MEN! What we really need...

[AntoninBeGonin]

Is for YOU to start conversations with expectant mothers about how much you hate being circumcised. YOU need to wear the anti-circ, pro-intact, 'I'm restoring' shirts. Spread the word and let people know that you hate being circumcised. If you're intact, spread the word of how happy you are to have your whole body.

Baby boys need adult men to advocate, speak up, and educate.

As a woman I can only do so much. People look at me and either say, "Well you got to choose for your son, so I can choose for mine," or they say, "You don't have a penis, so your opinion can't matter." Guys, you have the huge advantage of having a penis. You can really use that to your advantage.

~Nay

[Mommiska]

:

[Tulafina]

Well Said....So True

[Nodtveidt]

If ever I'm faced with the opportunity to make myself heard, believe me...I will do it. I'm pretty convincing anyways.

[Bm31]

I do what I can, but it's not something that comes up regularly in "polite" converstation, lol.

I failed with my nephew, which will haunt me forever.

However, I've had the conversation with one of my best friends. I will be in her wedding in a little over a month. She definitely intends to have children, but not in the immediate future. She said she promised me that she will not circ. any sons she may have.

[Nodtveidt]

Originally Posted by Bm31

I failed with my nephew, which will haunt me forever.

Don't let it bother you too much, there's only so much we can do and say, the end result is up to the parent(s) in question.

[Bm31]

Originally Posted by Nodtveidt

Don't let it bother you too much, there's only so much we can do and say, the end result is up to the parent(s) in question.

Thanks, I know, but I will still never be able to look at my sister with the respect I once had for her.

[MommytoB]

WTG! I would love to see men with shirt like that complaining of how they hated to be circumcised & that they are restoring and how they are intactivist!!!!!

[PuppyFluffer]

When I went to the demo in WAshington DC, it was so great to hear the men talking to other men. The women had a different angle to present on the topic. Together, both men and women discussing it, people were educated, people were thinking. It was good to see.

[glongley]

I feel like men speaking up about how they feel about having been circumcised, is giving a voice to the babies who would say the same things but can't: "Stop!'" "Why are you/did you hurt me?" "No one has/had a right to cut off a part of my body!" I agree, men's voices and men's stories in regard to circumcision must be heard and RESPECTED.

Gillian

[TigerTail]

And when they do finally speak out & courageously break their silence, it is our duty to smack down the inevitable snide little commenters- do it as if for our sons, they were all somebody's son.

Never let them go out there and take the heat alone- for men to talk openly about what is interpreted as dissatisfaction with their progenitive organs and sexual lives, takes incredible fortitude in this society.

Shift the blame where it belongs, people who thoughtlessly mutilate & then promote further mutilation, from cowardice & inability to admit they participated in a heinous crime against their own flesh & blood, or their own patients they swore never to harm.

Any of these brave men could take the easy way out & say 'hey, my penis works fine', encourage their wives to giggle about how 'if they were any more sensitive they couldn't stand it!'. Like the rest of them, the ones who can't even admit to themselves what was committed upon their flesh by those supposed to love them best.

Remember when they mock you, men, these are people who are arguing to CUT BABY PENISES. The status quo cannot erase the utter ridiculousness of their moral position. Knife, meet penis. Penis, meet knife. This is what they are arguing is so marvelous (never their own! oh, not their OWN genitals) whenever you hear 'those guys are just fruitloops who have problems with their dicks'. <---- Crazy people who like to cut baby penises.

Keep that in mind, and stand firm. You are fine altruistic men, & I am proud to stand with you in this battle against one of the worst atrocities humans are capable of performing upon another.

[Nodtveidt]

Quite frankly, I've never felt so empowered before. This thread has given me new ideas, and perhaps a new direction in life. We circed men have every reason and right to be extremely pissed off about what was done to us, and it's way past due for us to rise up against the barbaric mutilation that was done to us and is still being done to our sons at the hands of the ignorant and the "interested". I know there have been some efforts in the past, but it seems like it's not enough. A drastic change needs to take place, and I say it's time for the real men amongst us to show these cowardly cutters what being a man is all about.

[eepster]

My sister and SILs potential sperm donor insists any boys stay intact.

[AntoninBeGonin]

Originally Posted by Nodtveidt

Quite frankly, I've never felt so empowered before. This thread has given me new ideas, and perhaps a new direction in life. We circed men have every reason and right to be extremely pissed off about what was done to us, and it's way past due for us to rise up against the barbaric mutilation that was done to us and is still being done to our sons at the hands of the ignorant and the "interested". I know there have been some efforts in the past, but it seems like it's not enough. A drastic change needs to take place, and I say it's time for the real men amongst us to show these cowardly cutters what being a man is all about.

Bravo, Nodtveidt!

[thismama]

Men need to speak with other MEN about this issue. Why is it always on the mama, even again, here in this thread? Most of the reasons I hear mamas getting their sons circed have to do with daddy wanting it.

Men, talk to each other. Ya'll don't listen to us.

[TigerTail]

Men need everyone they can get, themselves & womyn included. Every intactivist is important. This isn't about blame, this is about empowerment. Every man that was cut was cut when he held no power at all. This isn't 'women are responsible', this is 'got yer back, bro'. Kwim?

[Nodtveidt]

Originally Posted by TigerTail

This isn't 'women are responsible', this is 'got yer back, bro'. Kwim?

IKWYM

I don't blame women for the problem, and no one else in this thread has either. I personally have no idea who was really responsible for my mutilation. We could play the blame game all day long and nothing would change. It's not about placing the blame, it's about making change, and when we point the finger, three fingers point back at us...not the intended effect. Education is the key to solving social problems, not mudslinging and blame games...we can leave those dirty tactics to the politicians.

[trmpetplaya]

And intact men (or even men who chose circumcision later in life) need to talk up the fact that they're grateful that they got to make the decision themselves! There are too many stories out there about "my cousin's wife's nephew's uncle was upset because his parents didn't have him circumcised at birth and he chose to get one done later because he was traumatised by *insert foreskin myth here*. I just don't want my boys to have to go through that later in life..."

If intact men spoke out more then that would help neutralize that sort of story/excuse

(this post is partially brainstorming on my part )

love and peace.

[thismama]

Got whose back? The baby's? Not quite understanding.

[AXEius]

I think your right. I think the only people who could have more impact for intactivism than men would be the doctors. As men we have a duty to help future males from being mutilated. It does seem that we (men) carry more weight on the subject of circumcision because people can't say:"you dont have a penis so you don't count","you dont know what it's like to be circumcised/intact", "other boys will make fun of him","men prefer to be circumcised" and those sorts of things. I know I've made an impact, i helped to save my nephew (sister's son) from circumcision, my future nephew (my brothers wife is pregnant this moment, although too early to determine the sex and they are still deciding if they want to find out though). I talked to my mother about circumcision, she is now against it. I talked to my father about it he said if he had it to do over again that he would not have had my brother circumcised (he is my adopted father and was not around when i was born). I have talked to many coworkers and friends and have actually had quite good success with giving them information. Strangely it has been my closest friends who i have been the least successful with, which is quite depressing. I always feel like i could be doing more but i really don't like how personal conversations go about circumcision, its like instant defensiveness dismissiveness , and total shut down. I know not all (maybe not even most) of my circumcision discussions go that way, but it happens so often with circumcision and not other conversations that it gets disheartening and kind of...i dunno weird, creepy....its just crazy how some people act when you tell the circumcision is bad. I feel i could and should make some kind of impact with a less personal form of intactivism.