the rape of human integrity

Simply because a form of infant mutilation is socially accepted at any particular place and time in history, including the present, does not make it any less a vehement human rights violation, or any less a horror for the individual at the scalpel's edge.

I am so utterly sick of people back in Iowa making up excuses and sugar coating the tragedy that still exists for 46% of baby boys born in the United States -- most of whom are born in the Midwest, as this practice is far less common on the Coasts and South. It is a disgusting, violent act upon the innocent sexuality of a new child.

It is the rape of a baby who cannot yet stand up for himself by any means possible.

And all the more terrifying is that this little one is painfully cut up at the hand of those who are supposed to be his utmost protectors and source of trust, comfort and care - his parents.

Every child is born with the RIGHT to their body and genital integrity. Every oath that is taken in medicine is to "do no harm." Too many young men are finding themselves with deeply rooted (and "unexplained") post-traumatic stress, the inability to bond, form secure attachments, or trust. And after discovering that the vast majority of men in the world, in their neighborhoods, and among their peers, maintain their human rights and stay intact, too many men are finding that they feel mutilated, incomplete, and angry with their parents for allowing such irreparable harm to take place at a time they could not yet speak for themselves.

This organ is NOT "just skin." It is a fully functioning, irreplaceable organ that serves the functions of protection, lubrication, antibody formation, sexual pleasure, among a host of other purposes. The foreskin is the same organ, designed of densely packed nerves (more than all other body parts combined), blood vessels, tissues, multiple glands and sensitive multi-layers of delicate skin, as the clitoral hood/inner labia. They are homologous and analogous organs.

If you believe that it is genital mutilation to cut up baby girls at birth, then the same is true for baby boys.

Period.

There is no more sugar coating this horrific and devastating practice.

If you are going choose to violently cut off 3/4 of your baby's penis at birth, without anesthesia, without his ever having a say, then tell it like it is. Don't pussy-foot around the topic and make it sound all pristine.

If you made a mistake with the son you already have, then admit it. Apologize to him for what was done to him, all that was taken from him. Hold him closely and teach him gently so that he does not replicate the destruction.

People are now speaking up.
Boys are speaking up.
Men are speaking up.

It will not continue.

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Comment by Tippie:
so amazingly well written! may i cut and paste this to prego friends with boys...ha..and friends WITH baby boys..my last three friends to have babies had boys and i EVANGELIZED not circumcising to them..and yet..they were all cut..it's awful and my heart broke every time. Mothers are standing PASSIVELY by and saying," It's his dad's thing"..."it's up to his father"...HELLO MOTHER'S ITS YOUR BABY!!! When I asked those mom's if they went in with their babies to be with them during this procedure i was always met with horrified faces and "ofcourse not"...how dare you allow this mutilation and take no responsibility..simply turn away..its his dad's thing..the dad goes with them..it's awful..and the mom's ALL told me stories of their friend so and so's son who just "slept right through it" as if that justified it some how? i don't have sons yet but I pray I do so that I can proudly keep him intact and inform mom's of why it's the absolute right thing to do no matter what..if you want your son to "MATCH" his dad...buy them matching shirts or hats...mutilating their bodies in the same way...is wrong for the sake of "matching"...please please get this blog out as many places as you can!!!

RESPONSE:
by the way...the whole "he slept thru it" thing is a bunch of crap. the baby experts all say that many babies lapse into a semi-coma state in order to just live thru the horrifying pain that is being inflicted upon them. this semi-coma sometimes lasts for weeks after the trauma - making breastfeeding more difficult, causing them to sleep MORE than is normal, then enter into a state of insecure attachment, distrust, and screaming...and occasionally leading to failure to thrive. many babies also lapse into COMPLETE COMAS and of course many have died from surgery complications or blood loss. so i know i am "preaching to the choir" by responding on your page...but it is just an outcry that this ever even happens to ANY baby!

Comment by Tippie:
i didn't know that about the semi coma state but makes sense. whenever i would hear that babies slept through it it just didn't sit right with me...now i know...i am just going to add that insight to your blog i posted k?
so many titles we have; intactivist, lactivist, ;)