CIN (Circumcision Information Network) 2:9

CIN CompuBulletin
Circumcision Information Network 
Volume 2, Number 9, 11 March 1995

READERS RESPOND
Reader:  Get a life pal.  I was "amputated" as a child and I love my
exposed frenulum. 

CIN:  I'm sorry to rain on your parade, but you don't have a frenulum to
be exposed.  It went with the foreskin, and it was the most sensitive,
exquisite part of your penis.  Most men who are circumcised as adults find
the resulting loss of pleasure to be anywhere from disappointing to
devastating. 

Reader:  Foreskins are filthy and accumulate smegma. 

CIN:  You are no more advanced or civilized than the millions of people
who cut off female genitalia because they are filthy and accumulate
smegma, etc.  Women have far more smegma than men.  So what?  Smegma is a
natural lubricant and protectant.  All mammals produce it. 

Reader:  You are an obsessed individual and you and people of your ilk are
crazy. 

CIN:  You must have me mistaken for someone else.  I am taking a stand
AGAINST genital mutilation. 

Reader:  What do you do sit around all day lamenting the loss of your
insignificant little prepuce. 

CIN:  If you've never had a prepuce, how do you know how insignificant it
is?  Ignorance sure is bliss, isn't it?  Readers who would like to know
what it's like to have an "insignificant little" prepuce might want to
contact PAHadrian@aol.com. 

Reader:  You spend your life collecting data on all the lost foreskins in
the world as if they were your own. 

CIN:  I have a moral obligation to protect the innocent.  If you are not
part of the solution, you are part of the problem. 

Reader:  Well here's a tip for you ....Nobody cares. 

CIN:  Wrong again.  Many people do care, and people of your ilk are fast
becoming a minority.  I hope you someday have the courage to face the
truth. 

A SURVIVOR SPEAKS
Contributed by J.L.D. of Maryland:  
Removal of a man's foreskin is mutilation, and it is a one-way trip.  That
it is common in our society does not change this fact.  I read in a
parents' advice column the following question:  'My son wants a tattoo. 
Should I go with him?' The answer?  'When he is old enough, he is old
enough to go alone.' This should be good advice for the removal of the
foreskin, too.  If circumcision were not common in our society, it would
be considered assault and battery.  I was 2 days old when it happened to
me. 

When I have sex, fairly often I experience pain, and occasionally I bleed,
right near that old scar.  Fairly often, I cannot reach climax.  I had no
sex life until after 40; I was held back by fear and shame. 

Over the past few years, I have discovered suppressed anger.  If I could
roll back time, I would kill to protect myself from this 'quick, painless,
common procedure.' At the age of 2 days, I was not able to understand what
was being done, or to object or resist. 

Am I alone?  Are there mothers out there who can explain how I am full of
baloney?  Will this letter be a priceless gift to others who suffer
silently, alone? 

One time I was at a maternity ward, admiring a baby boy.  Tied to him was
a bright red ribbon marked 'DO NOT CIRCUMCISE.' Is this the only operation
where we need such a device?  I looked at that for a long time while the
thoughts surged through my head. 

PLANNED ACTIONS
(For details contact NOHARMM, PO Box 460795, San Francisco, CA 94146 (415)
826-9351, unless otherwise noted.)

8-12 April, Philadelphia, PA: American Academy of Pediatrics Annual Meeting.
 Leafletting and Vigil (9 April) opposing childhood genital mutilation.
 Contact Tom Morris, P. O. Box 53152, Philadelphia, PA 19105 or Al Fields
(610) 489-6505.

6 May, Philadelphia, PA: Educational Seminar on Newborn Circumcision.
 Co-sponsored by Childbirth Education Foundation and NOHARMM/Philadelphia.
 Volunteers and donations needed.  Jim Peron, CEF, (215) 357-2792

8-10 May, San Francisco, CA: American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists Annual Meeting.  Rally and leafletting to draw attention to
inconsistency of ACOG's new stand against FGM while questioning their role in
performing male genital mutilations.

30 May - 4 June, Vancouver, BC:  Child Health 2000. Rally and leafletting to
raise awareness among 4,000 expected international attendees about genital
mutilation in North America.  Volunteers and donations needed.  James Loewen,
NOHARMM/Vancouver, (604) 689-9697.

27-29 July, Northern CA: San Francisco Bay Area Film Premier,  Nurses of St.
Vincent - Saying No to Circumcision.  Strategy Meeting-Reunion-Picnic of
those who care.  March to and Rally at Marin General Hospital to commemorate
Tenth Anniversary of nurse Marilyn Milos' forced resignation.  The week end
kicks off a national awareness campaign.
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