89 lines
5.2 KiB
Plaintext
89 lines
5.2 KiB
Plaintext
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CIRCUMCISION: What It Does, by Billy Ray Boyd; $6.95, Taterhill
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Press.
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About a year ago, just before becoming an uncle I complained
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to my mother that the pamphlets I'd sent my sister had failed to
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convince her. "If it's a boy, they're going to circumcize him.
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If it's a girl they're going to name her Tina Tindall." Mother
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shared the horror of having either a mutilated grandson or else a
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granddaugher with an alliterative monicker suggesting a John Waters
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anti-hera. We plotted to snatch the child before damage could be
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done and give it to properly sensible Lesbians. I then went into
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mild shock realizing that my mother had had a proper education far
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too late for my benefit.
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Well, Dear Reader, I have good news. My lovely niece was
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named Melissa, and a new book provides compelling arguments against
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the generally dying and sometimes deadly practice of circumcision.
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The author of "Circumcision" makes no pretense of neutrality.
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As the intellectual traditions of our culture respect neutrality
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over commitment this dedication may work against him.
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The book is an excellent resource for those of us who are
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opposed to infant circumcision (and what connoisseur of male
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genitalia isn't?) Whether we are planning parenthood or wish to
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lobby our reproductive friends and relatives in favor of leaving
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their sons intact this book is a must. On the other hand it may
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be a bit heavy handed to send directly to friends considering the
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question from a more "neutral" position. Read it for yourself.
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Consider whether you'd rather send it to the parents to be or
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simply to offer the arguments and references most relevant to
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their specific issues. Quite a few sensitive points are covered
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here, perhaps some are too sensitive for direct exposure.
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Can one truly be neutral on the subject? On what basis does
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one accept routine circumcision? If one views it as a form of
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mutilation, obviously there is no neutrality. If one accepts
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circumcision unquestioningly "neutrality" is a cover for ignorance.
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There have been studies that support circumcision as a form of
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prophylaxis, but in this book they are demonstrated as having
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flawed bases. Other studies, critical of routine circumcision,
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have been misrepresented in the press. In any event, the very real
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damages from a slip of the snip far outnumber the statistical
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linkages to diseases that some doctors cite off-the-cuff. (It is
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also noteworthy that circumcision is a money maker. Doctors
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annually make hundreds of millions at a fast clip!)
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There is an entire chapter dealing with circumcision among
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Jews. Boyd goes to great effort to condemn any anti-Semitism, and
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to expose skinhead tendencies which indeed exist in the
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"preservationist" movement. I personally find it exhausting to
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wade through <20>goyische <20>protestations of sympathy to Jews, just as
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it gets tedious to hear straights insist at length that they are
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pro-Gay, but considering the subject matter he is indeed better off
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erring on the side of caution.
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Fortunately Boyd has done his homework and provides enough
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information to head off the next bris in my family! The author
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reports on variations of circumcision techniques at various times
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in Jewish history. For example, at the birth of the Reform
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Movement circumcision was rejected and later re-adopted. At many
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times the mohel would only remove the tip of the skin -- not peel
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it off the glans as is commonly done now. In Europe many Jews
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today do not practice circumcision, and regard it as barbarous.
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Even in America -- the only secular nation where circumcision is
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considered routine -- a growing number of Jews are practing the
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"Bris Shalom," an infant naming ceremony that allows boys to remain
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uncut. A number of Jewish leaders in the preservationist movement
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are also listed --including local video health maven, Dean Edell.
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There are also quotes from pro-circumcisionists, both Talmudic
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and Victorian, showing the eratophobic roots of the practice.
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Starkly revealed, the point is to diminish sexual pleasure. Europe
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has drawn the shade on this puritanical practice, and such
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roundheaded nonsense is in the decline even in America. The
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principle rationale for circumcision today is conformity, but even
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here the proportions of uncut organs are growing and parents who
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wish their boys to fit in should leave well enough alone.
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While the book concentrates on male circumcision there is also
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some discussion of female circumcision -- practiced in certain
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African and Arab cultures. This may include a clitoridectomy
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and/or various mutilations of the labia. The details are
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horrifying. Anyone concerned with the most basic of human rights
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should be up in arms against involuntary genital mutilation -- but
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then why do we commonly accept the damage done to baby boys? Even
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if a successful circumcision is not considered damaging one in five
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hundred is not successful, leading to further mutilation,
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impotence, and sometimes death.
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The appendices include resources for information and action,
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including Jewish support groups and foreskin restoration
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techniques. Altoghether this is an invaluable text for anyone who
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would spare the rod, and not spoil the child.
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