Anyone who pays attention to circumcision in the news has seen some version of this silly attempt at “cute”, because “haha we’re talking about wieners, amirite”:
I’ve always disliked this image for the obvious reason that non-therapeutic child circumcision is neither cute nor funny. The image also irks me because it’s inaccurate. The reality would involve a banana that isn’t yet ripe. For example:
The visual also requires a look at the changes to the banana as it “matures” after removing part of its protective covering:
What’s left of the banana changes, which is a fair representation of circumcision.
All of this is a ridiculous simplification because that’s what the original image is. I don’t expect my images to do any significant work for me. They only show how the original “circumcised” banana is a distraction. Non-therapeutic child circumcision is an ethical violation that deserves better than a superficial image that doesn’t tell the truth.
¹ I re-read Hanna Rosin’s drivel in “The Case Against the Case Against Circumcision”. I dismantled it in “Hanna Rosin Is Still Wrong On Circumcision, Revisited“. My primary point struck me again when re-reading the Rosin opinion piece. She cribbed straight from Edgar Schoen and Brian Morris, with no apparent research from a person who doesn’t vigorously advocate for circumcising healthy infants. She started with her conclusion and packed a bizarre subset of facts, omissions, and distortions into that neat box.