Tag: saving our sons

Conversations & More: Genital Integrity Awareness Week

hollymilkowski April 7, 2018

I just returned from a trip to Washington D.C. for Genital Integrity Awareness Week, which was March 28th-April 3rd. A week full of seed-planting, countless conversations with principled conclusions, minds changed, futures salvaged… This is my kind of activism!

The mission as stated on the web site is to raise public awareness of:

the basic human right to genital autonomy for all individuals, regardless of sex
the damage inflicted by forced genital cutting, of boys, girls and intersex persons
foreskin restoration options for those impacted by forced genital cutting
research based information on intact subjects to a large body of individuals in Washington D.C. – students, educators, tourists, lawmakers, politicians – who take this information home with them to their own circles of influence
the need for congress and lawmakers to grant boys and intersex minors equal rights under law with protection from forced genital cutting

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Live on Whole Mother Show: The Circumcision Decision

hollymilkowski March 26, 2018

Houston midwife Pat Jones interviewed myself and Amber Clark for the Whole Mother Radio Show on 90.1 FM KPFT to discuss circumcision. Check out the video above — audio file coming soon!

This was a great way to kick off Genital Integrity Awareness Week (March 28-April 3)!

Please support #GIAW, either by attending, sharing related posts, and/or donating toward the effort.

For more info:

Intact Houston / Intact Texas on Facebook
Saving Our Sons
The Intact Network
GIAW

Don’t Wait To Take a Stand For Genital Autonomy

hollymilkowski May 9, 2017

A white truck slowed as it rolled by. The same driver swung back around three more times, honking with each pass. This was no coincidence or deja vu.

One of us carried an oversized white posterboard with the words “Honk if you ❤ foreskin” drawn across both sides.

The other eight of us fulfilled some task related to our cause — hoisting other signs, hauling info cards and materials to distribute, capturing the proceedings on camera, or merely accompanying for purpose of solidarity or, in the case of one individual, by chance meeting. Read More

Isn’t the Ghost Inside a Single Onesie More Than Enough? (My Experience at GIAW 2017)

hollymilkowski April 9, 2017

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Image courtesy Saving Our Sons

Here we gathered, sixty four of us. All affected by circumcision in one way or another, the lucky among us protected from the worst of its damage. Sixty four of us prepared to deliver the message that natural bodies are normal, healthy, and beneficial; to leave the alteration for medical necessity or personal consent.

We were here for Genital Integrity Awareness Week — which, in the great fortune of the 2017 calendar — happened to fall on the same week that female genital cutting was outlawed in the U.S. twenty years ago.

For the past two decades, baby girls have been protected from threat to their genital integrity, but their brothers, sons, nephews and grandsons are still routinely cut in barbaric fashion. Some die, and the rest bear the telltale scar forever.

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Image courtesy Saving Our Sons

Giving Thanks For Intact Education

hollymilkowski November 7, 2016

It was perhaps the first beautiful day of the season and hardly anyone showed up. The morning was slow, and though I was grateful to spend a few hours outside without nearly fainting from the usually oppressive Texas heat, we had come here to talk to people… a lot of people.

The turnout did remain slight all day, but the conversations we had were meaningful. Even those who seemed to think they had no personal history with circumcision certainly had plenty to say… or plenty left unsaid, for now.

At the end of the day, though I did feel somewhat frustrated, confused and deflated, I walked away feeling mostly just thankful. The best part is, I know I wasn’t the only one.

If I Could Tell People Only 10 Things About Circumcision…

hollymilkowski October 6, 2016

We changed minds last weekend. I actually saw the process happen.

Sometimes like this: a pregnant mother walks up, admits she hasn’t researched circumcision and has no opinion on it, is told there’s no medical indication for routine circumcision, and walks off with her eyes glued to a handful of information she just received.

And sometimes like this: a mother of circumcised boys walks up, her attention caught by “117+ boys die” written on a frame, says “I didn’t know any of this when my boys were born,” is told “I’m so sorry,” and assures us “Don’t be sorry! You are doing a good thing. Tell EVERYONE.”

It was clear our message was supported, even by many of those who were hearing it for the very first time.

We wanted people to know about babies. That all babies want to remain whole. That babies of both sexes are equally “too cute to cut.” We wanted people to know about foreskin. That foreskin is normal. That its absence is a big deal.

We had a message about parents, too. We want to help you. We support you. We have answers.

‘Bad Moms’ & Circumcision

hollymilkowski August 14, 2016

Several people I know raised concerns about what was said in the ‘Bad Moms’ movie after having seen the trailer with their intact sons within hearing distance — kids old enough to be aware that their perfectly normal private parts were the butt of the ‘joke,’ but too young to understand the illogical reason why. Read More

My View at The Big Latch On – Houston

hollymilkowski August 8, 2016

This weekend I attended The Global Big Latch On as a mother, a resource person, and an advocate.

So what’s the point of women and their nurslings congregating to breastfeed together at 10:30 a.m. for sixty seconds? (Most of the kids were latched long before and after, of course). First, GBLO wanted to set a new world record for the most children simultaneously latched to breastfeed, and for the most moms simultaneously breastfeeding.

This popular World Breastfeeding Week event also spreads awareness of all the different ways mothers breastfeed (nursing newborns, infants and toddlers, older kids, tandem nursing, adoptive nursing, wet nursing, with various apparatus like nipple shields or SNS, restricted diet nursing, supplementing, and exclusively pumping mothers were counted for the latch, too).

It intends to encourage support networks for families within their communities during the breastfeeding years and beyond.

How Balloons & Condoms Teach About Circumcision at PRIDE

hollymilkowski June 26, 2016

Handing out penis balloons, wilting in the heat, remembering the victims in the recent Orlando tragedy, spreading positive messages about foreskin… this was my experience of Houston’s PRIDE Festival this weekend.

Peaceful Parenting From The Sidewalk

hollymilkowski May 2, 2016

This weekend, I joined with advocates from across the nation to Chalk The Walk with our favorite peaceful parenting messages.

As always, this is a family-friendly event and all ages are welcome to participate. Perfect for us — especially this time with a 1.5-day-old baby and a 3.5-year-old kiddo in tow!

A variety of peaceful parenting topics were on display: Informed birth choice, breastfeeding, nighttime parenting (no CIO), cloth diapering, babywearing, gentle ‘discipline’, genital autonomy…

Most Viewed Genital Autonomy Images of the Year (Original at Intact Houston)

hollymilkowski December 9, 2015

One of the things I do for Intact Houston (local affiliate of the volunteer-based grassroots organization, The Intact Network/Saving Our Sons) is not only advocate for genital autonomy by sharing thought-provoking images, but by creating original ones too.

Above is the most recent graphic I made for the chapter. I expect it to be my last original graphic of 2015.

So in honor of the year’s baby-saving successes with Intact Houston, I’m listing the top 21 most popular original images I created and posted on the chapter page in 2015.

(Each image is prefaced with the text and links that accompanied it when it was first published).

8 Ways I Educated About Genital Autonomy Without Saying “Don’t Circumcise”

hollymilkowski November 15, 2015

Last weekend I hosted a Peaceful Parenting table for Intact Houston/Intact Texas, local chapters for Saving Our Sons (the not-for-profit organization Peaceful Parenting/Dr. Momma‘s focus on circumcision).

My challenge was to include genital autonomy as one crucial component of the peaceful parenting lifestyle … without calling it by name.

I had spoken with a marketing director at my local Babies ‘R’ Us about setting up inside the store to hand out information. After browsing the Dr. Momma web site, she said she’d love to have us there. In fact, as a company they’re very welcoming toward many of the topics mentioned, she explained. Ones like co-sleeping, breastfeeding (they hold regular classes there for newbies) and child-led weaning, babywearing (regular classes at Babies ‘R’ Us for this too), encouragement of gentle discipline and alternatives to punitive parenting (i.e. spanking and crying-it-out) and so on.

But…(there’s always a but, isn’t there?)

Want to Get Real-Life Defriended by a Mother? Say These 12 Things

hollymilkowski October 13, 2015

Anyone who follows this site will understand this post is *OBVIOUSLY SATIRICAL.*

Newcomers, take a moment to think about what the above picture symbolizes to you. The mother, naked and vulnerable, preserves a bubble of peace with her baby, in seemingly necessary quarantine from the bold, harsh words that hope to infiltrate their haven with little concern for the affect it might have upon them.

Here are not-so-uncommon perspectives (inspired by actual commentary I’ve seen or heard) that demonstrate how to upset and further isolate yourself from the not-so-uncommon kind of woman described above.

1). Let him cry… it’s good for his lungs.

Then try to convince her that dropping him on his head is good for his brain.

2). You’ll spoil her.

A baby spoils by being carried just like an apple spoils simply by being carried. That’s how it works.

3). She’ll never learn to walk.

Then you can explain how it’s better for both of them if the child is forced to walk everywhere. It’s not like it’d inhibit the mother from moving about in a timely manner or result in the child feeling abandoned. Read More

How They Reacted to “Know Better, Do Better…Bring Your Whole Baby Home”

hollymilkowski October 4, 2015

I spent most of this weekend with The Designated Dad talking to people about circumcision — mainly the two most common types in our country, which are neonatal male “medical” circumcisions in hospitals and religious circumcisions with mohels.

Our location: B.I.R.T.H. Fair (the acronym stands for “Bringing Information and Resources to Houston”), which is a hugely popular event that features more than sixty vendors, speaker sessions, giveaways, and education about pregnancy, birth, and parenting.

Our mission: Make it easier for people in our area to know better so they can do better… the result of which would see them bringing their whole babies home ❤

Read on for a collection of memorable stories and interactions from our day at the event.

Write A Letter Like This To Help Protect Chase From Unwanted Circumcision

hollymilkowski May 21, 2015

Chase Nebus-Hironimus, the Florida child caught in the center of a parental battle over the state of his foreskin, now stands at great risk of being circumcised against his will at any time. But there is still hope and we must do what we can to continue to support him with our best efforts.

You can help at the convenient, comfortable location of your home or during your lunch break at work. An easy action for you, a potentially life-changing one for Chase.