Chris, 70 - California, USA
Where were you born?
British Raj, India.
When did you first become aware of circumcision?
I was about 8 or 9, in a swimming pool changing room. A friend of my dad's was showering with me and he showed me that his cock was different, it had a sliding hood, and he explained that my sliding hood had been cut off. We were still living in the Raj (India – my dad was a colonial administrator) and the town swimming pool was still “Europeans only”. In those days the men’s changing room was just that – a room; a row of hooks at one end and a row of shower heads at the other. My dad’s friend, who was Australian, and I went in together. He stripped off first, walked to the showers and I followed. He had been teaching me to swim that day. When he turned around I noticed his penis was different. He pulled back his foreskin to soap his head. I had seen his son skinny dipping and knew his son’s dick was like his, but at that time I had no idea what the difference was, just that it was different. He used the phrase “slippy hood”, which certainly made sense to me. He told me that I had been born with a slippy hood, but that it had been cut off to help keep me clean and healthy. I didn’t know the words “foreskin” or “circumcision” either. For many years that’s what I called a foreskin and sometimes a “smelly slippy hood”.
Are any members of your immediate family circumcised?
Dad and all my younger brothers - we are a circumcised family. I was circumcised with a mogen clamp, the tell tale V-shaped scar on the underside, next two brothers were gomcoed and the youngest was plastibelled. I can remember him coming home from the hospital with a plastic ring on his penis.
British Raj, India.
When did you first become aware of circumcision?
I was about 8 or 9, in a swimming pool changing room. A friend of my dad's was showering with me and he showed me that his cock was different, it had a sliding hood, and he explained that my sliding hood had been cut off. We were still living in the Raj (India – my dad was a colonial administrator) and the town swimming pool was still “Europeans only”. In those days the men’s changing room was just that – a room; a row of hooks at one end and a row of shower heads at the other. My dad’s friend, who was Australian, and I went in together. He stripped off first, walked to the showers and I followed. He had been teaching me to swim that day. When he turned around I noticed his penis was different. He pulled back his foreskin to soap his head. I had seen his son skinny dipping and knew his son’s dick was like his, but at that time I had no idea what the difference was, just that it was different. He used the phrase “slippy hood”, which certainly made sense to me. He told me that I had been born with a slippy hood, but that it had been cut off to help keep me clean and healthy. I didn’t know the words “foreskin” or “circumcision” either. For many years that’s what I called a foreskin and sometimes a “smelly slippy hood”.
Are any members of your immediate family circumcised?
Dad and all my younger brothers - we are a circumcised family. I was circumcised with a mogen clamp, the tell tale V-shaped scar on the underside, next two brothers were gomcoed and the youngest was plastibelled. I can remember him coming home from the hospital with a plastic ring on his penis.
"This guy peeing next to me looks across and says, 'you're English and you're circumcised, I thought the Brits didn't do that?'"
t what age were you circumcised?
On the day of birth, mom was told when I was handed to her "Congratulations, it's a boy and we already circumcised him for you." They told me later, that they would have done it anyway. They did all my brothers, but back in England they had to pay for their circumcisions. Mine was a freebie as it was hospital policy in India at that time for all English boys.
What is the main reason you were circumcised?
It was normal for middle class English boys in the Raj to be circumcised, dad was too. Apparently when my dad registered me for an English Public School, they told him that provided I passed the Common Entrance and was circumcised, I'd be welcome. Dad told me later "well, we already took care of that for you!"
Are you happy about being circumcised?
Yes, it's been fine. In the US it doesn't get a second look in locker rooms, I fit right in. One guy at the gym with whom I became very friendly later on, told me the first time he met me and recognized my accent as being “transatlantic” (as he called it) said he was looking forward to seeing my foreskin in the showers that day and was disappointed that I didn’t have one (showers seems to appear a lot in my narrative!). We became good friends and had a casual sexual relationship for many years, even though we were both married at the time. My wife found out but liked the idea and wanted a threesome, but he wouldn’t. Never knew if his wife ever found out.
Another interesting story started at an airport in the men’s room. I always wash my hands before peeing and this guy peeing next to me looks across and says “why did you wash your hands before peeing?”. So, I told him that my dick had been in my pants all day since my shower whereas my hands had been handling baggage, elevators, TSA, etc. and were way dirtier than my dick. Once he heard my accent he said, “You’re English and circumcised. I though the Brits didn’t do that?” We both had time before our flights, so went and had a drink and a long conversation about the benefits and delights of not having a foreskin.
What is the best/worst thing about being circumcised?
Clean and smell-free cock head is good; never suffered from premature ejaculation and could keep going until the lady was satisfied; lack of sensitivity especially as I get older is not so good.
Have you ever had any memorable conversations about being cut with mates?
I tried to get one mate circumcised but he chickened out. He was Irish and had come to stay with me in California while on business. We got on really well – very platonic – but he did like nude beaches (as I do, too!). So, the first time on the beach, he looks at me and says, “You’re circumcised, why?” So I tell him the story: Cut for the British Empire. Turns out he has quite severe phimosis and could not pull his foreskin back easily at all. He’d also had many infections over the years, but his parents never did anything about it, except take him to the local GP who only prescribed creams. He had thought – not realizing that I was routinely circumcised at birth – that perhaps I’d had the same problem he had.
He asked about erections when circumcised, so we decided to compare our cocks when hard. We thought dirty thoughts and said dirty things to each other and both got erections. His was really painful for him, as he said, with his phimotic foreskin tight across his glans. Mine was smooth and tight. My circumcision is low and tight, with the scar just behind the head and even when soft there is little skin movement. Although I am a grower (and certainly not a shower!) my shaft skin is supple enough to accommodate a full 7 inches when erect. He wanted to know what it was like, what sex – solo or partnered – was like, and could I really get off and be satisfied. Of course my answer was, “Yes, it’s all great”. He was impressed with the complete lack of smell and the tightness of my penis when erect.
On the day of birth, mom was told when I was handed to her "Congratulations, it's a boy and we already circumcised him for you." They told me later, that they would have done it anyway. They did all my brothers, but back in England they had to pay for their circumcisions. Mine was a freebie as it was hospital policy in India at that time for all English boys.
What is the main reason you were circumcised?
It was normal for middle class English boys in the Raj to be circumcised, dad was too. Apparently when my dad registered me for an English Public School, they told him that provided I passed the Common Entrance and was circumcised, I'd be welcome. Dad told me later "well, we already took care of that for you!"
Are you happy about being circumcised?
Yes, it's been fine. In the US it doesn't get a second look in locker rooms, I fit right in. One guy at the gym with whom I became very friendly later on, told me the first time he met me and recognized my accent as being “transatlantic” (as he called it) said he was looking forward to seeing my foreskin in the showers that day and was disappointed that I didn’t have one (showers seems to appear a lot in my narrative!). We became good friends and had a casual sexual relationship for many years, even though we were both married at the time. My wife found out but liked the idea and wanted a threesome, but he wouldn’t. Never knew if his wife ever found out.
Another interesting story started at an airport in the men’s room. I always wash my hands before peeing and this guy peeing next to me looks across and says “why did you wash your hands before peeing?”. So, I told him that my dick had been in my pants all day since my shower whereas my hands had been handling baggage, elevators, TSA, etc. and were way dirtier than my dick. Once he heard my accent he said, “You’re English and circumcised. I though the Brits didn’t do that?” We both had time before our flights, so went and had a drink and a long conversation about the benefits and delights of not having a foreskin.
What is the best/worst thing about being circumcised?
Clean and smell-free cock head is good; never suffered from premature ejaculation and could keep going until the lady was satisfied; lack of sensitivity especially as I get older is not so good.
Have you ever had any memorable conversations about being cut with mates?
I tried to get one mate circumcised but he chickened out. He was Irish and had come to stay with me in California while on business. We got on really well – very platonic – but he did like nude beaches (as I do, too!). So, the first time on the beach, he looks at me and says, “You’re circumcised, why?” So I tell him the story: Cut for the British Empire. Turns out he has quite severe phimosis and could not pull his foreskin back easily at all. He’d also had many infections over the years, but his parents never did anything about it, except take him to the local GP who only prescribed creams. He had thought – not realizing that I was routinely circumcised at birth – that perhaps I’d had the same problem he had.
He asked about erections when circumcised, so we decided to compare our cocks when hard. We thought dirty thoughts and said dirty things to each other and both got erections. His was really painful for him, as he said, with his phimotic foreskin tight across his glans. Mine was smooth and tight. My circumcision is low and tight, with the scar just behind the head and even when soft there is little skin movement. Although I am a grower (and certainly not a shower!) my shaft skin is supple enough to accommodate a full 7 inches when erect. He wanted to know what it was like, what sex – solo or partnered – was like, and could I really get off and be satisfied. Of course my answer was, “Yes, it’s all great”. He was impressed with the complete lack of smell and the tightness of my penis when erect.
This conversation went on for a few years, I even arranged – at his request – an appointment with a Jewish doctor in Los Angeles.
Fun-fact sidebar – in the 90s and early 2000s there were a lot of Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union where routine or ritual infant circumcision was forbidden. And these doctors formed a group to circumcise pro-bono Jewish immigrants, in a proper medical establishment, but with a mohel to say the appropriate prayers. I was invited once to be present as the “godfather” of a man who I had employed when he first arrived here. That was interesting. The doctor didn’t ask if I was circumcised, but the mohel did, and even insisted on checking for himself before he would allow me – a Catholic – to be the sandek. I think I remember that term correctly. My employee’s adult bris was beautifully performed.
Anyway that’s when my Irish friend chickened out and returned to Ireland.
If you had a son would you circumcise him?
Never had a son so the question never arose. In my early years, living in England, if I'd had a son then, probably not. None of my brothers - all still in the UK - circumcised their sons. But later in the US, my American wife was pleased I am circumcised and she would probably have wanted any son circumcised. We were then at an age when having any kids would not have been a good idea anyway.
Fun-fact sidebar – in the 90s and early 2000s there were a lot of Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union where routine or ritual infant circumcision was forbidden. And these doctors formed a group to circumcise pro-bono Jewish immigrants, in a proper medical establishment, but with a mohel to say the appropriate prayers. I was invited once to be present as the “godfather” of a man who I had employed when he first arrived here. That was interesting. The doctor didn’t ask if I was circumcised, but the mohel did, and even insisted on checking for himself before he would allow me – a Catholic – to be the sandek. I think I remember that term correctly. My employee’s adult bris was beautifully performed.
Anyway that’s when my Irish friend chickened out and returned to Ireland.
If you had a son would you circumcise him?
Never had a son so the question never arose. In my early years, living in England, if I'd had a son then, probably not. None of my brothers - all still in the UK - circumcised their sons. But later in the US, my American wife was pleased I am circumcised and she would probably have wanted any son circumcised. We were then at an age when having any kids would not have been a good idea anyway.
Now, hit The Showers with Chris and see for yourself.