(Preface: On another forum, a parent who plans to continue cutting her sons was angry that I referred to my intact son as "happy, healthy, whole". She insisted her circumcised son was whole, too, regardless of what I 'believed'.)
There's an intactivist phrase, "Bring the whole baby home, say no to circumcision.", in fact, I have a button that says precisely that. Both here and in other forums circumcising parents sometimes balk at the idea that we refer to intact children as "whole", so I thought it might be helpful to share the definition of "whole" so we can see where it does and doesn't apply to genital integrity.
---
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source
whole [hohl] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–adjective
1.comprising the full quantity, amount, extent, number, etc., without diminution or exception; entire, full, or total: He ate the whole pie. They ran the whole distance.
An intact child posesses his whole penis; a circumcised child retains only part.
2.containing all the elements properly belonging; complete: We have a whole set of antique china.
The foreskin comes standard; an intact penis is whole; a circumcised penis is missing something.
3.undivided; in one piece: to swallow a thing whole.
There's a Men's Health article on circumcision entitled, "Separated at Birth". Circumcision forcefully parts a baby's foreskin from his glans (the AAP uses the term, "dissection") and then permanently separates it from his body as it's excised. A circumcised penis isn't whole.
4.Mathematics. integral, or not fractional.
5.not broken, damaged, or impaired; intact: Thankfully, the vase arrived whole.
"Routine infant male circumcision does cause pain and permanent loss of healthy tissue."
-College of Physicians & Surgeons of British Columbia (CPSBC)
Circumcision is a loss; it's damage. A circumcised penis is no longer whole. It removes up to half of the skin on a future man's penis, specialized structures like the ridged band and frenulum (male g-spot), several feet of blood vessels, 240 feet of nerves, and tens of thousands of nerve endings. It strips the glans of it's built-in protection, permanently externalizes mucousal tissue, resulting in a lifetime of keratinization. Circumcision leaves a scar.
6.uninjured or unharmed; sound: He was surprised to find himself whole after the crash.
A circumcised male or female has both been injured & harmed; their genitals are no longer intact; their bodies aren't whole.
7.pertaining to all aspects of human nature, esp. one's physical, intellectual, and spiritual development: education for the whole person.
–noun
8.the whole assemblage of parts or elements belonging to a thing; the entire quantity, account, extent, or number: He accepted some of the parts but rejected the whole.
A circumcised penis is missing parts; it is no longer whole.
9.a thing complete in itself, or comprising all its parts or elements.
A circumcised penis is not complete; it is no longer whole.
10.an assemblage of parts associated or viewed together as one thing; a unitary system.
—Idioms
A whole penis includes a foreskin.
11.as a whole, all things included or considered; altogether: As a whole, the relocation seems to have been beneficial.
12.on or upon the whole,
a.in view of all the circumstances; after consideration.
b.disregarding exceptions; in general: On the whole, the neighborhood is improving.
13.out of whole cloth, without foundation in fact; fictitious: a story made out of whole cloth.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME hole, hool (adj. and n.), OE h?l (adj.); c. D heel, G heil, ON heill; see hale1, heal; sp. with w reflects dial. form]
---
Jen
There's an intactivist phrase, "Bring the whole baby home, say no to circumcision.", in fact, I have a button that says precisely that. Both here and in other forums circumcising parents sometimes balk at the idea that we refer to intact children as "whole", so I thought it might be helpful to share the definition of "whole" so we can see where it does and doesn't apply to genital integrity.
---
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source
whole [hohl] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–adjective
1.comprising the full quantity, amount, extent, number, etc., without diminution or exception; entire, full, or total: He ate the whole pie. They ran the whole distance.
An intact child posesses his whole penis; a circumcised child retains only part.
2.containing all the elements properly belonging; complete: We have a whole set of antique china.
The foreskin comes standard; an intact penis is whole; a circumcised penis is missing something.
3.undivided; in one piece: to swallow a thing whole.
There's a Men's Health article on circumcision entitled, "Separated at Birth". Circumcision forcefully parts a baby's foreskin from his glans (the AAP uses the term, "dissection") and then permanently separates it from his body as it's excised. A circumcised penis isn't whole.
4.Mathematics. integral, or not fractional.
5.not broken, damaged, or impaired; intact: Thankfully, the vase arrived whole.
"Routine infant male circumcision does cause pain and permanent loss of healthy tissue."
-College of Physicians & Surgeons of British Columbia (CPSBC)
Circumcision is a loss; it's damage. A circumcised penis is no longer whole. It removes up to half of the skin on a future man's penis, specialized structures like the ridged band and frenulum (male g-spot), several feet of blood vessels, 240 feet of nerves, and tens of thousands of nerve endings. It strips the glans of it's built-in protection, permanently externalizes mucousal tissue, resulting in a lifetime of keratinization. Circumcision leaves a scar.
6.uninjured or unharmed; sound: He was surprised to find himself whole after the crash.
A circumcised male or female has both been injured & harmed; their genitals are no longer intact; their bodies aren't whole.
7.pertaining to all aspects of human nature, esp. one's physical, intellectual, and spiritual development: education for the whole person.
–noun
8.the whole assemblage of parts or elements belonging to a thing; the entire quantity, account, extent, or number: He accepted some of the parts but rejected the whole.
A circumcised penis is missing parts; it is no longer whole.
9.a thing complete in itself, or comprising all its parts or elements.
A circumcised penis is not complete; it is no longer whole.
10.an assemblage of parts associated or viewed together as one thing; a unitary system.
—Idioms
A whole penis includes a foreskin.
11.as a whole, all things included or considered; altogether: As a whole, the relocation seems to have been beneficial.
12.on or upon the whole,
a.in view of all the circumstances; after consideration.
b.disregarding exceptions; in general: On the whole, the neighborhood is improving.
13.out of whole cloth, without foundation in fact; fictitious: a story made out of whole cloth.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME hole, hool (adj. and n.), OE h?l (adj.); c. D heel, G heil, ON heill; see hale1, heal; sp. with w reflects dial. form]
---
Jen
:
