The only reason I’m posting this is because I came up with a witty title.

A press release, from PRWeb, “Activists Call on the United Nations to Classify Male Circumcision as a Human Rights Crime“:

In response to results of a male circumcision HIV study presented yesterday at the Third International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, several intactivist groups called on the United Nations to classify circumcision of male children as a human rights crime. The study, performed on more than 3,000 African men, concluded that circumcision reduced the chance of HIV infection by 65% over an 18 month period…

Tina Kimmel, MSW, MPH, at the University of California Berkeley School of Social Welfare, said that the U.N. has a blind spot when it comes to male circumcision. “If this study had examined the health effects of preventive mastectomy or female circumcision, one can only imagine the uproar it would have caused. Sadly, there is a double standard when it comes to boys. The reality in Africa and the rest of the world is that male circumcision is usually performed on children who are unable to give their full consent, and the response from UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) calling the results of this newest study “promising” shows how the power of tradition can blind otherwise intelligent and rational people to the most horrific of crimes.” Kimmel is Coordinator of the Bay Area Intactivists Group (BANG), in Oakland, California, a group that hosts frequent public demonstrations and informational events on the consequences of male circumcision.

Wonderful acronym. Public demonstrations on the consequences of male circumcision… Ouch, can I get a volunteer?

On a more serious note, I guess I can’t really get worked up about this issue. I don’t see the male version being even a tiny bit as brutal as its female counterpart. And of the many ways that you can physically and emotionally abuse your kids, this probably ranks way down there. But I really don’t know.

You guys can battle it out. Bonus points if you’re able to keep it clean and classy.