Just to set the stage: this is addressing male infant “circumcision” and not “circumcision” at later ages or “circumcision” of females.
As evidenced by the number of men restoring their foreskin, they must believe that there are problems that they have been experiencing in life due to it being removed from them early in life. Or, is it just a fad? Is it just fetishizing foreskin that leads these men to this? Are these men misled? Do they simply believe that they’ve been having problems because they were told about the anatomy and functions of the foreskin?
There are a number of studies and articles on GALDEF’s resources for attorneys page that support the idea that it definitely can:
- Hammond 1999
- Hammond and Carmack 2017
- Hammond, Sardi, Jellison, et al 2023
- Özer, Mokkens, Timmerman (comments on Hammond, Sardi, et al) 2023
- Uberoi et al 2022
- Tye and Sardi 2022
- Miani 2020
- Sorrells 2007
- Taylor 1996
- Cold 1999
- Earp Sex and Circ 2017
- Earp Infant circumcision and adult penile sensitivity: implications for sexual experience 2016
There are also a number of published books, websites and internet forums where men explain the ways they feel that they have problems due to the surgery. Instead of making this page long and boring for you, here is a short list of some of what some of these men complain about:
- Lack of skin mobility during erections. This may be something that is desired because you might want friction. The thing is: intact men can get control the amount of friction by holding their skin down while those who received a tight cut cannot.
- Penoscrotal webbing (also called webbed penis). This may be rare, but, again, do men know that they have this? And, it’s a matter of degree. For some men this is extreme and others it is mild.
- Lack of lubrication. Terms like “cheese” and “smegma” are often used as a derogatory term by those who attempt to define. For those who seriously consider this, they wish that they had this lubrication.
- Lack of sensitivity. While some think of their penis as too sensitive and couldn’t imagine it being more sensitive, some men complain about numbness of certain areas of their penis. This may be due to several factors including the type of “circumcision” and amount of time that has gone by. Besides, it’s not just lack of sensitivity of what is left, but lack of sensitive/erogenous tissue because it was removed.
- Curvatures and craning. If the cut is not perfectly square (carpenters and engineers would understand), the leftover skin may be too tight on one side of the penis and cause curvature or craning to occur during erections.
- Psychological. Some believe that, since people cannot remember what happened to them as a newborn that there could not possibly be psychological effects. There are two ways that one can be affected: 1. by the trauma of the procedure, 2. by the trauma of discovering the ways that one is harmed. Look at the Miani 2020 study and the book “Circumcision: The Hidden Trauma” for better understanding of the first way. The second should not require any special study as the effects of adulthood trauma are well understood. The second can be exacerbated when the victim is gaslit by family, peers, etc.
Another question you may ask is: “how often do these problems arise?” The answer is “we do not know.” And, when I state “we,” I mean humanity. You have to consider the context. Men are most often “circumcised” as newborn babies. Thus, men have no frame of reference, meaning that they do not know if they have been experiencing problems; they may believe that their experiences are normal. They are unlikely to investigate to find out how their experiences with their genitalia compare to those who were not “circumcised.” And there are obviously many reasons for this.
Circular flowchart demonstrating why men do not speak out about circumcision
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