Bloodstained suit

The Bloodstained suit is a symbol of intactivism consistent of a white jumpsuit with a red stain in the genital area. It is often used by Brother K and the Bloodstained Men & Their Friends.

Origin

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As told by Intact America: Richard Duncker, the British intactivist and founder of Men Do Complain who started the bloodstained jumpsuit movement, followed by Jonathon Conte and Brother K, two Americans who have brought Richard’s idea to the forefront of intactivism in the United States. “The suits for the bloodstained men were inspired by a friend,” Richard says. “I made the first suit and showed it to some colleagues in the UK, and the reaction was one of horror, as if I’d told the world’s most tasteless joke. I still thought the idea was good, so I took some photos and put them on Facebook. Later, (intactivist and videographer) James Loewen saw them and asked for permission to use one. That gave me the courage to wear the first suit in a demonstration in the UK outside the Department of Health in Whitehall.” It was that post on Facebook that caught Jonathon and Brother K’s attention, too. “I first saw the white coveralls with a faux blood stain being worn by Richard on Facebook in 2010,” says Jonathon. “There was a crimson spot over his crotch which contrasted sharply with the stark, quasi-medical look of the white coveralls. The visual Richard created appealed to me not only due to his appearance but also for the sense of performance art that he seemed to convey. I decided that I wanted to try something similar.” It wasn’t difficult to find six other men willing to don the jumpsuits and protest. The venue was the median strip across from the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, during the 2012 national conference of the American Academy of Pediatrics. “We put them on and stood in a line, arms and legs outstretched, to confront the conference attendees as they exited the building. Almost immediately, people began taking pictures of us with their cell phones." “It was powerful beyond anything I’d ever seen, and it changed my view of public protests forever,” says Brother K, one of the men who joined Jonathan. The Bloodstained Men“. The bloodstain magnifies the power of the protester through its profound symbolism, an image that simultaneously reveals his wound and his resistance to it. There is no rebuttal to a bloodstain.” After that initial demonstration—in which “our blood became public,” says Brother K—he has traveled across the United States to protest with other intactivists. “The bloodstained symbol cuts through all the clutter and rhetoric that surround this issue, and gets to the heart of circumcision. It's a bloody wound that men reject when given a choice. I believe that bloodstained protests can accelerate our progress because of the phenomenal response I've seen from the public. Thousands of people have photographed the protests, and I always say, ‘Every photo saves a baby... and THAT saves a hundred more.’" (Intact America)

Other countries

The bloodstained suit was also used in Germany to demonstrate against the ruling that reversed the historic Cologne circumcision court judgment and regulated circumcision. It is now seen also on several WWDOGA events in Cologne.

Registered icon

As of 20 October 2020, the Bloodstained Suit icon is trademarked under Reg. No. 6,179,750. "This mark consists of a human silhouette in a spread eagle pose featuring a contrasting stain mark in the groin region."