Q&A
Frequently Asked Questions about the Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project (CAN-FAP) and its founder, Glen Callender.
Hey Glen, do you realize that ‘FAP’ is slang for ‘masturbate’?
It is? Wow, what a happy coincidence! I had no idea. (/sarcasm)
What’s the deal with the Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project (CAN-FAP)?
CAN-FAP is Canada’s feistiest pro-foreskin advocacy group. We promote foreskin education, appreciation and stimulation, and advocate for the human right of all children — male, female and intersex — to grow up with intact genitals.
So you are against circumcision?
No. We oppose the circumcision of children. We have no objection to informed, consenting adults modifying their own genitals as they see fit — but we believe it is fundamentally unethical to force circumcision upon a child.
So you think that circumcision of children should be illegal?
Yes. It is illegal in Canada to cut the genitals of a girl under the age of 18 for religious or other non-medical reasons — we believe this protection must also be extended to boys, as Canada’s constitution guarantees equal protection under the law. If a girl has a right to grow up with 100 percent of her genitals, then so does a boy, and so does an intersex child. It’s really as simple as that.
Whoa, Jews won’t like this.
Yes, many Jews don’t. However, many Jews wholeheartedly support it, because a growing minority of Jews opposes infant circumcision. It’s important to keep in mind that there is no uniform “Jewish perspective” on circumcision — Jews have a wide range of opinions on the issue, just like everybody else. See the documentary CUT: Slicing Through the Myths of Circumcision and books such as Marked In Your Flesh by Leonard Glick and Questioning Circumcision: A Jewish Perspective by Ronald Goldman.
Seriously. Jews REALLY won’t like this.
Hey, forget the Jews — what about Muslims? They circumcise underage males too, and there are a lot more of them. Let’s move on.
Okay. So what’s the big deal about circumcision? They say it doesn’t make any difference to a man’s sexual pleasure.
Trust me, “they” are pretty ignorant if “they” say such nonsense. It is a biological fact that circumcision removes a third to a half of the skin and well over half the nerve endings of the penis, leaving the penis significantly desensitized for life. That is a big deal, and it’s time Canadians acted to protect the right of all our children — not just girls — to a full, natural sexual experience.
Why you, Glen? What inspired you to become a foreskin activist?
I’m a foreskin activist because I ♥ MY FORESKIN, and it makes me very angry to know that when my mother gave birth to me, she was badgered by hospital staff who wanted to make a quick buck cutting off what is now the most enjoyable part of my body. Those quacks never had a right to cut off part of my penis — I escaped the knife because I had parents who were enlightened enough to say no at a time when most boys were circumcised. I feel like I won the stupidest lottery in human history getting out of the hospital with my foreskin when most other boys didn’t, so I have dedicated my foreskin to stopping this unnecessary and unethical amputation from being inflicted on more kids.
What’s the deal with your iconic I ♥ MY FORESKIN T-shirt?
I originally created the iconic I ♥ MY FORESKIN T-shirt because my foreskin has been very good to me over the years, and I thought it was time I gave something back. If you want one for yourself, you can buy one here.
What’s the deal with the Foreskin Awareness Booth?
The CAN-FAP Foreskin Awareness Booth is a private tent where I demonstrate my foreskin to small groups of consenting adults, in a short, edutaining presentation I describe as “like Puppetry of the Penis, but political”. For upcoming Foreskin Awareness Booth dates, click here.
What exactly do you do in the Foreskin Awareness Booth?
I show the audience what the foreskin is and how it works, demonstrate how much skin is really removed by circumcision, and demonstrate how difficult it really is to clean an intact penis. I also do an amazing dick trick with a handful of red seedless grapes that is physically impossible to do with a circumcised penis.
Are you some kind of sexual exhibitionist?
I don’t get off on showing people my penis, if that’s what you mean. But I’m not at all ashamed of my penis, either. I think of my penis as an educational tool — what better way to promote Foreskin Awareness than by giving people a tour of a real live foreskin? I have vowed to demonstrate my foreskin to every Canadian — either in person, or via the Internet — if that’s what it’ll take to change the laws in this country to protect our children from the theft of their most enjoyable body parts.
So what exactly is “Foreskin Awareness”?
Foreskin Awareness has two aspects. One one hand, Foreskin Awareness is understanding what the foreskin is and what it does. On the other, it’s knowing how to stimulate your foreskin — or that of your lover — for optimal pleasure.
What’s next for CAN-FAP?
Summer 2013 will be a busy time for CAN-FAP, with appearances scheduled for Toronto, Victoria BC, Vancouver BC, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Atlanta (details here). I am also working on a multipmedia guide to the intact penis where I’ll demonstrate several foreskin-based orgasms.
Foreskin-based orgasms?! What the hell are you talking about?
Well, you know how women can get different orgasms from different sex organs, such as the clitoris, clit hood, G-spot, pelvic floor, and so on?
Of course.
Well, men are the same. Given that male and female genitals are made up of the same nerves, cells and tissues, it really shouldn’t come as a surprise — so to speak — that different areas of male genitalia can have their own unique orgasms — even multiple orgasms — when they are correctly stimulated.
I’ve never heard that.
No kidding. It’s amazing what a few thousand years of Judeo-Christian ignorance about human sexuality have done for Foreskin Awareness. When people realize that circumcision permanently amputates many of the penis’s most sensitive and orgasmic parts, they will come to a new understanding of how important it is to leave our sons intact.
But there are plenty of men around with foreskin and I’ve never heard of these “foreskin orgasms”.
I prefer the term “foregasms”, actually. Well, the fact is that men aren’t taught about their sexual anatomy in sufficient detail, so they never find out about these orgasms, just like a woman with a sexually sheltered upbringing may never learn about her G-spot. When I went through sex ed in the 1980s, there was no foreskin on the diagram of the penis in the textbook — so it should be no surprise that intact men in this country don’t know their own bodies like they should. With CAN-FAP, we’re hoping to change that, and thereby usher in a new era of better sex — and greater respect for the human rights of children — in Canada and around the world.
Have you heard of Foregen, a not-for-profit organization that promotes the development of regenerative medicine that will enable circumcised men to re-grow their foreskin? Can you please promote Foregen on the CAN-FAP website?
We don’t promote Foregen because we think it’s all hype. The ability to regenerate circumcised foreskin is likely still decades away — chances are this emerging technology will be applied to foreskin only after the regeneration of fingers, hands and limbs becomes commonplace. For the foreseeable future the best restoration option will be non-surgical foreskin restoration.
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Got a question? If enough people ask it, it will magically become a frequently asked question. Email your questions to:
contact@can-fap.net
Or call the CAN-FAP Foreskin Hotline at 604-628-7012