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.
 

Sunday, April 17, 2011

The Guggie Daily: Confessions of a Circumcised Baby
A story of a boy's birth and circumcision, as told through the eyes of the baby boy. A moving first person account of birth and circumcision. "While my mind may never be able to reflect clearly on the surgery, somewhere within my memories it exists. It's too pivotal not to remain. The surgery was the first bad thing that happened in my life, the first time I felt a massive amount of pain, the first moment I was not comfortable and content. And it was unnecessary, because you created me perfectly inside you. There were no alterations needed.”

Beyond the Bris: Lucking into Bris Shalom
A Jewish mother writes about circumcision. She recalls as a teenager hearing her father complain about infant circumcision. Her father told her that he would not have circumcised his son, if he had one. So, instead of a Brit Milah, she opted for a Bris Shalom, a naming ceremony without any cutting of body parts.
 

Monday, April 18, 2011

Peachy Keen Birth Services Blog: So, I took my newborn in for a nose-job…and his pediatrician flipped out on me. Can you freaking believe it?!?!
A parody of infant circumcision. A nose job is elective surgery, just as circumcision. Often both are done for cosmetic reasons. The major difference being that nose jobs are done with the person's consent, but infant circumcision are done at the whim of the parents.

Connected Mom: It Is Not My Penis
A mother describes a conversation with her parents about infant circumcision and why her sons will remain whole, just the way they were born: "I had a talk with my mom.  She wondered why I wasn't going to circumcise my sons. My dad even offered to pay for the procedure if it was about money.  The entire situation was laughable, if it hadn't been so sad. . . . One saying that kept coming to my mind through the entire conversation was, "It is not my penis." . . . The thing is, it truly is not my penis to choose to cut.  Just as my daughter's body isn't my own to pick and choose what she will have done, my sons will be the same way."

International Coalition for Genital Integrity: Circumcision Will Increase HIV Infections
A new study, by Robert S. Van Howe and Michelle R. Storms, published this month in the Journal of Public Health in Africa, concludes that circumcision programs in Africa will not reduce HIV infections as planned, but actually INCREASE them.

Male Circumcision and HIV:  JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH IN AFRICA: How the circumcision solution in Africa will increase HIV infections
A scathing indictment on the male circumcision campaign in Africa: "Based on our analysis it is concluded that the circumcision solution is a wasteful distraction that takes resources away from more effective, less expensive, less invasive alternatives. By diverting attention away from more effective interventions, circumcision programs will likely increase the number of HIV infections."
 

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Multiply: 50 circumcision tragedies - 50 tragédies de la circoncision
A collection of 50 circumcisions gone wrong. The author details 50 circumcisions in which the outcome was less than desirable, for example, the baby died after his circumcision.
 

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

The Vancouver Sun:   Circumcision rates are steeply falling, and rightly so
Doctors Opposing Circumcision responds to a recent pro-circumcision article: "Infants are permanently affected by painful procedures, and have difficulties with anesthesia uptake when adults. Notions "he'll heal quickly" or circumcision can be made "painless" are simply convenient myths. Even the alleged rate of UTI in male infants, one case in 100 boys, is easily treated by antibiotics. And the claimed one per cent figure is itself hotly contested."

A Sweet Potato and a Superhero: I took the whole baby home
Before the birth of her son, a mother decides that her son should remain intact. She writes a well-researched article explaining why he should stay as whole as he was born. There is also a video of a circumcision that shows what happens when the sex organ of an infant boy is partly cut off. She then explains the various functions of the foreskin and why it is desirable to remain intact.
 

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Peacefully Raising A Harvest: Circumcision
A mom blogger provides a long list of circumcision related websites and pages. The circumcision links are grouped by topic. A very good resource for future reference.

Rebel Yell: Student’s fight against circumcision reaches global stage
no circumcision: Student’s fight against circumcision reaches global stage : The Rebel Yell
UNLV student Travis Wisdom has been battling the centuries-old Western tradition of male circumcision for two years. And he’s backing it up with research. Wisdom is passionate about sharing his views and research on the preservation of the genital integrity of infants and is seeking to educate people about what he said is the danger of the practice of circumcision. Wisdom was invited to travel to Lisbon, Portugal to share the knowledge of the history of circumcision that he has gained after two years of research. He will travel to Canada soon after he returns to speak on the medical aspects of circumcision.

Parkville-Overlea Patch: Moms Talk: Circumcision Rates Declining in the U.S.
A mother defered to her husband for the answer to the circumcision question, so her son was circumcised. She has since learned that circumcision is unnecessary and her son should have remained intact. She felt pressured by the doctors and her need for her husband's approval. She wishes she had done some research before letting her son be cut.
 

Friday, April 22, 2011

CBS News: The long and short of penile extenders
"That said, penile shortening is a real medical phenomenon and can be caused by . . . a shortage of penile skin from circumcision." Infant circumcision is done before anyone knows just how large the child's penis will be when he is an adult. Infant circumcision is dangerous because doctors often take off too much foreskin, resulting in a tight circumcision and tight erections when the child grows up.
 

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Male Circumcision and HIV:  BAREFOOT INTACTIVIST: Earth Day 4-Miler
The Barefoot Intactivist ran a four-miler on Earth Day. The Barefoot Intactivist is a man who fights for genital integrity by running barefoot in the New York City area. Here is a YouTube video by the Barefoot Intactivist.

Intactivists:  Intactivist Finally on Twitter
The Intactivist blogger is now on Twitter as Intactivist.net. Follow the intactivist if you are on Twitter. Restoring Tally is following.