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Origins of the #i2 Hashtag



With continued popularity of the #i2 hashtag to identify intact-related posts on social media sites, many have asked about its origins. The initial use of #i2 occurred in 2008 after several advocates active in responding to intact-care and circumcision related questions on Twitter and MySpace decided that a hashtag was needed to identify all responses coming from genital autonomy supporters.

There were several active pro-cutting individuals also answering questions at the time, and they would frequently hide behind symbols and usernames that would lead questioning individuals and new parents to believe they were providing evidence based responses, when in fact, they were typically circumfetish in nature.

Danelle Day of Peaceful Parenting, Dr. Jennifer Coias, Enith Hernandez of As Nature Intended, and Jonathon Conte, spearheaded the collaborative effort to brainstorm hashtags and host a vote among the intactivist community to select one. Many excellent ideas were tossed out on the table, and in the end #i2 was chosen by vote among all active at the time. 

Day proposed the #i2 hashtag because, "We needed something short and sweet - a hashtag that would not take up too much space in the tweet box where we had very limited characters at the time. We also needed one that represented genital autonomy for all (men and women, boys and girls, as well as intersex individuals)." She continues: 

The "I" stands for: 
  • Integrity
  • Intact awareness
  • Intactivism and Intactivists
  • Information sharing
  • Involved advocacy
  • The Intact body we are each born with and deserving of having agency over
  • The Intersex child, as well as boys and girls
  • The fact that it is up to me (or "I") to speak up and make a change within my circle of Influence

The "2" represents: 

The duality of the sexes deserving the basic human right of genital autonomy. Day states, "Although there are actually more than two sexes if we dive into biological differentiation, for simplicity sake, we opted for '2' to represent the fact that our posts, and the people behind them, stand for genital autonomy for both girls and boys. In addition, a change in the rate of genital autonomy in the future, and the saving of our children from forced genital cutting is up to YOU TOO! Don't stand silent and unmoving. Speak up. Become active - in whatever fashion fits your individual style. Become involved, and be the change we are seeking to see in our world." 

Almost immediately upon the creation of the #i2 hashtag, pro-cutting people began adding it to their circumcision-supporting posts in an attempt to confuse readers. This trend resurfaced over the years by circumfetish individuals as the #i2 hashtag moved onto the pages of Facebook and Google+, but overall, it remains an effective representation of pro-intact posts, and those working toward a common goal of genital autonomy for all.

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