How to be a pro-intact intactivist
I have been asked by several people about what they can do to help fight routine infant circumcision (RIC). As I noted in my last post, I am an Intactivist.
The way I look at it, the best way to fight routine infant circumcision is to educate people on what circumcision is. Until last year, I never thought about circumcision and I surely did not know what it meant to be circumcised. It did not take me long after reading a few websites to realize how barbaric routine infant circumcision is and that I could do something about my circumcision.
The following is a random list of things I do and things I have thought of doing. Every day I spend some time doing what I can. Each time one of us does something, someone else potentially learns about circumcision.
- I distribute circumcision information cards, like the one above. Mostly, I put the cards where others will see them. I hope that the cards will raise awareness, even if the person does not take the card and look up the websites listed.
- I fill out petitions and polls so that my vote is added to others. The greater the number of people that vote and sign petitions, the more of a force for change we will be. For example, there is the Intact America petition.
- I visit a lot of blogs and news sites and leave comments. I track #i2 on Twitter to see what is happening and learn about new blogs and news reports. Lots of people post good stuff on Twitter, including some guy called RestoringTally.
- Whenever I am required to log on to leave a comment, I always fill out the profile with a message and link to one of the various pro-intact websites, like this one. Always leave a link to a website so people can learn more.
- Some news websites allow the public to post blogs. This is a great way to write a short post about what routine infant circumcision means to you and how restoring is making such a difference.
- Many sites have bookmark sharing. Digg and StumbleUpon are the best two sharing services. Then there are Google, Yahoo, and Del.icio.us. Click on those links and write a review. These bookmark sharing services drive a lot of traffic to websites. We can use the bookmarks to make it easy for people to find the good blogs and comments on the web. Also, just because a blog or article is pro-circ, if the comments are predominately pro-intact, then I think it is worth broadcasting.
- Whenever there is a protest or demonstration or other venue for getting out the pro-intact message, participate. Unfortunately, I live too far from where the current crop of events are happening.
I am thinking a vacation in San Francisco for the Folsom Street Fair would be fun. Intact America had a table set up at the fair.
- If there is a local chapter of NORM, go to the meetings. If there is not a local chapter, think about starting one.
If everyone did at least one of the above, the message of the harm done by routine infant circumcision would spread. Maybe, it would go virul! Lets find out.
Notice that I use the term pro-intact instead of anti-circ. It puts a positive spin on what we believe and I believe it is less of a turn-off for people. It is always better to be FOR something than AGAINST something.
- Tally's blog
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