Circumcision - A Mother's Regret

Chelo Jacobs recounts the events around her son's circumcision; how it led to her understanding of the issue and her intactivism.

Why do/did you have foreskin?

The foreskin occupies a prominent position on an important organ. The foreskins location and structure indicate that it is the most important sensory tissue of the penis. Its persistence over millions of years suggests that it has played a role in the propagation of the species.

A well-integrated organ

Structurally, the penis is highly integrated. The glans, foreskin and skin of the penile shaft function as a single unit, not as a collection of separate parts with entirely different functions. The functions of the glans and foreskin are similar, and overlapping, but come fully into their own at different times during intercourse.

Simple sensations

The outer surface of the foreskin is specialized to detect feather-light touch and other sensations, including painful ones. The infamous zipper injury is an extreme example of the sort of damage the outer skin was designed to detect and prevent, long before the zipper posed a threat to the uninitiated.

Compared with the true (outer) skin of the foreskin, the glans is only feebly sensitive to light touch, pain, heat and cold. This is part of the reason we call the foreskin the primary sensory tissue of the penis. Without the foreskin, the end of the penis is numb to a host of sensations that tell the owner whether one of his most prized organs is in good company, or should move to safety.

Complex sensations

Thanks to its ridged band, the inner lining of the foreskin is specialized sexual tissue. The ridged band readily expands and contracts and is obviously designed to detect stretching forces. When penile shaft skin tugs on the ridged band, special genital corpuscles in the peaks of the ridges detect movement and trigger ejaculation. Stretching of the ridged band may also trigger and sustain erection.

Electrical stimulation of the glans triggers nerve impulses that pass to the spinal cord and then to the muscle of ejaculation. Clearly the glans has much in common with the foreskin. Where foreskin and glans part company, functionally as well as physically, is in their sensitivity to light touch, pain and heat and cold. Contrary to common opinion, the glans is not highly sensitive to a broad range of stimuli.

Foreskin vs. glans

It is unclear whether the ridged band simply plays backup for the glans, or whether the two have different functions. The location of the retracted ridged band on the erect penile shaft suggests that the difference is one of timing. Possibly, the foreskin and its ridged band are designed to ensure that sexual reflexes are triggered when, and only when, these structures are stretched during intercourse. The biological importance of the ridged band to conception is self-evident, but there is still a major gap in our understanding of the relation between form and function of the penis.

Dartos muscle

Penile skin has two important characteristics, apparent only on erection. Firstly penile skin tenses, stiffens and shortens, firming up the connection between shaft skin and ridged band. This change allows for the transmission of movement from the base of the erect penis to the ridged band.

Secondly, penile skin undergoes a marked frictional change, brought about by stiff, forward-pointing skin folds. The mechanism is similar to that which raises goosebumps.

The changes in penile skin are brought about by contraction of the Dartos muscle. Between them, stiffening and frictionality ensure that the ridged band is instantly alerted to changes in position of the penis within the vagina.

Why two layers?

The double-layering of the foreskin allows the delicate ridged band, which normally is safely hidden from view, to be deployed on the upper surface of the penile shaft during erection. There it stands a better chance of being activated. Double-layering also eases vaginal entry by offsetting the frictional resistance of erect shaft skin.

Summary

The various parts of the penis, including the foreskin, form a functional whole. The foreskin is the primary sensory tissue of the penis. The ridged band of the foreskin is built to trigger orgasm and ejaculation.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• infant
• circumcision
• foreskin
• penis
• clitoris
• labia
• vagina
• genital
• integrity
• sexual
• mutilation
• mothering
• bonding
• intactivist
• human
• rights

[SufferinSuccotash89]

Being circumcised is awesome. I don't know why so many people are so desperate to convince me otherwise by exaggerating the truth or just lying. Haven't they got anything better to do?

[Bonobo3D]

@SufferinSuccotash89 What do you think is so awesome about having less penis?

[SufferinSuccotash89]

@Bonobo3D Lots of things. I can pee with my hands behind my head like an ape man, I don't have to worry about penis cheese, my girlfriend whom I am very much in love with prefers circumcised men. Apparently I've lost a small amount of sensitivity, which is possibly why I can pleasure my girlfriend so well. It's just all round awesome.

[Bonobo3D]

@SufferinSuccotash89 Having the movable and protective part of your penis gone may seem "awesome" while you are young, dumb and full of cum, but the cumulative negative effects of this sexually diminishing surgery will be more apparent as you age. Many of us who were cut as infants struggle to orgasm after the age of fifty.

[Kdanc86]

I was circumsized when I was thirteen and I wish that I wasnt. The foreskin would not retract so it was removed. I wish that it didnt need to be done because I have lost a lot of sensation compared to what I had before. You owe it to your son not to diminish his right to enjoy sex to the full. If it is not right to do it to a female then it is not right to do it to a male.

[Bonobo3D]

@Kdanc86 I'm sorry to hear of your sadness about being cut. If the foreskin doesn't retract it can be gently, manually stretched over time to do so. Circumcision should only be a last resort, not the first thing done. It's too bad you were not given that option.

[Bonobo3D]

@GuysSeriously I think you misunderstand, this is an issue of human rights, body autonomy and self determination.

[JohnHasSeriousQ]

This lady's story of how her baby had this "look of terror and betrayal in his eyes" after circumcision should be enough to convince a parent today to reject having routine circumcisions done on infants.

If it is not enough to convince you, consider the number one reason to not circumcise an infant: IT'S NOT YOUR DICK!

If I were to say that parents should have their tongues cut out of their heads for circumcising infants you would call me mad!

It's OK to get mad about genital integrity!

[S0Iari]

It's certainly not an easy thing to talk about but I remember being circumcised, it was just a very scary experience and never really felt happy with the circumcision... i remember as a kid just wondering why I wasn't good enough for my parents, why they felt the need to alter me with cosmetic surgery... unfortunately my mom died before I could bring myself to talk to her about why it was done... but in any case I am trying to restore now and hope to try to reclaim what was stolen from me.

[Pastor9764]

@SufferinSuccotash89 We're trying to educate people who are in denial about male genital mutilation. That feeling of being "put down" which you may experience, that's just reality beginning to seep through your deeply ingrained wall of denial.

[1SlapHappy1]

@SufferinSuccotash89 And the issue is prenatal circumcision does NOT give everyone their own choice. It's a human rights violation and child abuse. The lack of education on the topic in America is absolutely disgusting.

[1SlapHappy1]

@SufferinSuccotash89 Because accusing people of exaggerating or "just lying" is an argument from ignorance, dude. The things people say against circumcision (e.g. it decreases sensitivity and pleasure, it turns the glans into an external organ when it's meant to be an internal one and hardens it thusly, it serves no purpose at all) are all medical FACTS that can be confirmed simply by using Google.

You should be happy with yourself, but these aren't "lies" I'm afraid. They're factual.

[SufferinSuccotash89]

@DetestableCrabmeat Actually lots of "intactivists" are putting down happily circumcised people, it's incredibly childish.

[SufferinSuccotash89]

@1SlapHappy1 ....Well that's fair enough, everyone has their own choice. Not sure why exactly you felt compelled to speak with me personally about this.... I'm also not sure where you got the idea that circumcised penis' are colourless...very strange.

[1SlapHappy1]

@SufferinSuccotash89

I'm a woman. Super pleasurable easy-glide action, healthy colour, and more to play with > Boring, less-sensitive, colourless meat pole. SOOOOORRY. ):

[DetestableCrabmeat]

@SufferinSuccotash89 Nobody's putting down happy circumcised folks, but there are plenty of folks who aren't as lucky as you or your dad who aren't happy that they were circumcised and wish the choice had been left to them. That's all it's ever been about: allowing the person to whom the penis is attached the choice to do what they want with it.

[SufferinSuccotash89]

@Bonobo3D Many who are uncut also struggle to orgasm or even get it up before and after the age of 50. My dad is circumcised, and much to my dismay I can hear that his junk is working all too well, he's over 50. I am young and full of cum, but I'm certainly not dumb, and it is sad that the vast majority of circumcised people (the happily circumcised ones, that don't get any out of the ordinary problems with their sex life) are dismissed as cretins for being happy.