The genital autonomy movement advocates for the legal protection of children from genital surgeries without consent of the patient. Genital autonomy is an international social movement whose foundational principle is the right to genital autonomy; 
that all human beings – females, males, and intersexed individuals – have an inalienable right to intact genitalia, free from any genital modifications, such as clitoridectomy, infibulation, circumcision, and sex reassignment. 

This movement aims to bring consciousness and awareness of genital mutilation and to educate communities about both the benefits of the intact sex organs and the damage the removal of healthy tissue does to children. I interviewed sixteen self-identified genital autonomy activists, or intactivists, in order to investigate the methods and strategies employed by activists to promote the goals of the genital autonomy movement in the United States.

Participants advocate the principle of autonomy by disseminating information about: (1) the intact body and the functions of the genitalia; (2) the damages of child genital surgeries that continue throughout adulthood and worsen with age; and (3) the ethical dilemmas associated with all medically unnecessary genital modifications. Activists employ a variety of methods and pedagogical approaches to addressing these components.

These strategies create a network of activists to reach a diverse population, and offer resources that advocate the benefits of intact genitalia, and an awareness 
of bodily integrity and personal autonomy.

(original article posted here)

UNLV student Travis Wisdom has been battling the centuries-old Western tradition of male circumcision for two years. And he’s backing it up with research.

A women’s studies major in his senior year, Wisdom is passionate about sharing his views and research on the preservation of the genital integrity of infants and is seeking to educate people about what he said is the danger of the practice of circumcision.

Wisdom was invited to travel to Lisbon, Portugal to share the knowledge of the history of circumcision that he has gained after two years of research. He will travel to Canada soon after he returns to speak on the medical aspects of circumcision.

In September, he will travel to the United Kingdom to speak about genital autonomy in a conference and assist those who have been circumcised and regret it.

“When he comes home, he will have more to say, more to offer, more experience and more education,” said Marilyn Milos, director of the National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers, which has worked with Wisdom and identified with the cause of eradicating infant circumcision.

“Everything he does, he does with dignity and respect,” she said of Wisdom. “He is responsible and conscious.”

Wisdom was inspired to start his research after he watched part of a video that depicted a circumcision and engaged in a class discussion on the issue.

“I made the decision that I needed to do research to understand how can someone do that to a child as a doctor,” Wisdom said. “How they can hear the screams of a child and think nothing of it?”

Wisdom interned with Doctors Against Circumcision for one year, after which he contacted Milos.

In Nevada, circumcision rates are the lowest in the country — 20 percent. Wisdom helped to establish a second NOCIRC chapter in the state, which is the only chapter in Las Vegas.

“I love what he is doing,” Milos said. “The fact that he is a young man who understands this issue is remarkable … He is coming forward in this movement and doing some wonderful things.”

Wisdom’s research has focused on the medical aspect of circumcision. He said that nowadays, most doctors don’t know the exact medical reason as to why circumcision is practiced.

“The United States is the only country in the world to [perform circumcision on most of the male populations] for secular reasons,” Wisdom said.

He explained that the practice of circumcision runs deep in American culture and has become established as an acceptable medical operation, starting in the West as a way to prevent children from masturbating because doctors believed that masturbation was the reason for many diseases.

“In the beginning, circumcision was said to prevent diseases from head to toe, then hygiene started to be implemented [as a reason],” he said.

However, Wisdom said that there is no necessity to circumcise a child for hygienic purposes.

“Teach a child how to clean his penis and there will be no problem,” he said. “Not only is circumcision utterly ridiculous. It’s extremely barbaric.”

Wisdom also explained that most physicians perform circumcision on the basis of preventing penile cancer without telling parents of babies that penile cancer is even less common than male breast cancer.

“I always get nervous when a doctor alleges the necessity of circumcision,” Wisdom said.

He also said that circumcision can cause neurogenic shock on infants because it is a procedure usually performed without anesthesia. In most cases, babies are too young to undergo anesthesia.

Wisdom said he believes circumcision is a human rights violation and should not be performed on children, regardless of religion.

“It is not a minor surgery and it’s not something that doesn’t cause trauma to the body,” Wisdom said. “Circumcision is an act of violence and a misappropriation of power.”

Wisdom is affiliated with religious organizations that are against circumcision. He believes that, in some ways, circumcision can be a way for religions to maintain dominance and control.

“Your religious right ends with the rights of someone else’s body,” Wisdom said. “[Nothing] gives you the right to harm someone else’s body in the name of religion.”

Milos commended Wisdom for his commitment to the issue of male circumcision and said that she is eager for him to continue his advocacy both nationally and internationally, though she said that changing people’s minds about such a long-standing practice will not be an easy task.

“When you challenge the dominant paradigm and the status quo,” Milos said, “you make a lot of people angry with you.”

On January 24, 2011, I post mailed 46 letters to Medicaid contacts in the United States. As of May 7, 2011, I have received ELEVEN responses.

Received:

Arkansas
Colorado
Hawaii
Kentucky (Wait until you read this letter!)
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
New Hampshire
New Jersey
West Virginia
Wisconsin

NO RESPONSE:

Alabama, Carol Steckel
Alaska, William Streur
American Samoa, (1) Niuatoa Andy Puletasi (2) Tulili Tone
Arizona, Thomas Betlach
California, Toby Douglas
Connecticut, Mark Schaefer
Delaware, Rosanne Mahaney
DC, (1) John McCarthy (2) Julie Hudman
Florida, Roberta Bradford
Georgia, Jerry Dubberly
Guam, Theresa L. Arcangel
Illinois, Theresa Eagleson
Indiana, (1) E. Mitchell Roob, Jr. (2) Patricia Casanova
Iowa, Jennifer Vermeer
Kansas, (1) Andrew Wilson (2) Barbara Langner
Nebraska, Vivianne M. Chaumont
New Mexico, Julie Weinberg
Northern Mariana Islands, Helen Sablan
Ohio, Tracy J. Plouck
Oklahoma, (1) Mike Fogarty (2) Garth Splinter
Pennsylvania, (1) Michael Nardone (2) Izanne Leonard-Haak   
Puerto Rico, Miguel Negron-Rivera
Rhode Island, Elena Nicolella
Tennessee, Darin Gordon
Vermont, Susan W. Besio
Virginia, Gregg Pane
Virgin Islands, (1) Jewel Harrigan (2) Karin Virgil
Wyoming, Teri Green   

            On January 29, 2011, I post mailed 18 letters to CDC and AAP offices in the United States. As of May 7, 2011, I have received ONE response.

Received:

Christine Cagle, Department of Health and Human Services

NO RESPONSE: 

Katrina Kretsinger
Helene Gayle
Judith S. Palfrey
Thomas Frieden
Timothy Mastro
Renée Jenkins
Jay Berkelhamer
David T. Tayloe
Errol Alden
Peter H. Kilmarx
Andrew Freedman
Doug Diekema
Dawn K. Smith
Lee Warner
Michael T. Brady
Letter Returned:
Julie Louise Gerberding
David S. Janssen 

Author’s note:
The article was originally published in the March 2011 issue of The Whole Woman magazine (http://www.whole-woman.com). This declaration of my feminist intactivism is personal, and discusses adult themes.  

The Making of an Activist
A Personal Manifest@ of a Feminist Intactivist By Travis Wisdom

Developing a Feminist Consciousness
In kindergarten, children used to approach me inquiring about my gender: “Are you a boy or a girl, because you look like a boy but act like a girl, so what are you?” Their curiosity later progressed into vindictive inquiries about my aberrations from the gender and sexual norms: “Do you have a dick or a pussy?” “You’re a queer/dildo/fairy.” I learned early in my development that I was very different from the other boys and girls, and that those differences ought to be concealed if I were to survive.

When I was eight, a neighbor began molesting me for roughly five years. Later, I endured the US “justice” system for three years. I was required to undergo a medical examination. Three physicians conducted the exam, which was recorded and played live in the examination room. The footage was disseminated to other doctors and later viewed in the courtroom. The jury rendered a verdict of “not guilty” (different from “not innocent”) on all fifteen counts brought forth. My intellect, pastime interests, and perceived sexuality were all used against me, indicating that I fabricated the story. After called into question the possible necessity of psychological counseling for my sexuality, it was implied that I used “manipulative seduction” to achieve my desire.

Indeed, the relentless ridicule in school and the trivialization and the mockery from the courts caused great challenges during my childhood. This resulted in a period of depression. Later, I began to ascribe to self-mutilation; “cutting” as known among teenagers, and it became a way to cope with these psychological and emotional pains. I realized that I needed something in my life that would help me survive these oppressions, but also something that would attempt to make sense of these experiences, and treat them seriously. I needed someone, a group, or an abstract concept that would be useful to articulate what went wrong, why all of this had happened, and what could be done to survive and then grow from these struggles.

I developed an interest in feminism very early in my life. Feminism spoke to me because it offered a sense of security and belonging that allowed me to ask questions about my experiences with hopes to actively change or improve the conditions of my life. Feminism, as I define it, acknowledges the existence of sexism, and attempts to offer methods to eradicate it, in order to secure equality between men and women. Feminism is not misandrist and it does not strive for feminine domination. The soul of the movement is concerned about women’s lives and how to better women’s lives so that they may be one day treated equally with men, not valued in relation to their social roles, but holistically, as beings that matter. Feminism embraces the intersections of our identities and our diversity; and challenges each of us to deconstruct what we have constructed in our lives, and to articulate what we leave unarticulated. By learning how to deconstruct the meanings of gender and sexuality, I have been able to embrace my own unique blending of the binaries, as a sense of gender and sexual queer. I was able to connect to feminism with my struggles as a gay male and as a victim of both sexual assaults and Western jurisprudence.

Developing an Intactivist Consciousness
While enrolled in an introductory English course, my professor related our discussions to male circumcision anytime a student addressed female circumcision. She defined mutilation of the body and that the procedures should be known as fe/male genital mutilation. During our class presentations, she allowed a student to run a medical video circumcision procedure. I made it about half way into the fifteen-minute video before I collapsed and vomited in the restroom. It took several moments to regain myself as I hobbled back to class feeling nauseous. I never finished the video and my life has never been the same.

Like many Westerners, I was opposed to female circumcision strictly out of ethnocentrism. I deplored genital cutting in women and girls simply because the practices exist outside my constructed socio-cultural frameworks, and not because I understood the ramifications surrounding the procedures. Similarly, I accepted male circumcision, and it remained unquestioned, because it exists within these frameworks. My professor challenged each of her students to assess the practice of forced genital amputations, in both females and males.

The social movement that promotes the protection of minors from unnecessary genital surgeries is known as intactivism. The intactivist movement strives for increased knowledge and awareness of the intact human body, the purposes and functions of the body’s genitalia, and better consciousness of the damages of genital modifications.  

My intactivist consciousness began after watching this video in class. I entered into a state of emotional chaos, and it was during emotional states that I conducted research on male circumcision. Because this consciousness was sparked toward the end of my undergraduate studies, I was able to apply feminist methodological approaches to research. After concluding an opposition to genital cutting in minors, I reflected on my research and I made the decision to identify as an intactivist. What I didn’t realize at the time was, as a feminist, I already had some of the underpinnings of an intactivist ideology: the belief in body ownership, autonomy, sex awareness and education, and equal protection under the law. My feminism made space in which the newly accepted intactivism could dovetail and collaborate with my beliefs in equality between males and females, better sex education and awareness of how vital and important the foreskin is to optimum sexual health, my interests in examining jurisprudential theory to sex equality, and articulating questions of the body, beauty, and dominance.

Coming Out as Political Declaration of Resistance           
I have, most significantly, come out in my life and to others three times: as a gay man, as a feminist, and as an intactivist (in this order). These have been life-changing experiences and, in many ways, they are not conclusive. Coming out has been a fluid process, which started as personal acknowledgements of identity, that later progressed to public statements of who I am. I have lost family and friends, and gained some. I feared the rejection and judgment, but I refused to live in the margins.

            Ironically, I chose to come out because I refused to live in the margins. Instead, I am still living and participating within the borderlands, but coming out has been a political declaration of resisting social hegemonic ideologies of sex and gender, the body, and sexuality. Grounded in feminism, I participate in the struggles for social justice, attempting to make space that will improve people’s living conditions.

            Coming out as a feminist man has also been a unique declaration of resistance. In the early stages of my feminism, I was not conscious of what it meant to be feminist and male. Later, through my Women’s Studies education, I soon learned that being a feminist man meant being a comrade in struggle to end sexism, and to deplore injustice. It also meant recognizing many of the privileges that go unrecognized, divesting them, and embracing feminist politics.   

Sexual Emancipation
I remember my molester telling me that one day I would be able to “experience our love with my wife” and that “you’ll become as big as me and she’ll love you for that.” Our “extra special relationship” was one that I was supposed to share only with him until I matured fully, and then I was to “spread the gift” to others. He taught me sex education and I learned about all of the things that excited him: his girlfriend, his grown children, his dog, and me. As an eight year old child, I felt that our relationship was wrong, but I wasn’t exactly sure why or what I could have done to avoid it. All I knew was that I was partly or entirely to blame and that I did not –ever –wish to be sexual again. I quickly associated sex and intimacy specifically with deviant, manipulative seduction.    

My sexual emancipation arose from feminism. I saw sex as a dirty act. I didn’t want to relive my childhood assaults and my molestation, and I paralleled sexual pleasure and intimacy with power imbalances. I hated my body, and myself, and I detested the feeling of blind obligation to comply with my molester’s pleasures. Sex, in any form, was lewd, and masturbation was a selfish, pathetic act that only the rejected performs. I used to feel guilty for finding young men tantalizing. I have been able to break from many of these shackles through my Women’s Studies education. By deconstructing gender and hegemonic beauty, sex and sexuality, I have learned to embrace the ways in which I blur the lines of distinction between male and female, queering my gender and my beauty. I choose to incorporate the ‘at symbol‘ in this declaration of views because it encapsulates this queerness: the combination of socially constructed and new ways of articulating masculine and feminine, male and female, and sexuality, is what becomes the basis for my manifest@. My inner soul is dominated by the feminist/feminine self  (‘a’) and the outer self is more masculine (‘o’). The ‘@’ represents a blending of these identities.       

Feminism has helped me embrace a fluid sexuality. Although I am sexual strictly with men, I have been able to love my love for men, my love for brown boys, boys of color, and white boys, resisting familial prohibition. These shifts in ideology have created a sex positive belief that has allowed me to enjoy sex and intimacy, enjoy masturbation, and to be comfortable with exploring the range of my sexuality, kinks, tastes, and interests, without guilt, and free from anxiety.

An important part of my sexual emancipation is foreskin restoration. Restoring my foreskin has allowed me to reclaim my body, and to embrace it. I accept the past, but I actively choose to protect and heal my body’s violation. By restoring my foreskin, I emancipate my sexuality, chipping away at the damages caused by circumcision of my sexuality and of my body. By restoring my foreskin, I declare that my body is beautiful, and that it is now a violence-free, rape-free zone.

From Theory to Praxis: On Feminism, the Active Intactivist, and Valuing a Feminist Education
I speak very openly about my feminism and my sexuality. I also speak openly about genital amputations because I want people to challenge their unquestioned attitudes toward circumcision on boys, and their often ignorant condemnation of female circumcision. Many people make excuses as to why the discussion is irrelevant to them: when speaking to an older Jewish woman about circumcision, she told me “I don’t care about the medical side, it’s all religious, but at this point, none of it matters because I’m old, my kids are grown, and I don’t even fuck anymore, so why should I care?”

On another incident, after publishing an article articulating male circumcision from a feminist perspective (in an online feminist magazine), several of the intactivist readers seemed uncomfortable with the writing because I used “the ‘f’ word.” After the article appeared on other sites on which comments could be posted, most felt that “its all about humanism and human rights, not feminism.” “Why should feminism care about what we do to our boys? Feminism is about women over men.”

Women’s Studies emerged as a legitimate academic discipline after the demand that academia be more inclusive of women’s issues and women’s experiences. Women’s Studies is unique and important as a discipline because it is interdisciplinary in scope, asks questions about power, privilege, and oppression, and attempts to describe, explain, and analyze the conditions of women’s lives by placing women at the center of inquiry. The methodological approach of asking questions and analyzing situations about women through women’s perspectives has been particularly useful and rewarding. It has been through this approach that I have realized how vital feminist theory is to understanding social stratification and what attempts can be made to combat and resist oppression.

Women’s Studies has taught me feminist theory and, later, how to contextualize activism within this framework. I have learned that feminism is relevant to my life because of shared struggles. Being a woman is not a prerequisite in order to be a feminist, and feminism should be valuable in everyone’s lives because it teaches how to improve our living conditions through positive social change.

By speaking to people about their views on circumcision, I am able to hear their perspectives about a traditional practice that is so deeply engrained in Western identity, that much of the justifications are inconclusive. In doing so, slowly, I can help people realize these disconnects and work through them. The process encourages an articulation of normalcy, what it is, and how to deconstruct it. As with any traditional practice, there are often long, convoluted histories, and through the process of the practice becoming a dominant expression of cultural identity, people begin to describe the practice as “just the way it is.” By deconstructing this normalcy, we can begin to assess the traditional practice from a new perspective, and offer ways to improve our society with more accurate and complete knowledge in order to better the future.

by:  Travis Wisdom  Wisdom4241942@yahoo.com 

To fellow intactivists, feminists, and all who are advocates for social justice:

I am planning several intactivist-related events in the next several months and I am seeking your sponsorship. Having your support will contribute to the possibility of these endeavors for which there is no funding aside from my own monetary capabilities.

As many of you may already know, my name is Travis Wisdom. I am completing a bachelor's degree in Women's Studies, and I am currently an intern for the National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers (NOCIRC). I also interned with Doctors Opposing Circumcision, and I have published articles with The Whole Woman and for the Childbirth Postpartum Professional Association on topics related to circumcision including: feminism and genital integrity, the benefits of the intact penis, the effects of foreskin amputations, and a personal declaration of feminist intactivism. Most recently, I have founded the Las Vegas, Nevada chapter of NOCIRC.

In April 2011, I will be giving one presentation in Lisbon, Portugal, and two presentations in Vancouver, Canada. My presentations will discuss: the legitimization and validation of the genital integrity movement, the ways in which circumcision is made “normal,” and the activist methods employed by our movement. 

The details are as follows:

International Society for Ethnology and Folklore presents ‘People Make Places –Ways of Feeling the World,’ April 17-21, 2011, Lisbon, Portugal    

(http://www.nomadit.co.uk/sief/sief2011/) 

 Simon Frasier University’s Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies presents ‘The Medicalization of Sex: An International, Interdisciplinary, Multimedia Conference,’ April 28-30, 2011, Vancouver, Canada

(http://www.sfu.ca/gsws/MedicalizationofSex.html)

In addition to three presentations, I am organizing a local intactivist panel, and I will also be giving two speeches as part of my Women's Studies degree requirements. The estimated total for these events is $6,000, which includes conference, registration, and dining fees, in addition to airfare and hotel accommodation.

Indeed, there is no suggested sponsorship amount, and I will formally highlight those who wish to contribute (unless otherwise specified). You may be affiliated with an organization or you may be a private citizen. While these presentations serve to advance my academic career, they will also allow me to educate people about our movement and its goals.

If you have any questions, please contact me. I use Paypal, and my e-mail address is the same as above. Lauren Stone will be holding an Ebay auction and seeking donated items for this fundraiser. She can be contacted via facebook or at: itsmybody@live.com.  

Again, thank you for your willingness to support me in these endeavors.

Warm Regards,        
   
Travis Wisdom

Director of NOCIRC, Las Vegas, Nevada
Director of Whole Network- Nevada

Note to reader: 

As the United States continues to endure bleak financial troubles, this is probably one of the most important times for intactivist grassroots efforts to end the Medicaid funding of infant circumcisions. I strongly encourage everyone to send letters to the states that still use tax dollars to compensate for this procedure. Below is the letter that I send. Feel free to use it as a guide. If you would like to make some changes, I strongly recommend to ONLY TALK ABOUT MONEY. All other perspectives about this issue- medicalization, history, sacrifices, damages, ethics and human rights, etc.- should be left for a different project. I am hopeful that if Medicaid directors realize the amount of money that could be saved to help repair the financial backbone of the United States and by utilizing these funds in a more fiscally responsible nature, then we might have a chance to encourage more states to follow South Carolina's most recent footsteps.   

DATE
NAME OF ADDRESSEE
TITLE
ADDRESS
ADDRESS 2
CITY, STATE, ZIP

Dear ADDRESSEE,

In light of the current Medicaid budget crisis, I am writing to ask you to end Medicaid funding of routine, non-therapeutic infant male circumcision in STATE. Taxpayers, as a whole, are paying approximately $70,000,000 annually to fund circumcision and the continuing medical visits, procedures, and costs resulting from botched circumcisions.

In its most recent circumcision policy statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) said "the procedure is not essential to the child's current well-being".  Both the AAP and the American Medical Association advise against non-therapeutic circumcision, and no national or international medical association recommends circumcision for preventive health reasons.

The alleged benefits of circumcision do not outweigh the known risks, complications, and costs of the unnecessary surgery. Scarce Medicaid dollars should be spent on necessary and vital medical needs. If circumcision is medically required after more conservative and cost-efficient methods have failed—which is rare—then Medicaid should provide financial compensation.

Some parents request circumcision for cultural and/or religious reasons, but this is not justifiable for Medicaid compensation. In December 2010, South Carolina announced coverage for circumcisions would cease, as it joined 16 states that have stopped payment for non-therapeutic procedures. Since infant circumcision is not medically necessary, please end STATE’s Medicaid funding of non-therapeutic circumcisions. For more information, see www.nocirc.org.

Sincerely,

Travis L.C. Wisdom
Branch Director of Las Vegas, Nevada

National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers
ADDRESS
ADDRESS 2
PHONE
E-MAIL

    Rethinking Male Circumcision from a Gay Male Feminist Perspective 
                                     and Embracing Genital Autonomy 
  
For the past three decades, women’s studies has emerged as a legitimate discipline after the demand that academia be more inclusive of women’s issues. Women’s studies is interdisciplinary in scope and utilizes theory in an attempt to analyze the conditions of women’s lives by putting women at the center of inquiry and by asking questions about privilege and oppression, and the outcomes of power and domination.

Feminists around the world have addressed their concern about genital surgeries imposed on women and girls and yet hardly any analysis of male circumcision has been addressed. An “intactivist” movement, which criticizes all forms of genital cutting, has substantially increased over the past thirty years. While attempts have been made to address the intellectual disconnect between female and male circumcision, feminists have focused solely on the intense opposition to female circumcision, and left the issue of male circumcision to unchartered terrain.

Feminism has been a part of my life since a young child. Like bell hooks (1994), I came to theory as a person in need. I was searching for a framework from which I could better understand my experiences as a gay man, and how my experiences relate to larger systems of stratification. For hooks, theory is a way to “grasp what is happening around and within” us. In a most simplistic understanding, feminism utilizes theory in ways “to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression” (hooks, 2000). She allows feminism to be relevant for everyone, suggesting that all sexist thinking and action is the problem, regardless if the perpetrators are male or female (hooks, 2000). Feminist theory calls into question the “most basic assumptions about our existence,” argues Barbara Smith (1979), which perpetuate power relationships in “all levels of human identity and action.”

 By majoring in women’s studies in college, I invest time in articulating feminist theory, its importance to women, but also its importance to men, and to myself, by fleshing out just how feminism could offer a better way of living. Feminist theory is a tangible and useful approach to social change. Without this relevance to our lives, theory is esoteric and utterly worthless.

When I first gained consciousness of female genital mutilation, I was pleased that feminists were attempting to secure the right to choice for women and girls. Soon, I gained consciousness of male genital mutilation, and I found myself at a crossroads of praxis. The theory of feminism I embrace offers change for women and men, and a way to conceptualize sexism and injustices with an objective to resist and combat these phenomena. However, I feel silenced and invalidated while feminism belittles my experiences as a victim of male genital mutilation by not extending the same articulations of this gendered practice as it has for women.

Nevertheless, I remain hopeful and I continue to embrace feminism, believing in its vision for change. Among the vision is securing choice that will better women’s lives. But as an intactivist I question circumcision and call for awareness of the benefits of intact genitalia, as well as appreciation for the intact body as natural and beautiful. These two philosophies seem to contradict each other, because intactivism calls for choice and protection from unwanted genital surgeries, regardless of gender; and feminism seems to only be interested in securing choice for females. I resent this double standard against our boys and I urge feminism to reconsider.

I refuse to discredit feminism, and believe that feminism is very relevant to this issue. Both movements disrupt dominant discourses that are taken for granted, the most basic assumptions of the ways in which our society functions. These discourses articulate meanings of sexuality, health, and reproduction, and as with the discourses surrounding female sexuality, they can be damaging to women. The discourses that surround males are damaging to our sexuality and our bodies, as they promote genital surgery that amputates the epicenter of our pleasure and sensation, and that rids our genitals of protection, denying us the same right of body ownership that Americans ethnocentrically secure for females. I realize that men benefit most from gender privilege, but men are also oppressed and victimized by its ideologies and by sexist exploitation. If gender inequality exists against males whereby we are marginalized and our lives are jeopardized, why wouldn’t feminism offer critical analyses for positive social change as intended to better women’s lives by eradicating all forms of sexism?  

In fact, feminism does recognize the ideologies surrounding genital surgeries and theorists work to articulate the knowledge produced about circumcision on women and girls. Specifically, the feminist movement has been instrumental in securing the right to body ownership for females as well as bodily integrity and respect. However, feminism has failed to look at genital surgeries across the gender spectrum by realizing that circumcision of males is not exempt from these ideologies. When will we begin to extend the same valuation, respect, and appreciation for our boys and men? Are males not entitled to these same beliefs or the legal protection from involuntary genital surgeries as females?

Chiefly, the concern is choice; that, feminism offers choice for women in order to improve the conditions under which women live. Reproductive rights rest on this understanding; that choice must be secured for women if women’s lives have any value. “If feminism is a movement to end sexist oppression,” argues hooks, “and depriving females of reproductive rights is a form of sexist oppression, then one cannot be anti-choice and be feminist” (hooks, 2000). If feminism promotes choice for the end result of empowering women’s lives via methods to demand positive social change, then advancing society by ending sexist oppression in its entirety should be envisioned. To systematically deny a male child the right to intact genitalia on the grounds of any justification forbids him the choice to decide the outcomes of his body. To legally prohibit the removal of any part of a girl’s body without her informed consent regardless of any reason or justification, and yet, to subject a boy to genital cutting, is inherently sex discrimination.   

In retrospect, the genital autonomy movement is about securing the right of bodily ownership. As intactivists, we demand that children be able to decide the outcomes of their bodies after being soundly aware of the minor prophylactic benefits amidst the great sacrifices that the ritual of circumcision inevitably requires. From the movement come appreciation, respect, and valuation of the intact body, its beauty, and its incomparable worth, whether female or male. The advocacy for knowledge of the male sexual organ helps to dispel myths about the body and male sexuality, as does knowledge about the female sexual organ help to dispel the myths that are used to perpetuate female circumcision. Available resources allow for an informed decision on peaceful parenting based on awareness and education as opposed to common inaccurate and misleading beliefs that can otherwise promote damage to the male body or cause unreasonable guilt for protecting boys from the damages of non-therapeutic circumcision. I urge feminism to envision choice for all and to scrutinize the discourses surrounding circumcision built on foundations of power and domination that are evident in systematic amputation of normal, healthy, and functioning tissue without consent of the patient.

 

Works Cited:

hooks, b. (2000). Feminism is for everybody: Passionate Politics. Cambridge: South End Press.

--------- (1994). Teaching to transgress. New York: Routledge.

Smith, B. (1979). Notes for yet another paper on black feminism, or will the real enemy please stand up?. Conditions: 5 The Black Women’s Issue, 2:2, 123-132.

 

About the Author:

Travis is an undergraduate student of Women’s Studies. He has worked for Doctors Opposing Circumcision and is completing an internship on behalf of The National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers. Recently, he published a paper on the benefits of the intact penis with Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association.

By Travis Wisdom
  
Author’s note: Originally published for the Childbirth and Postpartum Professionals Association (CAPPA), in the October 2010 online edition of CAPPA Quarterly.  

Introduction

            There are an increasing number of American parents who are saying “no” to routine circumcision. This positive choice gives boys increased health and lifetime benefits. While the circumcision rates continue to decline in the United States, those who choose “foreskin-friendly” parenting find themselves in contrast of the greater circumcising culture. This can cause increased uncertainty about decisions of circumcision. Because of the cultural myths relating to circumcision, even physicians can provide inaccurate and misleading information on the importance of the foreskin, its health benefits and vital roles to optimum sexual function, and proper hygiene and care for intact boys and men.

            This essay surveys various protective, mechanical, sensory, and sexual benefits and functions of the foreskin that would otherwise be lost to its surgical amputation. I discuss genital hygiene and care for the intact penis with hopes to help alleviate confusion and ignorance surrounding cleanliness. In anticipation, having an understanding of the benefits and functions of the human foreskin is useful for both the parents and the physicians in order to gain an appreciation and respect for intact genitalia.

Benefits of the Prepuce

The human prepuce, or foreskin, is a specialized organ that offers protective, mechanical, sensory, and sexual functions, all of which are necessary for operative sexual health [1]. All healthy functional males are born with the following preputial capabilities and should enjoy their benefits and functions throughout adulthood. 

Protective

The foreskin plays a crucial role in human sexuality, which becomes dysfunctional after its amputation due to circumcision. It is necessary that the glans be covered when flaccid in order to keep it protected from pathogens in addition to maintain pleasure and sensitivity. The foreskin either partially or completely covers the glans penis in the adult male protecting it from dryness and abrasion [2]. Remaining protected from foreign stimuli, the foreskin maintains the subpreputial area wet and moist with prostatic, vesicular, and urethral secretions [2]. The subpreputial moisture contains lysozyme, which destroys pathogens [1]. It is important that the glans remain in this state of moisture and wetness because it is covered with mucosa, not skin. In addition, the prepuce guards from the process of keritinization. This otherwise would cause the glans to thicken as skin cells begin to layer, which deadens sensation [2]. In other words, when the foreskin is no longer present, male genitalia looses ability to protect the mucosa membrane of the glans and to avert the leathering, desensitizing effect of the body’s natural attempt to suffice for missing protection.    

In infant boys, the prepuce protects the meatus from ammoniacal diapers and prevents meatitis, meatal ulceration, and meatal stenosis. The meatus is the opening of the urethra at the distal end of the penis and ought to be protected from such conditions that include inflammation, ulcers, and the narrowing of the opening of the urethra. All of these are preventable and are only seen in circumcised infants [5]. E. coli that is found in feces is the most important pathogen in urinary tract infection. The muscle fibers in the foreskin act as a preputial sphincter, helping to prevent UTI in infants as it forbids contact between the meatus and feces. Additionally, the foreskin also helps to reduce incidence of non-specific urethritis and presence of Staphylococcus aureus in the urethra [1]. Namely, the foreskin prohibits the child from sitting in his own urine and feces in a diaper and the sphincter prevents their contact with the mucosa membrane of the glans.  

Mechanical

An important mechanical function of the foreskin is its ability to facilitate intromission and penetration [2]. As the foreskin unfolds, the penis enters his partner reducing friction, dryness, and abrasion allowing intercourse to be more comfortable [1].

Also, the presence of the foreskin allows for less forceful penetration. After penetration, the foreskin provides a unique gliding action that substantially reduces friction and orifical dryness [1].    

Sensory and Sexual 

            The foreskin is a specific erogenous zone that is the most heavily innervated part of the penis with nerve endings near the surface of the ridged band. This band originates from the frenulum and encircles the opening of the foreskin [2]. The tissue whose nerve endings most sensitive to fine touch and temperature is located in the foreskin [1].

The foreskin has a layer of a smooth muscle tissue, the peripenic muscle, which comprises a portion of the dartos muscle [2]. The nerve-endings that are present in the foreskin become stimulated through motion and stretching [1]. Through the contractions of the unique muscle fibers in this tissue, the foreskin obtains strong elasticity, which is crucial to erogenous sensation. The muscle tissue must stretch to glide over the glans upon erection, later to return to its normal flaccid coverage. The stretching movement produces great sensation and pleasure. The nerve endings produce pleasurable erotic sensations, which travel to the central nervous system, inputting to the autonomic nervous system. This process plays a vital role in controlling erection and ejaculation [2].

Nerve endings of the glans are concentrated in the corona. Likewise, they intrude against the corona during intercourse [2]. The foreskin protects the corona from direct stimulation, and because it is the most highly innervated part of the glans penis, this helps to prevent premature ejaculation [1].

In short, stimulation occurs through stretching and motion. The foreskin’s great elasticity is vital for erogenous pleasure. The relationship between the nerve endings and the autonomic nerve systems is important to control erection and ejaculation in order for functional sexuality. The nerve endings in the corona are among the most sensitive and the foreskin protects from direct stimulation. Without the foreskin, latency time is adversely affected.  

Genital Hygiene

            The foreskin is one of the most easiest cared for parts of the human anatomy, and the most important rule to remember is: only clean what is seen [3]. Proper infant hygiene, for both boys and girls, is just that straightforward. In fact, Marilyn Milos, RN describes the cleaning of the intact penis as very similar to cleaning one’s finger [4]. Only clean the external genitalia, what is exposed, using warm water. Soap is not needed. Intrusive or interior cleaning is absolutely never needed. The boy’s foreskin will naturally retract at a point in his maturation that is unique to him, usually around puberty. It is utterly imperative to note that forcible retraction should always be avoided, as it causes trauma, pain, and destruction of the developing tissue and natural flora [4]. Of course the penis is immature at birth, and the foreskin is connected to the glans via a special membrane that ensures cleanliness and protection of the underlining penile structures [3]. In addition, this membrane also protects the high nerve supplied and erogenous foreskin of the developing penis from foreign stimuli, such as those found in feces, the ammonia in urine, and invading pathogens [3].

            Both John V. Geisheker and John W. Travis in the article, “Only Clean What Is Seen: Reversing the Epidemic of Forcible Foreskin Retractions,” agree that while the foreskin is different in structure, it is appropriate to conceptualize it as the male’s hymen, protecting the internal sexual organ during the years when they are not needed for sexual purposes. In time, the membrane within will disappear as the child matures [3].

            Once the boy has discovered that his foreskin is (naturally) retractable, he can easily care for his body through three easy steps: retract, rinse, and replace [4]. First, he can retract his foreskin. Using only warm water, he should not apply soap or any other substances on the mucosa membrane of the glans or the inner lining structure of the foreskin. Then, release the foreskin and allow it to naturally glide to its position [4].     

Conclusion

            Having an accurate understanding and appreciation of the advantages of the male foreskin provides parents the opportunity to empower their own lives and child birthing and child rearing experiences. It is important that physicians be given current, relevant, and accurate information on just how vital the foreskin is in protecting against disease and invading pathogens [1]; and in providing functional sexual organs the necessary skin mobility for intercourse as well as the opportunity to enjoy the full potential of the pleasures of sexual intimacy [1]. Also, the care for such a uniquely viable organ is extraordinarily simple. The prepuce can be cleaned and cared for with warm water, without the use of any artificial substances like soap, or invasive internal cleaning [3]. The first person to retract a boy’s foreskin should be the boy himself. Everyone else should leave it alone and let nature function in its own right. The membrane embedded under the foreskin is the male’s first line of defense against infection, and the foreskin’s forcible retraction disrupts this protective order, causing unnecessary and avoidable trauma and pain [4].

The advocacy for better knowledge of the male sexual organs helps to dispel myths about the human body and male sexuality. These available resources allow for an informed decision on foreskin-friendly parenting based on awareness and education as opposed to common inaccurate and misleading beliefs that can otherwise promote damage to the male body or cause unreasonable guilt for protecting boys from the damages of non-therapeutic circumcision.

References:

[1]        Hill, G. (2007). The Case against circumcision. Journal of Men's Health and Gender, 4(3), 318-323

[2]        Foreskin Sexual Function/Circumcision Sexual Dysfunction. Circumcision information resource pages. Retrieved (2009, September 07) from http://www.cirp.org/library/sex_function/

[3]        Geisheker, JV, & Travis, JW. (2008, May 30). Only clean What is seen - reversing the epidemic of forcible foreskin retractions. Kindred Community, 28-33.

[4]        Milos, MF. (2010). Letters to the Editor: Re: Provencio-Vasquez, E. & Rodriguez, A. (2009). Collaborative practice: Circumcision revisited. Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing, 14(4), 295-297. . (2010). Wiley periodicals, Inc.

[5]        Denniston, GC, & Reiss, MD. (2004). The Medical Director’s Guide to Male Circumcision. Doctors opposing circumcision. Retrieved (2010, January 4) from http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org

Women’s Studies has become more than just a baccalaureate major in college and from it I have been able to structure my own feminist politic that has blossomed since my freshman year of high school. Reading the literature of the second-wavers is what started it all, and as I hear, the rest is herstory. Or perhaps queerstory. I had a unique desire to learn about feminism and theory, and I wanted to know its relevance to both the world, and to myself as a gay male. After volunteering for the Rape Crisis Center, I was able to preliminarily put some of the theory to practice (praxis); and through this venue I gained consciousness of genital surgeries imposed on females without consent. My western eye immediately deplored female genital mutilation, and it wasn’t until college that I was challenged on my ethnocentrism. My introductory English professor, an Italian-Aussie, said to me that among my work on FGM, I was missing the other half of the genital mutilation problem. In retrospect, I think I gave her the look that all of us intactivists have seen many times throughout our work for genital integrity. As the two of us were conversing at a local café, she began to educate me on a couple of things: that you can’t be anti-FGM without any understanding of it, and also by pointing out male circumcision as genital mutilation. Not long thereafter, she discussed genital mutilation in class and showed her students a circumcision video. The sadistic violence depicted in that film, first sent me to the little boy’s room, but more importantly, stroked my curiosity.

Two years have passed – and many emotions, brainstorming, and writings later, – and I can now say that I have certainly dedicated a very large part of my personal and academic time, if not my life, to making a substantial mark in the genital autonomy movement, and on the world, by promoting integrity and protection from invasive and damaging non-therapeutic and religious circumcisions on children.

I am proud to state that, in my short time as an active participant in genital autonomy, I have been a research assistant for Doctors Opposing Circumcision and I have written about the benefits and functions of the intact penis for the Childbirth and Postpartum Professionals Association (CAPPA). In addition to landing an internship program with the National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers (NOCIRC), I have founded the first NOCIRC chapter in Las Vegas, Nevada, and it has been equally rewarding to talk with people in the community who have much to say about this very serious issue.

While my feminism has developed throughout the years, my intactivism has been instrumentally structured through feminism. My feminist praxis has been important to promote social justice, and genital autonomy is very much a large part of my vision for justice. My readers will quickly notice that I ground a lot of my writings in a consciousness of social location and experience. Social location – race, class, gender, sexuality, etc.–, are all crucial to intactivism because they each place a face to our experiences, but also they offer ways to understand the complexities surrounding the integrity, knowledge, and awareness, we promote and the horrific practices and ideologies we wish to end.

I hope you all find my body of writings in The Whole Network’s Demystifying the Foreskin: Challenging Dominant Discourses, including academic articles and creative writing, to be unique and interesting, valuable and inspiring.

 Travis Wisdom currently lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.
He can be contacted at: wisdom4241942@yahoo.com