NO FORESKIN
[A man recalls his thoughts and feelings as a child over
60 years ago when he realized that part of his penis had
been cut off. Distilled by John A. Erickson from
correspondence with a man in Texas. Published in the Fall
1986 issue (#6) of FQ (Foreskin Quarterly).]
My parents never used the word "penis" because it
wasn’t in the Bible. They used the word "foreskin"
instead. This caused me endless confusion.
When I was about seven I asked my mother why my
"foreskin" always stuck out but my older brother’s
didn’t (since the head of his penis was covered with
skin but mine was always exposed).
"Oh, don’t you remember?" she said. "The doctor
sewed your foreskin so it would stay back."
To my young mind something that was only sewed could
become unsewed. I would ask her, "When is the doctor
going to unsew my foreskin?" But she always turned my
questions off, never telling me the truth.
When I was nine a house was being built near ours.
One afternoon, when the men had quit for the day, the
man who ran the steam shovel asked me if I’d like to see
how it worked. Naturally, I was thrilled. I climbed on
and he showed me all about it. He was about 40, a smooth
talker, and somehow got onto the subject of "skin".
He asked, "Can you slip your skin all the way back?
Does it ever pull tight or hurt?"
I didn’t know how to answer him because, unlike my
father and brother, I had no skin to slip back; but I
managed to say, "The doctor sewed my foreskin so it
stays back all the time."
He said, "I’ve never seen a foreskin that was sewn
back."
Anxious to understand what had been done to me, I
said, "I’ll show you my foreskin if you’ll show me
yours." (He had no way to know I really meant "penis".)
"Sure", he said, "I’ll show you my foreskin. Let’s
see yours first."
I opened my pants and took my rough-cut little penis
out. I was watching his eyes and saw his astonishment as
he said, "I’ve never seen a foreskin sewn back like
that." Then he took out his penis, the head completely
covered with skin. "See *my* foreskin?" he asked.
I could see it all right!
He slipped the skin back slowly until the head was
exposed, and said, "I can make mine look like yours too.
See yours? See the scar all around it?"
Yes, I could see it clearly. "That’s where I was
sewed", I said.
"Son", he said gently, "you are circumcised."
"Oh no, I’m not," I said bravely. "I’m a Christian.
I’m not a Jew." (I had heard in Sunday school that
Jewish boys were circumcised and Christian boys were
baptized.)
"See the little marks going all around?" he asked.
"Yes", I said.
"That’s where you were sewed. Look here." He pulled
gently on the skin of the shaft but it was too tight to
move. "See?" he said. "There’s no loose skin like mine."
Then he slipped his foreskin back and forth over the
head of his penis and I could see *exactly* what had
been done to me. I could see that *that* part of me had been
*cut* OFF!
I panicked.
"When will my foreskin grow back???" I asked.
"Son," he said softly, "it will never grow back. You
are circumcised, and you will always be circumcised.
Nothing can ever change that. **You have no foreskin.**"
I was too stunned to speak. I burst into tears. I
didn’t want him to see me cry. I climbed down and ran
until I was out of sight. I was so enraged I couldn’t
talk. The people I had trusted had told me all those
lies about being "sewed", and I realized I would be
*cut* like that - an amputee - for the rest of my life.
I went back the next day but the steam shovel was
gone, and I never saw the man again.
I never told my mother I knew she had lied to me. I
couldn’t make myself talk about it. Several times I
worked up the courage, but when I opened my mouth to
speak, the words stuck in my throat and no sound came
out.
That was over 60 years ago, but I remember it as
clearly as if it happened yesterday - and the words,
"You have no foreskin" still resound in my head.
[John A. Erickson is an educator and human rights activist
who has, since 1981, been working to end the human rights
violation, the sexual mutilation of helpless
baby boys known euphemistically as "infant circumcision".]
===============================================================
Information on the normal intact penis and its anatomy,
on the physical/mechanical functioning of the normal
intact penis during sex, on the lifelong harm and
damage from "infant circumcision" (i. e. male sexual
mutilation), on the shocking history of this brutal,
anti-human practice, and on various other aspects of the
http://www.cirp.org/CIRP/ [The Circumcision Information and
Resources Pages]
http://www.cirp.org/CIRP/library/anatomy/garcia/
What exactly is circumcision and what is it not?
http://www.cirp.org/CIRP/pages/anat/
Anatomy of the Penis and Mechanics of Intercourse: an
illustrated guide
http://net.indra.com/~shredder/intact/anatomy/index.html
Anatomy of the Intact Penis
http://users.aol.com/ks21107l1/3zones.htm
The 3 Zones of Penile Skin, by John A. Erickson
Those who have awareness about the senselessness of
their circumcisions and who know about the harm done to
them from "infant circumcision" (the sexual, physical,
medical, emotional, psychological, and self-esteem forms
of harm directly stemming from this shameful,
contraindicated and nature-insulting operation inflicted in
infancy) should request a harm documentation form from
http://www.eskimo.com/%7Egburlin/noharmm/
[NOHARMM, the National Organization to Halt the Abuse
and Routine Mutilation of Males, POB 460795, San
Francisco, CA 94146; phone/FAX: 415-826-9351]
"Fear, pain, crippling, disfigurement and humiliation
are the classic ways to break the human spirit.
Circumcision includes them all."
- a circumcised (i. e. sexually mutilated)
American man
Stan, confronting male sexual mutilation - "infant circumcision" - in
the US
[If you wish to send me email, be sure to remove the " * " found
in front of my email address.]
--
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Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.
- Marie Curie [Madame Curie], 1867-1934,
chemist/physicist, born Marja Sklodowska
in Poland; freethinker; married physicist
Pierre Curie; Nobel Prize won for
physics (1903) and for chemistry (1911);
isolated, described and named the radioactive
elements radium and polonium (named after
her native land)