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Championing Change: Effective Ways to Support Intactivism

intactivists
by
Blog
May 14, 2024
In a world where personal freedoms and medical ethics often collide, movements like intactivism (the advocacy of a right to genital integrity, i.e., the right of a person to not be subjected to involuntary, nontherapeutic modification of their genitals) have proven to be desperately needed.  I am proud to be involved in this movement with Intact America, where we champion bodily autonomy and the right to an unaltered body. Armed with a wealth of scientific research and supported by a strong network of medical, legal, and ethical experts, Intact America presents a clear case for the benefits of staying intact and the potential risks associated with circumcision. I’ve written this article to educate and empower you with practical ways to support intactivism and amplify the impact of this vital cause. Whether you’re just starting to explore this topic or you’re ready to deepen your involvement, I’ll show you how you can help safeguard bodily rights and promote ethical medical practices.

Ways to Support Intactivism

1. Educate Yourself and Others about Intactivism

The journey toward becoming a champion of intactivism begins with a foundational step: education. Delve into the complex medical, ethical, and social implications surrounding circumcision. Intact America offers a wealth of resources that provide deep insights into the history of circumcision, its debated medical benefits, and its profound effects on individual rights. Harness this knowledge to become a credible voice in the movement. Share what you’ve learned in casual conversations, leverage social media platforms, and organize community talks to widen the circle of awareness. By educating others, you’re empowering individuals to make well-informed decisions and nurturing a culture that prioritizes bodily autonomy. Check out our articles on:

2. Engage with Social Media

In today’s digital age, social media is a formidable tool for disseminating ideas and galvanizing support. Take an active role in spreading the intactivist message by using platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Start by following key intactivist groups, including Intact America, and immerse yourself in the ongoing dialogue. Amplify your impact by sharing compelling articles, eye-catching infographics, and personal narratives that underscore the benefits of keeping babies intact. Utilize powerful hashtags such as #Intactivism, #HumanRights, and #BodilyAutonomy to enhance the reach of your posts. Each share and tweet increases visibility and encourages new voices to join the cause, multiplying the ripple effects of your advocacy.

3. Participate in Community Outreach

Beyond the digital landscape, direct community engagement can be extraordinarily effective. Get involved in or take the lead in organizing community outreach initiatives that spotlight activist education. Consider setting up informative booths at local fairs, on university campuses, and at various public events. By distributing well-designed flyers, brochures, and other educational materials, you can connect with individuals on a personal level. These face-to-face interactions are invaluable, as they allow for real-time dialogue and immediate response to questions or concerns about intactivism. Such grassroots efforts are crucial in building a strong, informed community that can advocate for change effectively. Stand up for your child’s rights and make your voice heard by filing a free medical complaint with DoNoHarm.report today—because your concerns matter and deserve to be addressed.

4. Support Legislative Efforts

Taking action in the legislative arena is one of the most powerful ways to advocate for intactivism. Engage in campaigns that aim to either ban infant circumcision or enforce stringent parental consent laws. Organizations like Intact America are often at the helm of such initiatives, advocating for policy reforms, and could greatly benefit from your involvement. You can contribute by volunteering to collect petition signatures, presenting testimonies at legislative hearings, or coordinating with policymakers. Moreover, a simple but effective action is contacting your local representatives to express your support for intactivist policies. Personal letters, emails, or phone calls can sway decision-makers, highlighting the community’s support for these vital issues and potentially influencing the course of legislation.

5. Donate to Intactivist Organizations

Financial contributions play a critical role in the success of intactivist organizations like Intact America. These groups depend heavily on public donations to fund their educational initiatives, legislative activities, and day-to-day operations. By donating, you’re investing in the education and mobilization needed to drive change. Even modest, regular donations can accumulate, providing these organizations with a stable financial base to plan and execute their activities more effectively. Consider setting up a recurring donation – no matter how small – to continually support the movement. Donate to Intact America

6. Create or Join Support Groups

Support groups, whether online or in your local community, offer invaluable resources for those engaged in or affected by intactivism. By creating or joining such groups, you help forge a community of support and shared knowledge. These groups provide a platform for individuals to exchange personal stories, extend emotional support, and mobilize collective actions. They also serve as safe havens for parents and individuals to voice their concerns, share experiences, and discuss the dangers and trauma of circumcision in a supportive environment. Beyond personal support, these groups can organize community-based initiatives, further spreading the intactivist message and strengthening the movement at a grassroots level. Join Intact America Insiders today and gain access to exclusive monthly group therapy sessions with licensed therapists, tailored for men impacted by circumcision.

7. Educational Workshops and Seminars

Take the initiative to organize or sponsor in-depth workshops and seminars exploring the scientific and ethical grounds against circumcision. These educational events are crucial in broadening understanding and shifting perspectives. Bring in renowned experts from pediatrics, urology, ethics, and human rights to share insights and the latest research findings. Such gatherings are academic in nature and serve as powerful platforms for sparking change. They provide an ideal setting for educating key influencers such as healthcare providers, expectant parents, and university students—groups whose opinions and decisions can have a significant impact on public perceptions and practices regarding circumcision. These sessions can be held in community centers, hospitals, or universities and can include Q&A segments to foster interaction and deeper discussion.

8. Challenge Media Misrepresentation

In an era where media can shape major public opinions, it’s vital to ensure accurate representations of circumcision are prevalent. Media outlets sometimes propagate limited views of circumcision, often presenting it as merely a cultural or religious practice, thereby neglecting its profound ethical dimensions. As a staunch advocate for intactivism, counter these oversights by engaging actively with the media. Write informed letters to newspaper editors, participate in radio talk shows, or engage in discussions on online articles to correct misconceptions and present factual, comprehensive views. Providing well-researched, articulate arguments can help pivot the public narrative toward a more nuanced understanding of circumcision, highlighting its ethical and human rights implications.

9. Celebrate Intactness

Creating a positive cultural perception around being intact is another vibrant frontier in the advocacy for intactivism. Consider promoting this positive awareness through artistic and cultural expressions such as art exhibitions, film screenings, or music festivals celebrating intactness. These events can be impactful public platforms that challenge prevailing norms and celebrate the natural human form. Artistic expressions, whether visual arts, films, or music, can convey powerful messages that resonate emotionally with wide audiences. By celebrating intactness in such creative ways, you reinforce the message that remaining uncircumcised is a natural and healthy state of being, thereby normalizing it within the broader societal context and encouraging a shift in public attitudes.

10. Personal Advocacy

In your day-to-day life, harness the power of personal advocacy, especially when conversing with expectant parents and other key decision-makers. Approach these discussions with sensitivity and respect, equipped with well-researched information and personal anecdotes that illuminate the benefits of remaining intact. Sharing stories that resonate on a personal level can profoundly impact others’ views and decisions. As a compassionate and knowledgeable advocate, you have the unique ability to guide individuals through their decision-making processes, helping them consider all aspects of circumcision beyond common societal pressures. This approach is about enlightening through empathy and evidence, ensuring that the choices are informed and considerate of the child’s long-term well-being. Share your circumcision story in our ‘Voices‘ series and help others understand its impact—your experience can drive change and help reach a national tipping point

Conclusion

Supporting intactivism is fundamentally about championing the right to bodily integrity and promoting informed choices that respect individual autonomy. By actively engaging in educational efforts, legislative advocacy, community outreach, and personal conversations, you play a vital role in shaping public perceptions and influencing policy regarding circumcision. Each conversation you have, each event you attend, and every contribution you make adds to the momentum of this critical cause. Remember, your involvement contributes to a broader movement dedicated to safeguarding bodily autonomy for the next generation. Join forces with organizations like Intact America and become a beacon of change, advocating for a world where personal rights and health ethics converge in support of protecting our most vulnerable. Your voice matters—let it echo in the corridors of change. Support Intact America’s mission to protect bodily integrity and promote informed choices—donate, volunteer, or advocate today to make a significant impact!  

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Intact America operates as a not-for-profit organization based in Tarrytown, NY that is tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. EIN: 81-2887457.

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Marilyn

Marilyn Fayre Milos, multiple award winner for her humanitarian work to end routine infant circumcision in the United States and advocating for the rights of infants and children to genital autonomy, has written a warm and compelling memoir of her path to becoming “the founding mother of the intactivist movement.” Needing to support her family as a single mother in the early sixties, Milos taught banjo—having learned to play from Jerry Garcia (later of The Grateful Dead)—and worked as an assistant to comedian and social critic Lenny Bruce, typing out the content of his shows and transcribing court proceedings of his trials for obscenity. After Lenny’s death, she found her voice as an activist as part of the counterculture revolution, living in Haight Ashbury in San Francisco during the 1967 Summer of Love, and honed her organizational skills by creating an alternative education open classroom (still operating) in Marin County. 

After witnessing the pain and trauma of the circumcision of a newborn baby boy when she was a nursing student at Marin College, Milos learned everything she could about why infants were subjected to such brutal surgery. The more she read and discovered, the more convinced she became that circumcision had no medical benefits. As a nurse on the obstetrical unit at Marin General Hospital, she committed to making sure parents understood what circumcision entailed before signing a consent form. Considered an agitator and forced to resign in 1985, she co-founded NOCIRC (National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers) and began organizing international symposia on circumcision, genital autonomy, and human rights. Milos edited and published the proceedings from the above-mentioned symposia and has written numerous articles in her quest to end circumcision and protect children’s bodily integrity. She currently serves on the board of directors of Intact America.

Georganne

Georganne Chapin is a healthcare expert, attorney, social justice advocate, and founding executive director of Intact America, the nation’s most influential organization opposing the U.S. medical industry’s penchant for surgically altering the genitals of male children (“circumcision”). Under her leadership, Intact America has definitively documented tactics used by U.S. doctors and healthcare facilities to pathologize the male foreskin, pressure parents into circumcising their sons, and forcibly retract the foreskins of intact boys, creating potentially lifelong, iatrogenic harm. 

Chapin holds a BA in Anthropology from Barnard College, and a Master’s degree in Sociomedical Sciences from Columbia University. For 25 years, she served as president and chief executive officer of Hudson Health Plan, a nonprofit Medicaid insurer in New York’s Hudson Valley. Mid-career, she enrolled in an evening law program, where she explored the legal and ethical issues underlying routine male circumcision, a subject that had interested her since witnessing the aftermath of the surgery conducted on her younger brother. She received her Juris Doctor degree from Pace University School of Law in 2003, and was subsequently admitted to the New York Bar. As an adjunct professor, she taught Bioethics and Medicaid and Disability Law at Pace, and Bioethics in Dominican College’s doctoral program for advanced practice nurses.

In 2004, Chapin founded the nonprofit Hudson Center for Health Equity and Quality, a company that designs software and provides consulting services designed to reduce administrative complexities, streamline and integrate data collection and reporting, and enhance access to care for those in need. In 2008, she co-founded Intact America.

Chapin has published many articles and op-ed essays, and has been interviewed on local, national and international television, radio and podcasts about ways the U.S. healthcare system prioritizes profits over people’s basic needs. She cites routine (nontherapeutic) infant circumcision as a prime example of a practice that wastes money and harms boys and the men they will become. This Penis Business: A Memoir is her first book.