Foreskin Man
| Foreskin Man | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Male Genital Mutilation bill Comics (MGMbill Comics) |
| First appearance | 2011 |
| Created by | Matthew Hess |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Shane Dewhurst |
| Species | Human |
| Place of origin | Earth |
| Abilities | Plasma flight boots |
Foreskin Man is a comic book superhero created by Matthew Hess to protest against circumcision.
Fictional character biography
Foreskin Man's alter ego is Miles Hastwick, a former corporate scientist now curator of the Museum of Genital Integrity.[1] He is adamantly against the practice of circumcision. In the first issue, Hastwick comes up with the alter ego of Foreskin Man to fight against practitioners of circumcision and "the pro-circumcision lobby," whom he feels have gained too much power through "all of the well connected doctors and lawyers."[2] In the third issue of the comic, he teams up with a female heroine, dubbed "Vulva Girl," who fights to oppose female genital mutilation. Together, they travel to Kenya to stop tribal circumcisions. [3][4] In the fourth issue, he travels to Turkey to prevent the teenage son of a belly dancer from receiving an Islamic circumcision.[5][6] The fifth issue shows him battling against the head of a company that collects foreskins for use in cosmetics and, in the sixth issue, he goes to the Philippines to disrupt Operation Tuli. [7]
Accusations of antisemitism
The second issue of Foreskin Man, in which the hero fights against a villain named Monster Mohel drew criticism from the Anti-Defamation League. Nancy Appel, the ADL's associate director, was quoted as saying,[8]
"The (Monster) mohel has a dark complexion, hook nose and is practically drooling at the thought of apparently doing harm to a child, he even has claws on his fingertips. He is blood thirsty just like the grotesque Jewish stereotypes that appeared in Nazi propaganda. It's absolutely a direct parallel."
References
- ↑ Hess, Matthew. "Miles Hastwick". MGMbill Comics. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
- ↑ Hess, Matthew (2010). Foreskin Man Issue # 1. MGMbill Comics. p. 5.
- ↑ "Foreskin Man, Meet Vulva Girl".
- ↑ "Foreskin Man and Vulva Girl Team Up to Battle Circumcision in Africa".
- ↑ Jennifer Lipman, "Foreskin Man is back to battle Muslim circumcision", The Jewish Chronicle, April 5, 2013.
- ↑ Debra J. Saunders, "Foreskin Man goes to Turkey", San Francisco Chronicle, April 4, 2013.
- ↑ "A new hero rises: 'Foreskin Man' saves boys from circumcision".
- ↑ Daily Mail, June 19, 2011, "'Foreskin Man' accused of anti-semitism row as unlikely comic-book hero does battle with circumcision", Daily Mail, June 19, 2011.