The Shy Guy’s Guide to Coming Out as an Intactivist on Social Media

I recently received this message from a reader:

Nathan, how do I tell family and friends on social media that I’m an Intactivist? I want to pledge my support for genital integrity, but I’m usually a very shy and non-confrontational person. What do you recommend for social media?

That’s a great question, and that same question had been weighing heavily on my mind too. I don’t share very much of myself on social media. I prefer to keep my personal life private and only the people closest to me know how I truly feel about things. They already know I’m an Intactivist and I’m fine with that. It’s not my desire to share all of myself with the Internet.

But it’s also compelling to think that a simple post by me could change someone’s views on circumcision. They might actually perk up if I’m the one who said it, because they’d know I’m someone who doesn’t post very often. When a very private person shares something, people tend to notice.

Well I’ve found a simple solution for shy guys (and gals) everywhere. There’s a new campaign that’s been spreading rapidly called #IfIWereABoy (If I Were a Boy).

The concept involves women holding up a piece of paper, declaring that if they were born a boy, their parents would have cut off a vital piece of their anatomy. The simple yet powerful campaign brings the imbalance of children’s rights to center stage. It’s illegal to circumcise a newborn girl in the United States, yet it’s considered legally and socially acceptable to circumcise a newborn boy. The messages help women think about how terrible it would be to realize that if they were born a different gender, they would have been cut too.

I love this campaign because it’s effective, yet non-confrontational, and it’s easy enough to understand at a glance, proving that a picture really is worth a thousand words.

I’ve Liked the page on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ifIwereaBoyintact). I also Like posts from the page daily, which will show up in my Activity feed for family and friends to see. My hope is that this can send a message out about how I feel and if someone wants to learn more, they can click over to the page and learn for themselves at their own pace. If they have any questions or want to hear more about my personal views, they can always send me a private message and we can discuss it.

This seems to be a reasonable approach for shy people to take, and I think it could be a good strategy. I admire people who wear their heart on their sleeves and put it all out there, but at the same time, I know that’s just not who I am. I hope the new #IfIWereABoy campaign will help others come out as an Intactivist, and I think it’s a very powerful campaign too. It’s already received worldwide attention and is growing daily. Thank you to the women who got this movement going.

Related links:

– If I Were a Boy (Facebook)
– If I Were a Boy (Tumblr)
– If I Were a Boy (Google+)

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