Raising awareness always sounds exciting, but I'm still a little confused. The way I interpret this genital autonomy pumpkin carving is something like, "Hey parents who just can't slake your insatiable thirst to mutilate your child — instead of cutting up your innocent baby, cut this pumpkin instead."
That's right, I said mutilate. While both of my sons are circumcised, it wasn't until I made the mistake of bringing up circumcision multiple times on the internet (like the dummy I am) that I realized it is a hot-button topic. After being called a child abuser and mutilator, with a kind offer to slice my labia from intactivists on Twitter, I realized that circumcision is kind of a big deal.
But back to the pumpkin carving. DrMomma.org has a handy slogan for parents who just want to cut something, "Cut pumpkins. Not babies."
The website provides a template of the International Symbol of Genital Autonomy as a pumpkin carving pattern, and I have to say, it seems like it would be pretty easy to slice into a gourd. While I have to give Dr. Momma points for creativity — and for coming up with an outlet for knife-wielding parents — I have a hard time seeing how carving a cute symbol into a pumpkin will raise awareness to stop the practice of circumcision.
Photo credit: DrMomma.org
I guess it's about time to share my unpopular opinion and brace myself for an onslaught of anti-circumcision hate. I don't have any regrets about the decision that my husband and I made to circumcise our sons. The decision was spurred on by my husband as he is a circumcised man, and I agreed. The decision was not made lightly, and the circumcisions were done quickly, safely and successfully in a skilled pediatrician's office. No regrets — not a one.
When it comes to the highly debated topic of circumcision, I believe it is a personal choice for parents to make. If you want to carve genital autonomy symbols into your Halloween pumpkin to support a righteous cause, get to carving. Just don't expect your intactivist pumpkin to sway parents who believe they have made the right decision for their son.
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