Len, 56 - Nottingham
Where were you born?
Essex.
When did you first become aware of circumcision?
Around the age of 11 or 12. After I started secondary school, where showering was compulsory after PE. The school's catchment area had a sizeable Jewish population and around 1 in 5 boys in my year was circumcised.
Are any members of your family circumcised?
As far as I know, just my father.
At what age were you circumcised?
21.
What is the main reason you were circumcised?
When I entered puberty I became aware of my foreskin feeling tighter. I could retract it without too much difficulty but when it was forward it felt claustrophobic, much like the discomfort when wearing clothing that is one size too small. I was way too embarrassed to tell my parents or a doctor, so I just tried to tolerate it. I would go to bed and leave the foreskin retracted in the vain hope that it would stay that way until morning.
I admired and became increasingly jealous of the roundhead boys at school who were somehow liberated of this problem. When I left school I eventually saw a GP, but he didn't consider it a serious enough case for NHS referral. So once I had been working long enough to afford it, I consulted a private clinic and had my circumcision done there. Years afterwards when I told my mother she revealed that she and dad had wanted me circumcised in infancy but couldn't get a doctor to agree to it; also it was becoming less popular in the UK by the early sixties.
Essex.
When did you first become aware of circumcision?
Around the age of 11 or 12. After I started secondary school, where showering was compulsory after PE. The school's catchment area had a sizeable Jewish population and around 1 in 5 boys in my year was circumcised.
Are any members of your family circumcised?
As far as I know, just my father.
At what age were you circumcised?
21.
What is the main reason you were circumcised?
When I entered puberty I became aware of my foreskin feeling tighter. I could retract it without too much difficulty but when it was forward it felt claustrophobic, much like the discomfort when wearing clothing that is one size too small. I was way too embarrassed to tell my parents or a doctor, so I just tried to tolerate it. I would go to bed and leave the foreskin retracted in the vain hope that it would stay that way until morning.
I admired and became increasingly jealous of the roundhead boys at school who were somehow liberated of this problem. When I left school I eventually saw a GP, but he didn't consider it a serious enough case for NHS referral. So once I had been working long enough to afford it, I consulted a private clinic and had my circumcision done there. Years afterwards when I told my mother she revealed that she and dad had wanted me circumcised in infancy but couldn't get a doctor to agree to it; also it was becoming less popular in the UK by the early sixties.
"My mate asked, '"How come we've known each other all this time and you never mentioned that you're circumcised?'"
Are you happy about being circumcised?
The healing and recovery were relatively easy and I was incredibly happy to finally be able to keep my glans exposed permanently.. The surgeon gave me a very low and medium tight cut with the stitch line barely visible under the corona. Several months later I had a new girlfriend and I was the first circumcised man she had slept with and we both found it intensely erotic when we talked about it.
What is the best and worst thing about being circumcised?
For me the best thing about being circumcised is its feeling and exposed appearance. Since my thirties I never use communal showers or changing rooms so I'm perfectly content that it's just a private matter for me and my wife. I haven't noticed any significant loss in sensation over the years so I can't think of any disadvantages of being cut.
The healing and recovery were relatively easy and I was incredibly happy to finally be able to keep my glans exposed permanently.. The surgeon gave me a very low and medium tight cut with the stitch line barely visible under the corona. Several months later I had a new girlfriend and I was the first circumcised man she had slept with and we both found it intensely erotic when we talked about it.
What is the best and worst thing about being circumcised?
For me the best thing about being circumcised is its feeling and exposed appearance. Since my thirties I never use communal showers or changing rooms so I'm perfectly content that it's just a private matter for me and my wife. I haven't noticed any significant loss in sensation over the years so I can't think of any disadvantages of being cut.
Have you had any memorable conversations about circumcision with mates?
My two closest mates have known me for many years. They're both uncut and over a pint or two they have previously asked me what it's like to be circumcised. Many years ago one mate and I had been in the changing room showers together. Later that evening in the pub he said something like, "How come we've known each other all this time and you never mentioned that you're circumcised? I couldn't help but notice earlier". We hadn't gone to the same school and we were more drinking mates rather than sports, so I suppose this was probably the first time we had been in the showers at the same time. He asked me why I was done and I told him my history of foreskin tightness. By that time we were close enough mates for me not to be bothered by such a direct question so I was happy to answer. He didn’t seem too keen on the idea for himself though!
I mentioned my status to my other mate when he revealed that he was thinking of having a circumcision mainly for cosmetic reasons and that his brother had been done in his teens and much preferred the outcome. I told him about mine and that for me the short term discomfort from surgery was worth it over the longer term. He didn’t go ahead with it eventually.
My cousin was also curious about it but other than him and my best mates it's not a topic I would be comfortable discussing among my wider group of friends.
If you had a son would you circumcise him?
I didn't have a son but it's something I had thought about. Despite my wishing I had been circumcised much younger I nevertheless had an informed choice in the matter. I couldn't impose irreversible intimate surgery on a child who can't lend their consent unless there were convincing medical justifications for it.
My two closest mates have known me for many years. They're both uncut and over a pint or two they have previously asked me what it's like to be circumcised. Many years ago one mate and I had been in the changing room showers together. Later that evening in the pub he said something like, "How come we've known each other all this time and you never mentioned that you're circumcised? I couldn't help but notice earlier". We hadn't gone to the same school and we were more drinking mates rather than sports, so I suppose this was probably the first time we had been in the showers at the same time. He asked me why I was done and I told him my history of foreskin tightness. By that time we were close enough mates for me not to be bothered by such a direct question so I was happy to answer. He didn’t seem too keen on the idea for himself though!
I mentioned my status to my other mate when he revealed that he was thinking of having a circumcision mainly for cosmetic reasons and that his brother had been done in his teens and much preferred the outcome. I told him about mine and that for me the short term discomfort from surgery was worth it over the longer term. He didn’t go ahead with it eventually.
My cousin was also curious about it but other than him and my best mates it's not a topic I would be comfortable discussing among my wider group of friends.
If you had a son would you circumcise him?
I didn't have a son but it's something I had thought about. Despite my wishing I had been circumcised much younger I nevertheless had an informed choice in the matter. I couldn't impose irreversible intimate surgery on a child who can't lend their consent unless there were convincing medical justifications for it.