CIN (Circumcision Information Network) 2:38

CIRCUMCISION INFORMATION NETWORK
Formerly CIN CompuBulletin
Volume 2, Number 38, 24 November 1995
E-Mail:  CircInfoNe@aol.com

The purpose of this weekly bulletin is to educate the public about and to
protect children and other non-consenting persons from genital mutilation.
 Readers are encouraged to copy and redistribute it, and to contribute
written material.  --Rich Angell, Editor.

WHAT THE EXPERTS ARE SAYING
Contributed by gtf@theorem.math.rochester.edu (Geoffrey T. Falk)

The book "The Joy of Uncircumcising" (2nd ed.), by Jim Bigelow, PhD,
published by Hourglass Book Publishing (PO Box 171, Aptos CA 95001), has the
following reviews on the back cover:

"This book...adds a new dimension to the argument against routine
circumcision...The evolution of elective circumcision from a method to
control masturbation and other 'immoral' sexual behaviours to an accepted,
routine medical modality provides an interesting discussion...The
psychological and sexual benefits of restoring the foreskin are expounded..."
   ---The Journal of the American Medical Assoc.

"[The book] is based on three premises: that infant circumcision is performed
without consent; that circumcision diminishes penile sensation and therefore
reduces sexual enjoyment; and that techniques of prepucial reconstruction can
restore lost sensitivity to the glans penis...As Dr. Bigelow forcefully
points out, there is little evidence that early circumcision confers any
health gain to the individual in the longer term."
   ---British Medical Journal

"Bigelow's book is...an important statement on a theme about which little is
usually said, and on which most of us are ignorant.  Urologists should read
this book, which should make them consider alternatives...before offering
circumcision...and take seriously the wishes of the troubled patient who asks
to have his mutilation corrected."
   ---British Journal of Urology

"Jim Bigelow provides a profound service for the general public, for parents,
physicians, and hopefully, most of all, for future generations of infant
boys.  In this multi-faceted, well-researched and clearly written book, he
leaves no stone unturned...[It] provides abundant facts and information
necessary to include circumcision in any discussion of child abuse."
   ---The Journal of Orgonomy

"In reading this book, one is forced to examine his/her own feelings about
circumcision...[It] challenges us to think about new issues such as men's
rights and foreskin restoration."
   ---Journal of Nurse-Midwifery

"Most plastic surgeons will be surprised and many will be distressed at the
information and arguments presented in this book...Particularly valuable are
the insights on why some men feel so strongly about the desirability of the
uncircumcised penis...It is an excellent introduction to a subject too long
absent in plastic surgical literature."
   ---Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF A NON-CIRCUMCISION ADVOCATE

[Those of us who are opposed to circumcision] get called many things:
Fanatical.  Retarded.  Rabid.  Racist.  Bigoted.  Idiotic.  Crazy.

Why are men called rabid fanatics for wanting to have had our bodies left
with the best parts attached? 

As a circumcised man, my motivation comes from my own loss.  Ever since I can
remember, even as a child, I had always felt that my penis was 'not the way
it was supposed to be.'  Sometimes I thought that when I grew up, I would
grow a foreskin.  I didn't really have any way to understand what was wrong.
 It is not something that people ever talk about, is it?  Not to their
children.  Not in sex education classes.  And, in America, sometimes not even
in medical school anatomy courses!

Denial prevented me from wanting to find out.  Denial that there was anything
wrong.  Denial, in the form that what was done to me must have been done for
some good reason.  And denial of my true feelings, shrouded in the medical
myths that continue to protect and foster routine infant genital alteration
in my culture, the same medical myths you can see promulgated regularly in
newspapers, advice columns, talk shows, and internet newsgroups.  Denial is
real, and there is a lot of it out there.  Denial is part of the process of
grief.

My journey began when I was referred to a book about circumcision.  Somebody
was finally speaking to me! Somebody finally understands!  Finally some real
information!  I soon learned exactly what had been done to my little penis
when I was a baby, how it was likely done, for how many days afterwards the
pain would have lasted.  And what sensitive, important part of me was
removed.

I can still remember the intense anger that coursed through me when I learned
the truth:  that the best part of my penis, the most sexually sensitive
tissue of my body, my birthright, my way to experience the joy of intimacy
the way Nature intended, which is encoded in my genes, which was designed to
perfection through millions of years of evolution, had been taken away from
me, irrevocably, at the time of my birth; that the doctors and nurses had
ignored my frenzied screams as I tried to tell them, as best as I knew how:
 "Hey, that's mine!", "That hurts!", "Why are you doing this to me?"  And at
the same time, my shame melted away, as I realised I was not alone.

There are ways to "restore" a semblance of a foreskin, to help make a ruined
penis look more normal, to be a bit more sensitive, and to work a bit better.
 But I can never know what my body would really feel like to be intact.
 Because of what was done to me, I can never know what making love to a woman
was really meant to be like!  Surely, that ought to be one of the most
important things in a man's life.

If you're a man who is happy being circumcised, then you are fortunate.  But
I am not happy about it.  And thousands (probably millions) of other men are
also not happy about it.  Some of our stories are remarkably similar.  Yet:

We are Americans, Canadians, Britons, Australians, Africans.

We are Christians, agnostics, Muslims, Jews.

We had no say in what was done with our bodies!

Sure, making love is still nice.  But that's not the point.  And when people
will not even try to understand, that is what makes me the angriest of all.

Anger, like denial, is part of the process of grief.  For me, that anger has
no direction.  It is not directed at my parents.  It is not even directed at
the doctor who cut me.  And it is not directed at Muslims or Jews, whose
complex, ancient cultures have produced so many things of exquisite human
significance.

Yet [we] still get called many things.  Fanatical.  Retarded.  Rabid.
 Racist. Bigoted.  Idiotic.  Crazy.  For the sake of the children, we have to
put  up with all this, and carry on.  Why are men called racist bigots for
wanting to have our bodies left with all their parts attached?  And for
wanting the same freedom for all children, until they can make a decision for
themselves, should they feel they have a religious obligation to do so?

The society and cultural background that you have is only one of thousands
across the world.  Each has a different attitude towards sexuality.  In some,
the inner, sexual core of our human psyche is nothing shameful.  Children's
bodies are inviolate.  Every society could be like that.

What about circumcision on the eighth day? It is not up to me to change that.
 It is up to the Jewish community.

For my part, the motivation comes from my own loss.  That is why I have
joined with thousands of others to stop routine neonatal circumcision.  Not
because of hatred, not because of bigotry; only out of respect for humanity,
and for the freedom of the child to choose his or her own course -- the
freedom I never had.  And because I am helping to end the needless suffering.
 And we will end it.  And it makes me feel better.

[Editor's note:  Stay tuned for an essay on the psychology of circumcisers.]

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION call NOCIRC, the National Organization of
Circumcision Information Resource Centers at (415) 488-9883, fax (415)
488-9660.  Ask about the resource provider nearest you.  For written
information, write NOCIRC, PO Box 2512, San Anselmo, CA 94979, with SASE
and/or donation if possible.
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