What is the best way...

[nikihodges]

to discourage people from circing their boys? im not very good at it *sigh*

[carriebft]

Know your audience and have a wide range of arguments and approaches. For example, I once convinced a friend against circumcision after finding out how against dog tail docking and cat declawing they were. I used the same reasons they were against that to turn them against circumcision.


Examples of approaches I often use:

1) The risk approach: Talk to them in person or over email about the risks of circumcision. Show them the studies that put meatal stenosis risk at 10%, infections (MRSA article from the DOC has some graphic pics with it, too), glan amputation (provide links to recent news stories of parents suing hospitals for disfiguring their sons), death (again, lots of news stories on this to send), etc

2) The human rights approach: I flesh out the idea of "his body, his rights':
- compare female genital mutilation type 1 with male circumcision
- talk in depth about the procedure- emphasis on strapping down, inadequate pain relief
- question who has the right to do this to the sexual organs- again, talk about risks and ruined sex lives
- lack of informed consent
- ability to do it later if the boy wants

3) The "do you really know what circumcision IS" approach:
-talk about the instruments of torture- clamps and plastibell- show how the FDA questions their safety, talk about flesh eating disease
- show pictures of circumstraints
-videos
-talk about how the gomco clamp sometimes requires the foreskin to be safety pinned- again, show pictures if the person can handle it
-pain relief and the studies that show even the ring block is not complete relief