Male Circumcision From an FGM Campaigners Perspective:
FGM is on the agenda in the UK in a big way.
Schools have set provisions for educating teenagers about the dangerous and painful practice. Legislation has been introduced to try to protect girls who are deemed “at risk” from FMG, whether in the UK or travelling abroad for the unnecessary procedure.
What gets less attention is male circumcision. Part of the reason is that criticising or even talking about the subject is still an uncomfortable dialogue for many people.
“Gosh, I’m about to get in so much trouble.” – Iman Amrani, Journalist
This shows shows how taboo this outdated practice is, but we give credit to Iman for approaching the debate and getting the conversation out there.
EDIT: While we feel there are a lot of things left out, and recognise that this video is very “neutral”, encouraging discussion is the first big step. This debate has been unmentionable for many years. Feel free to leave comments and thoughts below.
This subject has largely been ignored. Often it takes a big headline to get any attention around this subject, and some men feel as though their identity is under attack if we even talk about it.
This week Iman Amrani opens the dialogue with people across the UK and America. You can find the video below:
15 Square’s take away message?
Some men do not want it, and the choice is robbed from them. Lets start talking more about that. The louder the debate, the more obvious the double standard is when we talk about female and male genital cutting. Shouldn’t we protect them all?
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Congratulations to Iman and to others for encouraging conversation on the subjects.
Four months after I was advised (aged 28) by a urologist, following concerns I’d had about my foreskin, to consider circumcision I suffered an ‘acute psychotic episode’ and was kept in psychiatric hospital for a month. It turned out I hadn’t needed to consider circumcision afterall because, actually, the condition I was suffering from was ‘frenulum breve’ and all I’d needed was a frenuloplasty op. As a result, although slightly scarred (both physically and mentally) I’m happily intact.
I suspect there are many men similarly kept on psychiatric wards, or drugged, with whom it would be worth talking to gain some enlightenment on psychological aspects of these subjects.
Thanks for the comment, the more people are aware of this subject the more people can avoid unnecessary surgeries. The psychological issues that can affect men can not be ignored. The more dialogue there is, the more the public and medical profession will start to realize how important the alternatives to circumcision are.