The Foreskin

STRUCTURE

A Glossary of words relating to Intactivism and normal anatomy. Some of the main ones are illustrated.

Diagrams of male and female anatomy at eight weeks gestation and at birth illustrate the simlarity of structure.

Not "just a flap of skin": a non-erotic animation of how a foreskin works. A more stylised animation to demonstrate its size. A remarkable illustration of its actual size.

FUNCTION
Functions of the Foreskin (17 of them)

Sexuality
The sexuality page answers "no difference in sexual function between intact and circumcised men". The foreskin itself gives pleasure. A musical illustration. Reports by women about what a revelation intact men were to them. Condoms and the intact man. Tantric sex. "Women prefer circumcised." (The Williamsons' study of women in Iowa).

APPEARANCE

A Gallery of Intact Men and their Penises. A Gallery of Intact Men and their Penises in Art. (The entire sequence of five pages is a slide show with music, off-site.) Countries that celebrate the (intact) penis. The "luscious beauty" of the intact male.

For intact (young US) men who worry about being "different", a Gallery of Intact Celebrities (with their clothes on). A page each of intact historical personages, US film stars former and current, US TV stars former and current, US sporting heroes, US musicians, non-US celebrities (musicians, actors, sportsmen and others), and leaders. (Before you write challenging the status of any of these men, read the FAQ.)

A Gallery of Very-Probably-Intact men.

CARE

- a response to the AAP's "Care of the Uncircumcised Penis".

Paraphimosis, one of the few real threats.

Frenulum breve "tight banjostring" - can be readily treated.

FOR PARENTS (TO BE) AND SONS

- written to answer the AAP's brochure for parents which doesn't even acknowledge that the foreskin is part of the penis!

Mothers and mothers-to-be:
Sheila Kitzinger's ''New Pregnancy & Childbirth". A thought-experiment. How to raise the subject with a circumcised husband.

Fathers
A circumcised father with an intact son - a telling rejoinder to "A boy should look like his father". A cartoon. A 2500-year-old fable by Æsop.

Refusal
Circumcision is sometimes pushed on parents, and even committed contrary to their wishes. To prevent this, a firmly-worded

Intact boys

Intact teens

Foreskin restoration - a growing movement 
Vorhaut-Restoration - ausführliche Informationen auf Deutsch
An artificial foreskin.

HUMAN RIGHTS
Genital integrity is first and foremost a human rights issue.

Ethics
Medical organisations have very little to say about the ethics of circumcision. There is more here.
The British Medical Association has issued ethical guidelines that rule out infant circumcision based on parental preference alone.
An important book, "The Ethical Canary", includes a chapter on the ethics of circumcision.

Two ethicists defend circumcision and attack their critics using flawed arguments. Here is a rebuttal.

Law
The legal case against infant circumcision is growing. This section also contrasts the protection afforded cats, dogs and a baby's head against similar procedures.

A shocking parallel. Parental guidance recommended.

THE CAMPAIGN FOR GENITAL INTEGRITY (INTACTIVISM)

• Reasons Not to Circumcise (at least 32)
• The Lost List - what is lost to circumcision (18)
• A chapter from a 1980 classic, Wallerstein's Circumcision: an American health fallacy.

To other Intactivist sites

BACKGROUND

• Scientific references
• A Chronology of the Foreskin and Circumcision

Propaganda

• Short Answers on Circumcision
• Some relevant quotations

An epic ballad, The Rape of the Cock; multimedia - animations, sound files and a logo

Campaign resources
Readymade T-shirts and bumperstickers from The Intactivism Shop
Also mugs, buttons, fridge-magnets, tote bags, and other gear.

HOUSEKEEPING

Feedback from readers       Frequently Asked Questions

Miscellaneous
Types of circumcision articles; circumcision in Shakespeare; infection vs inflammation; diabetes; other "useless" organs, the appendix and Jacobsen's organ; whether babies remember being circumcised; permanent retraction; circumcision and royalty.

To people who think the subject is beneath discussion.

Comments about this site are welcome. You can email me. (Please don't use e-cards. Hostile messages may be displayed unedited.)

Have you changed your mind about circumcision?
We'd love to hear about it!

Circumcision

PICTURES AT A CIRCUMCISION:

Nobody should consent to a circumcision who has not seen one.

Close-up still pictures of an infant circumcison.

EXCUSES

Lists of

• Circumstitions (bad reasons for circumcising, the genesis of these pages),

  • the choicest, sorted by category, and
  • the full list, more than 300 with sources, references and comments
• Fallacies used to promote circumcision
  • The Sand Myth - that desert sand causes infection under the foreskin
  • An excerpt from an influential and wildly fantastical 1900 diatribe against the foreskin, still quoted today.

Hygiene:
Who dares to be in favour of dirt? Facts about bacteria.

Disease
Circumcision is said to prevent

• Phimosis (non-retractable foreskin).

  (offsite) "A Field Guide for the Modern [Intact] Male" an artistic version of how one young man successfully eased his foreskin back

• HIV The recent claims, based on Random Controlled Tests. One scientific rebuttal.) Scepticism from Britain's Terrence Higgins Trust. Circumcision is no vaccine.

  (offsite) DR DEAN EDELL debunks the "circumcision prevents HIV" claims

  (offsite) Points to Consider by David Gisselquist challenging assumptions about HIV/AIDS transmission is now online. A section challenges the circumcision trials.

• Urinary Tract Infections. Research that suggests circumcision may cause urinary problems.
• Sexually Transmitted Diseases Rebuttal to a high-profile study.
• cancer, penile in the man himself and
• cervical in his partner. A recent, widely-publicised study claiming protection against both Human Papilloma Virus in men and cervical cancer in their partners.

Religion::

Sikhism: Almost alone in celebrating the natural body.

	Christianity: New Testament quotations. Christianity and Circumcision The same in brochure form, in pdf format. An essay on Jesus' circumcision. A commentary on Mantenga's painting "The Circumcision".
	Islam The Qu'ran does not mention circumcision. A page challenges assumptions.
	Judaism: A very small proportion of circumcision worldwide, but pre-eminent in the public consciousness of circumcision. An essay looks at the case for Brit without Milah. Brit Without Milah A leaflet in .pdf format A list of Rabbis and others who will perform it. A speech by one after a Kol Nidre service. A Jewish father's letter to his intact son.

Motivation to circumcise
The psychology of circumcising. "Circumcision as a memeplex". Prejudice against intact men. The remarkable silence around the intact penis and circumcision. Circumsurdities - absurd claims for circumcision.

Money:
Evidence that doctors promote circumcision out of greed. The declining rate of Medicaid cover. The real cost of circumcision.

DOWNSIDES

Complications:
Risks and damage, upto and including loss of the penis and death, The autopsy reports on a Canadian baby who died of blood loss, another when his urethra was blocked by a PlastiBell^TM.

Pain:
The pain of circumsion has long-term effects and is only partially relieved by anaesthetics. A report from the AAP recommends avoiding painful procedures, but fails to mention the commonest painful procedure.

Appearance:
For those who think circumcision improves the appearance and is invariably harmless, there's a gallery of pictures of circumcisions. One man's multiple botches. Side-by-side comparison of the intact and circumcised penis: you can see the difference.

Hinders Breastfeeding.

Resentment
Famous men and others who resent/ed being circumcised

THE WORLD
Some people imagine circumcision is universal in the western world. They should see the map of its prevalence worldwide. The same page shows a map of the prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

Predominantly intact countries::

New Zealand:
A presentation and an article. From being very rare in the 1950s, intactness is now commonplace. An intact New Zealander celebrates. (.wav file, 103KB)

Australia:
In Australia four boys in five are now left intact some states, more than 19 in 20 in others.

Holland    

Sweden     (på svenska)
The first country to regulate male circumcision. Items from Sweden, many in Swedish and English.

Finland    
In Finland, where the home circumcisions of six African boys was botched, a working party has recommended that it be at parental discretion and public expense, but doctors refuse to co-operate.

The Pacific
Practices vary widely inPolynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia.

Predominantly circumcising countries::

U.S.A.    
The United States is the only country in the world that surgically circumcises a majority of its boy babies.

Korea:
From unknown, circumcision has become almost universal in Korea in the last 50 years.

The Philippines
A traditional ritual for boys has become medicalised in the Philippines without the need for it ever being questioned. Myths are rampant.

The Yemen
Justified by appeal to Islam, a report of Yemeni circumcision from 1921 details a particularly brutal variant (an answer to "but FGM is much worse")

REPRESENTATION - how circumcision is perceived

Mass media
Circumcision episodes on TV sitcoms, soaps, talk shows and in movies.
"That Thing" - common themes in TV shows.

Books
Books about, or with significant parts about, circumcision or the foreskin.
The foreskin and circumcision in literature, mainly fiction.

Mutilation, Regrets, Second-thoughts
Why circumcision may be called "mutilation". A mother who regrets circumcising. A last minute change of heart.

AT THE OTHER END OF THE KNIFE

Doctors' organisations
The American Medical Association's policy statement on circumcision is weighed in the balance (and found wanting) here. It agrees with the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The stark contrast between the AAP statements on circumcision and Female Genital Mutilation.
The statements of the American Urological Association and the American Association of Family Physicians - both ethically barren.

Nurses
Advice for nurses questioning circumcision

Midwives
The serious bias towards circumcision of a leading US midwifery textbook, including a chapter telling midwives how to do it (yet it details the disadvantages of each method) - analysed and contrasted with a British textbook.

PARALLEL EVILS

Female Genital Cutting A chart comparing circumcision with Female Genital Cutting (FGM/FGC). The UN definitions of the types of FGM/FGC. A doctor defends FGM. A study showing FGM does not impair the frequency of women's sex (nothing about the quality).

Episiotomy. A form of Female Genital Cutting still common in the US, .

Breast-ironing. Another cruel sexually-related female mutilation, practised in parts of West and Central Africa.

Non-consensual gender-assignment of Intersexed people.

Castration. Mozart, Handel, Gluck and Rossini were among composers who wrote music for castrated singers, and Allegri was one. This was as accepted in Italy in 1600-1860 as circumcision is in the US today.

And beyond the genitals, infant circumcision compared with footbinding.

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