“If your opponent draws a circle to exclude you, you draw a larger circle to include him or her and unite the two of you against a higher and greater threat.”
The above is a paraphrasing of something an American civil rights activist named Pauli Murray said decades ago:
“I intend to destroy segregation by positive and embracing methods. When my brothers try to draw a circle to exclude me, I shall draw a larger circle to include them. Where they speak out for the privileges of a puny group, I shall shout for the rights of all mankind.”
For an intactivist, broadening the efforts means that when your opponent wants to protect only one sex (genetically and phenotypically normal girls) from non-therapeutic genital cutting, you expand the circle to include males, incompetent adults, and the wide continuum of intersex children.
It means that you expand the terms you use, from circumcision (which is narrower), to non-therapeutic genital cutting (which is broader).
You could go further and view non-therapeutic genital cutting as only one example of a wide variety of gruesome body modifications, which have been practiced throughout human history.
You take the broader perspective and see cutting of infants as a vestige of an ignorant, bloody, tribal past. Whereas the future is one of enlightenment, elevation of the individual, and wholeness.
It means that when we advocate against circumcision of male infants, it’s not just about the foreskin of men. We are waging a wider struggle for the right to bodily autonomy and bodily integrity.
I am so grateful for the many online communities that are advocating for an end to non-therapeutic genital cutting of minors. I hope they’ll continue drawing many circles to include others and defend the rights of children.
pseudoisaac 