FEBRUARY 2013: Over the last few years, we have seen tremendous changes in the anti-circumcision movement. What started as a small group of dedicated intactivists has grown into a far-reaching tapestry of people spreading the word that babies deserve to be kept whole. Social media plays a huge role in the growth of our movement, thanks in large part to people like Aubrey Terrón (née Taylor)—writer, videographer, and social activist.
Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Aubrey works in Atlanta with attorney David Llewellyn, who represents victims of botched circumcisions. Her involvement in intactivism, however, goes back to when she was a teenager: “The first time I recognized just how ignorant people were about the foreskin, I was 19 years old. I was at work, and somehow the topic came up. I was insisting that circumcision was a terrible thing to do, and my boss—circumcised, with one circumcised son—replied, ‘It’s just dead skin.’ Dead skin?? It really struck me that people had shockingly incorrect ideas about foreskin, and my job became obvious.”
Aubrey has been a force to be reckoned with in the world of social media, right from the start. “My first attempts at education started with the earliest social networks. There were websites that would allow a few pictures to be put up so people could judge how ‘hot’ you were. So I put up my best bikini shots and proclaimed the value of foreskin and the validity of men’s rights in my bios.” Her visibility has only grown since then. Aubrey remains a powerful presence on Facebook, talking openly and frequently, and often very personally, about circumcision and the male foreskin. In her essay “I LOVE Foreskin” written for a foreskin restoration site, she explains in plain English why having sex with an intact man is simply better—for both partners.
Aubrey’s YouTube videos are also very popular—her foreskin video alone has more than 130,000 views! In an article written for Western North Carolina Woman magazine, she says, “An empowered woman is educated, refuses to believe myth, is strong, moral, and she stands up for herself and the defenseless; it takes all of these things to say no to circumcision. For those empowered women whIntact America: Say No to Circumcision: Aubrey Tayloro aren’t faced with making this particular decision, they will have the same qualities: refuse to continue to be a catalyst for the perpetuation of a harmful practice against the defenseless.” She also uses sites like Pinterest to share images she creates of popular memes, spreading the pro-intact message.
Aubrey Terŕon and Georganne Chapin at the CDC conference.When Intact America attended an Atlanta meeting of the Centers for Disease Control, to demand that the CDC not recommend circumcision (which they still haven’t!), Aubrey was there with us. “I’m really excited about Intact America’s work,” she says. “Intactivism has gained the most ground in the past by educating parents. Now that genital integrity is recognized as a real social issue, it’s time to publicly challenge the medical establishment for their lack of integrity and Intact America is doing that.”
“One of the great privileges in working to save babies from the horror of circumcision,” says Georganne Chapin, Executive Director of Intact America, “is meeting and collaborating with kind and intelligent colleagues. Aubrey is a bold and brilliant star in the intactivist constellation, shedding light on the truth and illuminating the way for so many others.”
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