The struggle for genital
autonomy
and against the involuntary genital modification
of children
of any sex:
Male
Genital Cutting
Female Genital Cutting
Involuntary Sex Reassignment Genital
Autonomy for All!
This site differs from others opposed to
genital mutilation: its focus is on intactness
rather than on genital cutting.
It is intended to counteract the mindset that the foreskin is an
"extra" "flap of skin" and that male genital cutting is the norm, and
the corresponding mindsets that lead to the cutting of girls and
intersex people.
This page has been simplified to be more
mobile-friendly: Policy, Basics, News and Action have been moved to
their own pages. Links to the most useful pages, if they are not in the
list below, are at Background.
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 similarity 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.
A short story for intact
boys
and
their parents about
what intactness is, and why intact boys should, if anything, be glad to
be "different" from their friends.
The only
circumcision-related
video
to explore
important issues not addressed in other programs, and so far the only
one that can both be purchased as a DVD and viewed online.
as
part of a podcast, Circumcision--a
"cure" in search of a disease, a presentation to the New
Zealand Skeptics, September 26, 2009, (Open Doc Presentation
file--opens
in Powerpoint
and LibreOffice; 4.7MB)
Comments about this site
are
welcome. Please use email.
(No e-cards,
thank you.
Hostile
messages
may be
displayed unedited. Link exchange considered only for sites related to
genital cutting.)
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.
)
with insufficient anaesthetic: the doctor can hardly make himself heard
over the shrieking baby. Disturbing.
An 8 minute video of a Gomco circumcision
uploaded by Dr Kevin Windisch "for health professionals".
He has to raise his voice and still can't be heard over the baby,
to whom he repeatedly apologises. Disturbing.
Islam:
The Qu'ran does not mention circumcision. This
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.
The pain of
circumcision
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.
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 (NSFW).
covers most of the main
issues —
shows several circumcisions, not for the squeamish
MexicoA guide (en espagnol) from the
National Center for Health Technology
Excellence, with input from the institutions that make up the National
Health System, says "Circumcision of boys should not be done without
medical indication."
Sweden (på svenska) The first country
to regulate male circumcision See Items
from Sweden, most in Swedish and English.
U.S.A.
The United States
is the only country in the world that surgically modifies a majority of
its boy babies.
Korea
From unknown, circumcision has become almost universal in Korea in the last 50 years.
Iran
Infant male cutting is routine, even for boys whose parents
are not Muslim. An article in
Farsi (Persian) (NSFW )
The Philippines
A traditional ritual for boys has become medicalised in the Philippines without
the need for it ever being questioned. Myths are rampant.
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 male genital cutting is
perceived
Silence - the normalisation of male genital cutting
by ignoring the foreskin
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. Famous hippie guru midwife Ina May Gaskin
used to cut babies and has never renounced it. This video calls on her
to do so:
REBUTTALS
The case presented for circumcision is
hydra-headed:
answer one
argument and its supporters will produce another, and another,
indefinitely. (Urinary Tract Infections,
until recently cited as the main reason to circumcise, were only added
to the list in 1982) Something else is going on--if
the foreskin has so many faults and varied, how could it ever have have
survived?
A
1941
article mentions in passing that some doctors then did
it without asking
Former US Surgeon-General G. Everett
Koop's
site, drkoop.com
has moved forward very little.
The
Royal
Australasian College of Physicians'
2010 policy disposes of the medical claims and (unlike its predecessor)
considers the functions of the foreskin, but still bends over backwards
to blur the ethical issues so that it can stay on the fence.
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.
Intersexed
people and non-consensual gender-assignment.
Castration
Mozart,
Handel, Rossini and Gluck 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
and uvulectomy
(removal of the uvula that hangs down at the back of the mouth)
Vorhaut-Restoration: 
Parents who 
Mexico
(
In 
)
