I must say, the response to that post about infant circumcision was...actually quite surprising. And nice. So thank you. I'm glad to increase awareness on any of the many issues I consider important - and routine infant circumcision is one of them.
To be honest, I'm just like any other teenage girl - I am just a little squeamish about talking about, y'know, down there. But I think it's important; it is, after all, just part of our bodies; and we should be proud of who we are and what we look like. Besides, should we let such a pressing medical matter pass just because it's about the nether regions? If we were routinely cutting ulnas off our elbows we'd be much more open about it.
I was inspired to write that post by this video off of Mama Natural's vlog. Mama Natural is one of the blogs I follow, and it's written by Genevieve Damascus, aka Mama Natural, about her beautiful baby boy, Griffin. Circumcision is not something that's given that much thought here, especially amongst teenagers (teens just tend to talk about peacocks in general ;)), and especially because it is not a routine medical procedure here; it's done more as a religious thing. But then I thought about it a little more; why do we modify sexual organs of infants for no apparent reason? There are some medical conditions that require circumcision; and I'm not opposed to it if there is a genuine medical reason, but are we perhaps freaking out when we say we do it for 'preventative' reasons? Should we remove breasts so that our children won't get breast cancer later on? And I don't entirely buy the premise of 'for religious reasons' either, especially because it's your religion, not necessarily your child's.
In the end, I'm not a mother, and I don't have brothers, and it's not something that's commonly discussed in an extended Asian family; so I'm not an expert. All I'm saying is that I'm opposed to the idea, especially if there's no reason for doing it - I'm opposed to parents not thinking before allowing things to happen to their children. To me it just seems excessive and barbaric and a practice of the past, one of the many things we need to leave out of modern society. If I do anything in this world, and for the people who walk this earth, let it be that I taught people not what to think, but how to think, and why.
3 comments:
Yes, even though it's your religion, it's your child's body.
And the body being a temple and all...
Great that one aspect of your activism has been picked up, and that you have as much influence in that area as Natural Mama does in her sphere.
(And it is a very public sphere in the communual bathrooms, I must say).
Glad, too, that you overcame your squeamishness and that of others.
Continue to be brave and to be active, so that we may value our activity and our courage.
there are plenty medical reasons for infantry circumsision, and also many preventative reasons, your opinions are uneducated and henceforth biased and or wrong for certain reasons...
I have clearly stated in this post that I am not an expert, I am aware that there are some medical reasons for infant circumcision and I have done some research on the matter. As for doing circumcision for preventative reasons, should we cut off infant breasts so that they will not get breast cancer later?
Please be aware that this is the last comment from you that I am willing to publish. Whilst I respect we may have differences in opinion, I do not appreciate being told that I am stupid, biased, uneducated etc. by someone who cannot spell.
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