For context, I’m circumcised and expecting a son and my wife and I are torn about the circ. We’re American so from a cultural standpoint circumcision is the default choice. Thing is, there’s no real benefit besides practicing a religion we don’t believe in, and I’m uncomfortable about cutting the tip of my son’s dick off.

On the other side, I’ve met a guy who was bullied in high school so bad for it he got a circ as an adult. Apparently crazy painful recovery. I’ve also talked to women who are generally grossed out by uncircumcised men. I don’t want to make him feel like something’s wrong with him his whole life because I was uncomfortable with the idea.

From a moral standpoint I’m against it, but from a social and cultural standpoint I feel like I should do it? It’s a crappy situation. If there’s any uncircumcised American men who want to talk about their penis I’m all ears.

Edit: I really appreciate everyone’s responses I never expected to hear from so many people. With the decision hinging on social and cultural norms it’s been really helpful to be able to take the temperature like this. I obviously need to talk to my wife, but given the overwhelming support of dick hats I don’t thing we’re going to do it. Thanks, lemmings!

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[–] 54 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'm a chick, responding because you mentioned some women are grossed out by intact dicks.

Every penis is different in its own weird way so whether there's foreskin or not is just an extra thing. Size/shape/foreskin/existence doesn't affect how I think about the person.

Any person who thinks men ought to be mutilated to be attractive is lacking in empathy and judgment, and my entire friend group thinks the same thing.

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  • [–] 49 points 1 year ago

    The idea that you would cut off a part of your kids genitalia just so they could 'fit in' culturally is kinda blown away by the fact that it is now less common to be circumcised than being natural, even in the USA. By the time your kid is old enough to care, it will be a complete non-issue, and they can always get one as an adult if they want. Don't take that agency away.

    https://www.medpagetoday.com/pediatrics/generalpediatrics/117464

    The idea that it has a population-level health benefit is completely debunked. It is medically advisable in only a tiny fraction of kids (sub 1%). The fact that %60 of the US population is circumcised is all thanks to religious hooey from puritans who don't want children to masturbate, and think chopping a sensitive part of their genitals off to make it harder to enjoy is the best way to go - thanks to education and a wider exposure to the rest of the world via the Internet, US parents are finally realising this which is why it's in decline.

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  • [–] 180 points 1 year ago (7 children)

    Dude I have a foreskin and it's fucking rad. I can pinch it closed when I pee and it'll fill up like a balloon. How could you deny your son that?

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  • [–] [S] 72 points 1 year ago (4 children)
  • [–] 64 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Lmao love all this genuine life advice and you say nothing, one dude shows up and is like "I get to play with my dick like this and you're 100% in hell yeah territory.

    Rad.

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  • IMO circumcision is genital mutilation and that's always wrong in general. In the very few cases where it actually has health benefits you can still do it later in life, it's not a big problem. You're not missing out on anything if you don't do it.

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  • [+] 36 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 child)
  • [–] 15 points 1 year ago*

    And in 20 years if he asks you about your decision, what will you tell him?

    This is a great thought exercise.

    I had to have this conversation, and for OP, I will share what I said:

    "It was the default, and I was ignorant and stupid. I am sorry. I should have asked more questions and done more research before giving in to pressure to approve a cosmetic surgery on a child too young to decide. I am so sorry, son."

    This conversation didn't feel good.

    I didn't allow them to do this to my second son.

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  • [–] 121 points 1 year ago

    Frankly, it's a bloody weird thing to do unless medically required. Leave him be.

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  • [–] 31 points 1 year ago

    No, don't ever mutilate your kid for bullshit reasons. Cutting his penis just so that he can fit it in with others is nonsense.

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  • [–] 31 points 1 year ago

    Nope, not even once. I find the idea of circumcision really bizarre.

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  • [–] 29 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Nope, never.

    I live in the UK, I’m in my 40’s and I’ve only ever known a single person who needed to be circumcised for medical reasons.

    Beyond medical reasons, which are honestly pretty rare in reality, there’s no need.

    I’ve literally never heard an uncircumcised person express a desire to be circumcised.

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  • [–] 29 points 1 year ago

    Not for a fucking second. Ever.

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  • [–] 193 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Don't do it. Let your kid choose as an adult. You can't undo circumcision.

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  • [–] 26 points 1 year ago

    Have I ever wished someone had genitally mutilated me as a baby?

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  • [–] 144 points 1 year ago (8 children)

    You can't be bullied if everyone is uncut. And as you say it's cultural, it makes absolutely no sense for me and I don't understand parents who voluntarily butcher the genitals of their children. I can't believe it still exists.

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  • [–] 34 points 1 year ago

    I had a "friend" in highschool try to make me feel bad about being uncut. Saying the typical pseudoscience of "you're dirty" "girls don't like it", it was that day that I decided this guy was stupid beyond repair.

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  • [+] -15 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    It still exists because people with circumcisions see it as an improvement. It's better.

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  • [–] 13 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    You may like it better, and it should be your choice to have it. It should be an elective procedure for the individual to make, that's all I believe they are saying.

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  • [+] -6 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    I'm glad I didn't have to go through 18 years before paying to have it done and being in pain from the surgery.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Okay, but your experience isn't universal. Some people may and some people may not have preferred to have it done as a baby when viewed in hindsight, but it doesn't change that their individual choice was removed.

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  • [–] -1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    It isn't universal, but in my country it's the majority.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Because it was thought that it would prevent the moral danger of masturbation by the guy who made Kellogg cereals a thing.

    That's it.

    Sole reason.

    Good job simping for the dude that thought it you never pooped and only had colonics you'd live forever.

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  • [–] 48 points 1 year ago

    Definitely not but I'm not American.

    Please do not mutilate your child because of tradition.

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  • [–] 23 points 1 year ago

    American and uncircumcised here. Definitely don't do it. The only reason it should ever be done is a case of phimosis so bad it can't be fixed any other way.

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  • [–] 23 points 1 year ago

    No. Why the hell would I want the end of my dick chopped off??

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  • [–] 23 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Handjobs and foreplay stuff are more fun uncircumsized, like giving a dick a hoodie and pretending its a jedi.

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  • I'm an intact American man.I have never wished I was circumcised.

    I haven't ever been bullied for it. If I was, I think I'd first accusing the bully of being homosexual for taking an interest as loud as I could. Start calling him Gaylord Cockstarer in mixed company. Find out what hobbies his dad has, start doing that hobby, befriend his dad, tell him this story, see if you can get his dad to start calling him Gaylord Cockstarer.

    Women who are grossed out...I've had a few hesitate to give me oral, but were willing to try. One, in her own words, wanted to wait until next time so she could "look up how to handle one of these." And she did, too. To the women who would be disgusted at my intact anatomy, I have one question: What part of your body am I allowed to demand you slice off? Kind of a monstrous thing to think about someone, isn't it? Why haven't you cut that part of your body off? If that's what she thinks of men, she can never deserve any dick.

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  • [–] 23 points 1 year ago*

    Male circumcision is genital mutilation, and I think it's pretty gross that it's still so common. I'm grateful that I'm American and my parents didn't mutilate my dick when I was a baby.

    I'm glad you're asking and taking people's opinions with validity because it's important that you don't do that to your baby.

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  • [–] 22 points 1 year ago

    I was circumcised at 40 for medical reasons, due to phimosis. That was a blessing after several years of issues with having normal intercourse and having little operations done that were ultimately ineffective.

    Anyway, it's definitely different and I am much less sensitive. I definitely prefer being uncircumcised, just not, you know, with phimosis.

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  • [–] 22 points 1 year ago*

    I've never wished that I was circumcised. And anyone who thinks my dick is gross doesn't sound like they'd be fun to fuck, anyway.

    I sure as hell didn't get my son circumcised. Don't do it, let your son make that choice himself when he's old enough.

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  • [+] 22 points 1 year ago* (1 child)
  • [–] 44 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    I'd never sacrifice 50% of the feelings for the sake of a shriveled tip to please some invisible sky daddy.

    Male genital mutilation should be as outlawed as female.

    And... Kids bullying others over their foreskin? I don't think I ever saw any classmate's dick in my life. Why is that even a thing?

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    To be fair, while I’ve never seen or know anyone circumcised, at least around here we shower after exercise and sports and stuff. We never had separated showers in schools or sports halls or gyms or similar, you’d obviously see everyone’s dick very often if you ever participated in any activity that’s sweaty. But then again we also have a very long and strong sauna tradition, which only increases the genital-seeing vectors in everyone’s life.

    I think it only natural, why should anyone be ashamed or somehow hide their natural body is beyond me. I think it’s also healthy in terms of normalizing the fact that we all have a body, skin, genital, and we all come in differences shapes and sizes and all.

    But I do find it similarly weird to ever bully anyone over a thing like that. Anybody too distracted by, or otherwise focused on, someone else’s body parts is probably having some issues themselves that ought to be resolved.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago

    Saunas in Germany are more an adult thing, at least as a kid I never went to any, nor do I remember seeing kids there when going now.

    Showers in school had individual cabins or at least some dividers between them and curtains to close them, and typically you'd leave your towel hanging on a hook right in front, dry yourself quickly and wrap up to walk back. There was a brief moment of nudity when changing back into regular clothes, but nobody was ever really looking at anybody else.

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  • [–] 269 points 1 year ago (20 children)

    Male circumcision is genital mutilation.

    If it’s your culture, your culture is dumb.

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  • [+] -52 points 1 year ago (19 children)

    Except it has more upsides than downsides. In fact, except for extreme outliers there are no downsides. Not once in my life had I ever thought "I wish my parents would have not circumcised me as a baby". From a US perspective, I think it looks better, most women think it looks better, and it saved me from cost, pain, and awkward teen years of waiting until adulthood to make the decision.

    OP, you said it yourself, really. You aren't unhappy to be circumcised. You know at least one guy in real life who hated not being circumcised. Do you know anyone in real life; not the internet where people with negative outlooks on an issue tend to be the most outspoken, and not from all the other countries with different cultures and norms, but that you actually know that was mad about being circumcised? I work in a field that's very... Not shy about bringing up things like this. I've never met a guy who wished he wasn't circumcised.

    Nanook can go ahead and call it mutilation, trying to lump it in with a dangerous and sexual pleasure ruining practice done to women in a handful of places, but I'll hard disagree. Mutilation is "a severe and disfiguring injury." I don't see circumcised as any of that, and neither do most people where OP or myself are from.

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  • [–] 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    There are a number of men who are upset about it, they've formed advocacy groups and some use therapies and procedures to regrow foreskin.

    https://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/

    https://intactamerica.org/

    For some balance, this isn't very informative, but it does fairly frame the debate:

    https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3255195/

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  • [+] -10 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I mean, there's groups for everything. If just 1% of men in the US were unhappy about having been circumcised, while the other 99% were happy or indifferent about it, that's still over a million people unhappy. It's still a super minority of people.

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  • [–] 13 points 1 year ago

    If any other elective medical procedure had a 1% chance of extreme regret, it would be considered psychologically risky, in addition to the chance of complications.

    Do we know the actual numbers for how men feel about the procedure? I think that's important if we're debating this on the merits of joy/regret.

    I couldn't find any good sources that surveyed adult men on their parents' circumcision choice.

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  • [–] 53 points 1 year ago (11 children)

    There is like, no upside its literally you making up reasons to justify your condition lol.

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  • [+] -37 points 1 year ago (10 children)

    You're doing the same thing, but hey, we can both start throwing links at each other to back up our points, if you'd like.

    But you know what, lets just say for the sake of argument neither dick has any medical or hygiene or STI risk differences (because there's loads of evidence showing uncircumcised people are at a greater risk of getting those)

    I think it looks better, and most people in my country think it looks better. Personal preference? Sure. But personally, we got better looking dicks. The other medical benefits are just a bonus.

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  • [–] 32 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    You're not going to bring up the sensitivity arguments? Foreskin is a natural part of the body, the fact that it's the norm is meaningless. If we were chopping off the tips of ears or male nipples would there be "no downsides" either? Why not just NOT do the thing? You can't undo a circumcision.

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  • [–] 12 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    The infection risk only becomes an issue when you're old. I'm getting circumcised at 70, I'm keeping my dick whole until then. Your dick looks ugly, sorry not sorry.

    Also, I'm happy you like your dick, I'm sure you'd also like it if your parents didn't remove a piece.

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  • [–] 19 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Sure buddy, go play with your half dick

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

    No.

    You are wrong.

    There are literally 0 upsides.

    There are 0 medically valid reasons to fully or partially circumsize a penis that is not suffering from some kind of rather rare, actual congenital malformation.

    The only things you list as upsides are aesthetic, fashion choices, they're only 'popular' where you are ... because they are common where you are.

    It literally is a disfiguring injury.

    It signifcantly changes how the thing looks, and works. Thats disfigurement.

    No, it is not as severe as female clitoral removal.

    But, the foreskin has a ton of nerve density in it, comparable to how many nerves your head/glans has in it, as opposed to the significantly lower nerve density on a cut shaft.

    A circumcised XY male person literally is not physically capable of experiencing the same level and variation of sensation, of sexual pleasure, as an uncircumcised person.

    It also removes the ability of the penis to 'glide' along the foreskin when inserted, which means it changes how it functions.

    Automatic male circumcision at birth is literally a brutal, nonconsensual method of reducing the pleasure an XY man can experience from sex.

    Thats what it is.

    Thats a cultural norm in the US, mainly, and not so much anywhere else.

    For the record:

    Circumsized guy here, done at birth, then, I learned things.

    The US is a brutal and delusion place by the standards of basically everywhere else.

    We are the weird ones, we are the brainwashed ones.

    We just happen to also make the most porn, and we invented the internet, so our cultural norms have had an outsized importance and level of influence.

    Outside of the US, male circumcision is generally only done by fairly extreme religious groups, and for very rare but actually medically necesssary and valid reasons, like some kind of actual congenital abnormality/malformation of the penis that is present at birth.

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  • [–] -3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    You say their are literally 0 upsides, but then you name a couple of upsides. Lol.

    Also, if you want to be a dick about it, there have been several scientific studies done showing that HIV and most other STI's are significantly less at risk of contraction if you've been circumcised.

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  • [–] 21 points 1 year ago

    I am circumcised since infancy. I’m not bothered by it, but given the choice at this point in life I would not have had it done. In the past I’m not entirely sure. I did not have any boys, but I would not have had them circumcised if I had

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  • [–] 21 points 1 year ago

    Nope. Heavens no. It’s a feel-good part of the body, hell no.

    The only requirement is to keep it clean. Parents shouldn’t shy away from educating your boys about this and have some open conversations about it.

    Might as well ask if you wouldn’t mind having one fingertip shaved off at birth, the difference being you’d know what you were missing because you have the other fingers to compare it to.

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  • [–] 20 points 1 year ago

    I'm 42 and uncircumcised, born and raised in America. My entire life the total sum of what it's amounted to from locker rooms to relationships is pretty close to "huh, ok then". I can't promise it will be the same for your son but it's been a total non-issue in my life.

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  • [–] 20 points 1 year ago

    My partner just asked me this the other day. Answer is nope, never had a reason to want it.

    Never had a partner with a problem with it either. If someone was ever grossed out by something that's just the way I was born then they can learn to deal with it, or fuck off.

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  • [–] 20 points 1 year ago

    Nope. Don’t mutilate your child.

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  • [–] 20 points 1 year ago* (2 children)

    American Penis owner here, uncircumcised. So fun and no issues.

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  • [–] 19 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I'm American and not circumcised, my wife and I chose not to circumcise our son because there really isn't anything to gain from it. In my mind it's no different than the removal of the hood from around a womans clitoris, it would cause a lot of pain and discomfort until the area is more "desensitized" by constant overstimulation. As someone that has only ever had a penis, and never a circumcised one, it's all just speculation on my part.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

    It's a little different, for most women the clit is still protected by the labia and isn't being rubbed all day long, but I absolutely get your meaning.

    Clittoral hood reductions are a thing but they're considered cosmetic. There isn't a lot of information on health impact because it's never been a routine medical procedure. That said, some women do get it done because of over-stimulation from clothes because the hood is sensitive, or, inversely, to increase sensation on the clitoris.

    It's weird that the hygeine debate hasn't come up with girls as much as boys, though. In changing babies I find girls parts marginally more difficult to "clean out."

    Still, if that procedure ever became popular for girls I would be just as much against it as I am male circumcision.

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  • [–] 19 points 1 year ago

    No.

    Forskin ins there for a reason. It's protecting the head of the penis. Cutting it off is just a poor way of not having to deal with the problems if you don't wash it properly.

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  • [–] 19 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Ok, so I'm a 38 year old uncircumcised Canadian male and on this issue, I have two opinions:

    1.) Circumcision for moral, traditional, covenantial, or social cohesion reasons is child genital mutilation. Full stop, no second guesses...

    2.) I have a larger-ish penis with a proportionally smaller frenulum and tighter foreskin. I am not bragging about size, I wish I was smaller because, when I get very aroused it can be quite painful. The foreskin frenulum pulls right against the tip of my penis and bends it down. If I were to excuse the frenulum and loosen my foreskin, I can imagine having sex when I am very erect would feel much better. This would be great because right now it feels like I'm trying to fuck with reigns on.

    I have been exploring the idea of the loosening surgery, but obviously this is my choice, for aesthetic and pain management reasons.

    The child has no choice, it's abuse. I have a choice, it's a medical procedure.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago

    The condition you describe under 2 is called frenulum breve, and it's sorted by cutting the frenulum and fixing the loose ends with 3 stitches to the shaft. I had exactly the same condition, got it fixed at about 20 years old, and was fully recovered after a week. No more bent out of shape tip, and the foreskin is perfectly intact.

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  • [–] 106 points 1 year ago

    Don't mutilate your kid. If there's a medical reason go ahead, otherwise leave it be.
    Your son can't put it back if you remove it, but he can remove it if you leave it. Let it be his choice over his body.

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  • [–] 18 points 1 year ago

    I'm circumcised and my three children are, too. However, I made that decision when I was still working my way out of a conservative upbringing. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't and have left my children uncut.

    There is no point to it. I just did it because it is considered strange not to in religious circles and I hadn't broke away from that stupid yet.

    If your kids want to be, let them make that decision themselves when they're older. You can't undo it.

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  • [–] 36 points 1 year ago* (4 children)

    Ooo something for me!

    I am FORMERLY uncircumcised. I have a skin condition which led to phymosis a few years back forcing me to have a medical circumcision this year.

    Uncut is superior in every way. Sex is better, it's more comfortable when exercising, it's generally less of a nuisance. And in Europe, I never had an ick reaction.

    If I didn't medically need it I wouldn't have done it. That said, it's better than phymosis, I do last longer in bed, and my partner says it's actually a really nice oral experience now.

    Remember: most countries don't have a preference for circumcision, and a lot of people outside of America that are circumcised have it done due to medical issues, not moral or religious reasons.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    I'm interested to know if they offered you to just do an incision or not? I have very mild phimosis but they only said I'd need an incision. I'm able to just stretch it out a bit beforehand and it's fine, though I do have EDS so that pawbably why I can.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Mine wasn't mild, unfortunately. Fully pinhole. Luckily, I'm a "grower" so they didn't have to take the whole foreskin and the very base of my glands are still protected (and get stimulated from skin during sex). Stretches were actually counter productive for me (found that out after the skin condition got diagnosed) and likely led to a speeding up of the pinhole nature

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

    As someone with similar experience - circumcision due to worsening phymosis as adult - and also in Europe - I feel great right now, felt good before circumcision too (with the exception of the phymosis moment). It's a bit different as a feel (and maybe I last longer now, or self-control got better with years, who knows) but honestly in my case I probably even prefer how it is now, and cleaning up your bits is easier while circumsized.

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  • [–] 36 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Tbh I love my foreakin, it's fun to play with and overall just enhances the penis having experience. 10/10 would recommend

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  • [–] 64 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    The idea of wanting a circumcision has never once occurred to me. The notion of having my most sensitive area permanently exposed... eugh.

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  • [–] 63 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Don't mutilate your child. Just remember to teach them to retract the foreskin and wash under it, by the time they are 10, it should be unfused from the glans.

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  • [–] 17 points 1 year ago

    Also for people without foreskin who are having a chld, do not retract it back on your child. It's not ready to pull back for many many years and you will most likely rip their skin.

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  • [–] 76 points 1 year ago

    A few counterpoints to the circumcision pros that you mentioned:

    • Circumcision rates are dropping across America. In some areas they ared dropping faster than others, but from what I recall the get are basically dropping everywhere to some degree. So I expect bullying about it is on the decline as it becomes less common.

    • Also, the simple fact is that bullies will find any reason to be shitheads. So if it's not circumcision it'll be something else.

    • Any straight women who are grossed out by a natural penis are idiots, and your kid will be dodging an asshole bullet if they do reject him over that.

    • Better to let him decide if he wants to get it cut later or leave it uncut than to take away his free agency.

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  • [–] 17 points 1 year ago*

    Don't do it man. I live in the US (born and raised) and I'm uncircumcised and I've never in my life been challenged about it. There is zero reason to do it to fit in culturally. And fuck any culture that encourages you to mutilate the genitals of your child.

    Don't do it.

    Even if it's for your religion, let your kids decide whether they want to be circumcised at the age of 18.

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  • [–] 17 points 1 year ago

    Can't say I have ever wished for that. Confused on why I would

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