WTFuck. "Circumscision Season". I was wondering why it was such a widespread discussion within the US based Nostr community until I saw these statistics:
Germany reporting around 11%
UK around 21%.
Australia has a rate of about 27%,
New Zealand's rate is around 33%.
In the United States, the rate is approximately 71% (i tried to fact check this and got multiple results)
Africa and Middle Eastern Countries near 99%
Does correlation equal causation of cultural violence.
- Tradition is not a reason to mutilate (tradition is a spook)
- Religion is not a reason to mutilate (also a spook)
- Culture is not a reason to mutilate (a spook also)
- Environment is not a reason to mutilate in an age of antibiotics and running water
Can we call it what it is now: genital mutilation, and equality means protecting ALL babies from this practice, not just African girls (which is horrific in itself). It's bizzare-o world where it's optional to commit genital mutilation while the freedom to choose vaccination or not is eroded.
We know so much about traumatic early childhood experiences and how they flick epigenetic triggers from people like Gabor Mate. A child needs love and protection from a potentially dangerous world. The fourth trimester (the 3 months after birth) is a crucial time where each child starts adapting and maladapting to their environment. An example of maladaptive behavior is the The Dutch Hunger Winter Study, which shows that starving women gave birth to children epigentically prone to obesity and heart disease because their body becomes very stingy (Jewy?) with any calories that come in.
So factoring in the traumatic effect on a developing brain I wonder what the following procedure does to a newborns brain:
"The foreskin contains specialized sensory nerve endings, including Meissner’s corpuscles, which are fine-touch receptors. These nerve endings detect subtle changes in motion and temperature and fine gradations in texture. During circumcision, the most important sensory component of the foreskin is removed, including thousands of Meissner’s corpuscles and between 10,000 and 20,000 specialized erotogenic nerve endings."
I'm glad my mom was a acid popping hippie backpacking Africa when I was born. Not mutilating me was probably the best thing she ever did.