Saturday, December 9, 2023

Matt Walsh: The Accidental Intactivist

This is my 2nd blog post on Matt Walsh. In my first, I talked about how, if people didn't know any better, they'd think he was an intactivist.

It's amazing to me how he is basically making every intactivist point, but still somehow manages to have a blind spot, either unwittingly or quite deliberately, in regards to male infant circumcision.

Right-wingers do this all the time; they go on and on about how they abhor child abuse and genital mutilation but then twist themselves into knots to insist male infant circumcision is "different."

It's like they've got all of the logic that should allow them to arrive at the conclusion that male infant circumcision is genital mutilation and child abuse, but then refuse to make that leap. They struggle with cognitive dissonance, and somehow the belief that "male infant circumcision is not mutilation" is more important.

By their own definition, male infant circumcision should be wrong, and we should be calling for the practice to stop, but then they move the goal post and change the criteria of what constitutes "mutilation" in order to say that male infant circumcision is "different."

I can only guess it's because they've got vested interest in continuing their double-think.

I'd bet a dime to a dollar Matt Walsh is circumcised and has gone on to circumcise his own male children, so he cannot allow himself to be guilty of his own critique of other procedures performed on healthy, non-consenting minors.

If he is intact and didn't do this to his own children I'd be extremely surprised. If this is the case, he may have other reasons for refusing to criticize male infant circumcision with the same scathe he reserves for double-mastectomy and castration in children, such as not wanting to upset Ben Shapiro, a co-worker of his at the Daily Wire, who's Jewish and has a religious conviction to defend the practice. Candace Owens apparently has managed to upset Ben Shapiro by criticizing the actions of the Israeli government in the on-going Israel/Hamas war, which has led Ben Shapiro actually telling Candace Owens she should quit. So *if* Matt Walsh is critical of male infant circumcision, not wanting to rock the boat at work may be a reason to conceal it.

I do believe it's the former, rather than the latter, however. More than likely Matt Walsh has to reconcile his criticism of what he calls "child genital mutilation" to what has happened to him as an infant, and what he may have allowed on his own male children.

Matt Destroys Chris Christie With Intactivist Points
So I recently saw the following video on YouTube, where Matt Walsh gives his commentary on the recent Republican debate:
 
 


Matt Walsh really goes after Chris Christie in this video, namely his response to Megyn Kelly's question to Christie, in which she asks why he doesn't support a legal ban on "gender affirming care," reminding him that it involves castrating, sterilizing and removing healthy body parts from children who are too young to give consent.

Christie begins to respond by saying "Republicans believe in less government, not more." To which Matt responds by questioning Christie's logic, which seems to be that "Less government is a universal principle that we should apply to every situation."

 

 "Should we have less government when it comes to other forms of violence inflicted on the innocent? Should there be less government involved in policing murder or rape? Would you call for a repeal on laws forbidding sexual assault on the basis that Republicans want less government, not more?" ~Matt Walsh to Chris Christie

 

This scathing criticism from Matt Walsh comes as a surprise to me, because I was also under the impression that Republicans believed that "Less government is a universal principle that we should apply to every situation." It's nice to know this isn't the case. It is technically true that "less government" is not necessarily "no government." I mean, there should be law and order, otherwise intactivists have no hope of ever holding charlatan doctors who perform non-medical surgeries on healthy, non-consenting minors accountable.

Matt Walsh really comes after Chris Christie's "less government comment" and he is relentless.
 
"[F]orget about laws here in the United States. You want American government involvement all over the world, suddenly your "less government" principle disappears when it comes time to defend Ukraine or some other foreign country that's irrelevant to most Americans. Our government is very involved in sending billions of dollars to Ukraine and yet you have no issue with that. So is that the principle the American government can be involved in protecting Ukrainian children, but not American children? Is that how the formula works in your thick skull? Or is the whole "less government" thing just a meaningless smoke screen that you deploy whenever you need to find a way to avoid engaging with an issue that you find politically inconvenient? Yes, I think we've figured it out now."
 
This criticism also comes as a surprise, as I was under the impression that Republicans all collectively want American government involvement all over the world to be the World Police. I personally lived through both Bush presidents and our involvement in the Middle East. It is despicable to me that we went to war over "weapons of mass destruction" that never materialized. Every last Republican I know defended the actions of George W. Bush and his father. Every last Republican I know was in favor of "getting the terrorists back for 9/11." So this idea that Republicans DON'T want American troops in Ukraine or elsewhere is new and surprising to me. The tables seem to have turned; the GOP is now the party of "no war," and now the Democrats are the party of "stay the course." Matt is right; it's hypocritical to be "less government" while at the same time supporting more American government abroad.

But Matt's pounce on Chris Christie's "less government" comment was nothing compared to what came next. In an attempt at a one-two punch strategy, Chris Christie cited "less government," followed by the "parental rights" argument, and Matt Walsh responds in the most intactivist way possible, you would think he was already one of us.

"I trust parents," Chris Christie told Megyn Kelly.

 And Matt responded: 
 

"What do you mean you 'trust parents?' that's like saying 'I trust uncles' or 'I trust cousins.' 'I trust step sisters.' It doesn't make any sense. Obviously we don't have complete blind absolute trust in any group of people just based on their biological relationship to other groups of people."

 

I am impressed with this logical take-down. Matt Walsh is absolutely right. I have always argued through this entire blog that not everything you do with your children is justifiable merely because you are the parent. Parental rights are not absolute. If they were, there'd be no need for child protective services.

But it gets better. Matt continues:

 

"The trust we have in anyone is conditional just as our rights are conditional. You can lose trust and you can lose rights. That's what going to prison is all about, and one way to lose both of those things as a parent is to physically abuse your child. As Ron DeSantis pointed out at the debate, making a statement that should never have needed to be said at a presidential debate, parents don't have the right to abuse their kids. If you treat your kid that way, you lose trust and you lose rights. Everybody understands this basic concept and agrees with it. The only question is whether sterilizing, castrating and removing body parts from a child counts as abuse, but that's not a question at all. In fact, if that doesn't qualify as abuse, then nothing qualifies. If it's not abusive to have your child's body mutilated, then what the hell is abusive? What fits the bill if that doesn't? There is no gray area here and Chris Christie knows that.

Bravo, Matt.

 

Bra, vo.



Everything he says is, of course, spot on. I'd like to take Matt's words and apply them to intactivism:


 "The only question is whether slicing part of a child's penis off counts as abuse, but that's not a question at all. In fact, if that doesn't qualify as abuse, then nothing qualifies. If it's not abusive to have your child's body mutilated, then what the hell is abusive? What fits the bill if that doesn't? There is no gray area here."


It really is this simple. If only Matt Walsh could stick with this logic, and carry it through, he would oppose male infant circumcision and call for it to end in rallies as he does with child transition. But, of course, I'm sure Matt has found away to reconcile his cognitive dissonance and define the forced genital cutting of baby boys in such a way that he, in his own words used in the past, is "rescued."

He'll call it a "little piece of skin," minimize the complications and latch onto "medical benefits," though he himself doesn't think "minimal complications" justifies operations to destroy normal, healthy body parts otherwise. I'm very sure he would oppose the removal of the same amount of skin in baby girls, no matter how "beneficial," and "minimal complications" would be immaterial to him.


To quote him again:

 

"The primary complication of cutting off a woman's healthy breasts is that, *you've cut off a woman's healthy breasts.* The complication is that you've removed a piece of her body, a piece of her, and you've done it on the theory that it will help her be a man, even though, she could never be a man, and chopping off her breasts will bring her no closer to manhood, than she was when she still had them.

The fact that there are, allegedly "only," "additional complications in 12% of cases" does not rescue you from this fact, it's the surgery itself that's the problem. Even if everything goes "perfectly well" when you're cutting the breasts off of a woman, you're still cutting her breasts off, and that's the issue. You are removing healthy body parts, and often you're doing this to young girls who would not even be allowed to legally get tattoos, because they've been judged "too young" for it."

 (YouTube of this is available here.)

 

Matthew, the primary complication of cutting off a baby boy's healthy foreskin is that, *you've cut off a baby boy's healthy foreskin.* The complication is that you've removed a piece of his body, a piece of him, and you've done it on the theory that it prevents diseases and makes him "cleaner," even though, lacking a foreskin can never immunize a boy against any diseases, and even if you chop off his foreskin he'll still need to wash with soap and water to keep clean.

The fact that there are, allegedly "only complications in 2% of cases" does not rescue you from this fact, it's the surgery itself that's the problem. Even if everything goes "perfectly well" when you're cutting the foreskin off of a boy, you're still cutting his foreskin off, and that's the issue. You are removing healthy body parts, and often you're doing this to young boys who would not even be allowed to legally get tattoos, because they've been judged "too young" for it.

I've already talked about the foreskin, its circumcision and risks and complications in many, other posts, so I'm not going to do that here.

It would be nice to see Matt Walsh stick to his own logic, carry it through and oppose the genital mutilation of infant baby boys at birth.

Mission Statement
The foreskin is not a birth defect. Neither is it a congenital deformity or genetic anomaly akin to a 6th finger or a cleft. Neither is it a medical condition like a ruptured appendix or diseased gall bladder. Neither is it a dead part of the body, like the umbilical cord, hair, or fingernails.

The foreskin is not "extra skin." The foreskin is normal, natural, healthy, functioning tissue, present in all males at birth; it is as intrinsic to male genitalia as labia are to female genitalia.

Unless there is a medical or clinical indication, the circumcision of a healthy, non-consenting individuals is a deliberate wound; it is the destruction of normal, healthy tissue, the permanent disfigurement of normal, healthy organs, and by very definition, infant genital mutilation, and a violation of the most basic of human rights.

Without medical or clinical indication, doctors have absolutely no business performing surgery in healthy, non-consenting individuals, much less be eliciting any kind of "decision" from parents.

In any other case, reaping profit from non-medical procedures on non-consenting individuals constitutes medical fraud.

Genital integrity, autonomy and self-determination are inalienable human rights. I am against the forced circumcision of healthy, non-consenting minors because it violates these rights.


Genital mutilation, whether it be wrapped in culture, religion or “research” is still genital mutilation.

It is mistaken, the belief that the right amount of “science” can be used to legitimize the deliberate violation of basic human rights.

DISCLAIMER:
I speak out against the forced circumcision of healthy, non-consenting minors in any way, shape or form. I make no exception for "religion" nor "cultural practice" of any kind. Please do not conflate my disdain for the forced circumcision of minors with a belittlement of circumcised men, or a hate for Jews.

The views I express in this blog are my own individual opinion, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of all intactivists. I am but an individual with one opinion, and I do not pretend to speak for the intactivist movement as a whole, thank you.

Related Links: 
 

Sunday, December 3, 2023

Male Infant Circumcision is Genital Mutilation

 

I've posted on the definition of "mutilation" and why male infant circumcision fits it in the past, but yet another opportunity has presented itself in my Twitter feed and I thought I'd seize it.

It happened like this. I was scrolling through my Twitter/X feed, and I ran across this post: (Picture below in case this gets deleted.)

 

 


When I see a post like this, my immediate reaction is to check the comments to see what people are saying. Shocking, I know.

It's always very interesting for me to see the logical fallacies and double-standards defendants of male infant circumcision use to try and defend the practice. Typically they'll cite "culture/religion/tradition," and “parental choice,” but if it's about anything else, such as some of the practices mentioned on this post, “culture/religion/tradition” and/or “parental choice” leave the chat.

The following reply caught my eye, because it touched on one of the hinges of the arguments against male infant circumcision; the definition of what is "mutilation." (Again, picture pasted below in case the tweet is deleted.)




ArchPhantom94's opening paragraph is interesting. I'd like to know what s/he thinks about female genital cutting, whether or not s/he believes it's "evil" and how s/he managed to arrive at that conclusion.

If I'm understanding ArchPhantom94 correctly, s/he seems to be claiming moral superiority over Dr. Melissa Sell. If we are to believe Dr. Melissa Sell is a real doctor, which I don’t know if anyone who calls themselves “doctor” on Twitter/X ever actually is, then we can only assume that she determines her morality and designates procedures as “evil” or not, based on medicine, science and research. At least she is supposed to be, because she would be a doctor and doctors deal in medicine, not religion or superstitious nonsense.

If a procedure is medically indicated, then it's right and good. And if it is not, then not only is it wrong and evil, it's simply medical fraud, as doctors should not be reaping profit from non-medical procedures on healthy, non-consenting minors.

As a doctor, one of Dr. Melissa Sell’s guiding principles should be the first dictum of medicine which is the Hippocratic Oath: "First Do No Harm."


"Primum non nocere"
"First do no harm"
~The Hippocratic Oath




After challenging Dr. Melissa Sell's morality, excusing him/herself from addressing his/her own, ArchPhantom94 presents the following challenge:


"My argument is circumcision is not mutilation... Looking forward to your refutation, ma'am."


OK, ArchPhantom94, I'll bite.

In this post I'm going to take ArchPhantom94's post and tear it limb from limb.


Firstly, s/he writes:


Legal definition: "Mutilation means the intentional infliction of physical abuse designed to cause serious permanent disfigurement or permanent or protracted loss or impairment of the functions of any bodily member or organ, where the offender relishes the infliction of the abuse, evidencing debasement or perversion."

 

I'm not sure what law book ArchPhantom94 is copying and pasting from, but it does not sit well in his/her favor. As I have demonstrated in my last post, male infant circumcision was medicalized and promoted for the express purpose of diminishing male sexuality.



Examination of medical literature reveals that scientists and researchers were pre-occupied with the control of male sexuality, namely, the diminishing of male pleasure. The research shows that they were well-aware that the foreskin provided sensual pleasure, and that circumcision decreased it.


"Finally, circumcision probably tends to increase the power of sexual control. The only physiological advantages which the prepuce can be supposed to confer is that of maintaining the penis in a condition susceptible to more acute sensation than would otherwise exist. It may increase the pleasure of coition and the impulse to it: but these are advantages which in the present state of society can well be spared. If in their loss, increase in sexual control should result, one should be thankful." Editor, Medical News. (A Plea for Circumcision) Medical News, vol. 77 (1900): pp. 707-708.


"It has been urged as an argument against the universal adoption of circumcision that the removal of the protective covering of the glans tends to dull the sensitivity of that exquisitely sensitive structure and thereby diminishes sexual appetite and the pleasurable effects of coitus. Granted that this be true, my answer is that, whatever may have been the case in days gone by, sensuality in our time needs neither whip nor spur, but would be all the better for a little more judicious use of curb and bearing-rein." E. Harding Freeland, Circumcision as a Preventive of Syphilis and Other Disorders, The Lancet, vol. 2 (29 Dec. 1900): pp. 1869-1871.


"Another advantage of circumcision ... is the lessened liability to masturbation. A long foreskin is irritating per se, as it necessitates more manipulation of the parts in bathing ... This leads the child to handle the parts, and as a rule, pleasurable sensations are elicited from the extremely sensitive mucous membrane, with resultant manipulation and masturbation. The exposure of the glans penis following circumcision ... lessens the sensitiveness of the organ ... It therefore lies with the physician, the family adviser in affairs hygienic and medical, to urge its acceptance." Ernest G. Mark, Circumcision, American Practitioner and News, vol. 31 (1901): pp. 121-126.


"Circumcision not only reduces the irritability of the child's penis, but also the so-called passion of which so many married men are so extremely proud, to the detriment of their wives and their married life. Many youthful rapes could be prevented, many separations, and divorces also, and many an unhappy marriage improved if this unnatural passion was cut down by a timely circumcision." L. W. Wuesthoff, Benefits of Circumcision, Medical World, vol. 33 (1915): p. 434.


"The prepuce is one of the great factors in causing masturbation in boys. Here is the dilemma we are in: If we do not teach the growing boy to pull the prepuce back and cleanse the glans there is the danger of smegma collecting and of adhesions and ulcerations forming, which in their turn will cause irritation likely to lead to masturbation. If we do teach the boy to pull the prepuce back and cleanse his glans, that handling alone is sufficient gradually and almost without the boy's knowledge to initiate him into the habit of masturbation ... Therefore, off with the prepuce!" William J. Robinson, Circumcision and Masturbation, Medical World, vol. 33 (1915): p. 390.


"Phimosis may be a predisposing cause of masturbation in some cases ... Hemorrhage following circumcision at birth cannot be considered seriously as a contraindication. Meatal ulcer due to ammoniacal diapers in the circumcised is not a contraindication ... Routine circumcision at birth is warranted." Editor, Routine Circumcision at Birth?, Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 91 (1928): p. 201. 


"I suggest that all male children should be circumcised. This is 'against nature', but that is exactly the reason why it should be done. Nature intends that the adolescent male shall copulate as often and as promiscuously as possible, and to that end covers the sensitive glans so that it shall be ever ready to receive stimuli. Civilization, on the contrary, requires chastity, and the glans of the circumcised rapidly assumes a leathery texture less sensitive than skin. Thus the adolescent has his attention drawn to his penis much less often. I am convinced that masturbation is much less common in the circumcised. With these considerations in view it does not seem apt to argue that 'God knows best how to make little boys.'" R. W. Cockshut, Circumcision, British Medical Journal, vol. 2 (1935): 764.


"[Routine Circumcision] does not necessitate handling of the penis by the child himself and therefore does not focus the male's attention on his own genitals. Masturbation is considered less likely.Alan F. Guttmacher, Should the Baby Be Circumcised?, Parents Magazine, vol. 16 (1941): pp. 26, 76-78.


The evidence is clear; desensitization, curtailing male sexuality, stopping boys and masturbating and experiencing pleasure weren’t mere potential side-effects of the practice of male infant circumcision, they were the whole point, the very intention, the very premise, the very basis of why boys were supposed to be circumcised. “Intentional infliction of physical abuse designed to cause serious permanent disfigurement or permanent or protracted loss or impairment of the functions” was the intended purpose. 


That’s one down for ArchPhantom94.

On to ArchPhantom94’s next point:


Dictionary definition: "severe damage to somebody's body, especially when part of it is cut or torn off; the act of causing such damage"


ArchPhantom94 wants to pull out the dictionary to show us that male infant circumcision isn’t “genital mutilation,” but this definition simply fails to support his point. I’m not sure what dictionary he’s using, but in a past post, I use the online Merriam-Webster dictionary, which defines the word "mutilation" as thus:

1: to cut up or alter radically so as to make imperfect (e.g. the child mutilated the book with his scissors)
 
2: to cut off or permanently destroy a limb or essential part of ; cripple


I'm going demonstrate how male infant circumcision is genital mutilation by all definitions.

From the definitions the online Merriam-Webster dictionary gives us, it is the first definition,
 
 1: to cut up or alter radically so as to make imperfect (e.g. the child mutilated the book with his scissors)
 
that applies to male infant circumcision the most, because it is "cutting up" or "altering radically so as to make [them] imperfect." 

Circumcision advocates often try to dismiss the notion that male circumcision is "mutilation" using definition 2,  

2: to cut off or permanently destroy a limb or essential part of ; cripple

 

"because the foreskin is not a limb or an essential part of" a person. While this may be true, I'd have to say that if by this definition male circumcision isn't "mutilation," then female circumcision isn't "mutilation" either. I don't think ArchPhantom94 is ready to concede this point.

In his original paragraph, ArchPhantom94 asks "How do you determine your morality and why you designate circumcision evil?" Here, the question is, how does ArchPhantom94 or any other circumcision advocate determine what is "essential?" When was it decided that the clitoris and/or labia were "essential" and that the foreskin is not?

But here, I think talking about what is "essential" or not is misleading. “What is essential" is not the metric by which doctors decide to remove body parts. There are a number of parts of the human body that aren't "essential" including the spleen, gall bladder and appendix. The clitoris and the labia aren't "essential" either.

The metric any and all doctors must go by when it comes to surgical removal is medical indication. Let us come back to the first dictum of medicine,the Hippocratic Oath:


"Primum non nocere"
"First do no harm"
~The Hippocratic Oath

 

 

To address ArchPhantom94’s dictionary definition:


"severe damage to somebody's body, especially when part of it is cut or torn off; the act of causing such damage"

 

One must wonder if ArchPhantom94 actually knows what a circumcision is. Just so we're clear on what we're talking about, male infant circumcision is a euphemism for the surgical amputation of the hood of flesh that covers the glans or head of the penis, otherwise known as the foreskin. The foreskin is normal, healthy tissue that, with rare exception, is present in all baby boys at birth. Male infant circumcision is performed on healthy, non-consenting minors with no medical or clinical indication.




The risks include infection, partial or full ablation of the penis, a botched procedure with permanent misshaping, hemorrhage, sepsis and even death. Circumcision botches are so common, there are actually doctors that specialize in revising other doctors' mistakes. The long term effects of circumcision, even when the operation is carried out "successfully" are drying out of the mucosal tissue on and around the glans or head of the penis, necessity for artificial lubrication, loss of nerves, keratinization and desensitization over time.

If we take the foreskin to be the normal, natural, healthy, functioning tissue found in all males that it is, then its forcible amputation fits the definition of "severe damage to somebody's body, especially when part of it is cut or torn off." Male infant circumcision is literally cutting off part of a child's penis.

For perspective, here is the freshly severed foreskin off of a healthy newborn, compared side by side with the tip of the clitoris of a baby girl. (Readers should be aware that infant female circumcision is performed in South East Asian countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and Singapore, often referred to as "sunat." See links at the bottom of this post.)


To the left is the severed foreskin of a newborn baby boy.
To the right is the severed tip of the clitoris of a baby girl
which you can barely see on the silver pair of scissors.

Circumcision advocates would like others to believe that circumcision removes "a little bit of skin." I hope readers can see that the description is misleading. This is no "little bit of skin" but a chunk of flesh. It is the speck on the silver scissors above that is considered "mutilation" by ArchPhantom94 et al.

The last point ArchPhantom94 says on his Twitter/X post is:


"Deprivation" is the operative word and element when it comes to mutilation. Circumcision does not fall under the above, nor under "mutilation" because it does not deprive the male of his natural functions.

 

Here ArchPhantom94 is changing the argument. "Deprivation" is NOT the operative word and element when it comes to mutilation, and we'll come back to this point in just a moment. Before I do that, I'd like to address ArchPhantom94's assertion that "does not deprive the male of his natural functions"

Here he is changing the goal post at the last minute. The legal definition he gives is "the intentional infliction of physical abuse designed to cause serious permanent disfigurement or permanent or protracted loss or impairment of the functions of any bodily member or organ," and the dictionary definition he gives is "severe damage to somebody's body, especially when part of it is cut or torn off." These aren’t quite the same thing as "deprivation of natural functions." This would mean that ArchPhantom94 is implying that "intentional infliction of physical abuse" and "severely damaging somebody's body especially when part of it is cut or torn off" is acceptable so long as these actions don't "deprive someone of his/her natural functions," and I don't think ArchPhantom94 actually means to make this assertion. If so, then this would justify most female genital cutting. After all, a woman can still ovulate, menstruate, become pregnant and birth children without her labia or clitoris.

No, ArchPhantom94, as all male infant circumcision advocates do, ties himself in knots attempting the mental gymnastics of defining "mutilation" in such a way that excludes male infant circumcision. There are two things that are missing from this equation; one, the fact that the foreskin is an intrinsic part of the penis that has value, and two the issue of consent.

What is the foreskin?
To understand how circumcision is “severe damage” and “permanent disfigurement” that “deprives” a healthy, non-consenting minor of function, it is important to understand what the foreskin even is. The foreskin is normal, healthy tissue that, with rare exception, is present in all baby boys at birth. The foreskin is a hood of skin that covers the head of the penis, akin to the eyelids which cover the eyeballs. The surface of the glans, or head of the penis, and the inside of the foreskin is not normal skin, like the skin on the arms, hands, legs and feet; these surfaces are mucous membrane, such as on the inside of the mouth, the inside of the vagina. The foreskin keeps the glans and surrounding mucous membrane moist and supple, facilitating sexual intercourse and masturbation. 

 


 
The foreskin is laden in specialized nerve endings called "Meissners corpuscles," which make it sensitive to light touch and pleasure. Research mapping out sensation on different parts of the penis shows that the most sensitive part of the penis is found on the foreskin. It is these functions that advocates of male infant circumcision in the Victorian era (see medical literature citations above), sought to eliminate through circumcision, and research shows that this is precisely what it does.

 


Circumcision dries out the glans and surrounding mucosa, necessitating the use of artificial lubrication for sexual intercourse and masturbation. The head of the penis was not designed to be permanently exposed to external environments such as dry air and the constant abrasion of clothing. To make up for the loss of foreskin, the head of the circumcised penis and surrounding mucosa builds layers of dead skin in a process called "keratinization." In addition to the loss of thousands of Meissner's corpuscles found in the foreskin, keratinization adds to decrease sensation over time. Over time, men may take more stimulation to achieve orgasm, and may eventually lead to erectile disfunction, necessitating the need for drugs like Viagra.



The head of an intact penis (above)
is kept shiny and moist by the foreskin.
By comparison, the head of the circumcised
penis (below) is dry and becomes dull due
to constant exposure and keratinization over time.


So, if one has been following along, one can see that male infant circumcision does indeed deprive a healthy, non-consenting minor of function. It may not be an "essential" function, such as erection and the ejaculation of semen, but function none the less. And, if one is to value sexual pleasure, I'd say very important functions.

To minimize the mutilation that is male infant circumcision, advocates often like to cite the "low complication rates". That's not the problem. That you're cutting off healthy tissue from a child's penis IS the complication. The fact that it's "only 2%" does not rescue circumcision advocates. 2% of 1.4 million babies is STILL 28,000 babies with complications. The risks include infectionpartial or full ablation of the penis, a botched procedure with permanent misshaping, hemorrhage, sepsis and even death.

It's circumcision itself that is the problem. Even if everything "goes perfectly well" you're still cutting off part of a child's penis, you're removing healthy, functional flesh from children who aren't legally allowed to get tattoos, and that's the issue.

Conclusion:
To conclude my rebuttal of ArchPhantom94's definitions of "mutilation," which are, if I understand correctly, "intentional infliction of physical abuse designed to cause serious permanent disfigurement or permanent or protracted loss or impairment of the functions,"  "damage" and "deprivation", male infant is all of these things.

If history and medical literature on the subject are correct, the very objective of male infant circumcision was the very depravation of males of sexual function by intentional and deliberate disfigurement. Male infant circumcision is the deliberate attempt at the control of male sexuality. It was expressly meant to reduce male sexual pleasure in order to prevent masturbation.
 
I'd like to come back to ArchPhantom94's last-minute switch to "deprivation" as the "operative word and element when it comes to mutilation."  I've already demonstrated that male infant circumcision can indeed be called "mutilation" based on the definitions s/he gives, but deprivation is NOT the "operative word and element when it comes to mutilation." The operative words here are medical necessity and informed consent. That is the difference, and one I talk about in a previous post.

Sometimes, circumcision is NOT mutilation.

When is that?

When it is performed as a matter of medical necessity, and there is no alternative option, circumcision is not mutilation. (This is actually standard medical practice that governs all other forms of surgery.)

In addition, when it is performed upon the request of a consenting adult, it is not mutilation.
Medical necessity and/or informed consent is the difference between surgery and mutilation.

Consent is at the center of the intactivist argument
Ladies who are interested in getting their labia removed, their clitoris permanently exposed, or any other surgical alterations to their genital organs can find the appropriate surgeon and schedule an appointment.




The removal of the clitoral hood and external labia are known as "clitoral unroofing" and "labiaplasty" respectively.  They are perfectly legal for the appropriate surgeons to perform at the request of the interested woman.

Forcibly performing any of these acts on a healthy, non-consenting minor constitutes genital mutilation, and is punishable by law, and there is no exception for "religious beliefs."

The difference is consent.

There is nothing wrong with male circumcision, if, indeed, becoming circumcised is the express wish of the adult male in question.

It is forcibly circumcising a healthy, non-consenting minor which is a problem.

Consent and medical necessity are the operative words, and it’s what makes the difference between surgery and mutilation.

Male infant circumcision is mutilation because, in addition to the deliberate destruction of normal, healthy tissue, meant to curb male sexuality, children can’t consent.

Mission Statement
The foreskin is not a birth defect. Neither is it a congenital deformity or genetic anomaly akin to a 6th finger or a cleft. Neither is it a medical condition like a ruptured appendix or diseased gall bladder. Neither is it a dead part of the body, like the umbilical cord, hair, or fingernails.

The foreskin is not "extra skin." The foreskin is normal, natural, healthy, functioning tissue, present in all males at birth; it is as intrinsic to male genitalia as labia are to female genitalia.

Unless there is a medical or clinical indication, the circumcision of a healthy, non-consenting individual is a deliberate wound; it is the destruction of normal, healthy tissue, the permanent disfigurement of normal, healthy organs, and by very definition, infant genital mutilation, and a violation of the most basic of human rights.

Without medical or clinical indication, doctors have absolutely no business performing surgery in healthy, non-consenting individuals, much less be eliciting any kind of "decision" from parents.

In any other case, reaping profit from non-medical procedures on non-consenting individuals constitutes medical fraud.

Genital integrity, autonomy and self-determination are inalienable human rights. I am against the forced circumcision of healthy, non-consenting minors because it violates these rights.

Genital mutilation, whether it be wrapped in culture, religion or “research” is still genital mutilation.

It is mistaken, the belief that the right amount of “science” can be used to legitimize the deliberate violation of basic human rights.

 

Related Posts:
REPOST: Of Ecstasy and Rape, Surgery and Mutilation
 

Mogen Circumcision Clamp Manufacturers Face Civil Lawsuit 

 

CIRCUMCISION DEATH - A 13yo Bleeds to Death in the Philippines

 

Circumcision Botches and the Elephant in the Room



External Links:
Business Insider: 12 body organs you can live without

A Short History of Circumcision in the U.S.

 

MRSA Infection in Circumcised Baby Boys


Female circumcision part of Malaysian culture, says DPM


New York Times Magazine - A Cutting Tradition