Please remind me not to leave MDC

[TheLuckiestEllie]

I'm mostly a lurker here, but every time I visit most other sites I end up . No amount of info gets through to some of these people. So please remind me to stay here where it's safe and I can live in my own little innocent world. Anyone want to stay here with me??

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I do stay here. I think it is great when others go out and sperad the word on the other boards but it would tear me apart. It ia hard enough here because it reminds me that it still exsists.

[bluetoes]

I found this place quite on accident, looking for a more holistic pediatrician in a google search. I found the info I needed thankfully. But I have stuck around because it is a safe place regarding this topic and of course learn lots of things I can do now and do differently should I have another child. I posted recently about how I wish I could stop thinking about it and then lots of people said they felt the same and that made me feel better about not being the only one.

And then I read a post here and there about how someone's mind has been changed and that makes me feel better also. I guess we're not going to change the law and especially not change public opinion on the issue of circumsicion in the US, but we can educate people we come across. Making a difference, one winkie at a time!

[gridley13]

Hey! I live in Oxford!

[vaughnmama]

Now I know what you mean. I went to a site today to take a poll on circ. The stats were 71% pro-circ, 28% anti. Some of the pro-circ commenters were pretty hateful towards the anti-circ posters. Besides that, the pro-circ rhetoric gave me a horrible feeling in my gut, and I couldn't stay long. MotheringDotCommune Forums are definitely a safe place to share.

[smeep]

I actually LIKE hanging around on mainstream forums. Many of them DO listen, even if they pretend they don't. I have one friend who was pro-vax, all for circing her son and didn't understand why we were anti-circ, and who never tried to breastfeed. Now she's stopping all vaxing, she wants to nurse the next one, and she still wants to circ future boys BUT she at least now understands why we are so against it. And she used to ALWAYS butt heads with me. It's nice to know that ifyou drill it into their heads long enough that some do listen.

[Blarg]

Originally Posted by TheLuckiestEllie

I'm mostly a lurker here, but every time I visit most other sites I end up . No amount of info gets through to some of these people. So please remind me to stay here where it's safe and I can live in my own little innocent world. Anyone want to stay here with me??

Unfortunately for me, any talk of circumcision reminds of the fact that my own genitals are mutilated. Coming here is always mixed for me, because while it makes me feel great to see so many strong, compassionate women here with anti-genital-mutilation views (TigerTail is a personal favorite of mine ), it also reminds me of what was stolen from me and how utterly helpless I am to regain it (foreskin facsimiles due to tissue expansion not withstanding).

I do like hanging around here, but I have to take breaks even from Mothering.com every once in a while. My only other option is to jade myself to the issue as best I can so that I don't go insane, and I'd rather not have to do that.

The other thing is... I do feel compelled to introduce the issue to new people from time to time. If we just hang out here in isolation, the only people we'll help are the people that stumble upon the site by chance (which is good, but not enough). Moreover, talking to people in person--as nerve wracking as it can be--is often an important factor in education and helping people accept the truth.

As an angry circumcised guy, I think I'm in a unique position to talk to people (particularly other guys), so I feel an obligation to take advantage of that. But I also think it might be particularly difficult for me, because when people spout off pro-circumcision talk it hits me really hard. Not just in terms of feeling like my views and other people's rights are being attacked, but also in terms of effectively being told that I don't have a right to my genitals and that my feelings of violation regarding my own circumcision are completely unfounded and stupid. Even if they don't say that--even if they don't even know I'm circumcised--any talk that even suggests that parents have the right to circumcise their children comes across that way to me. I think I get a glimpse into how a rape victim must feel when she overhears ignorant people claiming that rape victims "ask for it" by how they dress, or some such BS like that.
It's sometimes hard to broach the subject when I know I may very well have to face that again.

Ack... I went off on a long speech again.

Anyhoo, while I understand the desire to stay in a safe place (and I assume your post wasn't entirely serious, so don't get me wrong), I think it's important to fight that from time to time and put yourself out there--on the line--to save more babies and future men.

[blsilva]

I agree that we have to venture out from time to time, but I have to say that I forgot how "mainstream" the rest of the world is until this weekend. I've been hanging out at MDC almost exclusively for almost a year now, and my mind kind of bacame accustomed to the idea that so many people were like the people here- and not just intactivists, but he whole NFL/AP thing altogether.
Then I visit another site this weekend, and I remembered what made me seek out MDC in the first place. The completely anti-AP sentiment out there kinda slapped me in the face. It was nice to come back.

[rmzbm]

Honestly, I've found more support at other sites. I find the circ. forum here pretty harsh.
Just my view. Not looking for debate.

[LavenderMae]

Circumcision is hard to debate. I have to try very hard not to think of the babies that were or are going to be harmed. That is difficult for me to do and that's why years ago I stopped debating circumcision. But now I'm trying again because I think it's important to get the information out there and to be heard. Circumcision is never going to end if those of us agaisnt it don't say something and don't try our best to inform people. Even if it's just saying you didn't do it and voting in a circ poll. Even if that's just saying you did circ and you regret it and voting against it in a poll.

[vaughnmama]

Originally Posted by Blarg

The other thing is... I do feel compelled to introduce the issue to new people from time to time. If we just hang out here in isolation, the only people we'll help are the people that stumble upon the site by chance (which is good, but not enough). Moreover, talking to people in person--as nerve wracking as it can be--is often an important factor in education and helping people accept the truth.

You are right, thank you for reminding me. I have said in the past that if I had heard the anti-circ message somewhere "mainstream" years ago, then it would have saved my little boys from this damage. My goal is to educate others now, even though I won't be able to change the minds of everyone.

[A&A]

Originally Posted by rmzbm

Honestly, I've found more support at other sites. I find the circ. forum here pretty harsh.
Just my view. Not looking for debate.

The guilt can be pretty nervewracking, can't it. But use it as fuel to save other babies. (That's what Marilyn Milos, the founder of www.nocirc.org did)

[rmzbm]

Originally Posted by A&A

The guilt can be pretty nervewracking, can't it. But use it as fuel to save other babies. (That's what Marilyn Milos, the founder of www.nocirc.org did)

Thanks!

[Blarg]

Originally Posted by rmzbm

Honestly, I've found more support at other sites. I find the circ. forum here pretty harsh.
Just my view. Not looking for debate.

I think that's valid. I find this forum very supportive and uplifting, but I'm on a different side of things than you: a regretfully circumcised guy, rather than a regretful ex-circumcising mother. I can see how someone in your position would react very differently than me to many of the posts here. Many of the posts that I find affirming and supportive are probably some of the same posts that you find harsh.

Likewise, a forum that would feel more supportive and caring for you would likely make me feel unacknowledged and unsupported to some degree.

That's part of what makes this issue so difficult, is that there are so many people coming at this from so many different places. We all want the same thing: for baby boys to stop being cut up. But our reasons (or at least which reasons we consider to be most important) and backgrounds can vary considerably.

[rmzbm]

Agreed.

[Peacemamalove]

I totally agree some people are insane! I can't believe some of things people have said to me!

Now to stay here and not feel sick to my stomach!

[alissakae]

But people who KNOW the facts about circumcision need to be out and about on those mainstream boards where people are deluded into thinking it is "normal" to cut the genitals of babies! I hope everyone will try to at least occasionally visit some of those crazy parenting boards and knock a little sense into those people! Then come back here for a dose of sanity