Sex Column: ‘It was like a shar pei’

I saw a post on MRU Confessions last year that said something to the effect of, “Ladieees! What do you think of uncircumcised penises? So gross, am I right??” After un-liking the page, I got to thinking about the difference between circumcised and not, and why one might be seen as more preferable.

In case you aren’t aware, circumcision is the surgical removal of the foreskin, the tissue covering the head of the penis. This is often done to newborn babies, with the reason that the baby won’t remember this painful event — and it is simply easier to do to a newborn. According to WebMD it takes ten minutes to perform a circumcision on a newborn where adult circumcision takes roughly one painful hour.

Have you ever wondered what the difference between circumcised and uncircumcised really is? Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

Circumcision began as a religious practice by Muslim and Jewish traditions, and is still practiced today for that reason. However, it is also practiced for non-religious reasons as well.

The most cited reasons are: circumcised penises are cleaner, a person with a circumcised penis is less likely to get STIs, and they are more aesthetically pleasing.

The first point may have some merit, but really all you have to do is push the foreskin back to give your dick a thorough cleaning, so cutting off the foreskin for purposes of cleanliness seems a tad extreme.

The STI thing is a bit fuzzier. Studies have claimed that those who are uncircumcised are more likely to contract STIs, where other studies have claimed the opposite: the little penis hood (aka foreskin) actually protects against STIs. Well this one is still up in the air; foreskin or not, condoms will protect you from STIs. Boom, problem solved.

Circumcision is pretty prevalent in Canada. According to a 2006/2007 survey 31.9 per cent of baby boys were reported as being circumcised. That may not seem like a lot, but it’s nearly double the rate of many European countries. It is because of this prevalence that I think the idea of an uncircumcised penis becomes strange to a lot of people.

I have heard many people say that uncircumcised penises are “gross looking.” To which I laugh because these people may have had sex with an uncircumcised person and not even realize it.

When an uncircumcised penis is flaccid you can see the foreskin going over the hood of the penis, but when erect the foreskin retracts and it’s difficult to tell that the penis is uncircumcised at all.

Prior to becoming sexually active, most people don’t see a lot of penises in their life. Even if you watch a lot of porn the dicks are almost always already hard and then you can’t really tell either way. It’s because of this that I think many people imagine an uncircumcised dick as being abnormal. If you do a quick Google search you’ll see that it’s really not a big deal.

It is a big deal though for an uncircumcised guy who hears uncircumcised dicks being bashed. Surprise to no one: The penis is a pretty big deal for any guy, and how they feel about their friend down below can influence their self-esteem.

Everyone has preferences and if you prefer your penises one way or the other so be it, but it seems like a pretty silly deal breaker to me. Let’s be real, flaccid dicks don’t look that appealing to begin with, a little extra skin isn’t a big deal. Rock hard dicks for the win!

By now you’re probably thinking that I am completely anti-circumcision, which isn’t true. All dicks are beautiful, circumcised or not. Ultimately it should be up to the person as to whether they want to get circumcised or not. Unfortunately as mentioned above, many are not given a choice as they’re circumcised when they’re just a few days old. This doesn’t seem entirely ethical to me, although I do give the parents the benefit of the doubt that they’re doing what they think is best for their child.