Coverage (media, not glans)
Operation Oprah on TMZ
TMZ, April 15 2013
TMZ: Oprah Winfrey is taking heat for endorsing a product made out of human foreskin — we talk to the guy leading the charge against her ... from the Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project (a real thing).
See this segment (plus viewer comments) on YouTube, or on the TMZ website (starts at ~33:00).
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Anti-Circumcision Group Protesting Oprah’s Foreskin Medication
The Jewish Press, April 14 2013
The cells are grown from a single foreskin obtained more than 20 years ago.
The Toronto based Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project, is planning to protest appearances by Oprah Winfrey in Canada this week, over her endorsement of an anti-aging cream TNS Recovery Complex, made by the company SkinMedica, that uses cells reproduced from human foreskin.
“How would Oprah respond if a skin cream for men hit the market that was made using cells from the genitalia of little girls? I think she would be absolutely disgusted and appalled, and rightly so. So it’s crazy that she’s doing the opposite,” the group’s founder Glen Callender told the Toronto Star.
“We think it’s extremely hypocritical and distasteful that Oprah Winfrey — who is herself a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and an outspoken opponent of female genital mutilation — at the same time uses and promotes a product that wouldn’t exist if not for the forcible genital mutilation of boys.”
Callender organized a protest when Winfrey appeared in Vancouver in January.
SkinMedica founder Dr. Richard Fitzpatrick has previously stated that while an ingredient in the anti-wrinkle cream is derived from foreskin fibroblast, the cells are grown from a single foreskin obtained more than 20 years ago.
One foreskin.
Is it possible those Canadian anti-circumcision folks are a tad hypersensitive?
Read this article (plus some unusually bizarre and disturbing reader comments) on the Jewish Press website.
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Foreskin organization protests Oprah
New York Post, April 12 2013
This has to be a first — even for Oprah Winfrey.
The Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project, which opposes the practice of circumcision, plans to picket Winfrey’s appearance tomorrow in Hamilton, Ontario.
They’re peeved because Winfrey endorses an anti-aging cream called TNS Recovery Complex, which uses cells reproduced from human foreskin. “How would Oprah respond if a cream for men hit the market that was made using cells from the genitalia of little girls?” CFAP’s founder, Glen Callender, told the Toronto Star.
“I think she would be absolutely disgusted and appalled, and rightly so,” he said. “So it’s crazy that she’s doing the opposite.”
Winfrey is scheduled to appear at Copps Coliseum tomorrow for “An Evening with Oprah” — and CFAP says it will also protest her upcoming stops in Ottawa and Montreal.
Read this article on the New York Post website.
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Oprah's Foreskin Controversy: Advocacy Group Protesting Mogul's Skin Cream Endorsement
Huffington Post, April 12 2013
Activists in Canada are planning to picket Oprah for a highly unusual reason.
The Toronto Star reported Wednesday that the Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project, a group that opposes circumcision, has beef with Oprah after she endorsed SkinMedica's TNS Recovery Complex, an anti-aging cream that contains cells derived from human foreskin. Activists picketed her stops in Ottawa and Montreal earlier this week, and plan to protest in Hamilton on Saturday as well.
“How would Oprah respond if a skin cream for men hit the market that was made using cells from the genitalia of little girls?” Glen Callender, CFAP’s founder, told the Star. “I think she would be absolutely disgusted and appalled, and rightly so. So it’s crazy that she’s doing the opposite.”
In an interview with the Montreal Gazette, activist Jeremy Kung called on the media mogul to stop endorsing the product because it "perpetuates" circumcision. The group previously protested Oprah in Vancouver on January 24, carrying signs that "CIRCUMCISE OPRAH. SHE'LL 'BE CLEANER.'"
For its part, SkinMedica has said that the cream is made from cells derived from a single foreskin obtained twenty years ago.
Oprah featured the cream on her former daytime show, and has also endorsed it in interviews. The cream, which retails for $165 for less than ounce, claims to "improve the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles" and "enhance skin tone, texture and firmness." The website lists "Human Fibroblast Conditioned Media" among the cream's ingredients.
Read this article (plus HuffPo Live video commentary) on the Huffington Post website.
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Operation Oprah on “Square Off”
Square Off (CHCH-TV), April 11 2013
Watch this segment (plus viewer comments) on YouTube.
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“But not everyone showed up at the Bell Centre on Thursday to bask in Oprah’s glow...”
Montreal Gazette, April 11 2013
MONTREAL — They came from far and wide to see her, clutching their tickets like precious jewels and bearing offerings both large and small. Some had paid hundreds of dollars for the chance to be in her presence; to hear her speak without the barrier of a television screen between them.
And when she appeared, the floor of the Bell Centre vibrated and the rafters shook as 15,000 (mostly female) fans rose to their feet and cheered (no, screamed) for their idol.
It was pandemonium. It was surreal. It was Oprah.
. . . .
But not everyone showed up at the Bell Centre on Thursday to bask in Oprah’s glow.
Jeremy Kung, a member of a group of activists opposed to the circumcision of male infants, arrived wearing a white jumpsuit with a very conspicuous red mark over the pubic area. Kung and his fellow protesters are upset that Oprah has sung the praises of SkinMedica, an anti-wrinkle face cream made using fibroblasts from the foreskins of circumcised babies. As with anything Oprah endorses, the cream is now wildly popular.
“I consider (circumcision) to be a violation of human rights under the United Nations declaration on the rights of the child. It’s medically unethical to cut a healthy body part off a non-consenting individual,” explained Kung, who is visiting Canada from Australia.
By endorsing the cream, he added, Oprah is perpetuating the practice.
“She does not care,” he said. “I would like her to stop endorsing it, and start speaking out about it.”
Read the full article “‘... it’s just to be in her presence’” (plus reader comments) at the Montreal Gazette website.
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Anti-circumcision activists to protest Oprah's Canadian appearances
CBC, April 10 2013
Adoring fans won't be the only people heading down to Copps Coliseum for Oprah Winfrey's Hamilton soirée on Saturday. A group of pro-foreskin activists — yes, you read that correctly — plans to protest outside the event.
The group, which picketed outside the TV talk queen's appearance in Vancouver in January, has taken issue with her endorsement of an anti-aging cream called TNS Recovery Complex.
The preparation, produced by American cosmetics company SkinMedica, contains fibroblasts — cells that have been reproduced from a piece of human foreskin.
“How would Oprah respond if a skin cream for men hit the market that was made using cells from the genitalia of little girls?” Glen Callender, founder of the Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project, told the Toronto Star. “I think she would be absolutely disgusted and appalled, and rightly so. So it's crazy that she's doing the opposite.”
The Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project opposes the practice of circumcision, arguing that it is medically unnecessary and limits sexual pleasure.
The group is also organizing protests for Winfrey's tour stops in Ottawa and Montreal.
SkinMedica founder Dr. Richard Fitzpatrick has said the company reproduces cells from foreskin that was obtained over 20 years ago, not from babies who've been recently circumcised.
“Initially, there was a misunderstanding and people thought we were actually grinding up the foreskin,” he told the San Diego CityBeat in 2010. “So, there was a lot of snickering and laughing about people putting this foreskin product on their face.”
Read this article (plus reader comments) at the CBC website.
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How did Oprah factor into the circumcision debate?
Globe and Mail, April 10 2013
“You have to admire CAN-FAP’s marketing cheek”
Of all the topics that Oprah Winfrey may cover on stage in Ottawa Wednesday night, she probably won’t spend a lot of time on the beauty secrets of her favourite foreskin face cream. To cover that ground on her behalf outside Scotiabank Place, a group of so-called “intactivists” have vowed to protest male circumcision and Winfrey’s misguided skin care choices. Now that’s foresight; making a big flap over a little flap on the PR energy of world’s most famous woman.
The group, called the Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project has made protesting Winfrey’s Canadian events a central strategy to raise awareness about their opposition to allowing the circumcision of male babies — a practice it argues should be equated with female genital mutilation. (CAN-FAP believes infant male circumcision violates children’s human rights and performing it as a matter of routine or for religious reasons should be outlawed. The science community continues to have mixed views on the health risks and benefits of the procedure.)
The group first rallied outside Winfrey’s show in Vancouver in January. The peg? Apparently, the media magnate is a fan of the TNS Essential Serum, which contains the cultured cells of human foreskin. One ounce of the product Winfrey has reportedly called her “magic fountain of youth” costs about $260. To clarify, the company says it used one piece of actual foreskin decades ago to grow the cells that now make it into the cream itself. As the Huffington Post explained, apparently any baby skin would have worked, but “foreskins were the only available samples at the time.”
Anyway, you have to admire CAN-FAP’s marketing cheek, if not the taste used in their poster slogans. They plan to show up in Montreal and Hamilton this week as well. And her shows will be packed with the moms and grandmas who may be drawn in by a poster of a crying baby, or at least curious as to how Winfrey, known for her social justice work, factors into the controversy over circumcision. If there was ever a phrase asking for a Google search, it’s “foreskin face cream.” The protesters just better hope the well-known Oprah Effect doesn’t work in the wrong direction – with all her fans suddenly wanting an ounce of her age-defying “miracle” for themselves.
Read this article (plus reader comments) on the Globe and Mail website.
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Oprah dogged by circumcision protesters over promo of foreskin-derived face cream
Metro News Ottawa, April 10 2013
Oprah rubbed a group of Vancouver activists the wrong way with her endorsement of a skin cream derived from a baby’s foreskin and now the protest is er... stretching to Ottawa.
The Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project (CANFAP) will hold a protest outside Oprah’s show at Scotiabank Place Wednesday night to condemn her endorsement of SkinMedica products, which contain anti-aging growth factors derived from a circumcised baby’s foreskin.
CAN-FAP founder Glen Callender poses with 'Faux-prah' outside of [Vancouver’s] Rogers Arena on Thursday [January 24]. More photos
Oprah’s website only mentions SkinMedica briefly in a 2009 post, but she has promoted it at times over the past decade.
The products, lauded in a variety of beauty magazines, contain growth factors that were bioengineered from a single donation of foreskin more than 10 years ago, SkinMedica spokeswoman Chrissy Baum told Metro Vanncouver in January. The foreskin fibroblasts are cultured in a lab and growth hormones from this process are used in the products.
“It’s not like there’s actual foreskin in the products,” she said.
But one foreskin used is enough to anger CAN-FAP, which takes issue with any circumcision done without consent – something impossible to obtain from an infant. It’s a double standard that circumcising girls younger than 18 is illegal in Canada yet the same practice is done on boys, said Franny Max, an activist with the group.
“If you tied down an adult male and cut off a piece of his penis without his consent you would be charged with aggravated assault,” said Max. “So why is it OK to do that to a baby? Just because he can’t complain? I’ll tell you if the baby could talk he wouldn’t be saying yes.”
Foreskin fibroblasts also have medical purposes, such as re-growing skin for burn victims or helping heal ulcers. The cells can easily be bought online for about $85 a piece.
In Canada, circumcision is not recommended as a medically necessary procedure.
Read this article (plus reader comments) at the Metro News Ottawa website.
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Pro-foreskin protesters to target Oprah at Hamilton appearance
Toronto Star / Hamilton Spectator, April 10 2013
Protests to great Oprah Winfrey at Canada appearances over her support for skin cream that contains a controversial ingredient.
A Vancouver activist is organizing protests against Oprah Winfrey, who is set to make three appearances in Ottawa, Montreal and Hamilton this week.
The issue: the celebrity’s endorsement of an anti-aging cream called TNS Recovery Complex made by SkinMedica, which contains skin cells called fibroblast that are derived from male foreskin.
Winfrey endorsed the product on her talk show, which ended in 2011.
Oprah endorsed SkinMedica's TNS Recovery Complex on her talk show.
“How would Oprah respond if a skin cream for men hit the market that was made using cells from the genitalia of little girls? I think she would be absolutely disgusted and appalled, and rightly so. So it’s crazy that she’s doing the opposite,” said Glen Callender of the pro-foreskin advocacy group the Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project.
“We think it’s extremely hypocritical and distasteful that Oprah Winfrey — who is herself a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and an outspoken opponent of female genital mutilation — at the same time uses and promotes a product that wouldn’t exist if not for the forcible genital mutilation of boys,” he added.
Callender organized a protest when Winfrey appeared at a sold-out event in Vancouver on Jan. 24. The protest received international coverage.
The former talk-show star and international media mogul has upcoming shows in Ottawa on April 10, Montreal on April 11 and Hamilton on April 13.
SkinMedica founder Dr. Richard Fitzpatrick has previously stated that while an ingredient in the anti-wrinkle cream is derived from foreskin fibroblast, the cells are grown from a single foreskin obtained more than 20 years ago.
“Initially, there was a misunderstanding and people thought we were actually grinding up the foreskin. So, there was a lot of snickering and laughing about people putting this foreskin product on their face,” Fitzpatrick said.
Read this article (plus reader comments) on the Toronto Star and Hamilton Spectator websites.
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Foreskin protestors to crash Oprah’s Ottawa show
Ottawa Sun / Toronto Sun / Sun News Network / 24 Hours Ottawa / canoe.ca, April 9/10 2013
OTTAWA – Thousands of ticket-holding Ottawa Oprah fans need to brace themselves for a lot of shouting about foreskin.
About two dozen protesters are expected to greet fan heading to Scotiabank Place Wednesday night for Oprah Winfrey's sold out show.
They'll be dressed in a variety of "provocative" outfits, according to Vancouver-based protest organizer Glen Callender, including men in white jumpsuits with red crotches.
The first protests, held in Vancouver in January, featured a drag-queen dressed up as the talk show legend. Callender refers to them as circuses, and while the approach is a bit off-the-wall, the message is serious.
Representing what he calls the Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project, or CAN-FAP for short, Callender says Winfrey is the spokeswoman for a skin cream made using baby boys' foreskin.
He calls Winfrey a hypocrite because she speaks out against female genital mutilation, while using this face cream.
"Imagine how Oprah would respond if a skin cream for men went on the market that was made from parts of the genitalia of little girls," Callender said.
CAN-FAP claims foreskin is not thrown away after a circumcision, but is often collected by cosmetics companies.
Winfrey promotes SkinMedica products. The makers of SkinMedica have said they use foreskin fibroblast — a piece of human skin used as a culture to grow other skin or cells.
Advertisements for SkinMedica say Winfrey has described the product as her "magic fountain of youth and miracle wrinkle solution."
Callender claims there is a double-standard in Canada where circumcisions can't be performed on girls but they can on boys and trans-gendered kids.
"We should protect all kids from genital mutilation," he said.
See this article on page 2 of the April 10 2013 Ottawa Sun print edition and page 4 of the 24 Hours Ottawa April 10 2013 print edition.
Read this article (plus reader comments) at the Ottawa Sun, Toronto Sun, Sun News Network and canoe.ca websites.
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Foreskin Crusaders to protest against Oprah event
Ottawa Citizen / Saskatoon StarPhoenix, April 10 2013
Oprah Winfrey’s Ottawa speaking engagement Wednesday night will be protested by foreskin activists
OTTAWA — While an expected 14,000 people stream into Scotiabank Place on Wednesday night to hear Oprah Winfrey speak, they will be greeted by a group of protesting foreskin activists looking to take the media mogul to task.
This will take a bit of explaining.
The group, the Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project, or CAN-FAP, opposes the circumcision of baby boys. Oprah has become their target because, they say, she has endorsed an anti-aging skin product that was developed using skin cells harvested from a baby’s foreskin.
The product, made by SkinMedica, sells for around $250 per ounce.
The company could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but has previously explained that it does not use foreskins in the production of the cream, and has not since the original one was used to develop the line of cells nearly two decades ago. (There was actually nothing special about the foreskin — any baby skin would have worked, but foreskins were the available source).
However, CAN-FAP founder Glen Callender, a Vancouver resident who also staged a protest outside the Oprah event there in January, said Tuesday that in his eyes non-consensual male circumcision is a human rights violation that he equates with female genital mutilation.
“If you were to do that to me right now, today, as an adult, it would be aggravated sexual assault. You’d go to prison for 14 or 15 years,” Callender said. “I can’t see how that would be any different if you did that to me as a defenceless baby.”
Callender, a 39-year-old freelance writer and editor, said his main issue is the sexual pleasure that’s being taken away from men.
Oprah has had no comment.
Read the full article “Foreskin Crusaders to protest against Oprah event” at the Ottawa Citizen and Saskatoon StarPhoenix websites. (And be sure to check out the banner ad at the top of this screenshot of this story on the Ottawa Citizen website.)
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Canadian Anti-Circumcision Protesters Target Oprah Over Foreskin Face Cream
Huffington Post Canada, April 10 2013
Well, this is awkward. A group of anti-circumcision activists is following Oprah Winfrey across Canada to protest her endorsement of an anti-aging cream that was developed with skin cells harvested from baby foreskin.
The Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project (CAN-FAP), known as "intactivists," has gotten a lot of attention in recent months protesting Winfrey over the issue.
It is the same group that rallied outside an Oprah show in Vancouver in January and held the "Foreskin Pride March" last summer.
CAN-FAP, which opposes the circumcision of baby boys, says that a cream made by SkinMedica and endorsed by Winfrey, uses foreskin fibroblast — a piece of human skin used as a culture to grow other skin or cells.
According to SkinMedica, Winfrey has described the cream as “her magic fountain of youth.”
The product, called TNS Essential Serum, sells on the company’s website for $260 per ounce.
The Ottawa Citizen says that the company, which could not be reached for comment by the newspaper on Tuesday, has previously explained that it does not use baby foreskins in the production of the cream, and “has not since the original one was used to develop the line of cells nearly two decades ago.”
Why use baby foreskin to begin with? Apparently, any soft and new baby skin would have done the trick, but foreskins were the only samples available at that time.
Besides cosmetic uses of foreskin cells, Metro Vancouver noted that foreskin fibroblasts also have medical applications, such as re-growing skin for burn victims, and can easily be bought online for about $85 a piece.
CAN-FAP opposes routine infant circumcision because they believe it diminishes sexual enjoyment and violates children’s human rights.
Founder Glen Callender has said that the practice should be equated with female genital mutilation — which Winfrey obviously opposes — and argues that circumcising baby boys for routine medical and religious reasons are wrong.
The reasons that compel parents to choose to circumcise their newborn sons include evidence that male circumcision dramatically reduces the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, according to the World Health Organisation.
Still, the science and endorsements from Canadian and U.S. medical associations have been mixed, meaning the saga of the world’s most popular surgery goes on.
Meanwhile, CAN-FAP plans to keep following the Oprah show to Montreal on Thursday, and Hamilton, Ont., on Saturday.
Read this article on the Huffington Post Canada website.
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April 2013 Operation Oprah protests: Blog coverage etc
Windy City Times, April 17: World news
Mediaite, April 13: The Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project Is Not Happy With Oprah...
Fashionista, April 12: Anti-Circumcision Activists Take Aim at Oprah for Endorsing a Face Serum Derived from Foreskin Cells (Seriously)
Global Grind, April 12: Aww Snip! Oprah's Use Of Foreskin Has The Anti-Circumcision Activists All Riled Up! (VIDEO)
The Celebrity Cafe, April 12: Oprah Winfrey criticized by the Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project over anti-aging skin cream endorsement
BuzzFeed, April 12: Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project Mad At Oprah
Heeb, April 12: Oprah Loves Smearing Foreskin On Her Face (Sorta)
FishbowlNY, April 12: Oprah in Hot Water Because She Loves Using Penis Cream
Xtra! Toronto Diary, April 10: Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project to protest Oprah over foreskin cream
Yahoo! Canada, April 10: Why are foreskin activists protesting Oprah in Ottawa?
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Inauguration week politics, Aramaic vowel preservation, and Canadian foreskin awareness
Harper’s Magazine, January 29 2013
Activists from the Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project (CAN-FAP) protested Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement of an antiwrinkle cream containing cells from the foreskins of infants. [link to Sun News Network article]
Read the full article “Inauguration week politics, Aramaic vowel preservation, and Canadian foreskin awareness” at the Harper’s Magazine website.
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“Operation Oprah” protest hits YouTube
Bonobo3D posted this short film of CAN-FAP’s Jan 24 “Operation Oprah” protest:
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Protestors demand Oprah pull her endorsement of 'fountain of youth' face cream because it is made from baby foreskins
Daily Mail (UK), January 25 2013
Protestors in Vancouver, Canada, are planning to picket Oprah's appearance in the city because she endorses a face cream made from baby foreskins.
The billionaire talk show mogul has called SkinMedica's creams her 'magic fountain of youth' and urged her devoted fans to try it - at $150 an ounce.
Glen Callender, a Vancouver native who campaigns for 'foreskin awareness,' said the endorsement is hypocritical for Oprah - who has made an issue of stopping female genital mutilations in Africa.
Foreskined crusader: Glen Callender, a Vancouver resident, says he will picket Oprah's appearance in his city because she endorses a face cream made from human foreskin cells
'Imagine how Oprah would respond if a skin cream for men went on the market that was made from parts of the genitalia of little girls,' Mr Callender told the Vancouver Sun.
Some researchers are calling 'neonatal fibroblast' a revolution in medical skin care. Tissue grown from the cells of infant human foreskins are being used to help heal wounds in new ways.
However, SkinMedica, a Southern California company, also claims that the cells make an unparalleled anti-aging cream.
Healthy glow: Oprah has called the skin cream her 'magic fountain of youth' and encouraged her followers to try it
However, the San Diego City Beat reports that SkinMedica hasn't harvested a foreskin in 20 years. The company instead grows the cells it needs from a single foreskin sample.
'Initially, there was a misunderstanding and people thought we were actually grinding up the foreskin,' SkinMedica founder Dr Richard Fitzpatrick told the newspaper. 'So, there was a lot of snickering and laughing about people putting this foreskin product on their face.'
However, Mr Callender, the founder of the Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project, says the cream is unethical nonetheless. He called his group the 'feistiest pro-foreskin advocacy group' in Canada.
'I would like Oprah to come to her senses and realize that all children have a fundamental human right to keep all their genitalia and to decide for themselves if anything gets cut off,' he told the Vancouver Sun.
Mr Callender said 'one to two dozen' people will show up at Oprah's sold-out live show in Vancouver.
Oprah Winfrey did not respond to the Sun's request for comment.
Pricy: SkinMedica TNS Essential Serum costs $150 an ounce
Read this article (plus reader comments) at the Daily Mail website.
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COVER STORY - Protesters target Oprah: Criticized for using foreskin face cream
24 Hours Vancouver / Toronto Sun / Sun News Network / canoe.ca (English) (French) / Brantford Expositor / Belleville Intelligencer / Sarnia Observer / Sault Star / Peterborough Examiner / Owen Sound Sun-Times / St Catherines Standard / TVA Nouvelles (French), January 24 2013
VANCOUVER Demonstrators plan to picket Oprah Winfrey’s sold-out show tonight, angry she endorses a foreskin-based cosmetic. Full-size image
Glen Callender plans to protest Oprah Winfrey endorsing a skin cream made with human foreskin. Full-size image
VANCOUVER – She wrangled the truth out of Lance Armstrong about using performance-enhancing drugs but a Vancouver group wants Oprah Winfrey to explain why she has endorsed an anti-wrinkle cream made with human foreskins.
Winfrey, who rose from poverty to own her own television network, will make her first appearance in Vancouver on Thursday before a sold-out crowd at Rogers Arena, with fans paying up to $350 a ticket for a chance to see the TV mega-host live.
But as crowds pack into the stadium, Glen Callender, founder of the Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project, will be outside with his supporters protesting Winfrey's support of SkinMedica.
Glen Callender, founder of the Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project in his studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, Wednesday January 23, 2013.
Callender says it’s hypocritical of Winfrey to speak out against female genital mutilation, while at the same time saying it’s all right to rub on a face cream made from foreskins from circumcised infant males.
“Imagine how Oprah would respond if a skin cream for men went on the market that was made from parts of the genitalia of little girls,” Callender said. “That would be an outrage and rightly so.”
Callender expects “a dozen to two dozen people” to attend the protest.
Advertisements for SkinMedica say Winfrey has described the product as her “magic fountain of youth and miracle wrinkle solution.” Winfrey didn’t immediately respond to an email asking for comment, but her website recommends the product to deal with wrinkles.
The makers of SkinMedica have said to make their cream they use foreskin fibroblast — a piece of human skin used as a culture to grow other skin or cells.
“I would like Oprah to come to her senses and realize that all children have a fundamental human right to keep all their genitalia and to decide for themselves if anything gets cut off,” Callender said Wednesday.
Callender describes the Foreskin Awareness Project as Canada's “feistiest pro-foreskin advocacy group” with the goal of “foreskin education and appreciation.”
Read this article (plus reader comments) at the 24 Hours Vancouver, Toronto Sun, Sun News Network, canoe.ca (English) (French), Brantford Expositor, Belleville Intelligencer, Sarnia Observer, Sault Star, Peterborough Examiner, Owen Sound Sun-Times, St Catherines Standard and TVA Nouvelles (French) websites.
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Vancouver based group to protest Oprah’s promo of baby foreskin-derived face cream - PHOTO GALLERY
Metro News Vancouver, January 24 2013
Oprah rubbed a group of Vancouver activists the wrong way when she promoted face cream with ingredients derived from foreskin.
The Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project will hold a protest outside Oprah’s show at the Rogers Arena Thursday to condemn her endorsement of SkinMedica products, which contain anti-aging growth factors derived from a circumcised baby’s foreskin.
“Tissue from little boys is being put into cosmetic products for vain old women to rub on their faces. That is absolutely wrong,” CAN-FAP founder Glen Callender said in an interview, adding he expects a few dozen people at the protest.
“How do you think Oprah Winfrey would respond if a skin cream for men used tissue taken from the genitalia of little girls? I think people would lose their minds over it.”
Oprah’s website only mentions SkinMedica briefly in a 2009 post, but she has promoted it at times over the past decade.
The products, lauded in a variety of beauty magazines, contain growth factors that were bioengineered from a single donation of foreskin more than 10 years ago, SkinMedica spokeswoman Chrissy Baum said. The foreskin fibroblasts are cultured in a lab and growth hormones from this process are used in the products.
“It’s not like there’s actual foreskin in the products,” she said.
Foreskin fibroblasts also have medical purposes, such as re-growing skin for burn victims or helping heal ulcers. The cells can easily be bought online for about $85 a piece.
But one foreskin used is enough to anger Callender’s group, which takes issue with any circumcision done without consent of the person – something impossible to achieve if an infant is involved. It’s a double standard that circumcising girls younger than 18 is illegal in Canada yet the same practice is done on boys frequently, Callender said.
“We don’t think it’s radical to suggest exactly the rights girls have today should be given to boys and intersex children,” he said.
In Canada, circumcision is not recommended as a medically necessary procedure.
Other uses for foreskin
- Skin grafts for burn victims, ulcers.
- Cosmetic research.
CAN-FAP founder Glen Callender poses with 'Faux-prah' outside of Rogers Arena on Thursday. More photos
CAN-FAP members protest outside Oprah's show to condemn her endorsement of a product which is derived from a circumcised baby's foreskin. More photos
Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project founder Glen Callender on Thursday. More photos
Read the full article “Vancouver based group to protest Oprah’s promo of baby foreskin-derived face cream” (plus reader comments and a gallery of eight photos from the protest) at the Metro News Vancouver website.
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Oprah In Vancouver: Talk Show Host Arrives In BC
The Huffington Post B.C., January 23 2013
Oprah Winfrey is in Vancouver and the town is a-buzz with the talk show legend's arrival.
Winfrey will take the stage at Rogers Arena on Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. for "An Evening with Oprah." . . .
But not everyone is excited to greet Winfrey.
Glen Callender of Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project has called for a protest outside the show's venue. The Vancouver resident wants to draw attention to Winfrey's past endorsement of a luxury skin cream made from skin cells extracted from donated foreskin tissue.
"It's an equal rights issue," Callender told to The Huffington Post B.C. He hopes to elevate public knowledge in the irony of Winfrey's endorsement of the contentious cream in contrast to her advocacy work to stop female genital mutilation.
Read the full article “Oprah In Vancouver: Talk Show Host Arrives In BC” (plus reader comments) at the Huffington Post B.C. website.
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January 2013 Operation Oprah protest: blog coverage
CAN-FAP’s Operation Oprah protest in Vancouver got the bloggers a-blogging on both sides of the Atlantic. Here is an incomplete collection of links:
MSN, Jan 25: Oprah endorses face cream made of foreskins, angering penis proponents
Yahoo, Jan 25: Vancouver protestors demand Oprah stop endorsing skin cream derived from baby foreskin
Jezebel, Jan 25: Oprah Loves Foreskin on Her Face
The Frisky, Jan 25: People Are Pissed That Oprah Winfrey Uses Moisturizer Made With Foreskin
The Scoop (Philadeliphia Magazine), Jan 25: Oprah Rubs Magic Foreskin Cream On Her Face to Look Young
starcrush, Jan 25: Canadian group protests Oprah Winfrey because she rubs foreskin on her face. No, seriously.
Before It’s News, Jan 27: Oprah and the skincream made from foreskins
Mommyish, Jan 26: Oprah’s ‘Magic Fountain Of Youth’ Skin Cream Is Derived From Baby Foreskin – And Pissing Off Men Who Miss Theirs
Ecouterre, Jan 25: Oprah Draws Criticism for Endorsing Face Cream Made From Foreskins
The Inquisitr, Jan 25: Oprah Endorses Foreskin Face Cream, Penis Proponents Protest
Dave Barry’s Blog (Miami Herald), Jan 24: The Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project takes action
dlisted, Jan 25: Oprah's Got A Face Full Of Foreskins
TVone, Feb 15: Oprah in Deep With a Foreskin Awareness Foundation
Darpan Magazine, Jan 24: Oprah Will Be Met by Vancouver Protestors Tonight at Rogers Arena
Sustainable Sass, Jan 26: Does this look like the face of a woman who relies on human foreskin to stay pretty?
Fellowship of the Minds, Jan 27: Oprah and the skincream made from foreskins
En francais:
Yahoo France, Jan 28: Oprah Winfrey : un secret beaute inavouable qui souleve la controverse
Wikistrike, Feb 6: Oprah Winfrey utilise une crème de beauté aux cellules de prépuce
Direct Matin, Jan 29: Des cellules de prépuce: le secret de la beauté d'Oprah Winfrey?
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