Comic Books are great! Right?! They offer a fun way to communicate stories. To tell tales of daring action. They feature hot babes and guys. There are heroes and villains and the good guys tend to win. Which is nice. But what if those heroes are sponsored by MGM (or the Bill to end Male Genital Mutilation (Circumcision)) And what if this controversial bill, created an easy to understand (Slightly (very) Racist) Comic Book to convince voters that this was the right thing to do. To end the practice of Circumcision. Well then you would get Foreskin Man.....
Now i understand this does not exactly fit with the blog which seeks to examine the manner in which the Holocaust, Nazism and Concentration Camps are displayed in Comics. But hear me out, after reading this Comic I couldn't ignore it. And here is why......
The comic is so blatantly Anti-Semitic that it becomes somewhat unbelievable. The comic goes on to talk about how the 'Holy Covenant' (Circumcision) must be carried out. This the centuries, long tradition of circumcision in young male Jews, is depicted as a blood treaty with the Devil. A willing punishment enacted. Luckily Foreskin man saves the day, beats the guys up with just his fits. (Obviously he's American). Then rescues the child and his foreskin. That's all done by giving the child to some other foreskin rights activists. The child is removed from his heritage, the Jews are, well, its not really explained why they are stealing foreskins, you're just meant to know its really bad.I guess with that everything is good again.
Now! I honestly do not know too much about foreskin, other than that it can be a medical necessity or not. I mean I am vehemently against FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) but I believe that these are two hugely different things. One is to stop any pleasure for female in sex, has no medical reasoning whatsoever , is abuse and can lead to long term mental health and physical effects. These are not the implications of Male circumcision. Furthermore it is not the issue I take umbrage with, if you want to campaign against MGM, then you do that. What is so shocking about this Comic is the Anti-Semitism. The Jewish population have become another enemy for another group with not enough justification. But now the Jews as a whole are implicated not with the old stereotypes of stealing money, livelihoods, young women, children, (the list goes on) with all the past unfounded sins attributed to them. But now they steal children's foreskins.
Anyway Foreskin Man - The hero of Anti-Semitism? Or just another big What the actual Fuck?
For more about FGM - http://forwarduk.org.uk/key-issues/fgm/