Why Do Girls Have A Right To Genital Integrity, But Not Boys?

Podcast and discussion here. Excerpt:

'The mother of a four-year-old son, Heather Hironomus, tearfully signed an order allowing for the circumcision of her boy, so that she could be released from prison. The event has stirred a national debate about the necessity of circumcision, and the question of whether all children should be allowed the right to bodily integrity.

Hironomus was imprisoned after she fled with her son, attempting to avoid the fulfillment of an agreement with the boy’s father that would see him circumcised. She’s now taken center stage on the issue, with anti-circumcision activists rallying to her cause, raising $50,000 in legal bills to defend her son, Chase Hironomus. The father wishes to circumcise the boy so that he looks like him.'

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I'll attempt to answer the question.....

It's because culture is really really hard to change. Take religion for example. It has been around since the beginning of time and originally used to fill in gaps of knowledge, which is why it is called "faith". Yet even though we now have the knowledge, people wont give up their religious culture, so it continues to survive.

Chinese Foot binding and other cultural body modifications went on for centuries. The traditions were only broken when people from *other* cultures came in and slowly chipped away at the offending cultures and/or had the political power to pass laws. This type of political power is only achieved if the new culture is richer than the culture it is trying to stop (money = power). For example the feminist influence of the United Nations made policies that United Nation counties would not trade or help countries which practice FGM, since the offending countries needed the trade or the help, they were forced to change their culture..

So for the United States, I think that is why change in routine male infant circumcision has been very slow. No non-circing country has had any political power over us. But thank goodness for the internet, that is a gamechanger and will help speed things up, IMO, as it allows men to network and makes the world a little smaller. Chipping away at RIC culture will take time, but I think it is occurring.

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"Why Do Girls Have A Right To Genital Integrity, But Not Boys?"

...i'm gonna go out on a limb, here and guess it's because they're GIRLS. .-.

...

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