What brings you to this circumcision forum?

Just curious about what others find interesting about circumcision. This is kind of a niche topic, although tangentially related to medical fetish - circumcision is a medical procedure, after all, and exploring some facet of medfet is why we found this corner of the internet. I do think my medical fetish did precede my interest in discussing circumcision, but maybe the two are so intertwined, it's difficult to say for sure.

I'll start - I am American but born quite prematurely. My parents were buried under a mountain of NICU/medical debt and didn't want to destabilize my fragile condition by circumcising me, even though the prevalent advice at the time (and place - Midwest) was definitely to go for it. As a result, I was kept whole and my mother, who is both a neat freak and control freak, would (over)stress penile hygiene. When I got ‘the talk’, I was told in no uncertain terms that my penis could be very unusual to partners, and was offered the chance to get circumcised on my parents' dime to fit in with the rest of the kids. There's more to it than that, but it kept me very self conscious about my penis through adolescence.

For me, I kind of like the thrill of discussing the topic, if and when it's appropriate. Since circumcision is a sensitive topic, yet something embedded in the culture of America, everyone has an opinion on it even if they can't or won't voice it in polite company. I especially enjoy the female perspective, and also the views of those from foreign countries who are less familiar with the American way of doing things.

“When I got ‘the talk’, I was told in no uncertain terms that my penis could be very unusual to partners, and was offered the chance to get circumcised on my parents' dime to fit in with the rest of the kids.”

Obviously, your mother was in favor of it, even implying that not doing it would cause you problems with girls. What made you opt out?

circumcision is a medical procedure, after all,

I think it would be more correct to say that circumcision is a cultural and religious practice.

If not for the 2 religious faiths that require circumcision, only a very small percentage of males would end up being cut. When done for medical reasons, only a very few unlucky fellows end up actually medically needing it. Otherwise it is all about social/religious pressure.

It is mainly in the US that the practice took off for non religious reasons, most likely being the result of stoked-up and overblown fears of boys masturbating, physicians finding it a means to make a quick and easy buck and back in the days of the world wars and universal induction, the military thinking it would help prevent VD and general infections to the genitals.

And all of the above compounded by a puritan society disapproving of sexuality, yet also fascinated by it so much that cutting a penis became a social obsession.

All pretty odd practices and beliefs when one starts to think about it.

And even for medical reasons, it seems that it was and may be still overdone, in the sense of applied to boys with a tight foreskin who suffered no adverse effect from it, a condition that often resolves itself as the boy ages (and masturbates).

I note the following: 40 years ago, physicians would try to force the foreskin back or incite parents to do so, and now they ask the boy to do it. Maybe back then they did not let the boy do it for fear it would be construed as incitement to masturbation?

To go back to the original topic… When I was 6-7, my mother got informed by her sister that my cousin suffered from phimosis, became concerned about me, had a look at my penis, had our doctor look at it, and then for years kept an eye on it. After a series of painful and humiliating attempts by his mother at retracting his foreskin, following doctor's suggestion, my cousin was circumcised and I saw the result, which made a great impression on me. For some years I feared mom would have me done as well: she was a kind of cleanliness maniac.

This started my fascination about the topic. I like seeing the differences in outcomes, for various surgical methods yield different configurations.

….. and back in the days of the world wars and universal induction, the military thinking it would help prevent VD and general infections to the genitals.

There was never “Universal Induction” in the USA at any time. There was a "national mobilization" and compulsory registration for conscription (men only), but never universal induction. My father served in the US Navy in the Second World War but was never circumcised. I find it odd that anyone suggests that the US military practiced involuntary circumcision during that period. It would have been a huge drain on resources, and completely unnecessary. Let's not perpetuate this myth without facts, despite an overwhelming propensity for Europeans to denigrate the US military (Do you speak German? You're welcome.)

@Morty As far as I know, AGracier holds dual US-Belgian citizenship and speaks English and Dutch (more precisely, Flemish).

I did not see many other penises before I was in the seventh grade and every penis I had seen was circumcised. I had heard the term “circumcision,” and knew it was something done to the penis, but I did not understand anything about it technically or anatomically what had been removed. I saw an uncircumcised penis for the first time in seventh grade and the light went on and I understood what had been removed. My fascination with circumcision began then and continues. it is fascinating to me that so many millions of American parents chose to have their sons’ penises altered surgically. I thought as a kid that the circumcised version looked much better than the unaltered one. It was more contoured which showed off the guy’s shape much better and allowed visibility of the glans and meatus which I have always thought were visually erotic. I have also always been intrigued by how much variation there is among circumcision outcomes from one man to another. I have studied the different clamps used for neonatal circumcision and have watched videos of circumcisions being carried out in an effort to understand the variety of circumcision scars and how the scars can be located so differently on the shafts of individual men. I am also interested in seeing the different skin tones on the shaft skin, glans, and skin between the glans and circ scar. I had my interest in medical exams before I became fascinated by circumcision, but that fascination enhanced my love of physical exams.

There was never “Universal Induction” in the USA at any time. There was a "national mobilization" and compulsory registration for conscription (men only), but never universal induction. My father served in the US Navy in the Second World War but was never circumcised.

You're right about the term induction. I should have said registration. But all the same, when growing up it was the expectation of just about all American boys from the 50s and 60s that sooner or later they'd be fighting in WWIII. Wonderful thing to look forward to back then. Vietnam simply turned out to be a war in 'minor' key compared to what was expected.

If you should read Robert Leckie's memoir ‘My Helmet for a Pillow’ about his service in the Pacific in WWII (the series ‘the Pacific’ is based partly on this book), he tells about not being accepted as a volunteer with the US Marines in Dec. 1941 until he got circumcised. He found a doctor (or his family doctor) who did it for free and waived the $100 fee (pretty hefty back then) out of patriotic sentiments.

And there are other books that mention the various degrees that circumcision was mandatory in the US military, with variations between the services, probably with some recruits just falling through the cracks by indefinitely postponing the procedure or working the system in some way or another to get out of it.

an overwhelming propensity for Europeans to denigrate the US military

My American father was torpedoed twice on a convoy run to the Soviet Union in 1942. Sailed elsewhere all over the globe in later years wherever there was a war zone: Korea, Vietnam, Persian Gulf and on runs to Diego Garcia/Okinawa … I was born when he was halfway around the globe sailing between Japan and Korea during the war there.

speaks English and Dutch (more precisely, Flemish).

There is no such language as Flemish. Using the word denotes a political or perhaps a historical cultural aspect. The language is Dutch.

It would like saying that the folks in the Deep South speak ‘Confederate’ or 'Southron'. Or that people in the US speak 'American', but not English. (no jokes about this please … 😃 ) …

I find circumcision interesting for several reasons:

I am circumcised although a minority of men are circumcised in my country. I always looked to see if others were circumcised in shared showers.

I'm gay, so I’m interested in the look of a penis. I prefer circumcised penises.

It relates to medical exams to determine whether the foreskin can be retracted or not, which I find very erotic.

It may be the cause of my medical fetish, even though I was too young to remember.

I may have been traumatized by this operation and it influenced my sex life. I can't verify it since I can't relive my life being intact.

Obviously, your mother was in favor of it, even implying that not doing it would cause you problems with girls. What made you opt out?

My parts worked fine. Fully retractable - since my earliest memories in childhood - and I was in no rush to have sexual activities at the age of 13. I was already kind of on the periphery of social groups anyway, so having my penis diced up to fit in wasn't reason enough.

Although my foreskin retracts and goes back into place easily I have long wished that I’d been circumcised. I’ve found a method for folding my lengthy foreskin in to itself in such a way as to make my penis look as if it has been circumcised.