Foreskin Restoration Links, A Starting Point

I am cut, am manually restoring at the moment. Basically for manual tugging you pull on the skin in different methods and tug it for a set amount of time(1-60mins+ even) 1+ times a day everyday so you regain skin.

I'm doing this to fit tlc-x the strapless restoration device then it can do the tugging for me, and it'll have the retaining cone to regain glans sensitivity. ~Greg

Here are a few links that explain foreskin restoration:

http://norm.org/whyrestore.html

http://norm.org/faq.html

http://norm.org/lost.html

Here is a video of Aubrey Taylor explaining foreskin restoration. She's really informative; check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moII4GEVPv4

Here's a video of Ron Low and his Wife explaining foreskin restoration and how amazing it has been for them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raDMCRxIUbI

And watch the video above that one first for another explanation^^^^^

For more info:

www.tlctugger.com

www.norm.org

www.restoringforeskin.com

www.restoringtally.com

www.foreskinrestore.com

(There are also permanent links on the side of the blog here. ~Note from Monica.)

Look at this penis to see how foreskin restoration undoes some of the damage: (*NSFW Graphic Education Nudity*) http://www.foreskinrestore.com/restored_foreskin.html

http://www.foreskinrestore.com/results_1-24months.html

http://www.foreskinrestore.com/latest_results.html

How a restored foreskin moves: http://www.foreskinrestore.com/movesvideo.html

The restored skin will be there forever, guys stop restoring based on their preference of how much skin they want. Some want a reallly reaaaaally long foreskin , some want just enough to cover the glans, etc.

Here's a coverage index to show the different stages of foreskin coverage(NSFW Nudity) : http://www.newforeskin.biz/CI/CIchart.htm

And yes it is basically creating new skins cells, so it's not like creating stretch marks like aubrey taylor said, it's tugging =)

And if you just stop restoring completely instead of shrinking, because of sexual activity and masturbation the skin will slightly slight slightly get a bit longer not that much but yeah. So instead of shrinking it's always growing but not substancially if you stop cold turkey lol

To see with your own eyes the damage of genital cutting(NSFW graphic nudity): "-

The keratinization or drying out and building of a layer of keratin of the glans and penile mucosa to protect the penis from air and clothing due to the loss of the prepuce's protection further reduces sensitivity. Here is a picture of a penis with a keratinized glans v a shiny intact penis: http://intactivists.blogspot.com/2011/05/keratinization-and-circumcision-status_315.html

(Thanks for using our example! ~Monica)

And aesthetically(visually) a cut v intact penis picture to visually to show the damage: (*NSFW Graphic Nudity*) http://hphotos-snc6.fbcdn.net

/175106_10150117141913024_502498023_6417515_3672720_o.jpg

http://www.cutedaveyboy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/1240942124311.jpg

http://www.circumstraint.com/gallery_images.html "

However this is the most important thing you will read. An article on "The Vulnerability of Men" to see how to talk to men about genital cutting and restoration a touchy subject: http://www.udonet.com/circumcision/vincent/vulnerability_of_men.html

(Udonet did a FANTASTIC job with that article. ~Monica)

However after learning the truth and what I can do for myself I've been given a better image.

This article on "The Vulnerability of Men" will help you on talking to your husband about circumcision, keeping your kids intact, his feelings etc: www.udonet.com/circumcision/vincent/vulnerability_of_men.html

There are devices that you can use to induce mitosis in the skin to cause growth. These can be worn under the clothes during normal daily activities.Here are some of the products:http://tlctugger.com/products.htm

You can also accomplish the same effect manually depending on how much time you can devote to "tugging".There are some different methods outlined here:http://www.restoringforeskin.org/category/public/manual-tugging

There is a forum for men who are restoring. There are over 200,000 members and all are using different techniques.Here is the welcome page for those just starting out:http://www.foreskin-restoration.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=3

Here is another part of the forum that talks about additional methods such as taping and retaining:http://www.foreskin-restoration.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=7

Here is a great low-cost alternative to buying a retaining device:http://www.restoringtally.com/blog/2009/12/baby-bottle-nipple-retainers

A good reference to have on hand is the Coverage index. It has different coverage numbers depending on how much foreskin a person has or how tightly they were cut. Certain tugging methods work best depending on how much foreskin you have. It's a good reference point to look at the pictures to figure out where you are to start, where you want to stop, and what you can expect along the way.http://www.newforeskin.biz/CI/CIchart.htm

There is an interesting in-depth blog by a man just starting his restoration journey with the TLC tugger device.http://lizarddick.wordpress.com/

For circumcision info, intactivism, and keeping your kids intact, more info on restoration, etc: www.WholeNetwork.org

-By Greg and Bri

One Baby's Experience

One Baby's Experience

The following pictures were taken from a slide series depicting a routine circumcision of a newborn infant within a typical hospital nursery setting. These pictures were originally published in the December 1981 issue of The Saturday Evening Post and were provided by The Curtis Publishing Company (subsidiary of The Saturday Evening Post). The accompanying text was written by Rosemary Romberg.


If you can't view these images, check/adjust your Firewall, Popup Stoppers and/or Security Settings.

1.These first two pictures are most important because we must remember that this baby, and every baby, does have a mother (and, of course, a father too). New parents are usually nave and trusting of the medical establishment when they go to the hospital to give birth. They may be overwhelmed by unfamiliar and frightening procedures and equipment. Amidst the emotional upheaval and physical challenge of labor and impending birth, parents often face a bombardment of admittance procedures upon entering the hospital. In this state of excitement and confusion, parents frequently sign circumcision consent forms with scarcely any thought. (In the past many babies were routinely circumcised without any parental consent.) Some medical professionals urge reluctant parents to agree to this operation. Others blindly accept this as one more "cog" in the hospital machinery, and give advice that is vague and neutral at best.

Parents may have heard the long disproven associations of circumcision with disease prevention or cleanliness. A circumcised father may have the idea that his sons penis should "match" his own.

2. It is important to remember that new parents do love their babies and sincerely want to do what is best for them. But usually they know very little about hospital procedures and are shielded from what goes on behind the scenes. Certainly if more parents were shown exactly what will happen to their infants if they undergo circumcision, more parents would think twice about choosing this painful and unnecessary operation.
Some viewers may object that pictures of infant circumcision are "too horrible for parents to see." Again, as I have repeatedly emphasized elsewhere, if infant circumcision is too horrible for adults to see, then it should also be too horrible for babies to experience! Who is it most important that we protect?

3. In this picture the baby is sleeping peacefully in his crib in the hospital nursery, blissfully unaware of the trauma that he will soon experience.

4. This picture also shows him sleeping peacefully, in a row of cribs alongside several other babies.

Each infant, so special to his or her own parents and family, is merely "one in the crowd" in most hospitals.

Hospital personnel in maternity wards see hundreds of new babies every year and can easily forget about the specialness and individuality of each one.

5. Newborns commonly drift peacefully between sleep and blissful semi-awakeness. The newborn infant is innocent and trusting of this world and expects that adults will take care of his needs and protect him from har

6. This picture shows the infant strapped in place to the Circumstraint © board, a specially designed plastic board that is molded with depressions that fit the shape of an infant's body. Velcro straps hold his arms and legs securely in place so that he cannot move. Much of the rest of his body will be covered with sterile drapes to help prevent contamination of the circumcision wound. The baby's genitals have been covered with a brownish antiseptic solution - probably Betadine.

Obviously he does not like his strapped down, vulnerable predicament. Even before the painful operation begins, being restrained in this contraption is frightening and traumatic for an infant who only wants to feel warmth, comfort and security. In the background there are several sterile instruments and a small bowl ready for the doctor's use in performing the surgery.

7. In this picture the doctor appears to be loosening the baby's foreskin from the glans ("head") of his penis. Normally, for almost all newborn infant boys, the foreskin is tightly sealed to the glans and the opening is a tiny "pinhole". If he is to undergo circumcision, the opening must first be enlarged by cutting it and the foreskin must be separated from the glans. This involves forcibly tearing one layer of skin away from another and is extremely painful for the baby.

** Important Note** For parents who are planning or considering leaving their babies intact - some medical practitioners will forcibly retract the foreskins of intact baby boys because they do not understand the normal development of the infant's foreskin. This may happen in the hospital nursery or during one of the baby's office visits. Forcibly retracting a baby's foreskin is painful and is usually what causes the so-called "problems" such as infection or phimosis that are often attributed to non-circumcision. It is NORMAL for an intact baby's foreskin to be tight. If left alone it will loosen gradually of its own accord by the time he is anywhere from a few months to a few years old, or possibly not until his teenaged years. If you leave your baby intact, leave his foreskin alone and be sure to instruct your baby's health care provider to leave it alone as well.

8. Now the sterile drape has been placed over the baby as the little patient cannot anticipate what next awaits him.

9. The sterile drape that is designed for use when a baby is circumcised completely covers the baby's body, leaving only a small hole where his penis sticks out.

Of course all he can do is cry. He cries out of fright, discomfort at being restrained in the Circumstraint , and of course from the pain as the most sensitive part of his body is clamped and cut.

10. The first part of the circumcision operation is called the dorsal slit. Since the opening of the baby's foreskin is very tiny, it must be made larger before the “bell” part of the circumcision instrument can be inserted and the clamp applied.

First a hemostat, a scissors-like clamp, is applied to the end of the foreskin. This smashes and flattens a small length of the skin so that there will be little or no bleeding when the cut is made.

Tweezers are also used to lift the foreskin away from the glans and hold it out as the hemostat is applied.

11. This picture continues to show the dorsal slit procedure and the baby's obvious distress. When skin is pinched, clamped, cut and torn, this causes pain.

The idea that newborn infants feel no pain is absolutely false! In years past mothers were often heavily anesthetized during labor and baby boys were commonly circumcised shortly after birth, so those babies would have had some anesthetic in their systems.

Today most mothers give birth either naturally or with regional anesthetics that have less direct effect on the baby. Also, today, most medical professionals prefer to wait at least a day or two after birth before performing a circumcision.

12. This is another close up shot as the dorsal slit procedure continues.

13. The operation continues as the baby continues to cry. Most babies are not anesthetized for circumcision (although anesthesia is usually administered for more serious, necessary operations performed on infants.)

Some practitioners do give the baby a local anesthetic for circumcision, although its use is tricky and its effectiveness questionable. Most babies scream and cry when they are circumcised. However, a few babies go into a semi-coma state of shock for which the trauma is too intense to cry out.

Adults have sometimes mis-interpreted the lack of crying in these instances as indication that circumcision is not painful for a baby.

14. In this picture the "bell" of the circumcision clamp is applied. This is a small bell shaped piece of metal that fits over the glans ("head") of the penis and under the foreskin before it is cut off.

15. This picture shows the outer clamp applied. There are many different devices used for circumcision. What is shown here is the Gomco © clamp. When this clamp is applied, there is a small hole in it where the baby's penis, the "bell" and the foreskin all fit into place. Once the baby's penis is placed in the hole in the clamp, the clamp is screwed down so that the foreskin is smashed between the metal bell and the outer clamp.

This device is usually left in place for about 5 minutes so that the blood vessels are completely sealed off. After that the outer foreskin is trimmed away with a scalpel and the clamp is then removed. Normally stitches are not required when a baby is circumcised.

16. This shows the baby during the five minute wait while the Gomco © clamp seals off the foreskin.

17. The newly circumcised penis. Normally the freshly exposed glans is bright red like this and will not look like the rest of his skin until after it heals up after several days. When a baby is left intact his glans is normally well hidden under his foreskin and not readily visible. If his foreskin is retracted (again, we urge that this not be done!), his glans will also appear red like this. The glans of an intact older child or adult also looks somewhat pinkish or reddish, distinctly different from that of the circumcised male. The glans of an intact male remains much more sensitive and the intact penis is a much different type of organ. The surface of the foreskin protected glans is similar to the skin in the inside of the mouth or the inside of the vagina. The absence of the foreskin makes what is intended to be an inside organ into an outside organ. The glans of the circumcised individual becomes much thicker, less sensitive, and more like outside skin as it is in constant contact with air or clothing.

The skin of the newly circumcised glans of a newborn baby has just had its outer protective layer torn away and will be raw and sore like the very sensitive new skin beneath a blister. The circumcised baby's penis will be sore for several days and it will sting whenever he urinates. It is advised that he be diapered loosely and have his diaper changed as frequently as possible.

18. In this picture a bandage is being applied to the baby's penis. It is applied in a way that the baby can urinate through the end, and obviously must be changed whenever the baby wets or soils his diaper. Today it is less common for caretakers to bandage a baby's penis following circumcision. Often only a tiny gauze strip saturated with petroleum jelly is applied around the wound. Parents or care providers are usually instructed to apply petroleum jelly or a similar ointment to the wound as it heals. This helps to protect it from urine and makes it somewhat less sore.

19. Now the sterile drape has been removed but the bandage is still in place and the baby is still strapped down to the Circumstraint © board. Another Circumstraint © board awaits in the background for the next baby. Infant circumcision normally takes around 10-15 minutes.

Sometimes medical professionals will circumcise several babies over lunch hour or early in the morning while making their rounds. Hospital nurseries usually have several Circumstraint © boards, various clamps and other equipment used for circumcision on hand.

20. The baby is now lifted up out of the Circumstraint board and is ready to be re-diapered and placed back in his crib, or hopefully be brought back to his mother for comforting. There is a look of betrayal in the baby's expression, especially in his eyes. He now knows that this world is not as safe or harmless as he once supposed. Babies learn from their experiences. Even experiences not consciously remembered later in life contribute to a negative or positive effect on each individual.

We can only speculate what the long term effect of this assault on a baby's body may be, but many have suggested that the tendency for insensitivity, callousness and violence on the part of many males in our society may have its roots in this traumatic operation during infancy. In any event, it is obvious that the infant who is spared the trauma of painful, unnecessary medical procedures will certainly be a much more peaceful, trusting individual.

This alone should be the basis for parents' consideration in leaving their infants whole, peaceful, natural and intact.



For permission to reproduce any or all of these pictures or text please contact:

The Saturday Evening Post
c/o The Curtis Publishing Co.
1100 Waterway Blvd.
Indianapolis, IN. 46202
(317) 633-8841
http://satevepost.org/
info@curtispublishing.com

Rosemary Romberg
13020 Sues Way
Anchorage, AK. 99516
(907) 345-4813
Rosemary@GCI.net

Monica Lunn and intactivist.net received permission from Rosemary Romberg to publish this here.

Damage That Circumcision Does

Just a few of the common complications from male infant/child circumcision:

What Happens During an Infant Circumcision?

I got a few comments that there needs to be some links to videos easily accessible for expectant parents to be able to view before they make a decision on circumcision. I am absolutely certain this will be the most unpleasant research I have done for this blog.

I have decided to post several videos showing different situations. Please choose the one that would be most closely related to your own personal situation. Or watch them all and know there is no pleasant way to do this at all.

In absolutely every single situation, you have someone removing a healthy body part from an unwilling victim, and there is no getting around that. This act would not be legal in so many other instances. Why is it legal to do this to a non-consenting child?

WARNING: The following videos have very unpleasant footage that many people would be too sensitive to view. Proceed at your own discretion, and keep in mind, if you cannot watch this, how could you even entertain the thought of allowing this to happen to your child?

First video is something called the "Plastibell Method" done in a hospital setting. This is an actual teaching video used to demonstrate how this is performed:

Next is the Gomco clamp, also done in a hospital setting. Note how the doctor does not use any anesthetic before torturing him with amputation:

You think a bris is different? Here is Brit Milah performed as a religious ceremony to mark the flesh of the baby as being in Covenant with God. (Plus, take the time to read this if you're Jewish.)

Here's a closeup so you can really see what's going on:



Babies cry when they are in distress. They need to be held close and protected, not violated and tortured. After viewing these videos you have to understand this is a clear violation of basic human rights to bodily integrity.

In any case, forcing this extreme body modification on someone else without their consent is out and out wrong. There are studies showing the brain chemistry is altered and never returns to normal due to the stress this procedure causes.

We now understand there are many psychological implications to circumcision.

Taking the choice away from an individual is wrong.

***For further research:

Visit Circumstitions page on circumcision methods.

Another Comparison

The top picture shows a normal, healthy penis with foreskin retracted. Note the smooth skin on the glans.

The second picture shows a circumcised penis where you can see the scars & dried skin.

In the picture of the circumcised penis you can see how much skin is removed in a circumcision.

These pictures are from Wrecking Boy's Journal under the entry titled: I Am The World That Hides The Universal Secret Of All Time.

Photo of Prepuce

Here is another great picture showing the function of the prepuce.

And on the bottom is a comparison of circumcised penis with full on keratinization going on. It certainly does not look comfortable at all, for either partner!

These photographs comes from Wrecking Boy's Journal. Feel free to go read the entire article as it's very informative. He asks that links are not made directly to the pictures on his article due to overwhelming bandwidth issues.

Compleat Mother ~ free article to share

Female Circumcision. Male Circumcision. Is There A Difference?©
by Karen Squires

"In looking at both Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and Male Genital Mutilation (MGM), it appears that there is no equal protection under the law for male infants and boys under the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Illegal to perform FGM, fine to perform MGM. Yes, willful destruction of the primary male sex organ is unethical. Or is it much more than unethical?" -Ken Derifield of The Intact Network

In the June 2, 2002 issue of The Salt Lake Tribune there is an article titled African Girls Suing Parents Over Circumcision. As I read it, I wondered how many others reading the article were reacting the same way I was. Did they see the same similarities between female and male circumcision. Were they wondering how we can be so blind as to not see we do the same thing everyday here in the U.S. to our baby boys?

Over the years I've read news articles, magazine stories and watched television documentaries on circumcision rituals in other countries. The images show boys, 12 years old, or around that age, being held down, legs apart, crying, as they are circumcised. I would look at the expression on the boys face and just cringe. How could the adults do that? How could the parents allow that to happen? My instinct is to protect my children. If anybody held one of my sons down like that, with a knife in hand, I'd be on top of them, attacking, saving my child.

When I read about, and see images of girls being circumcised, I react the same way. Some parents want their sons circumcised. If they had a girl would they want her circumcised? Genital mutilation is genital mutilation, male or female. A rose is a rose is a rose. Is there a difference between female and male circumcision?
Is there is a difference between our male babies being circumcised, and the older boys being cut in other countries. Lets talk about it and we'll see they are not so different.

Circumcision in the U.S. was started at the end of the 1800's in a vain attempt to stop or lessen masturbation which was blamed for dozens of diseases with unknown origins at that time.* Tens of thousands of girls were also circumcised (removal of the clitoris) for the same "reason." This was also recommended and found in U.S medical journals as late as 1959.

The goal in circumcising boys was to reduce sexual feelings. This was accomplished by damaging the penis as much as possible, without jeopardizing procreation. Most of the sensuous nerve endings were removed, exposing the remaining near surface nerve endings for destruction over time, and removing the natural mobility of the penile skin system. Changing the fully functional, sensuous, and mobile male sex organ into a desensitized, dowel-like organ was the desired result. Male circumcision remained very limited in the U.S. until new excuses were invented in the 1930's and 1940's.

In female circumcision, the goal is to ensure chastity by eliminating the girls' sex drive by removing the sensuous nerve endings in her external genitalia. The most common form of female circumcision is the removal of the entire clitoris, including the unseen shaft or root, creating a deep hole where the organ was located, and cutting away the labia minora (inner labia). The male foreskin is analogous to the female foreskin (clitoral hood) and labia minora. The loss of sensuous nerve endings and motion to the penis penile mobility is quite similar to this form of female circumcision. In some cultures one of the labia majora (outer labia) is also removed, the other outer labia is stretched over the wound, sewn, and holes punched through the now hidden female external genitalia for the passage of urine and menses. This is called infibulation.

Some girls have bled to death, died of infections or other complications. Some of our boys have bled to death, died of infections, gastric rupture or other complications. Damage is created in both cases.

Female circumcision is a custom. Circumcision of our baby boys is a custom. The American Academy of Pediatrics policy on circumcision concluded by saying "however, that it is legitimate for parents to take into account cultural, religious and ethnic traditions..." I disagree. In countries where girls are circumcised because of those reasons we shudder at the thought and consider the practice barbaric, so why is it okay to take those into consideration here.

Kenya has outlawed female circumcision. Anyone who circumcises a girl under age 18 years old can be fined $650 and may spend a year in prison.

This practice is obviously being carried out against the wishes of the girl. Why would anybody want that done to them? I would never agree to it being performed on me or my child. Would you? When we allow our baby boys to be circumcised should we be fined? After all, the baby is too young to be asked for their permission. If we waited until our sons were older and asked them if they wanted to be circumcised, what do you think they'd say? It's their body, not ours. The older boys we see are held down against their wishes. Our baby boys are strapped down on a board, their legs apart. They can't move. They are helpless.

When older boys and girls are circumcised it is often done without anesthesia or medication to ease the pain. Until recently our baby boys were not offered pain medication either. The pain is so intense that enough pain medication cannot be injected. Even a little Prilocaine or Lidocaine (and EMLA cream) given to an infant can result in nerve damage, brain damage or death (Canadian Nurse, Aug. 1994). Even now some Dr's perform the procedure without pain medication. If the baby does receive medication it is only during the procedure, and does not eliminate all the pain. The pain persists for days, and any friction, contact with urine and normal erections are painful for weeks. The baby gets nothing during the healing time.

Some believe there are medical reasons to circumcise our babies. There are none, not one single reason to routinely circumcise girls or boys, of any age. Today there is not one medical association in the entire world that recommends circumcision.

For every 100 circumcised males in the world there are 21 circumcised females. Routine circumcision is unethical to say the least, whether it's a girl, an older boy, or a baby. So before we all gasp in horror at what is going on over seas maybe we should look at what we are doing right here in our own country.

*A university of Chicago study (Journal of the American Medical Association) Found that males who are circumcised masturbate more often than intact males. More friction is necessary to excite the few remaining deep nerve endings of the desensitized penis. So much for that initial "reason." Like the masturbation myth, the later excuses have all been found to be false.

Find out more about circumcision by reading Complete, As Nature Intended. Available FREE via the internet in a pdf file. You'll need Acrobat Reader® to view this file. Acrobat Reader® is available free on the internet. Please email us for this pdf file and we'll email it to you. If you need a booklet please send $3.00 plus $1 S+H to: The Wise Mother, 1905 West 4700 South #402 SLC, Utah 84118

My deepest thanks to Ken Derifield of The Intact Network for contributing to this article. He can be reached at the following address; The Intact Network, 703 E. Walnut St. Washington, IN 47501
e-mail intacnet@dmrtc.net

FREE ARTICLE: You are free to publish this article on websites and print publications. You can also email it to friends and/or associates. We just ask that you include this information with the article and let us know where you published it. This article first appeared in The Wise Mother magazine, published in Salt Lake City, Utah. http://www.thewisemother.com email thewisemother@yahoo.com

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Care of the Intact Penis

I could write this blog post in one word:

NONE.

That is literally what you have to do to take care of your intact baby boy's penis. Nothing at all.

The best way to remember this is:

Intact, don't retract.

Only clean what is seen.

Forcible retraction of a foreskin that is not yet ready to be retracted can be very damaging and is certainly painful for the owner of the penis.

At birth a newborn's prepuce (foreskin) is fused to the glans (the head) and it is very important that the caretakers of the baby understand this is normal. The foreskin protects the head of the penis.

Detachment of the foreskin happens gradually and will normally be fully retractable anywhere between 2 and 18 years of age, with variations in different individuals.

There is something else that can happen to your little boy that might appear alarming but I assure you, is also completely normal. It's called "ballooning". When the foreskin begins to detach but still has attachment at or around the end, the boy's penis will appear to balloon out when he urinates. If you see this happening to your son, do not retract! It's working on detaching on its own, exactly the way it's supposed to.

There is no need for a doctor's visit for this very temporary condition, unless you see definite signs of infection or irritation, which might indicate a need for a soothing cream or antibiotic. If there is no irritation, *leave it alone*. Ballooning can happen at any time during the period of detachment.

Please feel free to email if you have further questions or do some research online to verify I am correct in my advice.

Howard Stern is an intactivist

While Ron Low was being interviewed by Howard Stern, Howard stated *several* times that he believes circumcision is wrong and that he thinks we should not do this to babies.

Howard, whether you admit it or not, you ARE AN INTACTIVIST. :-)

Anyway, great job Ron! I'm just tickled that Howard goes into the sexual aspects of what circumcision robs from men.

Just one little pet peeve of mine, Howard... it's not "uncircumcised" if you live with your original foreskin.. you are intact. Uncircumcised is a man who has restored his foreskin.

WARNING: Adult language.

So what exactly does an intact penis LOOK like?

This morning I realized there are still many women here in the United States who still don't have any idea what an intact penis actually looks like. Many women in this country haven't even seen one *in person*.

Before you click, please read: Although these images are most definitely naked men and would be considered adult material, they are NOT porn.

There are plenty of penis pictures on our sister site... warning, again, this is NSFW but it's not porn... just some healthy beautiful penises, both cut and intact. Anyone may submit photos to be displayed here anonymously.

On this blog itself there are plenty of comparison photos as well:

Another Telling Shot

Frenulum Comparison

Cut and Uncut

Keratinization and Circumcision Status

Another Comparison

Cut Vs Uncut

Photos of Prepuce


Also, someone referred me to a gallery of photographs of men on Circumstitions. Take a good look, ladies. There's really nothing weird at all about these men. In fact, I think the foreskin makes it more interesting. These men have a special secret place on their bodies, just as women do. Why do we feel the need to cause men to be *exposed* constantly? The glans is intended to be *internal*. Let's leave it that way.

The Three Zones of Penile Skin

The Three Zones of Penile Skin

Visit this webpage to see pictures that very clearly show how extensive the male foreskin actually is. Extremely educational.

I Love Foreskin

I LOVE foreskin. I wish that were all I had to say. Unfortunately, there’s a comparison to be made, and it isn’t one of two different naturally occurring penises. If it were, I wouldn’t bother to tell people why I liked one and not the other. But, because there is force involved, and because I’m an activist opposing that force, I must also say that I can’t fully enjoy circumcised sex, and why. This is my personal opinion, and not something that anyone has to agree with in order to understand that forced circumcision is wrong; but it is just another example of how forcing amputation on one body effects more people than just the one who was cut.

When I first became sexually active, I wasn’t comfortable touching my boyfriend’s penis. Something was just wrong about it. Even though he said he enjoyed it, I felt that what I was doing must be painful. I didn’t know how hard my touch should be, and the friction creeped me out in a way I didn’t even understand. All it took was ONE stroke of an intact penis and I understood everything! There was no hesitation or worry that I was doing something wrong. It was sexy and fluid. I realized that there was a big difference and I started paying attention. I’ve been lucky that a good percentage of my lovers have been intact, and this is what I’ve learned about myself, and both types of penises.

Feeling connected is what I enjoy the most about sex. In fact, it’s probably 80% of my arousal. Intimacy is the point; the physical acts are just how I get there. So, if I don’t feel connected, the physical act is literally less pleasurable.

I am really oral. Meaning, using my mouth is a huge sexual turn on for me. There is something incredibly intimate about it. This is why I cannot date a smoker. Kissing should be deep and sexy, and the taste of unhealthy lungs really gets in the way of that. When I am giving head, I am not performing a service for the sole purpose of stimulating the penis. I am connecting, and making love with my mouth. I am right there, enjoying everything in the moment. I love to look at it, and smell it, and feel it, and taste it. I’m engaging in a dance with lots of different moves. If the foreskin is gone, my dance has fewer moves; that’s less enjoyable, but not actually the problem.

I’m a very compassionate person. That’s why I speak out against violating human rights. I see a crime against someone’s rights almost as a crime against myself. I’m sensitive, and the idea of pain causes me distress. The idea of a baby being forced to endure pain . . . well, you get the point.

When I discovered how a circumcision was achieved, I was VERY disturbed (read: cried all night). After that, when I gave head to a man who had been circumcised, the physical proof (a scar instead of a foreskin, and possibly other damage) of the torture he endured as an infant was an immediate mood kill. How could I connect with that? I quite literally had to regress myself to an immature place. I had to be me before I understood how circumcision was done. I had to forget what I had learned for a little while. Forget what I was seeing when I wanted to connect by seeing. Forget what I felt when I wanted to feel. This was like a numbing of my senses, a wall against reality. It worked, and I was able to feel connected and enjoy myself, but I was pretending to be a different person. It wasn’t ME connecting; it was the me of a few months, or years before.

As I am further removed from that person by time and change, that task has become harder and harder. The intimacy in that moment is about being fully immersed in the other person’s body. Trying to connect with a constant reminder of parts being forcibly removed from a screaming infant is impossible. Finding someone inside me who can do it is now so difficult I’m tired of trying.

The changes circumcision brings to sex are drastic and vast. I won’t state them all here, but I’ll go over the mechanical ones that affect me the most. Once the man has penetrated, the skin is pulled back to the base of the penis and when there's outward motion, the foreskin is what slides up the penis, NOT the vaginal skin. This keeps the wet inside, whereas, without the foreskin, it is dragged out with every movement and exposed to the air where it dries. Not only is there a risk of drying, but there’s friction too. By the way, the sexually responsive nerves in the vagina are pressure sensitive, not friction sensitive. So, while some women may find friction to be a psychologically arousing sensation that reminds them of what’s going on down there, I find it distracting and often painful.

The foreskin has tens of thousands of nerve endings. When it is pulled back the man has sensation down his shaft, so his strokes are deep and short, which keeps the partners close and intimate. A circumcised man usually wants to stimulate the head by pulling it out to the tighter vaginal opening, because it is the most sensitive part of the penis after the foreskin is removed. These longer strokes create a feeling of being further away, and can cause air to be pulled into the vagina (something I hate).

When I am distracted by all of these uncomfortable sensations and worries, then I am not really connected; I’m not really there. I’m dealing with the stress of the situation in my head instead of being intimate. So, since intimacy is a big part of what makes my sensations pleasurable, then I’m just not feeling as good, sometimes to the point of it not feeling good at all. And don’t forget, all of these differences remind me of WHY, and I’m back again to screaming babies.

It breaks my heart to think that what I have to say would make a man feel bad. Naturally there’s a variable in all men, circumcised or not, and there are lots of other things that make sex good or bad. For a lot of women, the issues here may not affect them as much, or at all. But I have to honestly say that as the genital integrity movement grows, more and more women are realizing why they have at times found sex to be uncomfortable or painful. I share because it’s the truth, and because it needs to be shown that the pain of circumcision isn’t momentary, or exclusive to the circumcised.

Discovering the truth was a pretty dark and painful moment, but luckily I found out about foreskin restoration that same night. It gave me the tiniest bit of solace to know that a man who feels this loss can do something about it. I know it’s not a perfect fix, but when I have to be the bearer of bad news to a man who doesn’t know what he’s lost, I’m so grateful that I can give it to him wrapped in the bright side: it can get better!

Contributed & written by Aubrey, originally published on Restoring Tally, 2011.

Strange Sex on TLC

There is a series on The Learning Channel called "Strange Sex", which features stories involving the science behind sex. In this blog post I am concentrating on one called "Seeking Sensation" which starred Ron Low of TLCTugger website (not affiliated with the TLC channel).

ABCNews ran an article on this episode.

The Smoking Jacket ran an article and a link to the trailer.

And here is the link right to TLC's website.

I believe there is a real important reason this episode is getting so much attention... there are many men in North America who've been circumcised without their consent shortly after birth and are seeking a solution to get back the sensation that was robbed from them.

And if you didn't catch the episode when it aired, I am trying to find out if it's posted anywhere online. Look here for the various episodes of Strange Sex.

Cut and Uncut

Another picture was sent in to me for showing on the blog the difference between a penis that was cut years ago alongside one that has been left intact. Notice the keratinizing of the glans on the circumcised penis, which greatly reduces sensitivity.

"Women Are Victims Too" & A Rant From Me

A shout out to a fellow blogger and intactivist who I have the pleasure of communicating with and with whom I share this fight against routine infant cutting.

Cathy publishes Women Are Victims Too. Here you can find stories of how circumcision affects more than just the man whose foreskin is removed.

Please take a moment and visit her blog and read the stories there.

Thinking about her idea for a blog has led me to have a series of thoughts which I'd like to share with you now, here.

Circumcision causes so much emotional damage to so many. It's time we really examined the far-reaching consequences of this "procedure" and think into the future of the man that baby boy will one day become. Circumcision will affect his sexual life as well as his wife or every partner he has, gay or straight. It is not for the parents to decide how a man's penis should be.

The missing foreskin can affect all areas of the man's life. Besides sexual, it will affect him emotionally as well. If his self-esteem is negatively impacted, it will affect how he goes through life. It's common knowledge how fond men are of their penis. Once he realizes a part of it is missing, and he can see only the scars left behind where his foreskin should be, this could potentially be very damaging to the man's psyche.

Deciding not to subject your baby to circumcision will literally help shape his life and the man he will become. What kind of lesson are you teaching a boy who is welcomed into this world only days after his birth with violence and pain? His trust is shattered. He is confused. He doesn't understand why he is experiencing this violation and he feels betrayed. These emotions can be lifelong and permanent.

These are not issues anyone should have to experience at this tender age. This is quite different than if the man chooses circumcision for himself. A man who is circumcised against his will as a baby is not anything like a grown man making a choice for himself with informed consent.

Please take a step back, away from cultural and religious pressure, and see this person for who he is and who he might become, and the right he has to a whole body and to make his own choices in life. He has the right to choose who he has sexual relations with, what religion (if any) he will follow, how he takes care of himself, where he lives, and what he does with his own body. No parent should take these choices away from their child.

Kathleen's Story

When I was seven years old I saw my newborn cousin's bandaged penis during a diaper change. I was shocked to see such a thing and my mother nonchalantly explained to me that he had been ‘circumcised’.

My first sex partners had been cut as infants, though at the time I had never seen many penises and could not tell if they were or not at first. The first time I saw a naturally whole penis I was confused because it appeared to have no head, though now I know that it appeared this way because the penis was not erect or retracted.

When I met my spouse I didn’t notice right away that he was intact. He taught me alot about how the penis is suppose to function I was surprised that he didn’t spit on his hands or use lotion to pleasure himself, and that he could climax just by me simply fondling his foreskin over the head of his penis. I noticed that his foreskin provides a nice gliding action and with him I as able to experience sex the way nature intended.

We now have a son and he is whole. During pregnancy I read books about natural childbirth and midwifery. One book, Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin, contained a section about the nature of the infants penis. I learned that a baby boy's foreskin is actually fused to the head of the penis at birth and retracts slowly over the years, typically by puberty.

I will always be so grateful that I learned all I needed to know in order to protect my son from this penis cutting cycle. Despite all that I knew at that point I didn’t feel strongly about speaking out against circumcision.

I knew that other parents were allowing for their sons' circumcisions but didn’t give it much thought until I attended a pharmacy tech course. During the reproductive system module we were given a glossary list and among the words were ‘circumcision’ I knew enough that I felt strongly enough about it that as a definition for the word I put, ‘the unnecessary removal of the foreskin’ the instructor marked me correct though she was in favor of male circumcision but strongly opposed to female circumcision (aka FGM female genital mutilation). This I realized after she showed us a video on youtube of a male infant being strapped to a circumstraint and having his penis cut. It was horrendous. She then showed us another video about the genital cutting of females in Africa and most of the other females became very vocal and outraged at that point. I asked them, "Why is it wrong to do to a female but not wrong to do to a male?" I shared some information with her and she said she would ‘google’ it This was a turning point for me.

I researched the topic of circumcision further and I’m convinced that the more one knows about the history of it and the functions of the male prepuce (foreskin) the easier it is to be totally against it and see through the smokescreen. I decided that someone should be talking about this…what has been done to baby boys here in America is no different than what is done to females in Africa. I was so happy to learn that many people have been fighting for genital integrity of all people all over the world and I use facebook to find like minded people and do what ever I can to join them. All this has led me to this point where I share my story in hopes of helping others see what circumcision really is. It’s a violation of human rights to forcibly and non therapeutically cut and forever alter someone else’s genitals/body. Religious rights of the parents/elders should not trump the rights of the individual/child who doesn’t/can’t consent . One's religious/cultural beliefs and cosmetic/sexual preferences should end where another persons body begins. Many people agree, including many doctors and Jews. Many of the people speaking out about and working to eradicate genital mutilation worldwide include doctors who refuse to perform it, parents who regret their child's circumcision, people who resent having been cut without their knowledge/consent, people who suffer sexual dysfunction as a result of being cut/mutilated and want to ensure protection of future generations to a whole intact body as nature intended and Jews who believe that genital cutting has no place in modern Judaism.

Many myths are still being spread to perpetuate the genital mutilation practices. Let’s educate ourselves and start a new tradition of wholeness for all people worldwide. There is no excuse and thanks to the Internet the information is at our fingertips. Start by researching the functions and purpose of the prepuce and the history of circumcision.

~Kathleen P., USA

Greg's perspective

I was born on the small Caribbean island of St. Maarten (formely part of the Netherlands Antilles), in 1992. I know that my father (who was born in Indonesia) is uncut, so I presume that's why I am too. At the age of 15, I moved to Tampa, Florida. That's the boring, background part of the story.

Fast forward to age 17, it's the summer after senior year of high school. Me and 6 guy friends go camping, and bring a lot of beer. During a game of "Never have I ever", I said "Never have I ever been circumcised." The general reaction was "Ohhhhh gross!!!" or "Weird!". Anyway, it becomes sort of a running joke to tell everyone (even girls who haven't seen it) that I am in possession of a foreskin. This doesn't bother me, because I think it's funny.

But ever since, I get comments from friends and people like "Why not just get it cut off?" and "In America, you should be circumcised." While these comments don't actually bother me, it made me realize a general undertone of non-acceptance. So I started a fan page on Facebook for Foreskins, and I generally post things that aren't very serious on it.

I do believe however, that a mutilation like this should be a man's choice. If, for whatever reason, he decides that he no longer wants a foreskin, he can undertake the simple procedure to remove it. It is unfair to force this on an infant who has no say in the matter, and will be affected by this non-reversible procedure for the rest of his life. That's why I say I'm Pro-Skin-Choice. I don't have any kids yet at the age of 19, but when I do, whether or not they get circumcised is a descision they can make later in life.

~Greg Rumeser

Greg can be found on facebook where he has a group that uses humor to help people accept foreskins as a natural part of the body.

His body, his choice

A real conversation with comments right from a man who was circumcised at birth. The sense of loss in his emotional words is quite moving.

Another example of why the rule should always be followed:

HIS BODY

HIS CHOICE

An intact man's comments.

I got a note in email the other day and thought it would be interesting to share the point of view from intact men as well. Here is the first I got and I will post more as they come in.

40 years ago, I worked in PA. After each shift, we had 20 minutes to shower and change clothes. And that's how I discovered that in the real America, circ was unknown before WWII, but was almost universal among Baby Boomers like me. Every guy in my shop over 35 was intact, and only two guys younger than that were, me being one of them.

What happened during WWII? Medical insurance became a standard work benefit. In those days, health insurance paid for baby circ without question. Also, military docs thought that being intact made it much more likely that a soldier would catch VD from a sex worker. They also thought that having foreskin often caused problems when fighting in a desert or jungle. The views of the military carried enormous weight in those days.

In high school locker rooms in my town and at the Y, and in pool locker rooms in summer, I saw all of one intact boy. The boys I grew up with were a potty mouthed lot, but one sexual subject they never touched on was foreskin and circ. I very much doubt that most of them knew that their johnsons had been surgically altered. Those of who went on to attend better colleges began talking about it a bit when we were in college.

I was surprised to discover in the 1980s, by reading Rosemary Romberg, that there were American men who were very unhappy about their RICs. I was even more surprised to read, starting in the 1990s, that RIC can have deleterious consequences for the pleasure and functionality of both genders. American intactivism is, in my opinion, a social consequence of the internet and of the rise of sex positive feminism. It is also surprising that nearly all of the passion and leadership in this cause comes from married mothers like yourself.

Why did tens of millions of mothers in the English speaking countries, starting as far back as the 1880s, see nothing to get fussed about, or saw it as positively good? The fact that RIC was done without anesthesia was not a hidden Secret of the Temple. It was freely admitted in most of what I read about sex and baby care from 1965 onwards. Nobody was grossed out by the screaming boys until the 1980s!!

My French mother refused to have me circumcised. When her American mother in law said that she was thinking of having it done without my mother's consent, my mother replied saying that if I were circumcised without her consent, her marriage to my father was history. This was in 1949.

When the history of American sexuality is written, the 20th century obsession to make the penis bald will look very very bad.

Nathan's Story

As a man I feel that I have been wronged because I wasn't born with birth defect; I was born with a healthy, harmless prepuce, AKA a foreskin. The medical staff of Loris Community Hospital of S.C., instead of recognizing my body anatomy, violently violated me by tying me down spreadeagle, then proceeded to rip the most sensitive part of my entire body from the head of my penis and then cut it off.


I feel so angry and hurt because they had no respect for me and betrayed the oath to do no harm to their patient, and because in the eyes of the law I'm considered less important than a woman, as just pricking a girl or woman's genitals is considered genital mutilation even for religious or cultural reasons. When I masturbate or have sex I don't feel any pleasure from the glans I only feel some pleasure from my frenulum and I always feel the need to rush because ejaculating is only real source of intense pleasure I get. I would do anything to get back what was stolen from me and until I do I will grieve and suffer while working to prevent others from having to endure suffering like I have.


~Nathan Pannell
http://www.youtube.com/user/blackstarzero