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.

Last week the buzz was that the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said that the male infant circumcision rate was 32.5% in 2009 in the United States. This week the buzz is that some intactivists are questioning the validity of that circumcision rate. Without having any evidence or contravening data, some are declaring that the 33% circumcision rate is false or unsupported. Unfortunately, the public paranoia has given some pro-circ advocates ammunication for their propaganda against intactivists and others fighting for genital integrity.

Until someone has DATA or FACTS showing otherwise, the intactivist cause is set back when some unreasonably question a result that can only help us persuade parents not to cut. Intactivists need to pick their battles. The 33% circumcision rate is not a battle we should be fighting. Use the new circ rate when it is helpful, ignore it when not, and move on.

Intactivists are fighting circumcision on two fronts: First, we are fighting against preconceived notions of parents who believe that genital cutting of their infants is acceptable. Intactivists need to provide information to parents to persuade them to stop circumcising. Using results provided by government agencies works to our advantage. We can use the 33% circumcision rate to debunk the notion that intact boys are in the minority in locker rooms.

Second, we are fighting against the professionals, such as Gray, Bailey, Schoen, Morris, and the like. It will be difficult to overcome this opposition unless we get the backing of a major medical organization and have sponsored studies that support our position. Without such a foundation, all we can do is cast doubt on the results that are not accurate or properly supported with data in an attempt to persuade the doctors and other professionals on the sidelines that our cause is just. Scientific evidence helps us on this front to persuade the professionals who are not biased. Questioning dubious results may prove useful. But, we need to ensure that we question the results in the proper forum and not hurt ourselves as we fight on the other front.
 

Monday, August 9, 2010

The Foreigner: Top Norwegian doctor wants circumcision phased out
‎"It’s against important medical ethics and is unnecessary. There’s no medical reason for having it done, it’s painful for some days afterwards, and there’s a possibility of complications," says doctor who is the head of the Norwegian Medical Association’s (NMA/Den Norske Legeforeningen) ethics committee.

Fridge Magnets: I care too much
A nursing student describes seeing a circumcised baby boy who was having his diaper changed. She was distraught over the harm done to the baby.

Lawn Cares: American newborn males screaming less: U.S. circumcisions drop from 56% to 33% since 2006
An update on the news that the circumcision rate in 2009 was one-third of newborn babies. The author discusses some of the reasons why the circumcison rate has fallen so precipitiously.

DrMomma Peaceful Parenting: U.S. Circumcision Rate Falls to 33%
A report of the CDC presentation at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna. A slide shows that the male infant circumcision rate in 2009 was 32.5 percent, a drastic drop from 2006, which had a circumcision rate of 56%.
 

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Meg-isms: Just Curious . . .
A mother speaks out on homebirth, leaving a baby boy intact without circumcision, breastfeeding, and researching everything instead of blindly trusting the OB or other doctors.
 

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Examiner: Why Americans circumcise
Infant circumcision is a strange ritual, when you think about it. We take our newborn boys, fresh from the womb, strap them down, and then peel, clamp, and snip off their privates. Welcome to the world, young man. Americans circumcise because they do not know better.

Male Circumcision and HIV: A CALL TO ACTION: Lobby the CDC to release the numbers on neonatal circumcision
At the AIDS 2010 conference in Vienna, the CDC stated that the male infant circumcision rate in the US in 2009 was 32.5%. The author calls on the CDC to release the study supporting that circumcision rate.
 

Friday, August 13, 2010

DiaspoRadical: Should We Really Fight FGM?
The author describes the cultural background that supports female genital cutting (FGM). She closes here blog by noting that the acceptance of male circumcision has some of the same underpinnings as FGM does in cultures that practice it.

Free Childhood!: Pregnancy journal: notes from the past on circumcision
A mother of an intact son recounts a conversation with her mother before the baby was born. The mom-to-be was sticking up for her son to remain intact, even though her mother wanted her grandson circumcised.

Enlightened Male 2000: Does Circumcision Make it Safer?
A comprehensive look at foreskin and circumcision. The post includes many pictures of intact men showing how a natural foreskin looks. The post also discusses foreskin restoration, including different techniques of tugging to restore foreskin.
 

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Male Circumcision and HIV: DEFUNDING CIRCUMCISION: Where Medicaid doesn't pay, parents ask why do it, leading to better informed consent (and a decline in the procedure)
A note that where Medicare does not pay for male infant circumcision, the parents are more likely to ask why doctors want to do surgery on a newborn baby. This helps the parent be better informed about the genital surgery of circumcision. The post includes a YouTube video by Amber Craig of NOCIRC of North Carolina - Durham.

International Coalition for Genital Integrity: Circumcision Rates Plummet: 2 Out of 3 Boys Escape the Knife
Credit for the drop in the circumcision rate goes to parents who are learning more about circumcision before making an irreversible decision for their sons. Many are saying that, since circumcision is elective, cosmetic surgery, it is not their place to decide for their child. Parents recognize that it is their son's body, not theirs, that their son can make the decision when he is older. By leaving their sons intact, they are leaving him with a choice, not living with an irreversible condition.

BirthGuru: To Circ or Not to Circ
A midwife writes about the falling circumcision rate and her experiences regarding male infant circumcision. She tells the story of one mother who, after a homebirth, had her son circumcised. The new mother was horrified from watching the circumcision and became distraught from the harm she caused her child.

Religion & Spirituality: Christopher Hitchens Goes After Rabbi Harold Kushner re: Circumcision
Christopher Hitchens scolds a rabbi for joking about cutting the genitalia of his son. The rabbi attempts to defend circumcision of helpless infants in the name of religion. Hitchens states that genital mutilation, regardless of the victim being a girl or a boy, is not a joking matter.

Cutting Edge Spiritual Discussion: The Case against Modern Circumcision
A christian look at circumcision and how the physical cutting of the genitalia is unnecessary according to scripture.