157:(activists against infant circumcision) began an initiative to put a measure on San Francisco's November 2011 ballot that would ban all non-medically necessary circumcisions of minors. The effort was spearheaded by intactivist group Bay Area Intactivists, which used a bill whose text was written by Matthew Hess, the founder of San Diego–based intactivist website MGMbill.org (MGM being an acronym for "male genital mutilation", a term used by some intactivists to denounce circumcision). Hess also published
173:. He is adamantly against the practice of circumcision. In the first issue, Hastwick comes up with the alter ego of Foreskin Man to fight against practitioners of circumcision and "the pro-circumcision lobby," whom he feels have gained too much power through "all of the well connected doctors and lawyers." In the second issue, Foreskin Man encounters and fights a "Monster Mohel". In the third issue of the comic, he teams up with a female heroine, dubbed "Vulva Girl," who fights to oppose
161:, a comic about a superhero who fights circumcisers and saves babies from them. In the comic, which currently has seven issues, superhero Foreskin Man battles enemies and saves boys from circumcisions in a variety of situations including hospital circumcisions, religious circumcisions, and tribal circumcisions.
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was also criticized by activists against the practice. Lloyd
Schofield, the leader of the initiative to place the circumcision ban on the ballot, called the comic "a distraction at best", described it as "inflammatory and 180 degrees different from the direction we want to go in", and had wanted Hess
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In response to criticism, Hess asserted that his comic did not focus on
Judaism; rather, it dealt with a variety of settings and circumcisers including circumcisions performed by doctors, religious circumcisions, and tribal circumcisions.
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to prevent the teenage son of a belly dancer from receiving an
Islamic circumcision. The fifth issue shows him battling against the head of a company that collects foreskins for use in cosmetics and, in the sixth issue, he goes to the
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was created by
Matthew Hess, the author of a proposed bill to ban medically unnecessary circumcisions of minors, during a 2010 to 2011 campaign to ban this procedure in
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called the comic "deeply alarming" and pointed out that "Monster Mohel" was portrayed in a way that resembled images used by the Nazis in anti-Semitic propaganda. The
570:"Brief of Amicus Curiae American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California In Support of Verified Petition for Writ of Mandate and Complaint for Injunctive Relief"
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stated that the comic had "polarized and isolated, and that people who may have been willing to hear their side are just disgusted".
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was evidence that the initiative was actually motivated by anti-Semitism. Nancy Appel of the
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Foreskin Man's alter ego is Miles
Hastwick, a former corporate scientist now curator of the
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676:"'Foreskin Man' Anti-Circumcision Comic Called Anti-Semitic; Could Sway San Francisco Vote"
623:"'Foreskin Man' Anti-Circumcision Comic Called Anti-Semitic; Could Sway San Francisco Vote"
596:"'Foreskin Man' Anti-Circumcision Comic Called Anti-Semitic; Could Sway San Francisco Vote"
314:"'Foreskin Man' Anti-Circumcision Comic Called Anti-Semitic; Could Sway San Francisco Vote"
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to stop tribal circumcisions. In the fourth issue, he travels to
504:"A new hero rises: 'Foreskin Man' saves boys from circumcision"
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In addition to being denounced by defenders of circumcision,
544:"ACLU Urges Court to Invalidate SF Circumcision Initiative"
288:"Efforts to Ban Circumcision Gain Traction in California"
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In the second issue of the comic, Foreskin Man attends a
463:"Foreskin Man is back to battle Muslim circumcision"
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Male
Genital Mutilation bill Comics (MGMbill Comics)
649:"Anti-circumcision comic outrages Jewish community"
518:"Anti-circumcision comic outrages Jewish community"
261:"'Intactivists' to San Francisco: Ban circumcision"
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127:created by Matthew Hess to protest against
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218:of Northern California argued in an
212:Jewish Community Relations Council
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738:Religious controversies in comics
550:. The ACLU of Northern California
385:. MGMbill Comics. Archived from
286:Medina, Jennifer (4 June 2011).
424:"Foreskin Man, Meet Vulva Girl"
238:to remove it from MGMBill.org.
216:American Civil Liberties Union
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485:"Foreskin Man goes to Turkey"
412:. MGMbill Comics. p. 5.
347:. Hearst Communications, Inc
198:Accusations of anti-semitism
733:Comics critical of religion
177:. Together, they travel to
171:Museum of Genital Integrity
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339:Kane, Will (6 June 2011).
175:female genital mutilation
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548:ACLU Northern California
490:San Francisco Chronicle
206:and battles a "Monster
47:Publication information
410:Foreskin Man Issue # 1
408:Hess, Matthew (2010).
228:Anti-Defamation League
728:Jewish-related comics
718:Comics about politics
708:American comic strips
222:against the ban that
653:Eyewitness News ABC7
522:Eyewitness News ABC7
468:The Jewish Chronicle
267:. Cable News Network
80:In-story information
713:Circumcision debate
112:Plasma flight boots
748:2011 comics debuts
682:. ABC News Network
629:. ABC News Network
602:. ABC News Network
320:. ABC News Network
292:The New York Times
481:Debra J. Saunders
461:Jennifer Lipman,
389:on August 8, 2011
370:. MGMbill Comics.
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235:Foreskin Man
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224:Foreskin Man
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159:Foreskin Man
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155:intactivists
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143:anti-Semitic
135:Foreskin Man
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129:circumcision
120:Foreskin Man
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75:Matthew Hess
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27:Foreskin Man
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16:Comic series
188:Philippines
702:Categories
434:2024-04-25
246:References
204:brit milah
149:Background
125:comic book
72:Created by
655:. ABC Inc
524:. ABC Inc
192:tuli rite
153:In 2010,
145:imagery.
109:Abilities
85:Alter ego
53:Publisher
686:July 14,
680:ABC News
659:July 14,
633:July 14,
627:ABC News
606:July 14,
600:ABC News
579:July 16,
528:July 14,
351:July 14,
324:July 14,
318:ABC News
297:July 14,
554:July 7,
271:July 6,
93:Species
345:SFGate
183:Turkey
573:(PDF)
208:Mohel
179:Kenya
123:is a
104:Earth
96:Human
688:2020
661:2020
635:2020
608:2020
581:2020
556:2020
530:2020
395:2011
353:2020
326:2020
299:2020
273:2020
165:Plot
67:2011
265:CNN
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
