Finding out about circumcision

How did you find out what circumcision was ? And how did you find out your status? I know it’s taboo to talk about , but is it family tradition . Not like parents tell you about it .

I was operated on when I was 7 but my mother would just say "phimosis operation". It took me some reading to realize that it was equivalent to circumcision.

Found out about it in high school PE class while in the shower with other guys. Noticed that some had skin covering the head of their cocks - most were circumcised like I was.

I was circumcised when I was 7 years old, and my parents explained to me half a month later that it was a phimosis operation. Later I discovered that it was called circumcision. The good thing was that I had my brothers and father.

Found out, that circumcision existed at the first place, from porn, about... dunno 12-14 year old

I have probably already answered this question in another discussion. My brother was not circumcised and my mother explained us the difference. I was circumcised as baby and I have no conscious memory of the operation.

My parents told me before I started school. I am not circumcised, and in the US. They didn’t want me to see another boy at the urinal and wonder why they looked different from me.

I first heard of circumcision during an examination I was having at 7 or 8 when the doctor retracted my foreskin and said it was tight, and might need circumcising. I wasn’t sure what that meant, but my mother explained it to me when seeking a second opinion from our GP. I wasn’t circumcised.

I found out what circumcision was in middle school sex education class and that is when all of us boys figured out what our status was. I think in class only one or two of us boys were uncircumcised.

I was around 4 years old when I first noticed my circumcision scar. I was holding my penis in between my finger and thumb while urinating into the toilet when I noticed it and wondered why it was there as it served no purpose and looked unnatural. I thought it looked like a poop stain so I pinched and rubbed it between my finger and thumb but of course it didn't go away. I found out what circumcision was when I was 11 and a half and took sex ed in middle school. The female teacher(who was around 30) was kind of giggling as she explained it was when the foreskin was snipped off of the penis and a lot of parents have it done to their sons when they are babies. She then clasped her hands in front of her crotch and pursed her lips as she looked at us boys like she was judging our reactions. I remember it felt like my stomach did a back flip and I felt humiliated and enraged. I thought about asking my parents why they had it done to me when I got home but didn't since I knew they would just make excuses. I think circumcision is unethical when you can't give consent.

@sup17 Did you ever discuss the topic with them?

I first learned about circumcision when I was around the age of 12. I actually saw a show on TLC talking about it. That's the first time I understood why I looked different than all my friends. Im uncut and had wondered for awhile why my friends pensises didn't look like mine. I felt alot of shame and embarrassment about it and pretty much hid it from everyone until I was much older

I did with my mother for the first time a year and a half ago when I was about 33. She acted upset at first but then later said it was wrong because I couldn't consent. Also when I was 21 my nephew was born and my older sister brought him from the hospital to our parents house(I was still living there at the time). As my sister put my nephew into the baby crib I was standing in the doorway next to my mom when she started crying and told me he had been circumcised and didn't understand why they have to do it. I just thought to my self "Whelp, its too late now!". Later my dad and I were watching my sister play with my nephew when she randomly brought up how her female homeroom teacher in the 5th grade had gotten aggravated because some of the boys in her class wouldn't stop talking so she said "If you boys don't behave I'm gonna take you out back and circumcise ya!". I was disgusted because my sister was laughing while telling us this story while playing with her son who she just had circumcised. My dad and I just looked at each other but didn't say anything.

I was circumcised as a baby and only about age 12 or 13 I heard from other boys in school what it was. I didn't have any recollections but it was definitely a discovery that I had not been born that way. from the stories other boys said some of them were traumatized by their operation a few had become more curious.

I was circumcised at birth, I can honestly say I didn't know I had been circumcised until I was a adult. I had never looked at other kids penises as a teen even though we showered together everyday in high school.

During a school medical when i was seven, i didnt really understand what was happening at the time but my parent was told by the school doctor that i needed to be circumcised.

Although i realised that something needed to be done, i had no idea at all that this meant going into hospital and having all the skin on the end of my penis cut off. If i had realised and understood this at the time, i would have been even more terrified than i was. A further examination by the family GP recommended waiting and suggested just trying stretching for starters. Several years later i had made a little progress but my foreskin was still very tight and could probably expose about half my glans. I didn't really know what i should look like when i could fully retract. At this time, we started swimming lessons at school and was the first time i had seen any of my friends completely undressed. One of my classmates had been circumcised and this did draw quite a bit of attention form everyone else, curious to what had been done to his penis. Coupled with the fact that one day while we were getting changed, of my friends stood up in the changing room and with everyone watching pulled his skin back to emulate the circumcised guy. From that point on, i knew what it looked like to fully retract and what ultimately was going to happen if my skin remained tight.

@JP1

watching pulled his skin back to emulate the circumcised guy. From that point on, i knew what it looked like to fully retract and what ultimately was going to happen if my skin remained tight.

When you finally found out what it all was about, did you continue your stretching more enthusiastic?

@Acroposthion , Exactly and it gave me a lot more confidence in what i was doing. Watching my classmate pull back all the way took away any of the nerves I had.

I had heard the word “circumcison” in early school years from religious references, but I did not understand what it entailed. I did not see a lot of penises before I was in seventh grade and we started showering after gym class. Before that year, I had had occasional incidents with other boys of “show me yours and I’ll show you mine.” I am circumcised and all the boys I had seen were circumcised also. When I saw the boys in my gym class naked in the showers, I saw only circumcised penises too. It was not until a boy I had known since the fifth grade asked to see my penis, and I agreed if he would show me his too, that I saw one with a foreskin. He was reluctant to show his, but, after he realized he would only see mine if he agreed to show his. Once I saw his, I was really amazed at the huge number of boys who had had their penises altered surgically. I became intrigued by circumcision, and tried to find all the information I could about the procedure.

I found out in a book for children about puberty when I was about 10. All the pictures were cartoons, so I didn't really understand all that well what was being depicted. Sometime later I retracted my foreskin for the first time and I realized what I was looking at. From that moment I was obsessed with the sensation of an exposed glans and for a while I even felt angry that I had not been circumcised as a baby and never told anything about circumcision or foreskin - why was something that felt so amazing kept from me!? I started reading whatever I could find in the library about it, but there was never more explained than it was a routine medical operation and a lot of the material seemed to be tripping over itself to convince the reader that it was no different form being uncircumcised which is, of course, patently false. Anyway, I was already sold 100%. I got the operation as soon as I turned 18, and I've been very happy with my choice and I am also very happy that I was able to make the choice because a lot of people never get an option.

I found out in a book for children about puberty when I was about 10. All the pictures were cartoons, so I didn't really understand all that well what was being depicted. Sometime later I retracted my foreskin for the first time and I realized what I was looking at.

Interestingly I had the opposite issue over here. All of the books we used in school depicted the penis having a foreskin, which is the norm here. I remember first seeing them in Sex Education lessons in school. It was not long after I had been circumcised and I still remember seeing them felt like a punch to the stomach. I hated the reminder that mine was different now.

felt like a punch to the stomach. I hated the reminder that mine was different now.

Sorry to hear that. I hope you find some peace with it.

Sorry to hear that. I hope you find some peace with it.

School was rough, lol, but I learned to be fine with it after leaving. It doesn't bother me any more

@JP1

From that point on, i knew what it looked like to fully retract and what ultimately was going to happen if my skin remained tight.

How old were you when you were first able to fully retract, and what was your reaction on that first occasion? Were you able to bring your foreskin forward again without difficulty, or was the tight skin stuck behind the rim of your glans?

@zarniwoop . I was around 10 when my foreskin finally went all the way back. Cant remember my reaction but it seemed to happen very quicky from being quite tight to fully retracting. It didn't get stuck at all came forward again without trouble. I've been quire surprised as given how bad it was it became very slack and when i pull it back now, it wont stay back without holding it.

I was circumcised at birth, so growing up I didn’t know any better until I was in the locker room at baseball camp the summer after my second grade year. One day in the locker room, I noticed another boy’s (uncircumcised) penis and was confused because it looked pointy and didn’t seem to have a head. I don’t remember exactly how I came to know what caused the difference (which obviously occurred sometime after that point), but I distinctly remember seeing his uncircumcised penis and noting the difference. I even remember his name, which I won’t post.

I just thought it would be interesting to hear from the ladies on this subject.. we all had to find out somewhere along the way....

it seemed to happen very quicky from being quite tight to fully retracting

This is clear evidence that circumcision should never be carried out on young boys just because their foreskin cannot be retracted. In so many cases, it will become retractable later.

I just thought it would be interesting to hear from the ladies on this subject.. we all had to find out somewhere along the way....

@UK_Patient - The wording of the opening post makes this seem to be a thread aimed only at male members, so I don't think you'll find too many women wanting to post on it. If they even read it at all, most will read the opening post, see it isn't for them to answer, and they'll leave it alone.

There seems not to be a thread asking women when they learned about this subject. Perhaps such a thread specially for female members might get a reply or two, as long as male members leave it alone and don't interfere - which we have seen can kill stone dead discussions specifically aimed at women.

My initial exposure to the concept was through church as it's discussed in the Bible and at some point early on a religion teacher would have explained what it was, but I can't say any of those lessons really explained what it would look like. The first time I saw a circumcised penis was at Cub Scout camp, I think the summer before 3rd grade, but that was only a quick glance and I was preoccupied with the concept of group showers (which no one had thought to warn me about ahead of time) so I didn't really understand that that's what mine would have looked like had I been circumcised. My small private school never had us shower or even change clothes for gym class so I never knew what my classmates looked like; it wasn't until high school when I started to stumble across porn that I truly understood the aesthetic difference between a cut and uncut penis (yes, I was sheltered as hell as a kid).