May 10, 2014 (NYC): Today Intaction unveiled an audacious step for the anti-circumcision movement with the introduction of a dedicated Mobile Education Unit. The mobile unit was unveiled in front of the NYU-Langone Medical Center in New York City to Intaction members.
The anti-circumcision movement of the modern era has been in existence for about thirty years, but its recently gained significant momentum for a variety of reasons. There are many visionary concepts that were originally created by other intactivist organizations. We picked best of what we have seen and built on those ideas. However having said that we think this mobile unit is unlike anything ever seen or done before.
It was over four months of intensive work getting this project completed, from the inception, the creative design, logistics, and mechanical upgrades. One thing you will notice is there is a consistency of messaging, from the visual photographs, the captions, the internet URL/domain, and the printed literature handed out from the mobile unit. We feel this consistency is vital to the communication of our message.
When we take on a project we pledge to deliver on our promises. Not only does the end result have to satisfy our vision, but we want to meet the expectations of Intaction members and supporters – who we call THE INTACT NATION. The members have entrusted their hard-earned money with Intaction to get something done, and we take that trust very seriously. In this case, we hope we’ve exceeded their expectations.
Some physical facts about the mobile unit. It has over 466 square feet of fixed graphic display space with lighting, 24 sqft of video screens, and a sound system. There is interior storage space inside the body. The uses & possibilities of this mobile unit are limited only by our imagination.
When you put the whole package together, along with a professional execution, we feel this will have a tremendous impact on the public perception of circumcision.
We want to recognize some people who have made very generous donations to Intaction for this mobile unit, going above and beyond the call, and they are recognized on our dedication plaque (mounted on the right side of the mobile unit) as Leaders of Human Rights & Genital Integrity. Without their support this project could not have reached the level of success that we have achieved.
We plan a busy upcoming schedule which will include weekly outings throughout the tri-state (NY-NJ-CT) area. We plan on visiting hospitals, college campuses, and outdoor public events.
The hope is that when people see this mobile unit, they will understand what the men behind the message are saying. What was done in the past is done, that can’t be changed. But let’s stop repeating the mistakes of the past on the next generation of children.
Wow that is amazing! Please come to the Twin Cities, MN area (not in the winter though)!!
Excellent job Anthony. A very important and visual campaign to create awareness of the harms of Circumcision.
I love it, and I love the fact that there are different races and ethnicities represented! I’ve been opposing neonatal circumcision since about 1980. I had decided, 6 years earlier, that any sons I had would be intact, like their father (who was one of the few baby boys born in the 1950s who left a hospital nursery intact). At first, I just thought of it as unnecessary, since my husband had no issues at all. I started studying the issue, in earnest, when my sister in law was pregnant. The more I learned, the more shocked and angry I became. Many of the earliest intactivists have, like me, been mothers. That is because, to paraphrase Marilyn MIlos, “Before a boy even knows he has a penis, a mother knows that she has a baby to protect”.
I hope you will keep a journal of the responses people share with you, while the bus is being driven around. I used to drive a light blue Volvo station wagon with intactivist bumper stickers. Quite often, while waiting for traffic lights, I would notice someone pulling up closer to me, to read my bumper stickers. Many women would laugh. Men, however, would sort of smirk, at first, but then their expressions betrayed their discomfort at seeing them. I hate having to make circumcised men feel badly in any way, but I’m sure you would agree that some amount of it is necessary, in order to get fathers to allow their sons to grow up with the benefits of an intact penis.
Please please please drive a truck like that around Memphis, TN …we need awareness raised big time out here!
Wow! This mobile unit is a game changer, taking intactivism to a new level. Thanks to all who made this brilliant idea a reality!
An excellent idea for bringing the message to the public.
I have 5 sons, 3 were circumcised at 4 and 5 years of age without my knowing. Actually behind my back.
You May Ask HOW? The Mother and Boyfriend/step father, posed as the parents and went to the Philly childrens Hospital. The Doctor told the boys That He was just going to look at it. Oh God, it gets worse from there, One of the boys resulted with a rash on the side of his glans. The lesson to be learned is that Divorce hurts children in many ways. It still hurts me to think my sons will not enjoy sexual pleasure in full color.
Many men are REGROWING their foreskin !!! Google it. They are having sexual pleasure that they never experienced before. Please read “Sex as Nature Intended It”
We need this in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan! A lot of misperceptions here!
I really love how you’re all about raising awareness…but why does it have to be so nasty about it? Why do you have to consider that just because a mother gets her son circumcised, she’s a bad parent? There’s nothing wrong with being intact, just as there’s nothing wrong with being cut. It all depends on the family and their beliefs. Last I checked, my lover, both brothers, father, uncles, cousin, and most of my friends are all quite happy to be cut. Stop abusing people and stop trying to push your views as the ‘only’ views. Do you hate on the intact mothers when they choose to bottle/formula feed vs breastfeed?
{Intaction replies: Where were we nasty towards parents? We leveled most of the blame on the medical community. Secondly, formula feeding has no relation to amputating healthy body parts and permanent scarification. Logic fail on your part.}
it is truly remarkable how you can be so completely and utterly ass-backward.
you haven’t seen nasty. you probably think i’m being nasty right now, but you’d still be wrong.
if you want to see nasty, then watch a circumcision video.
i was raped, tortured, mutilated as a child, i remember, and i’m not fucking thankful.
The main argument is that it’s not the parent’s right to mutilate a baby’s body. The child grows up not knowing what they never had but should have! Would a girl grow up asking her parents why she is missing her clitoris if she never knew she had it if she was circumcised as a baby? When I considered the discomfort of not having a foreskin, the loss of which I now realize has had a major impact on my life in more ways than one, and that I had no knowledge of until I became aware the impact it has had on my life, the result is anger and a feeling I have never felt before and is difficult to describe.
It’s about moral principle, not opinion. Your opinion doesn’t matter. Such a pure and simple fact of nature, yet old and barbaric traditions die hard today as they did when they were much more prevalent, but no less demanding of action to prevent.
Great job, guys! You combined two proven initiatives and turned them into a dynamic campaign. I can’t wait to hear the news reports!
This is truly amazing. I really hope you can keep that one running for a long time – I’m well aware of the operational costs of a vehicle like that, and I was stunned that you manged to get something like that on the road.
That being said, I wish you a lot of success and always an inch of space to all sides :)
Very well done indeed! I look forward to seeing where this extremely important and necessary educational tool will take this movement– helping to eliminating this ignorant and barbaric act that is done to countless babies and young boys every day.
When I became aware of the unnecessary, disgusting nature of penile mutilation, aka circumcision, I couldn’t just stop at educating myself, and so I will continue to progress in doing what I can to make others aware and hopefully in my lifetime we will see an end to it entirely.
Thank you and keep up the great work!!
Ive life waiting to see something like this in NYC my whole life. Thanks SO much, the city really needs your impression.
I’m sure we can get the funding to do a cross country trip to California!!! This will effect so many lives– Thank you
What a wonderful way to get a crucial human rights message out! Your presence in front of hospitals, doctors’ offices, etc., certainly will prove effective. I wish you could take your truck and park outside Neil Pollack’s office in Vancouver. He’s the “painless circumcision” doctor and something BIG needs to happen in front of his office! Your van presents BIG! Your thoughtful approach to this issue and your plans to make a difference are always powerful, Anthony! This is the most powerful tool so far! I look forward to reading the reports of your efforts and about public reactions. How can they not be terrific? With love & appreciation, Marilyn
This is a Totally wonderful thing, going to hospitals, and clinics and educating the medical community, including reaching out to the public, and encouraging those to speak out against this horrific procedure. keep up the good work
Ladys, opinions on looks? Erotic??
Do you think uncut looks better and also feels better during sex (for the woman)?
[…] Physicians will be reminded that babies whose genitals are mutilated as infants grow up to be men who are speaking out about what was done to their penis before they could defend themselves. Pediatricians will be faced […]