Female Circumcision Option
News article discussing the controversy over the new AAP policy advocating allowing less severe female genital mutilation. FGM serves no medical purpose, and it is rightfully banned in the US.
 

Friday, May 7, 2010

Intact America: Letter/Petition to American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
Intact America has a web page allowing concerned persons to sign a letter to be sent to the American Academy of Pediatrics to protest the newly revised Policy Statement.

Rabbit Write: Uncircumcised Penis Love & Penis Evolution
A video and the script by a woman who describes sex with a circumcised penis versus an intact (uncut) penis. She tells her younger self to keep an open mind. She says foreskin and the intact penis is natural. "Its the way men were meant to be, the way we were made to have sex with men."
 

Saturday, May 8, 2010

DrMomma: Peaceful Parenting: Death From Circumcision
A baby only needs to lose 1 ounce of blood to hemorrhage, and just 2.3 ounces to die as a result of the blood loss. It can and does occur at a frightening quick pace due to infant circumcision. There is a much greater likelihood of complications, including illness, infection, and death from circumcision than there is from keeping a baby whole and intact.

Purely a figment of your imagination: FGM and MGM; still a long way to go
A discussion of female genital mutilation compared to male genital cutting (circumcision) around the world. The author identifies the parts of the male anatomy removed by circumcision.

News You May Have Missed: Doctors defend genital nick for girls  Muslim girls not safe in the US?
Another blog critical of the new AAP Policy Statement.
 

A parody of the American Association of Pediatrics

The following image is a fantastic parody of the newly revised Policy Statement of the American Association of Pediatrics. What was the AAP thinking? Nothing, evidently. Thanks go to to Lauren Jenkins from K.N.O.W - Keeping Newborn Oklahomans Whole and fellow intactivist James Mac.