Circumcision controversy by Intaction : Find out how a baby born today can still be harmed from America’s past of prudish morality, racism, gullibility, scare tactics, and greed that reaches back over 100 years ! It’s the history of circumcision in America ! 1886: Dr. J.H. Kellogg, the inventor of corn flakes, advocated for circumcision to remove the sensitive foreskin from boys as a remedy for masturbation. He sadistically claimed by not using anesthesia the operation would make a good punishment for boys who masturbate.

Studies have reported that 117 babies die every year from circumcision or complications arising from it. [Bollinger, Thymos: Journal of Boyhood Studies 2010 ]. Additionally the traumatic stress from circumcision impacts the baby’s developing brain, inflicting psychological trauma. The strong pain signals impact the newly forming neural connections in the brain. Babies enduring this pain also suffer from PTSD. Physically circumcision destroys the functions that the foreskin performs during sex–it is one of the most touch-sensitive parts of the penis, and removing it drastically changes the dynamics of sex. People claiming that circumcision is safe and harmless is just an illusion for them to defend the decision they have likely made.

Circumcision Controversy: The decision to circumcise is a controversial topic for many people, with strongly held opinions on both the for and against sides. Those for circumcision speak to alleged medical benefits and tradition. Those against it raise issues of risk, complications, loss of the sensitive foreskin, pain, trauma, psychological harm, and rights of individual consent. For those against, the benefits do not outweigh the risks. Read extra details about circumcision.

Circumcision is often performed on infants without anesthetic or with a local anesthetic that is ineffective at substantially reducing pain (Lander et al., 1997). In a study by Lander and colleagues (1997), a control group of infants who received no anesthesia was used as a baseline to measure the effectiveness of different types of anesthesia during circumcision. The control group babies were in so much pain—some began choking and one even had a seizure—they decided it was unethical to continue. It is important to also consider the effects of post-operative pain in circumcised infants (regardless of whether anesthesia is used), which is described as “severe” and “persistent” (Howard et al., 1994). In addition to pain, there are other negative physical outcomes including possible infection and death (Van Howe, 1997, 2004).

Intaction is funded via private donations and volunteer assistance primarily by men and women that have been adversely affected by genital cutting. We promote the benefits of an intact body and the harm of genital cutting. We seek to achieve our goals through education, advocacy, and activism. We empower our members by providing them a constructive way to address the physical and emotional harm that was inflicted on them. Action is in our name. Foreskin is in our DNA. We accept the challenges of creating change, we meet our goals, and then chart new ones. We have no highly paid directors or staff like some big name popular causes. In fact, we are not paid at all. Our compensation is the satisfaction we receive from the many people whose lives we have touched. We help assure parents that keeping their son intact was the enlightened decision. We’ve helped many babies to stay intact. We help build body positive confidence in intact men so they can appreciate their own natural body. We’ve helped many cut men, essentially victims of genital cutting, to feel like they now have a voice, when as infants they didn’t have a choice. Read additional info at https://intaction.org/.