When you were a kid, how did you learn the difference between circumcised and non-circumcised boys?

I grew up seeing an uncircumcised penis. My father was uncircumcised, and, as he explained to me, this is the reason why I am circumcised. As I have noted in previous posts, I grew up in a house with one bathtub. My dad and I took baths together until we couldn't fit in the tub together. He always said that he wanted me circumcised so I would not have to deal with the cleaning, etc. In this thread of comments, I saw something to the effect of an uncircumcised penis looking "like an old man's" penis. In hindsight, I also think this was what he was saying. Dad always talked about the modern world and the wonderful changes that I would see.

he goes out and I hear him tell God, his mom, and the ENTIRE LOBBY: 'HEY MOOOOM, THERE'S A MAN IN THE BATHROOM WITH SKIN ALL OVER THE END OF HIS THING!!!!!!!' Dear lord, was that embarrassing.

I guess I must have gown up in some kind of magically protected bubble in New Jersey in the late 50s-60s. I am uncut and even when swimming naked at the local Y, I cannot remember anyone ever making any kind of comment on my status. Not a snicker or a laugh or whatever ...

Maybe I have a bad memory, but not I think for this sort of thing.

What really amazes me is when people say they discovered that in locker rooms.

When I was a kid, we changed in common rooms when going to the swimming pool with the school, so we saw many other boys naked, but I would never have looked much at their willies.

Ok with adolescent penises, which are more prominent, the difference can perhaps be seen more easily but I have no remembrance of looking at other boys' penises and noticing who was circumcised and who was not. Furthermore anything more than a furtive glance would have likely be considered "gay".

We limited the amount of time without swimming suit or briefs.

(In my case: I compared wee-wees with a cousin my age who had been circumcised when he was 6, sheer curiosity on both parts.)

My dad is circumcised - I'm not. When I was little, I asked him about the difference. He explained to me that the foreskin needs to be cut when it cannot be withdrawn. Luckily I didn't have that problem!

When I was in second grade, my teacher read a book to the class that explained the differences between the bodies of boys and girls. There was an illustration that showed two boys standing side by side, one circumcised, the other not.

When There was an illustration that showed two boys standing side by side, one circumcised, the other not.

Was the correct medical terminology used? Those are complicated concepts and terminology for second graders. Was the fact that it is a surgical procedure explained? Very impressive in my opinion.

My family practiced an open family environment, our entire family nude most of the time. Our parents had pool parties that were clothing optional, and I saw various relatives nude. I quickly learned about circumcision. A benefit of our parties was that the other kids saw me and my father, both uncut, and got a better understanding of the male genitalia.

Was the correct medical terminology used? Those are complicated concepts and terminology for second graders. Was the fact that it is a surgical procedure explained? Very impressive in my opinion.

I don't remember how circumcision was explained, but I know the terms "penis" and "vagina" were used when describing the differences in anatomy.

This was at a private Christian school so there was obviously more leniency with the teaching materials that could be used. My guess is that consent was received from the parents prior to using this book, but my parents would have been fine with it either way.

This was at a private Christian school so there was obviously more leniency with the teaching materials that could be used.

You probably mean 'more leeway'... but whatever, I understand what you meant. ... 😃

Though I do find it hard to believe that a private Christian school would practice a more open and progressive policy on such matters. Usually religious based schools are anything but ...

I'm uncircumcised, but on various times I'd see my older cousins would be naked some cut others uncut. Being the youngest boy, I figured the difference was due to being older and having bigger dicks.

In school, I grew up in an area in the Northeast of the U.S. between two major cities. The area was a "melting-pot" : rural and suburbs areas, 3 military bases, multi-ethic customs. Nobody ever made fun you because of the way your penis looked. You would never look at another boy's penis on purpose but occasionally in the bathroom, locker room & showers you see someone's penis. It really was not until 7th grade that it was explained the difference between a circumcised an uncircumcised penis. My school had the "boy's only" health class which cover all the changes during puberty. Some of the topics: being either cut or uncut, keep your penis clean, some sex topics. I know it surprised me & another's while some of us weren't circumcised as a baby that sometimes health issues in older boys may require to be circumcised. It turned out my friend, told the class how he was recently circumcised because of issues health. He (friend) never got embarrassed about anything, he stood up unzipped his jeans pulled his dick out to show the class. That was the first time I ever on purpose looked at another guy's dick.

The only time anyone made any type of comment about the fact I was not circumcised was college. My roommate was from a northern Midwestern state, I lived in the Northeast and both attending a Southern state college. I just came back from the shower and was getting dress when he said something about having a foreskin. He told me that where he lived 99.9% of guys are circumcised shorty after being born. Honestly, I was surprising and weird having another guy comment on your penis.

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It turned out my friend, told the class how he was recently circumcised because of issues health. He (friend) never got embarrassed about anything, he stood up unzipped his jeans pulled his dick out to show the class.

Your friend simply whipped it out in class for everyone to see? Really? Wow. Brave kid if it's true.

Yes, it is true. Like I mentioned before nothing embrassed this kid if it involved his penis and anything sexual. Just "whipped" his dick out in the middle of that health class. He really liked to "show off" his dick and balls in the locker room and dare you to compare dicks. His "new & older friends" would have "circle jerks" parties, drink/ drugs and sex in the woods. We did not hang out much together by the time we reached high school. He was a very unusual guy.

My dad has been circumcised due to childhood phimosis. Of course I noticed the difference and asked him why his penis looked different. He then explained to me that he couldn’t retract his foreskin as a young boy and therefore needed to be cut.

It was my father that explained the difference between my penis and his. I am circumcised ... while my father is not. With the 7th grade came mandatory gym showers along with the "boys only" health class discussions/videos. Looking back, I would say that 80% if my classmates were circumcised. This time (7th grade) was around 1972-1973, and we all donned a jockstrap and proudly displayed natural body and pubic hair ... some more than others! 😉

First time was during pediatric examinations, doctor explained my penis should be treated with circumcision. At that time I was not clear exactly what he intended. Medical therapy treated my phimosis so I was not circumised. I was clear what circumcision is only some years later when I saw a circumcision illustration in a medical book.

I think I was a freshmen in high school and figured it out in the showers. All the white boys were cut but a few of the minority guys weren't. Culture shocker.

My mother explained it to me before I started school so in case I saw a cut one I would know why we didn't look the same. That would have been back in 1945 or earlier as I began 1st grade in September of '45. I grew up thinking all guys could retract their foreskin because my mother always retracted mine to wash it from as far back as I can remember. She told me the doctor asked her if she wanted me cut and she declined so he told her she would have to retract it at bath time to wash under it. I was quite surprised learning via the internet that many boys cannot retract until they are teenagers.

The first time I saw and handled a cut penis was when I was about 12 or 13 when I went with some new guys I played with to visit one of their buddies who was sick. They decided it would make him feel better if they masturbated him. They, including me, formed a line and took turns pumping him until he came. I got to the back of the line hoping it would be over before it was my turn. When I reached the head of the line I found his head was exposed so I tried to not touch it because I knew how sensitive mine was. He WANTED me to touch it and insisted that I get a good grip on it while dry rubbing it. When our leader told me to swap with the guy behind me I was relieved that my turn was over and I was lucky that he came before I reached the front again. That didn't last though because soon after that we all got together to do each other ---- often.

I would guess about half the guys I knew in school were cut and there was no joking about being either way.

Not long after my mother explained it to me the two neighbor girls decided they wanted to see the "bat & two balls" one of their brothers said boys have. It was 2 against 1 so I was a goner. The one with brothers remarked that mine didn't look like theirs so I pulled the foreskin back and she said "now it does". So I guess her brothers were cut. She was very fascinated by mine and what happened when she retracted it (erection) really interested her and she wanted to make it do that whenever she thought of it for the next couple years. I didn't stop her because it felt good having her touch and peel it. I didn't learn about masturbation for a few more years but there was definitely something about a girl's touch. I don't remember the glans being very sensitive back then but it certainly was several years later. By my late 20s it was so sensitive I had to desensitize it.

Middle school locker room in 7th grade was the first time I remember noticing.

I learnt the difference by being circumcised age 6, or i suppose fully when it was explained to me a month or so later by the older brother of my friends

For me, my father and pediatrician explained it but mostly evolved around retracting my foreskin & cleanliness of my penis. Almost as side note that not all boys had a foreskin. I realize the difference from being at school other boys whose penis looked different from mine. The schools that I went to had,a fair number of uncircumcised boys. I lived an area with 2 military bases and a large number of boys were born outside the U.S. and circumcision wasn’t preformed on the majority of baby boys.

In 7th grade, came health class for just “ boys only” included book, pamphlets and lots of videos. I remember many of my friends were kind of shocked watching the videos on how a circumcision preformed. While the class was discussing being “cut or uncut” my friend informed everyone that he had been circumcised recently. He told the class the whole story from the beginning to the day he was circumcised. Naturally, the first few days were uncomfortable but the most annoying was his penis rubbing against his underwear.

My father and younger brothers were not circumcised, and my first boyfriend either, so when I met my husband I was shocked , had no idea what the hell he did to it!! Wish I had known before that, made for funny story later on.

I grew up in small-town Colorado, a segregationist community where the only minorities were Hispanics. I went to grade school with a lot of Hispanics. They were uncut, the white kids were nearly all cut. I stood by a few classmates at a urinal and remember being intrigued by them not having a bare glans, just all this skin drooping over and the piss emerging through that. When I got out of fourth grade, my dad, a farmer, hired a large family of migrant laborers who came over each summer, and I became friends with a couple of sons my age. We always peed together in the outhouse that was their toilet. I saw their extra skin, too, so I finally peeled the skin back and only then saw how it resembled mine ("Yeah, it's purple just like mine and has a hole at the end").

It wasn't till my late twenties when I moved to the northwest that I got to see a more diverse population. after my first year I suffered a really bad orthopedic injury and had to take water therapy for it, and only then that I began seeing more white guys with foreskins--including some fathers my age who had young sons whom they left intact.

Until I was ten years old, I thought that I was born with a circumcised penis. My Dad, my friends, my cousins, all of the boys that I took swimming lessons with at the Y, etc were circumcised. In 5th grade we did a unit on sex education and it included a lecture on circumcision. I remember seeing a picture showing a circumcised male standing next to an uncircumcised male in the textbook, and that was the first time I had ever seen an image of a penis with a foreskin. It would be another two years until I actually saw an uncircumcised penis live and in person. I was in 7th grade and we were doing swimming in PE. This Indian boy named Ramesh was changing out of his swim suit right behind me and I was admiring his bottom. Ramesh turned around to grab a towel and I saw that his penis had a foreskin.

I grew up in the UK in the 1950s and 60s. It wasn't until we had our first school showers at 11 that I saw a boy without a foreskin. Out of about 20 of us in the showers, 2 or 3 of the boys were circumcised. I didn't discuss it with anyone else but I thought they looked strange. At that time, my own foreskin didn't retract so I didn't realise what boys looked like under that skin!

I was almost 40 before I saw my first uncut cock live. I had seen photos before but prior to my divorce all of the penises I had met in person had been circumcised. I’ve got to say I wasn’t a fan of the foreskin first time I encountered it. I prefer my pencils sharpened.

I grew up in a small, rural community. I saw all the guys in the shower after PE class. It seems like all of the Catholic guys were uncircumcised and the rest of them were circumcised. I was circumcised myself and those uncut dudes looked sort of funny. I have no regrets being circumcised at a young age. Hells bells...............I don't even remember it..................

First saw an uncircumcised penis in day camp back when I was little. It looked like some kind of worm or hagfish, it was very unsettling. I had no idea that for a few days after I was born, I had a foreskin just like that kid.

I’ll never know what mine looked like. It’s surreal to think that I actually had one, to know that at one time, my penis looked very different from how I always knew it to be.

those uncut dudes looked sort of funny. ...

I have always found there was something unseemingly wrong with a circumcised penis, as if the tip were infected or red and bulbous from an insect bite for instance (or whacked on by a hammer or something). External body parts were just not meant to be exposed in that manner and skin coloring was meant to be even, not a sudden deep red or purple.

There was something discordant about the look. It was so obvious there had been an alteration made to a normal body configuration.

External body parts were just not meant to be exposed in that manner

I completely agree, however, to my perception, this is what makes the practice of routine circumcision so intriguing. The way I see it is that when an uncircumcised man becomes erect, often the foreskin will naturally retract so that the head is exposed. In other words, penis erect, foreskin retracted, glans bared is the “ready for sex” state. It is as though when a penis is circumcised it is in the “sex ready” state at all times.

It is as though when a penis is circumcised it is in the “sex ready” state at all times.

Yes there is something to that, one could indeed say that about a circumcised penis - which is really not very flattering when all is said and done.

All of this makes the practice all the more bewildering - if not downright hypocritical - since it seems that social (and religious) groups tending towards the more puritanical mindset seem to embrace the practice rather fanatically/wholeheartedly without really thinking through the social implications of what circumcision really says and conveys as a mindset and group imperative.