MEDICAL FRAUD and the criminal assault of boys
Men Have Equal Rights
Arnold Baruch (Dec. 16) would have us believe that "We men have done the shooting, the drafting, the wife-beating, the child-raping for thousands of years."
Who is "we"? I am not guilty of any of the above, and I refuse to take the blame simply because of my gender. (Talk about sexism!) The worst "crime" I've ever committed was being born male in a world where even nice guys and newborn baby boys are expected to take the brunt for what "we" have created.
Are all women loving, nurturing, and morally superior to men? Perhaps the following (U.S.) examples will shed some light on Baruch's question: "How do women contribute to male violence?"
(1) Women are at least as likely as men to initiate spousal violence and more likely to batter their children, most of the victims being sons.
(2) Last summer, Marilyn Quayle criticized Bill Clinton for having escaped the draft during the Vietnam War. More (voting) women than men in the U.S. favor an all-male draft, and most local draft board members are women.
(3) Some of the most ardent, insensitive proponents of male circumcision are women, including a doctor who once pinched my cheek and said, "Ah, poor baby! Did you get snipped?" Add that to the fact that most circumcision, "consent" forms are signed by mothers.
(4) When I was about 11 years old, a neighborhood girl unprovokedly bullied me into a fight with her, insisting that if I didn't fight I was a "pussy/wimp," and then beat me up as other kids idly looked on.
Not only are many women violent toward men. Many encourage men to fight and compete with each other.
Lastly, I challenge Baruch's advice to me to "Take criticism like a man." This macho, chivalrous, sexist jab implies that women are not equally capable to taking criticism, and that we men do not have an equal right to complain or defend ourselves. It reflects the universally accepted notion that men do not, or should not complain, cry or show feelings. (Talk about oppression!)
This, along with other male-bashing attitudes, molds many men into callused and hard-core fighters, killers and rapists. Thank you, Baruch for setting such a fine example.
RICH ANGELL NOCIRC-J Newsletter
The following circumcision horror story is excerpted from a letter written by Cliff P. to Surgeon Gen. Novello.
"When my boy was born I guarded him all night at the nursery to make sure no "accidental" surgeries were performed. In 1981 I had another son and also wouldn't discuss circumcision (with the obstetrician). In 1986 my wife and I were divorced and she moved to another state. I didn't see them much. In 1988, I received a phone call from my oldest son. He told me he had just gotten out of the hospital and had been circumcised under general anesthesia. I was devastated and in shock! I was never consulted or even told of the unnecessary surgery until two days later."
This is not to mention, among other things, Cliff's own problems as a circumcision victim, which I strongly identify with.
RICH ANGELL NOCIRC-J Newsletter April 1993
Violence Begets Violence
I refer to recent letters on violence in our societies.
Violence persists in our modern world due to attitudes of human beings.
Little babies come into the world to peaceful beginnings, only to have adults inflict some of the most cruel and inhuman acts of violence against them.
These acts of violence not only leave physical scars, but mental scars as well. A lot of these scars never heal.
Violence is therefore ingrained in men and women from their early days and this is a major reason for the continuation of violence in our societies.
Take , for example, the many, many discussions I've had with women over the past 20 years on the subject of male circumcision.
One girl told me her mother always said boys shouldn't be allowed to keep their foreskins but never gave a reason. This girl would come into my office on some days with a pair of scissors and manipulate the blades in front of me, all the time asking me when I was going to be circumcised because I shouldn't be allowed to remain intact.
With people with this kind of sadistic attitude is there any wonder men are so violent? Imagine the uproar if men came out and harassed women in this way.
As Rich Angell said in his letter on Nov. 29, "Men are violent because they are treated violently..." It is because parents betray the trust in their tiny infants so early in life that men are so violent?
Every human being- male and female - has rights which must be recognized from the day they are born.
Perhaps if the attitudes of parents were to change in this regard and we all worked at "getting on" with our neighbors and others, the world would become a more "civilized" environment in which to live.
JOHN SHANAHAN/ Belmont North N.S.W. Australia
Feminists will have use believe that all women are loving, nurturing, kind, non-violent goddesses who have noting to do with violence against men. Well here's something I wish the whole world would read. It was sent to me by John Shanahan of Australia. Part of this testimony was printed in his recent letter to the editor of The Japan Times. It concerns three cases of discussion with pro-circ women. It reads, slightly edited, as follows:
(1) One expectant mother told me she would probably try and have the baby circumcised, if it was a boy, because she goes through pain having it, so it's only fair it has pain.
(2) Another girl said she didn't like the look of the natural penis and would demand circumcision if she had a boy. Further, if the doctor refused to perform the operation she would, then return to the hospital where the doctor would have no choice but to complete the surgery.
(3) Another girl -- while in discussion with five other girls on the subject on male circumcision - had to excuse herself from the conversation to go to the toilet because the discussion was making her excited. One girl in the group -- an expectant mother -- told me she also got excited when thinking about circumcision.
All these girls agreed that having circumcision done on boys was a way of "taking revenge" on males because 1) males get it too easy in life, 2) they don't get period pain, and 3) males don't have to endure childbirth.
RICH ANGELL NOCIRC-J Newsletter