Hi there,

My name is Peter. I am a Brit living in Germany. I work for a multi-national company near Cologne. As I'm circumcised, I've always been interested in the subject and have always read whatever info I can get on any aspect. Did you know that, according to one book, the Aztecs considered circumcision to be a status symbol? Most books and articles I find are purely factual and don't go into the pros and cons. Articles that do debate the advantages and disadvantages do so in a rational way, leaving the reader to make up his own mind. Until recently, I wasn't aware of the fanatical irrational way that circumcision is viewed by some individuals and groups.

With my interest in the subject it was logical that when I recently got access to the Internet, I grabbed a search engine, typed in 'circumcision' and surfed ... and surfed ... and surfed!!! As someone new to surfing, I was surprised at the amount of information available. But I soon got another surprise: Just about everything was anti. It all told the same story. Circumcision is terrible and every guy who's been circumcised hates it and resents it cos he's been ruined for life. Oh my God, I thought, what the hell is the matter with me? I can't be normal because I've always been very glad to be circumcised!

When I eventually came across this great site I thought hey, maybe I'm not so crazy. There are others who like being circumcised after all. My own experiences are so different to those described on those other sites that I felt I had to write my story that shows, like others here, a positive attitude.

I was circumcised just before I started school at about age 4. My father had been circumcised and my parents wanted me to be too. I believe they didn't have me circumcised earlier because they wanted my foreskin to separate naturally. By the way, the antis reckon it's such a wonderful experience for a young boy to discover that his foreskin retracts. Well, it can't be that great cos I don't remember anything about it.

Almost all of my foreskin was removed. I just have a narrow band between my glans and my cut line. My frenulum was left intact though I believe circumcisions carried out after the neo-natal period normally remove it. I don't know why this wasn't done in my case but it sure doesn't bother me. Although I don't remember the operation itself, I can recall the time right after. I remember having a bandage on my penis and my mother taking it off for me to urinate. I don't remember any pain from that operation nor do I remember any from a completely unrelated operation I had some years later though there must have been some in both cases.

Despite those memories, I didn't actually know I'd been circumcised nor even what circumcision was. I just figured I'd had something wrong with my penis back then which got better. I don't know whether my parents explained anything to me at the time but if they did, I guess I either didn't understand or didn't remember. When I went to primary school I didn't see another boy with a penis like mine, but I don't suppose I saw all the boys in the raw. Did I get teased about being different? Wait a second! One boy had ginger hair, one had a slight stutter, one girl wore glasses. All of us who had anything different to the norm, we got teased about it. Later, the first girl to start to develop a bust really got teased about that. Sure I got some teasing but those others got more than I did cos my 'difference' was mostly out of sight and out of the other kids' minds. The person who can't take being teased at school is going to have a real rough time not just then but later too. You can't go through life without being teased.

A few years later -I guess I was about seven or eight then- I came across the word 'circumcision' that I couldn't pronounce. I asked my father what it was and he told me about circumcision including my own. That's the only time I remember either of my parents talking to me on the subject. I never felt I could talk to them about it either though there were many times when I was growing up, that I wished I could have. My father went on to tell me about penile hygiene for uncircumcised boys. Before that time I hadn't realized that the other boys had something called a foreskin under which they were just like me (or so I thought). I couldn't really imagine it as I had never seen a boy pull back his foreskin. Some time later, while I was still at primary/junior school, I went into the toilet one time to hear a deal of jeering and teasing. With all the commotion, I couldn't help notice that a boy had completely retracted his foreskin to urinate. I thought how strange his glans looked: it was a funny colour, much redder than mine, and the rim was completely flat not flared. But what hit me most was how wet and sticky it was. That was awful. From that moment on I knew I was glad to be circumcised. There was NO WAY I wanted to be like that.

When I went to grammar school I wondered how things would be in my new circle of friends, most of which wouldn't know I'd been circumcised. In the changing room for our first gym class I noticed I wasn't alone. There was another boy who'd been circumcised. Sure, the other boys had a good look and, yeah, we both got teased sometimes. After a football match or a cross-country run our class-mates would often pull at their foreskins on the way back to the showers, specially in summer, even if there were teachers or girls about. I thought that was disgusting but you know what? When they got into the showers, I never saw one of them pull his foreskin back to wash properly. Maybe they were scared of getting an erection that they wouldn't be able to control with their hyper-sensitive glans. Being itchy and unable to wash, then having to sit in class like that for the rest of the day must have been terrible. There was NO WAY I wanted to be like that.

In the fifth year the membership of our little club rose to three when another boy in our class had to be circumcised. No-one knew about it before but we sure did after. He had no regrets and found it much more comfortable. Of course he got a bit of teasing too but so what? This teasing thing has been blown out of proportion by the 'anti' groups. I just don't get it cos most of those groups are in North America where the circumcision rate is much higher than in Europe. If there's more cut guys in a class, then being cut can't be so different, so there must be less teasing than here. If that's so, there can't be enough to use it as an argument against circumcision.

By the way, another argument the 'antis' use is that if you're circumcised riding a bike is somewhere between very uncomfortable and so painful that it's impossible. Taking a paper round, they say, is out of the question. Huh? I rode a tricycle as a young kid. That didn't change when I was circumcised. Later I got a regular bike and I've cycled ever since. During my years at grammar school I cycled several miles most days. During that period I obviously went through puberty. I'm here to tell you that I've never had any discomfort, chaffing or any of that stuff so in my book that's yet another argument that just doesn't hold water.

Then I had my first close encounter of the sexual kind. I was nervous as hell wondering what she was going to make of my trimmed penis. She pulled, expecting to pull my foreskin up (I remember that hurt just a little). Of course she couldn't so she instantly realized that I'm circumcised. I shouldn't have worried about her reaction. Far from being turned off, she was intrigued and wanted to know all about it as I was the first circumcised guy she'd been with. I was later to discover that this is the usual reaction here. I find it quite a turn-on actually! I guess you don't get that reaction where circumcision is more common (eg the US). Showing a woman a different technique for foreplay is another turn-on for me.

The girl who later became my first wife (I'll call her 'Jane') also said I was the first circumcised guy she'd met but she preferred it. What about all the terrible problems a circumcised man and his partner are supposed to have with sex? If you believe the 'antis' It's painful for her and unsatisfying for you isn't it? Well sorry guys, that's another story that is so different to my experience. Jane and I never had any problem or any need to use a lubricant. In fact it was her who introduced me to American Tips.

[I'll take a time-out to explain what these are because I guess they are called something different in the US. I don't think many people in Europe know what they are either: They are short condoms for circumcised men only. They've got a tight rim that fits behind the rim of the glans. Only the glans is covered, the rest of the penis remains uncovered. Unlike regular condoms, they are not lubricated.]

We both loved to use these when Jane wasn't on the pill cos they meant that we were really in contact with each other during sex. Yes, OK, there were a couple of times when she asked me not to thrust too much at first but that's a long way from being sore every time. Sure I could have used a lubricant (it might have been fun actually!) but neither of us ever found it necessary.

My sex-life with Jane was great, just like with my earlier and later partners. Our eventual break-up had nothing to do with me being circumcised. I find sex an incredibly intense experience. Sure it would be different if I wasn't circumcised, but better? -I can't imagine it! When my penis is flaccid, I'm sure my glans is not so sensitive as an uncut guy's but that changes when I get an erection and the skin stretches and gets wet. Then the increase in sensitivity is dramatic. Maybe my glans would be even more sensitive if I had a foreskin but I wouldn't want any more sensitivity during sex. I just wouldn't be able to control myself. The analogy the 'antis' use about colour-blindness just can't be taken seriously. And here's another thought for them. I recently read a letter to a cyber agony aunt from a guy who reckoned he didn't experience enough sensation during sex. He asked whether this might be cos he hadn't been circumcised!

I've never had sex with a woman who had any previous experience of circumcised men though some know more about circumcision than others. Each initial encounter has been like that first one way back. The uncomfortable pull followed first by instant realization then by intrigue, discussion and me showing a new technique. It's great!

My present wife also likes me being circumcised and again, neither of us have any problems at all with me being cut. My circumcised colleagues that I know well enough to ask, say their wives prefer it too. One of them who's Irish is married to a nurse. One evening when my wife and I were out with the two of them, my colleague's wife said very enthusiastically that she prefers circumcised men.

So much for sex. What's about the hygiene aspect? The 'antis' say that proper attention to hygiene is an adequate and preferable alternative to circumcision. Well, I'm not convinced but anyways how many uncut guys know anything about keeping their penis clean? I'm always having to watch uncircumcised colleagues pulling or tweaking their penis. This includes my superiors and happens all the time, not just when it's warm. I think it's disgusting and I sure find it difficult to respect a Director who walks across the office doing it. In our section there's this one guy who's always pulling his penis. I guess he does it dozens of times a day regardless of anything. I mean he does in front of female colleagues and even female clients. He does it in the canteen -Gee, that's great when I'm eating! It's no wonder really. I've seen him in the locker room and he has just the tightest foreskin I've ever seen with such a small opening. I don't get how he could pull it back so how's he supposed to keep it clean? I often wonder what sex must be like for him and his wife, who I know. I just don't understand why anyone would want to go through life like that when a quick circumcision would instantly solve his comfort, hygiene and sex problems. There is NO WAY I would want to be like that.

There's another colleague, a Frenchman, who 'tweaks' sometimes too but with him there's something even worse. If I'm in the toilet at the same time as him he makes me feel sick. He stands there moving his foreskin backwards and forwards. Yeah I know, most uncut guys do that so what's so bad about it? The revolting 'slurping' sound that accompanies it that's what! If he's that messy, why doesn't he discretely go into a cubicle and make use of some toilet paper? Again why would anyone choose to put up with that when a simple circumcision would cure it for ever? There is NO WAY I would want to be like that.

Obvious discomfort and itching isn't confined to my colleagues, I see it down town and everywhere. On a Mediterranean beach once I saw a boy pull his foreskin back. You often see real young boys do that but this one was old enough to know better. When his mother realized, she told him to put it forward. When he didn't she kind of brushed it back into place. Rather her than me, it was real messy under there! There is NO WAY I would want to be like that. I see boys and men of all ages and in any situation tweaking as I call it. To me it's just so anti-social. Anyone who can't or won't keep himself clean enough to avoid it should go get himself circumcised.

All that stuff makes me realize how lucky I am to be circumcised. I'm always dry and comfortable whatever the weather and however energetic I get. And that's without having to pay any particular attention to my penis several times a day. Although tweaking doesn't seem to bother other guys, I'd be so embarrassed and ashamed if I had to do it in public. I'm sure my wife would be too.

Now what's about the so-called 'locker-room syndrome' in adult life? Well, after sport I'm in there with the other guys. I also often go to the sauna where by the way, in Continental Europe you're all completely in the raw. And on holiday I always go find the nudist beaches. I have no problem in any of those situations though I'm sometimes the only cut guy around. Yeah, sometimes someone looks at my penis but I notice that some people look at everyone's penis, so it's not just cos I'm cut. There was one time though, in a sauna in Switzerland. I noticed one guy taking a real interest in my penis but it didn't really bother me, why should it?. When the sauna had cleared out and he and I were the only ones left, he started to speak to me. He said his foreskin was tight and that he'd been thinking about getting circumcised for ages but was a bit apprehensive. He asked me lots of questions and I told him all I could. He said he felt much happier and would think about it some more. I wish I'd gotten his address. I'd like to know whether he did go get circumcised.

You'll have figured that I'm very grateful to my parents for having me circumcised. I just wish they had talked to me about it sometimes. If I ever have a son I'll definitely want him to have all the advantages of circumcision like me but I'll talk to him. For one thing I'll make sure that before he goes to school he knows he's going to be different to most of his class-mates and why. I'll also let him know he can talk to me about it at any time. Later, when I tell him about the facts of life, I'll tell him that most girls prefer us cut guys. I'd like to have had those reassurances while I was growing up but even without them I sure have always been "glad to be circumcised".

A footnote: While I've been writing this, I've sometimes gazed out of my study window as if looking for inspiration on how best to formulate a particular point. Doing this I've realized that the oil lamp on my windowsill needs a clean. If a genie jumps out when I rub it and says "Oh Master, I can grant you any wish. Maybe you'd like to be uncircumcised?", my immediate reply would be "If that's the best you can offer, get back in your lamp!". There's NO WAY I would want to be like that!

Email Pete E-mail address: peter_cologne@hotmail.com