Separated at Birth

After you print this article using Adobe Reader and staple the pages together, you can pass them out or hole-punch them near the staple and hang them in men's room stalls on the coat hook.  For large-scale production, this article is probably best printed on a laser printer and then optionally photocopied.  (There are lots of graphics in it and it would use a lot of ink on an inkjet printer.)  Prints best using the "Fit to page" option available in Reader's Print dialog box.  NOTE: Photocopying, even on a new copier, may not provide good results unless it's a fancy digital copier.  I didn't like the reduction in detail in the baby's hands and feet when I did a test run at my local Office Depot, so I just printed them myself (which was slightly cheaper anyway).
 

The Case Against Circumcision

I recently printed quite a few Mothering Magazine articles for a regional Green Festival.  Using Adobe Reader, I printed pages 2 through 6 and three-fourths of page 1 in black and white on the laser printer.  I then re-ran page 1 through the inkjet and printed only the baby graphic in the upper-right quarter of the page.

The end result: A relatively cheap Mothering Magazine article with high-quality / low-cost laser text, but with the eye-catching cute baby picture in color on the front.  If you're wondering why this may be important, print both a black-and-white-only and a color/black-and-white front page then put them down side by side and ask yourself which version you'd rather pick up.  More recently, I have made an alternate version omitting the final two pages which are largely endnotes and websites. I have replaced them with a link to a website with the article and the endnotes, thus saving the cost of one page of paper and two printed pages of printing.  I also printed on both sides of the paper, further saving paper and transportation/shipping costs.

I used a nice, bright white piece of paper for the first page so it looks great and the inkjet ink wouldn't soak in and warp the paper and then I used lower-cost recycled paper for the remaining pages.  Cost for six-page version: about 17 cents; cost for four page version: about 12 cents, not including the initial cost of the printers.  You may wish to look into inkjet printers that have separate ink tanks for each color if you print the same thing over and over.  The flesh tones in the baby picture might use more of one ink than another.
 

3x5 cards

They're actually 2.8" x 5.5" or 15.6 square inches.  Using Adobe Reader, these "cards" print six to an 8.5" x 11" page and are roughly 15 square inches, approximating the amount of skin missing from an adult circumcised penis.  They are inexpensive to make using plain paper (less than a penny per card with my HP LaserJet) and you can make them look really nice by using card stock.  (White paper works fine; "flesh-toned" may be suitable for the Lucky Stiff and What's Wrong cards.)  I keep some with me at all times as I never know when I might hand them out or leave them somewhere. The cards fit perfectly in an old checkbook cover (which keeps them flat and keeps them from getting dog-eared) or in most wider wallets.

The Adobe Reader PDF format are best for printing, but if you'd like to make changes to the cards, download the Microsoft Word (DOC) versions of Lucky Stiff!, Robbed, What's Wrong, Restoration, Screaming, Test (G), or Test (R).  If you like your version so much that you'd like to make a PDF of it, visit www.pdf995.com and download a free PDF file creator for your Windows PC.  For more tips on printing with Adobe Reader, please see the Brochures section below.  Note: The 3x5 cards seem to print best with Page Scaling set to "None" (Zoom: 100%); your mileage may vary.  You can print on both sides of the page to make double-sided cards if you find you're handing the same two cards to people.  NOTE: The Lucky Stiff and Restoration cards work well back-to-back, as do the What's Wrong and Robbed cards.  This will also help with the few people that politely fold the cards with the text inside and put them in their pocket.  When they empty their pockets later, they will see text, not a blank piece of folded paper!

My preferred method for dispersion is to leave them in men's bathroom stalls or hand them out personally to people on Friday and Saturday nights in the arts and entertainment district in my city.  Teenagers are a perfect recipient for these cards because 1) they are often open-minded, 2) they haven't circumcised their kids and aren't defensive about the subject, 3) they haven't had kids yet and we need them to have the information, 4) they are the right age to sue their circumcisers, and 5) they are very much interested in the subject of sex.  I've also left cards in the following places: restaurant tables, magazine racks, fast-food restaurant counters, bathroom stalls, ATM's, telephone booths, under windshield wipers, grocery store shelves, Passover displays, inside magazines at doctors' offices, inside pregnancy books at bookstores, in people's hands when appropriate (and even when inappropriate), and many other places.

One last thing: When handing out cards directly to people, I no longer look at whether people read them or not.  From past experience watching people's reactions in my preferred location (teenagers and 20-somethings in the entertainment district), I know read-rates are 75% or higher.  In other locations with mixed populations read-rates are lower but still reasonable.  Now if I were to tell you that I can hand out cards to 100 people at a cost of one dollar and at least 20 of of those people read the cards (not an unreasonable estimate), you would probably hand out cards all day long.  However, if you handed out those 100 cards and watched as fifty, sixty, or eighty people folded the cards and put them in their pocket, threw them away, or handed them back to you, you might feel dejected.  I've seen an intactivist hand out 100 cards in an evening with great success only to see him get frustrated when a handful of passers-by try to give the cards back or put them in their pockets without reading them.  Bottom line: If limiting the amount of negative feedback helps keep you going and makes you more effective, hand out the cards and walk away.
 

Bumper Stickers

Stickers (one or two) are available free of charge by mail.  Simply send your request to with your name and address.  All we ask in exchange is that you publicly display them, on an automobile if possible.  Additional stickers are available at our cost - or are free if you are affiliated with known intactivists.  I put all my bumper stickers on my rear window so I can easily remove them with a $0.99 Red Devil safety razor blade.

"Beyond the Bumper" (aka "Guerilla Stickering"):  When you run out of cars to put stickers on, consider other locations.  One astute activist has suggested Hooters or similar Restaurants, as they apparently display humorous stickers above their bar.  The more mischievous of you may consider other, more public locations such as lampposts at busy intersections or on newspaper vending machines.  If you have a hospital in your area, consider locating stickers between the hospital and nearby dining establishments to which doctors/staff may walk for lunch.


Take the Whole Baby Home