The comments have been aflutter the past few days with talk of circumcision, so I figured I’d step into the ring and give my two cents on the issue. I can’t imagine that my opinion will shock any of you at all, but I wanted to share it anyways because I think that reinforcing what I’m saying is an important part of making people feel confident about themselves and their bodies.
I don’t want to get into the ethical/medical/religious thing too much. It’s not something I know enough about and I don’t want to start a riot… This is just about talking out the issue on a social level.
Also, sometimes people ask why I don’t give blowjobs to uncircumcised men on my sites… I only give blowjobs to Mike, so of course it’s just going to be one type of penis! As much as I want everyone to feel included, I’m not going to give blowjobs to someone other than my boyfriend to achieve it. ;)
Basically, I’m neutral on the issue. Why should I like a penis more or less because of something so arbitrary? You can’t really control what happens to you at birth, nor should you ever contemplate surgery unless it’s something that you deeply want. It’s just skin. Obviously, I can’t comment on sensation, not having a penis myself, but it seems like most men, regardless of foreskin situation, still enjoy sex quite a lot. There isn’t much that can be done to feel both sides of the spectrum, so why bother fretting about it so much?
Cal was nice enough to pass along some statistics on how guys feel about their circumcisions through the grapevine and it seems like, on the whole, not many people inherently believe that all guys should be circumcised (which is something we sometimes cling to in North America, though not particularly in Quebec) and, while there are some guys who would rather be uncut despite having been circumcised at birth, there are a good number of people who are generally happy with their penises the way they are. Of course, it’s awful if anyone regrets the way their penis is, but all I can do is try to foster the type of attitude that makes people realize that there are lots of ways for penises to look and they’re all good.
Some people are paranoid about the foreskin for germ/disease transmission… Wash up regardless of your circumcision status and make sure to get tested and use protection! That’s it. And, as far as I know, there aren’t any huge differences when it comes to giving/receiving a blowjob with or without a foreskin once you’re hard. Don’t worry and don’t apologize for your penis. It’s great and chances are that whoever you’re with will think so too.
What about you? How do you feel about circumcision? If you have a penis, are you happy with your status? Have you ever had to deal with any scrutiny or to get over any hurdles yourself? I’d love to talk it out in the comments, so have at it!
So, the way I see it, foreskins are kind of like earlobes. We’re all born with them, and sometimes they can grow up to be erotic (if properly kissed/licked/nibbled) and sometimes they can just be boring useless pieces of extra skin. Or maybe foreskins are like testicles– a man can “get by” with only one, but why not have two? Why not have those extra nerve-endings in the foreskin that nature decided we ought to be born with? Why settle for less?
I was cut at birth, and my penis looks great and feels great and I’ve had great sex with it. But I’m still missing something that should have been there. Maybe I would have hated it, or at least been apathetic about it. I just wish I could have made that decision for myself. I’m not angry, or traumatized, or “less” of a man. I just… wish.
I support any man’s right to get circumcised or stay intact. Your body, your choice. I don’t support parents’ rights to permanently amputate a part of their voiceless infant’s body without medical necessity (and sometimes it can certainly be necessary). That’s all.
~
Q: did you hear about the guy who got a job at the zoo circumcising the elephants?
A: the pay was lousy, but he got really big tips.
That’s a great analogy, Cal! I hadn’t thought about it in exactly those terms, but you’re right. Some people can take it or leave it, but there is potential and it must be hard not to be able to have ever experienced it to see if there was that sensation you describe.
I think I agree with your viewpoint… It’s hard to disagree when put so eloquently.
And that joke is just hilarious! You never fail to make me laugh.
I am circumcised, done at birth. I have always felt my penis looks great and is the way it “should look”. Not to take away from one that is “un cut” but to me it just looks odd, probably because what I am used to seeing on myself is different. While I cannot personally speak for the difference in the way sex feels before and after circumcision, I can share a person’s point of view whom is very close to me, my father. He was circumcised in his early 20′s, for reason’s unknown to me or cannot recall otherwise. The discussion of circumcision came at some point in my teens. Obviously as we humans are curious creatures I made the comment to my father, “I wonder what sex would feel like if I wasn’t circumcised?” To which he responded “There is no comparison.” I asked him what he meant exactly and he said that sex and blow jobs were so much more sensual and enjoyable. He was able to feel a lot more, he said it and took some getting used to as he was quite a bit more sensitive, but sex was much more pleasureful.
That’s really interesting. So few people have the experience or access to someone who has experienced both ways. It’s hard to say if it’s always the case, of course, but that kind of anecdote really illuminates something you almost never hear. Thanks so much for sharing that, Will! And it’s really cool that your dad was able to be so open about it.
Good post, it’s an issue that isn’t talked about much. I’m uncut and remember feeling a little self-conscious when I was younger and in high school. The guys would see uncut guy in the locker rooms and talk about it the next day/give the kid crap about it, and I’d be thinking “Why does it matter?”
My father didn’t want me circumcised because he experienced both sides – he was uncut at birth and then in a high school basketball accident, followed the doctor’s advice to get circumcised to help with swelling and because it was “the healthy option.” He told me he wished he had never followed the advice, that he preferred au natural.
In my own experience, I just feel I’m a more sensitive, whether good or bad for my sexual experience vs cut, I have no idea. If my foreskin is flipped back, it would be uncomfortable to have pants rubbing against it or anything in daily life. That gland just isn’t used to a touch sensation when dry, it’s needs the cover – when lubricated during sex, no problem.
During sex, sometimes the foreskin feels a little tight if I’m extremely turned on and it’s rolled back, but it kind’ve aids in that strange pain-brings-pleasure paradigm that exists during sex.
I was originally only going to write just a sentence or two. Oops! First time poster – Love your work, warm wishes to you in this New Year!
Wow! Another person who knows someone who experienced both cut and uncut! I didn’t know that adulthood circumcision was so common! I’m so glad you were able to share this, and then expose the completely different side. It seems like there’s so much variance in sensation, regardless of circumcision that it’s really hard to ever anticipate which one is right for you… This is fascinating, though.
I’ve never been circumsised and have never felt the need to be.
When fully aroused my foreskin is fully retracted and my penis head fully exsposed for pleasure. In fact my penis looks like I have been circumsised in this state.
I love my penis the way it is and wouldn’t change it at all (apart from a few extra inches lol)
With intercourse and blowjobs my foreskin stays fully retracted giving me ultimate stimulation and pleasure.
Using lots of lube and either using a cock ring or holding my penis at the base during handjobs my foreskin stays fully retracted. Of course during handjobs I can have my foreskin in play rubbing up and down my penis head adding stimulation. Guess I’m lucky – best of both worlds, although I do prefer it fully retracted for ultimate stimulation.
Its a great subject to address Camille, to be cut or not to be cut? guess the debate will rage on just like my hard-ons lol
One subject I would love you to cover in the near future is the stimulation of the female clitoris during oral sex, whats the best way to do it, any techniques you personally like etc.
Pete xx
I’m glad that you like your penis and it works for you so well, Pete. That’s really what matters!
And that’s an interesting idea… I’ll think about it.
Hi! I rarely leave comments here, but I’ve gotta add my two cents on this one.
I once dated a guy who was (and certainly still is) uncircumcised. You mention it doesn’t make a difference when the penis is hard, but in this case, it made a huge one. There was so much skin, soooo much skin… I had to hold it down all the time when I was giving him oral sex.
Of course, it doesn’t matter when you love and are attracted to someone. But it really was interfering with my art
… and the skin is not something I could (or wanted to) “play” with, really. It didn’t feel very erotic to me.
(I had the greatest sex ever with that guy, though… I’m just talking about that aspect now.)
Well, of course every body is different, but I’d say that sounds like the exception instead of the rule. And I’m sure there are potentially artful ways around it. I’m glad that you had great sex together, though.
Here in the UK, apart from religious reasons or medical reasons it is rare for a guy to be circumcised.
In fact cut guys are a rariety. In surveys more women seem to prefer uncut, possably because thats all they’ve ever experienced.
As I’ve already stated I’m incut and when erect my foreskin is fully retracted to expose my glands, the loose skin almost none exsistant, so during sex/blow jobs there is no problem.
I have heard of guys whose foreskin is so tight it won’t retract over there glands at all, this is quite rare and in theses cases most do get circumsised at later dates.
As Marie as mentioned, some guys do have excessive loose skin from there foreskins,I can quite understand what she means from blowing them – the skin must get in the way.
Lucky for me my skin is fully retracted, and so personally I can only talk about my experience, which up to now has always been great.
I think it sounds like the fully-retractable foreskin model seems to be the more common of the two, so it’s good to know you’re in good company. For the tight-foreskinned, definitely surgery may be an option, but it’s medical and at least somewhat necessary in that case.
I come from a religion that requires it. While I can’t give a story, Pete’s right, in the UK it is in the minority. I can’t believe so many American men have it done outside of religious reasons. I have grown with it being normal but knowing that most men outside of my community aren’t. If you do get circumcised, its much easier to do it at 8 days old rather than as adult but then the consent is missing, so I’m not sure. In the unlikely event of actually having a child, I hope I will never have a son because I will be torn between it needing to be a requirement for my faith and his consent. If that does happen, I will almost certainly end up circumcising him but will always think ‘what if?’
Exactly. Consent is a really tricky thing on something like this… And then adult surgery is certainly not ideal either… I don’t know. That does sound like a tough situation for you.
I can think of no better introduction to life on Earth: people with more power than you will do whatever they feel like doing to you, sometimes with the best intentions but it will still hurt, and maybe you won’t get exactly as much pleasure out of life as you might but you can still get a enough.
Wow, that’s deep and a little sad, but ultimately optimistic… You’re quite the philosopher, Manuel.
I’m not circumsized.When I was young,I wanted to be.Today,I’m glad I never was.I think nature put foreskin there for a reason.There is a hood over the clitoris right?I don’t see the medical community looking to mutilate it.Circumcision is barbaric in my opinion.
There is… I don’t know whether I’d necessarily say anything is barbaric, but I can see why it’s such a contentious issue.
I’ve been uncut my whole life, so I really can’t say much about cut ones. All I know is I get great head and sex from gf, so that’s all that matters!
You’re right… That really is just about all that matters.
I’m circumcised. Have been since birth, so not much choice in the matter. I thiught it was the natural thing, that that’s how everyone looked. I didn’t reakize until I was a teenager that it wasn’t how I was born and that there was another way. But really, doesn’t matter to me. I would love my penis either way. It’s not like I could change it now anyways, so love what you have. If I had a choice though, I would probably choose cut. But then again I am biased, that’s what I have known my entire life. To me though, it just looks nicer. Circumcision is common practice enough that there is nearly no complications with it. I would imagine that the sensation during sex isn’t much diffeeence between the two, so I really don’t think it would matter much if you chose to get your child’s snipped. I don’t know, I guess I wouldn’t really care much either way, I don’t think anyone should. It’s a part of you, love it.
I’m glad that you’re happy with exactly what happened to you. That’s a really pleasant turn of events. I wish that everyone could love their penis like that!
I’m NOT circumcised. I have an iffy relationship with that. My wife, for example, never blows me, though she claims that is not the reason. I don’t believe her — I know she used to blow her boyfriends/lovers (who were all circumcised). I was lucky to have a mistress for a while who was intrigued and delighted by more foreskin, and she loved to suck my cock and even do things like swirl her tongue beneath the hood. Overall, in America at least, I believe intact guys are somewhat (statistically significantly if not overwhelmingly)less likely to receive your art (blowjobs) because American women think foreskin is gross. On the plus side, masturbation and handjobs are better — since I can do/get both with the foreskin pulled back versus involved, I feel I can say that pretty definitively.
That’s really unfortunate to hear. Have you ever tried therapy together or at least to have a really serious discussion about it? Maybe her sexuality has just petered out over time… It might really not be about anything to do with your penis. That happens sometimes.
First of all, THANK YOU for posting this! It is a huge turn on when a beautiful woman says anything about this somewhat taboo subject. It’s also a huge turn on watching you perform your art on your partner. Even though I’m against circumcision, as I explain below, when I watch your videos I find myself pulling my foreskin all the way back and fantasising that I have a cut cock with a tight shaft. But it might be thatyour artistic skills and beauty rather than the penis in question have something to do with it
To answer your question, it was actally a Canadian professor of anatomy who identified the special nerves in the foreskin that add pleasure to sex. (see article copied from the British Journal of Urology which explains how the foreskin has specialised nerve endings which enhance pleasure: a http://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/taylor/)
I think Professor Taylor is right. From my own practical experience, as the owner of a foreskin, it’s not so much that the inside of the foreskin is ‘more sensitive’ but that it has a different kind of sensitivity than the glans/head of the penis. During sex or masturbation the inner lining of my foreskin is where the warm, tingling sensation that builds into an orgasm starts. If I, or my wife, holds my foreskin back all the way during a BJ or HJ (so that I look circumcised) it feels great but I think I get a different, more pleasurable, sensation than a circumcised guy would because the ultra-sensitive inner lining of my foreskin is stretched out and exposed.
Now, just to complicate things, not all cut penises have had the same tissue removed. Depending on the technique used more or less of this inner lining may have been cut off. This is why you’ll see variations in the location of circumcision scars and shaft colour and sensitivity. This means, especially when operating on a baby where the organ is small and it’s guess work much it will grow during adulthood, that the doctor is guessing or arbitrarily deciding how much of this sensitive tissue to cut off and consequently it’s a bit of a lottery how much sensitivity the victim will be left with.
One thing’s for sure, circumcision generally involves lopping off, healthy, erogonous tissue from an un-consenting minor. Parents are only supposed to have authority to consent to medically necessary procedures. The fact that doctors are doing what amounts to sexual assault on minors is really unforgivable and violates every tennent of medical ethics as well as the common law.
Whilst I’m at it here are a couple other links that discuss this from an adult sexual perspective rather than a strictly medical one:
One from a sassy Australian lady (Australia like Canada used to have a high circumcision rate but most younger Aussie blokes are intact-this helps to explain some of her comments): http://blogs.brisbanetimes.com.au/citykat/archives/2009/04/talking_to_a_co_1.html
and
One from a sassy American gal who explains in a humorous way has she overcame her ‘fear of foreskin’ through multicultural dating: http://www.thegloss.com/2013/03/26/sex-and-dating/foreskin-is-great
see also: http://www.yourtango.com/experts/pleasure-mechanics/circumcision
That is all such great, nuanced information. Thank you so much for sharing your perspective and these links… And the Canadian connection to it all!
This is a debat that’s been going on for while in North American and Europe for a while now. I try to stay out of it because it seems people have strong, emotional and at times irrational feelings about it, and often the debat tends to end in a screaming contest. But I have also thought long hard about the subject of circumcision for a good time now – so here goes.
There are lots of factors to consider when looking at circumcision – religion, medical, culture and even sexual preference – religion is really not an argument to me personally, I’m an atheist and come from a more or less 90% atheist country (Denmark). Any argument that boils down to “it’s a religious tradition that’s been done for thousands of years” holds zero merrit with me, therefore I can not in any way give my approval to circumcision with religion being the argument.
When it comes to medical – yes, there is merrit to circumcision in some cases. Infections, a tight forskin, too much forskin skin, etc. Are all valid reasons for getting circumcised, and I have absolutely no problem with the circumcision being performed under these conditions. I do how ever object to what I call the promotion of circumcision as a vaccine against HIV/AIDS, urinal tract infections, that it’s cleaner, and so on… There can be good reasons for getting an circumcision and doctors recommending a circumcision. But these situtations and reasons usually don’t occur until in the early teen years of boys. Circumcision done on infants as a form of prevention makes no sense to me and I haven’t seen a single medical journal that has been able to convince me otherwise.
Culture- now this is actually really interesting to me. To think that at one time the United States of America had an almost 95% circumcision rate and it wasn’t based in religion blows my mind! An almost entire generation of men and women growing up never knowing anything about foreskin and the natural state of the penis is just shocking to me. Circumcision seems to be as American as apple pie and a big cultural cornerstone of society there, a lot of American men puts a lot of their masculine identity in being circumcised and getting their sons circumcised it seems to me. In Europe, circumcised men aren’t really that pre-occupied with getting their sons cut, but in the States fathers seems to really be hell bent on this if they themselves are cut. Only in America have I heard stories of women mocking men with a penis in it’s natural state, and boys getting teased in the locker room for not being cut. Never have I heard or experienced this in Europe, we don’t mock the circumcised and women don’t turn down sex because of some skin missing from the penis. Well, not as far as I know… I have been with some American women, and I’ve never had any trouble with them seeing my penis (which is a hoodie, btw). I tend to think that a lot of the locker room teasing stories and guys getting denied sex because of foreskin is urban legends that are meant to solidify the state of the American cut penis as a better, prettier and cleaner option for males, and it would also help making parents feel a little better about agreeing to get surgery performed on their otherwise perfectly healthy baby boy.
Alright, I’m making this way to long
let me sum up and finish off: To me infant circumcision is 100%, absolutely not acceptable in modern western society, it should be outright banned all together. If there arises some sort immediate medical condition that requires a circumcision as the very best solution, I have no problem with the procedure being performed at all! If a person is of 18 years old, or his parents gives him the green-light while he’s in his teens and he wants to get circumcised – I say go right ahead young man, good luck and gods speed! It’s your body, life and penis, and you should be able to do with it however you please. Same goes for tattoos, piercings, brandings and plastic surgery.
I don’t like the the celebration/promotion of circumcision as a prettier, healthier condition, mostly because it almost always comes with the demonisation (lack of a better word,sorry) of the penis in it’s natural state. This promotion of cut paints a picture of the natural penis as ugly, diseased, not optimal functional, etc. And this promotion almost always comes from countries that either practices circumcision as a cultural institution (USA, South Korea, Israel, Philippines) or has a history of circumcision as a cultural institution (Australia, New Zealand, Canada, England, South Africa).
Neither do I care for the downgrading of men that has been circumcised. Some people have taken to putting all kinds of horrible of complications and dysfunctions into circumcision, and while – yes, I do agree that it is much , much better to leave a childs healthy genitalia alone. Most men didn’t have a say in their circumcision and most men manage to live long lives with lots of sex, despite having part of their penis cut off within the first days of being born.
Finally; Any woman who makes the circumcised or natural penis a deal breaker in the bedroom, should really ask them selves – how shallow and superficial can a person actually get?
I think this is so thoughtful, Chris. Of course, I expect nothing less. You brought up a lot of great points. I think it’s just awful that anyone would make fun of someone’s penis either way. I don’t know about actually banning circumcision, but certainly trying to reverse the idea that it’s the “better way” would be a very important step.
Chris, I agree with you point for point. And I really appreciate you taking over the the blog’s role as its verbosity leader!
I was perhaps 5 or 6 when I was circumcised. That leads me to surmise that mine was done for some medical reason, but I don’t recall ever asking my parents about it. What I most definitely DO remember is that I felt utterly mortified over all the unwanted attention that was being lavished on my member (it’s funny how things change; now I can’t get enough attention!). The procedure was done at a hospital, and the policy was that all discharged patients were wheeled out in wheelchairs. I felt like everyone was looking at my ice- packed penis as they wheeled me to our car, even though I was covered at the time.
My wife and I have 2 sons, and we agreed to leave the decision up to them. Although my experience contributed to our decision, medical opinion had started changing by the time they were born (both are now on their mid-twenties), and actually supported our position.
By the way: The current American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) position on male newborn circumcision came out last August. It’s a bit wishy-washy, but does not advocate “universal” circumcision even though they think that circumcision is a good idea, none the less. You can check out the full document here if you’re interested.
Oops..here’s the link:
http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/pages/Newborn-Male-Circumcision.aspx
Thanks for sharing this!
Wow, it must be such a completely different experience to be circumcised (relatively) late in life. It must have been really painful!
Actually, circumcision later in life would probably be less painful because the patient is old enough to have general anesthetic and then strong painkillers post operatively. Babies have full feeling, it’s just that they don’t remember pain in the way an older person would.
There have been studies showing that circumcised babies seem to be more ‘scared’ or ‘sensitive’ to pain in that they howl more than non-circumcised babies when they get their vacinations but obviously this is very diffuclt to measure. So although there’s some debate about whether cut men have subconscious memories of the trauma or not neuroscience is not advanced enough to answer this question.
That said, cutting a baby without anesthetic or even with micky mouse local anesthetic is very cruel and ought to be illegal.
Of course I’m not running down circumcised men who had no choice in the matter and were victimised by US corporate knife happy medicine. And a small number of people do require circumcision for valid medical reasons. And if an informed adult wants a circumcision (or a boob job or a nose job etc) that’s their business.
That said, damn it looks hot when you’re practising your art on your bf! Would you ever consider discussing your bf’s circumcision on camera e.g. complimenting him on how nice his circumcised penis looks and how you like the little line it left and the way his head flares out and how tight it gets? Kind of like the Tara Tainton or your fellow Canadian Ms Dynamite do in their videos?
Yes, that is pretty shocking to have any kind of surgery unanesthetised.
I don’t think I’d particularly compliment his circumcised penis on camera, because I don’t want people to think that they’re not as good for not being circumcised.