Foreskin.

[potatochipeater]

I have read accounts of men who were circumcised as infants using weights and makeshift devices to try to pull as much skin as possible over the glans to "re-create" feeling of uncircumcised penis. I was wondering how dangerous this is and whether it can be done without that. It would seem to me that you could cause real damage. I'm just curious. I think it's important to be comfortable with your body and what you've got. I've never had an issue with being circumcised because I know nothing else. Astethically, I've always preferred or been used to seeing circumcised because it was more common when I was born. It was believed it helped ward off cancer, disease and was easier to clean. That's why my parents opted for it but didn't do it with subsequent siblings.

[Alice O]

Hey potatochipeater,

I am not well acquainted with people using weights or other devices to try to pull skin over the glans of their penis, but I agree that sounds like it could cause real damage! While I know it is possible to get circumcised later on life, no I am not aware of a procedure that reverses the circumcision process.

If you'd like to read a bit more, here is Scarleteen's piece on foreskin, as well as a message board chat from someone feeling frustrated they were circumcised as a baby, before they could consent to that body alteration: A Foreskin Foray: Questions, Concerns & Clarifications & Circumsion and body image.

It sounds like right now you are mostly just curious about this subject, but if you have any specific questions or concerns about your body that you'd like to talk through feel free to share!

[potatochipeater]

It's something I thought was extreme and was curious about what you had heard about people doing it. I read an online article about people doing this when looking up circumcision. It sounded as though one could injure themselves. Unless there is a safe way to do so I'm not interested in it for myself. I'm happy with the look and function of mine. I don't understand why people alter this area of body with piercings either and endure any pain.

[Heather]

Well, it might help to recognize that for a lot of people who do that, it isn't painful, or it is a kind of discomfort, for lack of a better word, they enjoy.

Pain and pleasure are on a continuum, and are very individual both physically and psychologically. So, while getting or having a genital piercing might be painful for one person, it's pleasurable for another.