Marilyn Fayre Milos
Marilyn Fayre Milos, RN[a 1], (born 22 March 1940), who has championed the rights of infants and children to bodily integrity and genital autonomy since witnessing circumcision as a nursing student in 1979, spoke at the WWDOGA in 2015. She has studied at the College of Marin.
Contents
Memberships
- Co-founder, president, and Executive Director of the National Organization of Circumcision Information Resources Centers (NOCIRC), working to end the non-therapeutic circumcision of baby boys in the USA.
- Co-editor of the proceedings of the international symposia, published by Springer,
- Co-founder, president, and Executive Director of Genital Autonomy - America after NOCIRC name change in January 2016, to protect the bodily integrity and genital autonomy of every child — female, intersex, and male.
- Coordinator of 15 International Symposia on Genital Autonomy, held from 1989 to 2018.
- Coordinator of International Symposia on Genital Autonomy and Children's Rights at Intactivism
- Member of the Advisory Board of Your Whole Baby
- Member of the Board of Directors of Intact America, effective 1 July 2021.
Early life
Born in San Mateo, California, and professionally trained as a Registered Nurse at the College of Marin's School of Nursing, Milos started campaigning against routine non-therapeutic circumcision of baby boys when, as a nursing student in 1979, she witnessed the circumcision of a newborn baby boy. It was the moment she realized that her doctor had lied to her about what would happen to her own sons behind closed doors. Once she researched the issue and realized that most of the world's males are not circumcised, the important functions of the foreskin, and the harmful consequences of inflicting pain and trauma of a newborn baby, she began giving parents accurate information about circumcision. She was told to keep her mouth shut and, in 1985, she was forced to resign. She founded NOCIRC that same year, 1985.[1]
Support for genital autonomy
Milos, who supports genital autonomy for all children, bases her arguments on the fact that the foreskin is a normal body structure with protective, immunological, and sexual functions, and that every child has an inherent right to bodily integrity and genital autonomy (personal choice).[2][3] She also believes that circumcision of infants should be seen as a human rights issue:
Quote
| “ | Only by denying the existence of excruciating pain, perinatal encoding of the brain with violence, interruption of maternal-infant bonding, betrayal of infant trust, the risks and effects of permanently altering normal genitalia, the right of human beings to sexually intact and functional bodies, and the right to individual religious freedoms can human beings continue this practice. – Marilyn Fayre Milos[4] |
Videos
- Informed Consent, created by Marilyn, Sheila Curran, RN, with Dr. Edward Boyce performing a circumcision, and narrated by Troy Christian.
- The Penis - Sex Education 101, interview with James Loewen.
- Speech at the WWDOGA 2015 in Cologne, Germany, 7 May 2015
Publications
- Milos was the co-editor, with James W. Prescott, PhD, of the proceedings of the First International Symposium on Circumcision, which were published in The Truth Seeker, July/August 1989.
(1997) Sexual Mutilations: A Human Tragedy. George C. Denniston, Marilyn Fayre Milos (eds.). Plenum Publishers.- (1999) Male and Female Circumcision: Medical, Legal, and Ethical Considerations in Pediatric Practice. George C. Denniston, Frederick M. Hodges, Marilyn Fayre Milos (eds.). Kluwer Academic/Plenum Press.
- (2001) Understanding Circumcision: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to a Multi-Dimensional Problem. George C. Denniston, Frederick M. Hodges, Marilyn Fayre Milos (eds.). Kluwer Academic/Plenum Press.
- (2004) Flesh and Blood: Perspective on the Problem of Circumcision in Contemporary Society. George C. Denniston, Frederick M. Hodges, Marilyn Fayre Milos (eds.). Kluwer Academic/Plenum Press.
- (2006) Bodily Integrity and the Politics of Circumcision: Culture, Controversy, and Change. George C. Denniston, Frederick M. Hodges, Marilyn Fayre Milos (eds.). Springer Publishing.
- (2008) Circumcision and Human Rights. George C. Denniston, Frederick M. Hodges, Marilyn Fayre Milos (eds.). Springer Publishing.
- (2010) Genital Autonomy: Protecting Personal Choice. George C. Denniston, Frederick M. Hodges, Marilyn Fayre Milos (eds.). Springer Publishing.
- (2013) Genital Cutting: Protecting Children from Medical, Cultural, and Religious Infringements. George C. Denniston, Frederick M. Hodges, Marilyn Fayre Milos (eds.). Springer Publishing.
Awards
- The Maurine Ricke Award, California Nurses' Association Award for Clinical Excellence in Perinatal Nursing "for her dedication and unwavering commitment to righting a wrong", 9 April 1988.
- NurseWeek magazine's Nursing Excellence Award for Patient Advocacy, 11 May 2001.
- Mothering Magazine's "A Living Treasure" recognition, March 2008 issue.
- Intact America Award for Humanitarian Service, 2009.
- The Trust Birth Initiative Lifetime Achievement for Protecting Newborns, 12 March 2010.
- In May 2015, Milos was honored as a "Living Legend" at the 2015 BirthKeeper Summit[5] in Berkeley, California for her work to end male, female, and intersex genital mutilation.
See also
External links
- National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers
Facebook profile. Retrieved 16 September 2019.- Genital Autonomy America
References
- ↑ Glick, Leonard B. (2005): Marked in Your Flesh: Circumcision from Ancient Judea to Modern America. New York: Oxford University Press. P. 4.
- ↑ "Marilyn Milos and Donna Macris note that some have claimed that the foreskin provides a protective covering for the glans, making the uncircumcised penis more sensitive during sexual activity." Stephen Garrard Post, ed., Encyclopedia of Bioethics, 5 vols (3rd edition; New York: MacMillan Reference, 2004), vol. 1, p. 422
- ↑ ; see also
Sorrells ML, Snyder JL, Reiss MD, Eden C, Milos MF, Wilcox N, Van Howe RS. Fine‐touch pressure thresholds in the adult penis. BJUI. 19 March 2007; 99(4): 864-9. PMID. DOI. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
- ↑ Milos MM, Macris D. Circumcision: A Medical or a Human Rights Issue?. Journal of Nurse-Midwifery. 1992; 37(2, sup. 1): S87-S96.
- ↑ Facebook page of the Summit
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