Ok full disclosure I do NOT have a foreskin. Mine was hacked off without my consent by some asshole I'd like to have five minutes in a room alone with. However I have gleaned the following reasons from research, discussion, and partial restoration of my own circumcised penis. We'll do this Letterman style and count down ten to one:
10. Having foreskin somehow allows/encourages your penis to emit lubricant during intercourse. Feel free to comment if you know exactly how this works and can explain why I NEVER experienced this during however many years of sex as a circumcised man, yet within the first year of restoring my foreskin I produce the stuff like crazy. I don't think I need to go on here about the benefits of lubricant. If I do then honestly this is probably not the blog for you. Might I refer you to Celibate Singles Are Us?
Oh ok I'll go on about it. Creating your own lubricant means:
more slippery, sensuous sex for you and your partner
no messy, expensive astroglide or KY
Even single guys can enjoy not having to use lubricant when, you know, they have that urge. (My buddy in France thinks it's pretty bizarre that most circumcised US males require some kind of lubricant to masturbate.)
9. Foreskin protects your glans and keeps it sensitive and responsive meaning better sex. I defy anyone to find an intact guy who gets circumcised and says the sex is better after. Without your foreskin your glans has about as much sensation as your elbow.
8. Foreskins don't look all bloody and gory and purple when you change baby's diaper. They look surprisingly, well, normal. Through the first 10 or so diaper changes of my son back in the day I kept going, "Oh yeah, that's what I'm supposed to look like."
7. Foreskins don't require all kinds of weird special care like a newly circumcised penis does. You just leave them alone. (Even if your brainless circumcised pediatrician tells you otherwise.)
6. Foreskins can help with potty training (maybe.) Only saying this because when my son was potty learning he would pinch his foreskin shut as he ran upstairs to the potty. It appeared to help him with "holding it."
5. Speaking of potty learning... I don't have any stats on this but I'm guessing intact kids are easier to potty learn than circumcised ones. Reason being this: To survive the trauma of circumcision baby boys have got to subconsciously insulate themselves from thinking about what's happened to their penis. Then all of a sudden mom and dad expect them to pee in the potty. Baby is thinking, "Damn, I spent the first 12 months trying not to even think about that thing when it was all purple and bloody (see above) and now you want me to do what!?!?! Can we just leave it in my frikkin' diaper? I'm worried you're going to cut some more off."
4. Foreskins are ALL the rage right now. EVERYONE that's anyone has one: Colin Farrell, Russell Crowe, your dog, just to name a few.
3. If foreskin cells are so valuable for skin cream, just imagine what what they can do for your penis if they stay where they're intended.
2. Lots of women like foreskin and the more sensual sex that accompanies it. I'm sure there's plenty of men out there that like it too. The point it is you don't amputate part of your child's body in order to help him better resemble your own culturally-derived idea of what's sexually attractive. I mean what's next? Nose and boob jobs for 12 year-olds?
1. Honestly talking about why foreskin is great is akin to trying to explain why eyelids are great. Um, you're born with it thus just like the rest of your body IT'S GREAT and it's there for a reason.
Hi Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI'm intact, so this is an interesting post, thanks for your openness. Very enlightening.
10. I don't know about the biology but I’d guess the natural retraction of the foreskin would drag the normal pre-ejaculation liquid from the tip, its slightly viscous quality thereby increasing the glans sensitivity as the foreskin re-closes over the tip.
Also, I agree with your French buddy, it's pretty bizarre to me too.
9. I agree entirely with this one. I suggest the example of having your fingernails clipped when you're a kid. When the nail if first clipped the skin beneath is sensitive but soon desensitises. When the foreskin is not there to protect the glans the same sort of desensitisation must also occur but, unfortunately foreskin doesn't grow back like nails.
8. True
7. True
6. Completely true. I remember doing it myself and noticing my son employ the same technique quite independently of any instruction, as with your son. Suggestive of an instinct or genetic memory to me but anyway, that's exactly what's going on; well observed.
5. That's an interesting perspective, you may be right. If you find a supporting source I'd be interested to hear.
4. Mine is always in fashion with me :P
3. It's horrible that the face cream fact seems to be true - http://www.alternet.org/environment/47421
2. I'm only speaking from a hetero point of view but I've not had any complaints :) As to your second point, I don't see how a caring parent does not find the thought of chopping a piece off their brand new perfect child, completely abhorrent.
1. Totally agree.
Great post. Thanks,
Crispy
My Blog: http://atheist.diatribes.co.uk
U guys are the best... I was really worried.. I'm 25 now and my foreskin is tight.. it does not retract fully.. I even tried having sex and I found it difficult. I asked my friends and they said the foreskin should retract.. I got even more worried. But after ur post, I'm relieved. I won't bother anymore.. Next time, I'll enjoy my sex...
DeleteHi Ferrri,
DeleteJust to be sure I understand: are you saying you're circumcised and what's left of your foreskin is tight OR you are intact but your foreskin is tight?
I discovered your blog web page on google and check some of your early posts. Continue to maintain up the really excellent operate. Seeking forward to reading alot more from you later on!
ReplyDeleteSex Lubricant
Irony alert: this spam comment includes a link to something related to lubricant which you don't typically need for vaginal sex if you're intact. It's fascinating how so many American couples rely so heavily on lubricant never wondering how the heck people had pleasurable sex before it was invented.
DeleteI find it funny how people from other countries and/or people ignorant of biology vs chemicals and the adverse effects there of. Who are you to say that american couples need lube because of foreskin removal? Could it not be because of the toxicity of our food, water and air that our bodies are having problems due to this? It would be much like giving a plant to much nutrients or to much chemicals, they end up having deformities, not being able to produce fruit, if they do produce fruit its small or deformed.
DeleteIm cut, i have never "needed" lube. I dont know anyone that will tell you it doesnt feel better with lube though. American couples dont get lube because they have to have it, in fact... Most american couples dont need it. The ones that do are older and having biological issues on the womans side, not because the foreskin is not there...
I have not seen one single article about keeping a foreskin that has made me thing 'Hm, damn i wish i still had mine."
Cut from birth, no issues here, super sensitive, no need for lube for masturbation or sex.
Well, I'm glad you are happy being circumcised Mr. De Kat. My goal is writing this blog is not to make anyone who is cut feel bad about themselves. It is to make people question why America is obsessed with cutting off foreskins and to think about/discuss how circumcision affects boys and their families. I hope that even though you feel happy without a foreskin you would allow your own son, if you were to have one, the choice. No one has any right to cut off a healthy part of their baby's body just because the father is "happy" he is circumcised. If you don't believe that children deserve the right to decide if their genitalia is surgically altered I would encourage you to read some of the comments on this blog from mothers who circumcised their sons and are brave enough to speak out about the sadness it has caused their families.
Delete2. Jeff, whenever someone says they'll want to have their son cut so he resembles his cut father, I always say, "Two wrongs don't make a right. Have the father restore his foreskin and in no time his cock will resemble his son's normal, natural, intact penis, foreskin and all."
ReplyDeleteThis is a great point. Any dad who is hung up on the idea of the baby looking like him should consider restoration instead. My intact son is almost 6 now and the fact that our penises look different has never come up. We're too busy doing other things to have penis comparing contests!
DeleteIm uncut and i love it so much thanks for the inspiraTional post
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear it, brother. Share that with friends BEFORE they even conceive if you are able. It seems like many people (both men and women) are more receptive and open-minded about this and other information about circumcision before they have their own child on the way.
DeleteAwesome list, I love it. If I might contribute a few things-- Restoring took me many years and I am still only halfway to where I want to be (manual stretch only, no devices). The differences before and after are like night and day; highly recommended. Restoration is a commitment and the time it takes will utterly frustrate you. Slow and steady, don't give up! The sex becomes more of a journey, not a destination, and self-handling? Let me put it graphically--the inside of a naturally lubricated foreskin rivals that of a vag. Even only having a facsimile without a muscular band is far, far better than the alternative. I also stood my ground to keep my son whole, thankfully my wife was in full support. My boy was fully potty trained at 28 months, so there may be something to leaving them intact. He is the happiest little guy you'll ever meet. Intact is where it's at!
ReplyDeleteSuperSausage, love your online moniker and your comment. Restoration has definitely made a big difference for me as well. I really didn't know what I was missing as a circumcised male and therein lies the problem: so many guys say, "You're crazy, I'm circumcised and I'm fine" because they've never known what it's like to have that increased sensitivity. Cheers to you for speaking out and keeping your boy WHOLE!
Deletehey Jeff, so can i use two rubber glove of the rubber finger to make a TLC-tugger??????
ReplyDeleteI'm not aware of a technique that involves a rubber glove but that doesn't mean it's not possible. I'd encourage you to check out some of the many great restoration groups out there for more info.
Deleteive met more women that find not circumsized very disgusting, if you're not you run a risk cause their is a lot of women that simply won't mess with you if you got that ratchet little piece of skin on there.
ReplyDeleteI never was but after so many missed chances cause of not being, I got circumsized.. Their is really not much difference with or with out it.. Without it you give longer better sex where as with the little bit of extra sensitivity sort of makes ya a minute man no girl wants that at all.
ReplyDeleteTyler,
DeleteI'm sorry to hear that you decided to have yourself circumcised. I'm sure that after such a painful and permanent procedure it's disconcerting for you to come across blogs like this one that highlight some of the problems with circumcision. While you at least entered into the procedure voluntarily I feel bad for your loss of future sexual sensation as well as your loss of part of your body, especially if you entered into it for reasons that are as shallow and unsound as the ones you've noted above. The larger point is even if you enjoy being circumcised it's not you or anyone's right to do it to infants without their consent.
personally I am glad to be cut, the head of my penis is very sensitive and i have no issues in the lubrication department either. In my opinion uncut penises look unattractive and in my experience in being a guy who likes other dudes it's more common for an uncut guy to have a pungent odor underneath that skin...that being said if I really liked a guy I don't think it would matter to me either way I'd just need it to be clean. And as far as letting a kid choose for himself that's cool but part of the beauty of me being cut is that i don't remember it!
ReplyDeleteRyan,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you feel you have sufficient sensitivity in the head of your penis, but it is an irrefutable fact that you have less sensitivity than you would have if you were intact. When you were circumcised thousands of super sensitive cells in your foreskin were removed. After the circumcision your glans which is supposed to be moist, supple and protected by the foreskin rubbed against your clothes for the rest of your life leading to further loss of sensation. You feel like it's sensitive enough because you don't remember ever being intact. I don't either unfortunately. The point is your sex life was forever altered without your consent. Perhaps sex would have been 100 times better for you if you were intact. You will never know because someone else thought it was a good idea to cut part of your penis off. These are harsh realities but I hope they help you understand why regardless of how you feel about your body or your prospective partners' bodies it is WRONG for anyone to cut or otherwise alter children's genitalia in any way, shape, or form.
Good article. I've never agreed with the practice of genital mutilation. Of course there are often medical reasons why it might be necessary. Often it is more about religious reasons. Sometimes it's simply "the done thing". Thankfully it's not generally "the done thing" in the UK these days. As for why some people think that the penis is an ugly thing (whether circumcised or not), frankly they have a issues. It's a natural part of the male human body - get over it and grow up.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it, Gus. Unfortunately in the United States the mainstream medical community has claimed there are "medical reasons" for any routine infant circumcision they can convince a parent to sign off on. This is one of the most disturbing aspects of the debate about circumcision: parents trust doctors as trained professionals to help them make decisions that are supported by research, evidence, and the desire to "first do no harm," yet doctors who support circumcision are a) typically circumcised themselves and/or b) have profited from circumcisions they have carried out. For some reasons it's taboo to discuss these obvious biases. I challenge anyone to find an intact doctor that supports the validity of "research" suggesting the foreskin is somehow hazardous.
DeleteUm, Russell Crowe IS CIRCUMCISED, but is dead set against the practice. Otherwise, good article.
ReplyDeleteIve tried talking to my husband that if we have a boy I want him whole and not circumcised...my husband is circumcised ... He kind of agrees with me but then he changes the subject I'm not sure what to think because when we have a boy I don't want him to all of a sudden change his mind... Any advice?
ReplyDeleteHello,
DeleteFor most circumcised men this can be a difficult subject to talk about. Part of him wants to keep his son whole, but part of him struggles with admitting that him being circumcised without his consent is not OK. Be sure when you talk with him about it you sort of preface things by saying how you are happy with his penis the way it is. Most of the guys out there that advocate for circumcision do it to protect their own egos. If he "kind of" agrees with you, you're at least on the right track. Your son, if that is what you have, is lucky to have you for an advocate. Don't budge on this issue even if he does change his mind. There's plenty of other things to compromise about.
Congrats and good luck with your new baby!
Jeff
I m 22 yr. old and I have foreskin on my penis. I m always worried about it. is it really a matter of concern for me?? what should I have to do to remove it?
ReplyDeleteEdward,
DeleteI assure you and there is ample medical evidence to back me up: a foreskin is NOT a matter of concern. It is a good thing. It is there for a reason. It ensures increased sexual sensitivity, satisfaction, and control compared to a circumcised man.
Criticisms of foreskin are always culturally derived. What I mean by that is that the U.S. medical providers that create anti-foreskin propaganda have their own vested interest: they are all either themselves circumcised or women. Neither are people you should trust to evaluate the efficacy or importance of your foreskin. Neither group has ever had memory of owning a foreskin. Of course they want you to cut yours off. It makes the circumcised men feel better about their own condition and provides justification for circumcisions they, both men and women, have performed. If you don't believe me please peruse my links and hear from some of the men who sought out circumcision as adults and regretted it for the rest of their lives.
Hi Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI'm a 14 year old boy that has foreskin and some friends say if you have foreskin is weird, why?
Strike,
DeleteMy theory is this: people that have had their foreskin forcibly removed without their consent develop some pretty deep subconscious ISSUES with that process. They try not to think about it. When they hear about someone who is intact or even just when they hear the work "foreskin" it makes them uncomfortable. When people are uncomfortable or feel threatened they typically say stupid things and/or attack the person or thing they perceive as making them feel that way. Bottom line. Their problem not yours.
Best,
Jeff