Unbelievably bad article in Mens Health, March issue

[liseux]

Wow! I am shocked, this is the same magazine that had the article "Separated at Birth", one of the best anti-circ articles ever. The latest article is called, "Should all Men be Circumcised? A small snip for all mankind."
It is one of the most biased and disturbing things I've ever read. It makes circ look like a total cake walk for a newborn, it makes anti-circ people look like complete idiots for "believing whats on the Internet."It even makes Marilyn Milos look bad which really makes me unhappy.

Sorry about the bad news.

[Night_Nurse]

I'll have to read the article for free either at the Library or at a bookstore. But if it's that awful, the best thing we can do is to write the editor. Especially those of us who as doctors, nurses, parents have seen a circumcision and aren't just believing the hype we read on the internet, or however they termed it. It would also be great for men who suffer physically after a circ or moms who regret circ to write in.

[carriebft]

This makes me feel so horrible. Everything I have read from them has always been anti circumcision or at the very least neutral. Was it an editorial kind of thing?

stuff like this makes me feel we are falling back instead of making forward progress.

[liseux]

It was a full 4 page article in the middle of the magazine. It really worries me too, but the gist of it is that the HIV studies are so compelling that we could be really hurting kids by not cutting them at birth. And that people with Medicaid will be suffering b/c they are not getting circed as much. Yet, the details on the HIV studies are sketchy & its just very biased.

I have to stay hopeful, thinking that this HIV thing is just circumcision in the US's last stand. After this, nothing is left. It will be disproven & this surgery will go away, like it has in the UK & Canada. We all know how wrong those studies are, but the rest of the world will too.

I will definitely write a letter to the editor.

[peainthepod]

Isn't it true that circumcision is big business for hospitals, and they also sell the foreskins to cosmetics companies?

Perhaps this article had some industry sponsors.

[Fellow Traveler]

Originally Posted by liseux

It was a full 4 page article in the middle of the magazine. It really worries me too, but the gist of it is that the HIV studies are so compelling that we could be really hurting kids by not cutting them at birth. And that people with Medicaid will be suffering b/c they are not getting circed as much. Yet, the details on the HIV studies are sketchy & its just very biased.

I will definitely write a letter to the editor.

I suppose they didn't mention that the US has several times the HIV problem that Europe [or other intact countries] does did they? Or that other Western aid agencies have looked at this and dismissed it's usefulness locally.

[Theoretica]

Originally Posted by peainthepod

Isn't it true that circumcision is big business for hospitals, and they also sell the foreskins to cosmetics companies?

Perhaps this article had some industry sponsors.

Ummmm....

WHAT?!?!?!?!?!

can someone source this??

[liseux]

"I suppose they didn't mention that the US has several times the HIV problem that Europe [or other intact countries] does did they? Or that other Western aid agencies have looked at this and dismissed it's usefulness locally."
jwhispers

No, they did not mention it. Also, they had an example of an adult needing a circ b/c of phimosis and how happy his wife was with his "new penis." It was horrible on many levels. I woke up last night and started thinking about it & could not get back to sleep for a long time.

[Fellow Traveler]

I am not entirely surprised by the article, there was recently published an opinion piece in a journal that tried to draw the same conclusions WRT medicaid and circumcision. I have heard a rebuttal was accepted but I don't know when it will be published.

[Bea]

Is this the article?

[liseux]

Yes, it is the article.

[Luv2Skydive]

Selling foreskins is big business

[Fellow Traveler]

Defiantly a hit piece. The thing about the Internet is that it equalizes the amount of information that is available. How many Americans knew that circumcision was rare outside the US before the Internet? It let the cat out of the bag and they know it.

[Lily's_Mom]

Originally Posted by Bea

Is this the article?

I've only read the first paragraph so far:

She and others often demonize the scientists whose research has produced facts that contradict their extremist views.

It is extreme to advocate that baby boys don't have part of their penis cut off at birth???!!!!!

[perspective]

Originally Posted by liseux

Wow! I am shocked, this is the same magazine that had the article "Separated at Birth", one of the best anti-circ articles ever. The latest article is called, "Should all Men be Circumcised? A small snip for all mankind."
It is one of the most biased and disturbing things I've ever read. It makes circ look like a total cake walk for a newborn, it makes anti-circ people look like complete idiots for "believing whats on the Internet."It even makes Marilyn Milos look bad which really makes me unhappy.

Sorry about the bad news.

Thats very unfortunate. Especially for a magazine thats all about empowering men, and reminding them to be mindful of stuff that society says is "unmanly" to think about, their personal health.


Its like Vogue having a article that talked about all the wonders of FGM and how all women should have their clitoris cut off.

[Super Pickle]

Really horrid article.

However, I really think that it doesn't matter much what they say. When today's babies are grown up and having kids, the circumcison rate will drop dramatically. Today, about 80% of American men are circumcised, but only about 55% of babies are. That means that a substantial number of families with circumcised fathers are breaking the cycle.

In 20-30 years, about 45% of reproducing men will be intact and will presumably leave their kids intact. If the same percentages of circumcised men continue to abandon the tradition in their own families, the intact babies will outnumber the circumcised babies, and hopefully the social tipping point will be reached.

[liseux]

SuperPickle, I agree completely. Circ is on its way out and pro-circ people are grasping at anything to hold onto it. But it defies logic and the studies are being disproven every day, so it will be gone. This HIV stuff is just the last stand of circ in the US.

[Dave2GA]

The pro forces are now trying to spill blood. So we must be having a good effect. If circ were increasing they would be silent.

Having said that, I think everyone should register and comment on the article. Not to give hell, but to point out the opposite side.

There is a reply today from a pediatric urologist that talks about the number of botched jobs he has to repair each year. If his practice is typical at least 4% of circed boys have damage beyond the damage of circ.

[123]

I agree with Dave2GA. We have to flood them with accurate info. Not only on the website, but with letters to the editor. The editors may not be aware of how controversial an issue this is. Hopefully some of the letters will be printed in the next issue. Many people still relay primarily on print media for their information, especially on issues that they don't think about much. Lots and lots of clear informative letters to the editor might help mitigate some of the damage this article will cause.

I also agree that this is the pro-circ response to the rise of awareness about the harm caused by circ. I'm comforted by that, but I worry that they may turn the current trend around. We have to continue to be vocal in order to keep moving toward a more intact future.

[AGierald]

I know im a little late to this discussion, but this article has made me SICK. In fact, Im off to take my cal/mag because im so disgusted, I just dont know if i could sleep, after reading suck horrifyingly FALSE disgusting "information". Whoever allowed that put in a magazine should be ashamed of himself for perpetuating blatant misinformation and to attempt to horribly discredit anyone who believes otherwise.

I jsut cant even register on that site in order to express my disgust, seriously.