Books
We don’t sell books, but we have compiled this list of our favorites. They would make a great gift for your intactivist friend, or for a friend whose loyalty is challenged by your intactivism. These are alphabetized by author, and include links to Amazon.com (but we shop locally when we can). See also our favorite DVDs.
Circumcision Is A Fraud: And The Coming Legal Reckoning
by Peter Adler MA, JD
This book argues that unnecessary circumcision or male genital cutting is a complex 150 year old multibillion dollar per year fraud in the United States.
Physicians and nurses engage in fraudulent conduct in the hospital. They target boys unable to object and mothers who have just given birth and are likely to be legally incapacitated. They also solicit parental permission on average eight times, give the parents only minutes to decide, and often badger them until they agree to have their son circumcised, which constitutes duress.
The book suggests that boys, men, and their parents can bring lawsuits against the physician and hospital to recover damages. It also argues that they have the right to prevail on most of their claims without a trial. Successful lawsuits will help compensate circumcised boys and men for their losses, and help speed the inevitable demise of this harmful ancient religious and traditional practice. *****
In a future America, fundamentalist Sacrists have begun implementing HR Bill 35, a bill mandating the forced genital cutting of newborn boys and girls in the interest of “keeping America pure.” In this America, if you’re influential enough, you can impose your moral vision on anyone, regardless of consent or consequence.
Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World
by Carl T. Bergstrom
Bullshit isn’t what it used to be. Now, two science professors give us the tools to dismantle misinformation and think clearly in a world of fake news and bad data.
Foreskin: A Closer Look
by Bud Berkeley
In this sometimes humorous, often erotic, always fascinating book, the founder of the Uncircumcised Society of America takes us on a romp through the history of circumcision.
The Joy of Uncircumcising
by Jim Bigelow, PhD
Exploring Circumcision : History, Myths, Psychology, Restoration, Sexual Pleasure, and Human Rights (as seen on the Jimmy Fallon show) *****
Circumcision Exposed: Rethinking a Medical and Cultural Tradition
by Billy Ray Boyd
An emotionally literate, culturally sensitive, yet fearless exploration of why the United States is the only country in the world to circumcise a majority of its baby boys for supposedly medical reasons.
Uncut: The Natural History of the Foreskin
by Dr. Sherwin Carlquist
Beautiful intact male photos punctuated by Captain Uncut’s adventures *****
Dr. Carmack shares her eye-opening experience as she becomes a mother and issues such as genital integrity, natural childbirth, and breastfeeding have new meaning
Myrddin has lived for millennia, but his life truly began as a young scholar and magician in the Assembly of Atlantis. We follow his journey of self-discovery, from his thirst for knowledge and magic, to his coming out as gay and experiencing love and loss.
Myrddin’s life in Atlantis is full of adventure, gay romance, and magic, but it’s not all fun and games. Myrddin travels far and wide looking for answers that could change the world forever. He also endeavors to educate people against circumcision, always extolling the benefits of keeping one’s foreskin intact.
Join Myrddin on his first epic journey through Ancient Atlantis and discover the power of love, courage, perseverance, and friendship.
The Assembly of Magic The Story of Myrddin in Ancient Atlantis is a captivating tale of love and romance, adventure and magic that will leave you longing for more.
As Nature Made Him: The Boy who was Raised as a Girl
by John Colapinto
In 1967, a baby suffered a botched circumcision. His family agreed to a radical treatment that would alter his gender. The case would become one of the most famous in modern medicine – and a total failure. As Nature Made Him tells the extraordinary story of David Reimer, who, when finally informed of his medical history, made the decision to live again as a male. A macabre tale of medical arrogance, it is first and foremost a human drama of one man and one family. (David’s twin brother was never never circumcised).
Newborn male circumcision is the most common surgical procedure performed in the U.S. Alan Cumming would like to change that. It’s a common misconception that there are tangible health benefits to male circumcision, but the truth is no medical society in the world recommends it. This invasive procedure carries serious health risks, including infection, hemorrhage, surgical mishap, and death, as well many ethical considerations.
In the eighteenth century, the Western world viewed circumcision as an embarrassing disfigurement peculiar to Jews. A century later, British doctors urged parents to circumcise their sons as a routine precaution against every imaginable sexual dysfunction, from syphilis and phimosis to masturbation and bed-wetting. Thirty years later the procedure again came under hostile scrutiny, culminating in its disappearance during the 1960s.
Middlesex: A Novel
by Jeffrey Eugenides
The breathtaking story of Calliope Stephanides and three generations of the Greek-American Stephanides family. To understand why Calliope is not like other girls, she has to uncover a guilty family secret and the astonishing genetic history that turns Callie into Cal.
Middlesex is the winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and an Oprah’s Book Club selection. *****
Explodes the myths and misinformation about circumcision in an accessible, easy-to-read format. Dr. Peter Ball reports that colleagues stopped circumcising after reading this book.
Marked in Your – Flesh Circumcision from Ancient Judea to Modern America
by Leonard Glick
An ambitious study of the ancient rite of circumcision
Intensive exploration of the unrecognized psychological and social aspects of this increasingly controversial American cultural practice. The book has been endorsed by dozens of professionals in psychology, psychiatry, child development, pediatrics, obstetrics, childbirth education, sociology, and anthropology
Questioning Circumcision: A Jewish Perspective
by Ronald Goldman PhD
Endorsed by five rabbis, Questioning Circumcision: A Jewish Perspective is the first critical examination of the growing controversy of male infant circumcision with special attention to contemporary concerns of Jews.
Circumcision: A History of the World’s Most Controversial Surgery
by David L. Gollaher
Dr. Dean Edell called it “a definitive history” of circumcision.
Decircumcision: Foreskin Restoration Methods and Circumcision Practices
by Gary M. Griffin
As seen on the Jimmy Fallon show
Circumcision Scar – My 35 year foreskin restoration
by Jay J. Jackson
Read this blistering exposé into history’s most loathed body part.
Did you know amputated foreskins are sold to cosmetic companies for $1,000, or that circumcision was alleged to cure brain tumors? It also has a history of megalomania – doctors believed it would cure black men of a supposed predisposition to be rapists, and the more children they circumcised, the higher they’d ascend to god.
Most parents circumcise their sons without giving it a second thought. They have no clue what the risks are because doctors never offer “informed consent” – the legal obligation to educate patients on the risks and alleged benefits of any procedure so they understand what’s being asked of them.
Guide to Getting It On! A Book About the Wonders of Sex
by Paul Joannides
Provocative and comprehensive, includes an homage to intactness, calls the foreskin the male equivalent of the clitoral hood.
Everything you Know about Sex is Wrong
by Russ Kick
The Disinformation Guide to the Extremes of Human Sexuality (and everything in between) includes an interview with Ron Low *****
With the publication of ‘What happened?’ parents will find it easier to educate their children about the difficult subject matter of circumcision. As the U.S. circumcision rates continue to plummet, many boys may find anatomy differences quite confusing! This publication is designed to empower the intact child and was written to help him understand what happened. Contains illustrations of the intact & circumcised male anatomy.
Everything preteen and teen boys need to know about their changing bodies and feelings
In the tradition of Jessica Mitford’s The American Way of Death, an eye-opening work of investigative journalism that challenges our common wisdom about pregnancy, childbirth, and the first year of a baby’s life, showing how the mother and child’s wellbeing are often undermined by corporate profit margins and the private interests of the medical community.
Children’s Justice
by Brendon Marotta
Children’s Justice explores the treatment of children as a social justice issue.
In this groundbreaking book, award-winning filmmaker and author Brendon Marotta applies the principles of social justice to the youngest among us. Combining over a decade of advocacy experience with modern critical theory, Children’s Justice demonstrates the systemic harm that common social structures and cultural assumptions have on children. This is a must-read for anyone who wants to create a better world for the next generation.
The Intactivist Guidebook: How to Win the Game of Intactivism and End Circumcision reveals the full path from where the Intactivist movement is now to the end of circumcision. Written by a media creator who has documented the movement for nearly a decade and introduced more audiences to it than any other, this book shows how activists can make a real difference on this important human rights issue. *****
A Man Who Is Not A Man
by Thando Mgqolozana
When the time comes for Lumkile to enter manhood by undergoing a ritual circumcision, he prepares eagerly for the ceremonies ahead. However, in his makeshift hut on the mountain, Lumkile realises that something has gone terribly wrong. Having been taught that ‘what happens at the mountain stays at the mountain’ he faces a stark choice: to seek medical help and risk being forever ostracised and labelled as a ‘failed man’; or to suffer life-changing injuries or even death.
This deftly written novel is one young man’s intimate account of a botched circumcision, and his journey to accept his fate and embrace his future, as he gains a deeper understanding of what it really means to be a man.
Proceedings of the 2008 NoCirc Symposium in Keele, including an essay by Ron Low *****
Celebrating Brit Shalom – bloodless Jewish naming ceremony
by Lisa Braver Moss and Rebecca Wald
Today’s Jewish parents have choices and infant circumcision is one of them. For those who decide not to circumcise, the brit shalom ceremony is an alternative way to welcome a newborn son, give him a Hebrew name, and bring him into the Abrahamic covenant. This book is a comprehensive resource about this important emerging ritual. It provides readers with everything they’ll need to host a brit shalom, whether it’s being officiated by a rabbi or held more informally. Included are three complete ceremonies to choose from along with the sheet music to Songs for Celebrating Brit Shalom, the beautiful music composed to accompany the ceremonies. Part handbook, part Haggadah-style prayer book, part keepsake, this book is a must for Jewish parents who are questioning circumcision and for rabbis eager to meet the ceremonial needs of today’s families.
A Measure of his Grief
by Lisa Braver Moss
The first novel with a main character wanting to restore his foreskin, in accord with the Jewish ethical tradition of Tikkun Olam, or the healing of creation. *****
Sex as Nature Intended It
by Kristen O’Hara and Jeffrey O’Hara
Info on the intact penis, with details on homology (male/female anatomical counterparts) The WEB SITE is GREAT
Nobody Needs to Know: A Memoir
by Pidgeon Pagonis
From intersex activist Pidgeon Pagonis comes a candid and life-affirming true story of identity, lies, family secrets, and the healing power of truth.
Pidgeon Pagonis always felt like their life was a constant attempt to fit in with other girls—a feeling that was only exacerbated when puberty failed to hit. They never understood why…until they uncovered the secret that had haunted their childhood.
Bouncing between their Chicago home and the city’s children’s hospital, Pidgeon weathered a series of traumatic surgeries, fabrications, and misdirections. It wasn’t until college that Pidgeon pieced together the puzzle of their identity: they’d been born intersex but raised as a girl, their life shaped by lies that left them physically and mentally scarred. But for Pidgeon, what began as a shameful and traumatic discovery transforms into a painful yet joyous journey of self-love, truth, and healing.
Pidgeon’s inspiring memoir is for everyone whose body and spirit defy expectations, a fierce challenge to a system hell-bent on enforcing binary definitions. Ultimately, it’s a celebration of the freedom and empowerment that come from learning the truth about who you are—and living it.
Gives you the tools to:
– Prepare for high-stakes situations
– Transform anger and hurt feelings into powerful dialogue
– Make it safe to talk about almost anything
– Be persuasive, not abrasive
A is for Alex: A Bereaved Mother’s Promise to Her Beloved Son
by Lesley Roberts
When a police officer knocked on Lesley Roberts’ door on 25 November 2017, her life changed forever. She learned that her eldest son Alex had died by suicide – and she would soon receive an email explaining why. Since then, Lesley has spent years learning to live alongside her grief….Roberts’ book draws attention to the not-so-common reason that led her son to end his own life, as well as the ever-increasing number of suicides happening in the UK and North America. The truth is, any parent could be in Lesley’s situation, and any man could be in Alex’s – and for this reason, this book is an important read. It serves as a guide for parents and those who support them in the wake of their child’s death. But it also sheds light on Alex’s story and can make other men in the same situation feel less alone.
The Rape of Innocence: female genital mutilation and circumcision in the USA
by Patricia Robinett
An autobiographical account of a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant woman who discovered that as a child in Kansas in the 1950s she had been the victim of clitoridectomy. *****
Circumcision – The Painful Dilema
by Rosemary Romberg
Romberg’s book is a complete and throughout collection that ties together both research and the experience of parents, doctors, nurses, men and women. While some of the statistics are slightly out of date (20 years later) the issues at the core still remain. We have not come far from the atrocities that existed when Romberg first wrote this book, and they are some of the most pressing influences on the health and well-being of our babies. At this time in history, when the United States remains the only developed country in the world to cut up 50% of its baby boys at birth, we must ask WHY? Romberg’s book does an excellent job answering this question, and preparing parents to make a fully informed decision prior to the birth of their little one.
I Want My Foreskin for Giftmas
by Carl J. Schutt
Fun and enlightening “picture book” (see and hear it read in a musical YouTube video) *****
In The Kind Mama, Alicia Silverstone has created a comprehensive and practical guide empowering women to take charge of their fertility, pregnancy, and first 6 months with baby. Drawing on her own experience, as well as that of obstetricians, midwives, nutritionists, holistic health counselors, and others, Silverstone offers advice on getting one’s “baby house” in order through nutrient-rocking foods that heal and nourish, and, once pregnant, gentle ways to boost comfort, energy, and health during each trimester. She advises against genital cutting.
Form and Foreskin: Medieval Narratives of Circumcision
by A. W. Strouse
Why did Saint Augustine ask God to “circumcise [his] lips”? Why does Sir Gawain cut off the Green Knight’s head on the Feast of the Circumcision? Is Chaucer’s Wife of Bath actually—as an early glossator figures her—a foreskin? And why did Ezra Pound claim that he had incubated The Waste Land inside of his uncut member? In this little book, A. W. Strouse excavates a poetics of the foreskin, uncovering how Patristic theologies of circumcision came to structure medieval European literary aesthetics. Following the writings of Saint Paul, “circumcision” and “uncircumcision” become key terms for theorizing . . .
Born Both: An Intersex Life
by Hida Viloria
From one of the world’s foremost intersex activists, a candid, provocative, and eye-opening memoir of gender identity, self-acceptance, and love.
“Everyone should be inspired by Hida’s beautiful exciting memoir Born Both, which lavishly illustrates the rich and impactful life she’s experienced. Nobody should have their potential truncated at birth. I always assumed I could keep up with her, but she lost me at Burning Man. Fun times.”
-Ron Low *****
Circumcision: An American Health Fallacy
by Edward Wallerstein
Considered by many the Father of American Intactivism, Edward Wallerstein has penned a seminal work on why it’s unethical for doctors to circumcise male infants.
Foreskin Restoration 101: How to Decircumcise For a Better Sex Life
by Dr. Chris West
A limited introduction to foreskin restoration Circumcision and the foreskin explained. Foreskin myths and misconceptions: A look into the different methods of restoration including modified taping, cross taping and manual tugging. As seen on the Jimmy Fallon TV Show.
***** = recommended by TLC Tugger (others not read)