Does Circumcision Impact Sexual Behavior?

If you take a complicated approach to sexuality, it’s impossible to say whether something like circumcision impacts the sexual behaviors of individuals in specific ways. Our sexual behaviors and the sexual choices we make are almost never the result of a single cause or motivation (even though sometimes we like to blame our bad choices on one moment of weakness, it’s usually a bit more complicated). This means that tying circumcision directly to a change in sexual behavior is to oversimplify the situation.

Of course, social scientists are never ones to shy away from oversimplifications, and one study has considered the question of circumcision and sexuality behavior. Not surprisingly, following the report of that study, another paper was published taking the same data and interpreting them quite differently.

The initial study, which took data from the large 1992 National Health and Social Life Survey (NHSLS), found differences in sexual behaviors reported by circumcised and uncircumcised men:

* Circumcised men engaged more frequently in oral sex and anal sex than uncircumcised men.

* 47% of circumcised men engaged in masturbation at least once a month, but only 34% of uncircumcised men reported engaging in masturbation at least once a month (both numbers seem very low to me).

This pattern was not true for all circumcised men and because there were differences tied to ethnicity and race, the researchers propose that the difference is not related to a physical difference, but a psychological one.

Following the analysis from the NHSLS study, another research paper, written by anti-circumcision advocates, offer a different interpretation. Here the authors propose that circumcised men have much less sensitivity, and as a result, they require more stimulation, which is what drives them to having more oral and anal sex.

Needless to say, given the exploratory nature of the first report, and the theoretical nature of the second, both of these theories need to be treated with serious skepticism

It’s probably reasonable to think that mechanical considerations of how a circumcised penis works might impact sexual behavior. The foreskin provides not only a protective sheath, but also an extra layer of skin during penetration that changes the way friction is felt. Some men who are circumcised may find that the skin on the penis is very tight when they have a full erection, and this could be painful.

This is one of the reasons many men (and their partners) like using a lubricant to increase the slipperiness and decrease some of the raw friction. Of course, other people enjoy intense friction, and wouldn’t be as happy if they had the more protected experience of penetration with a foreskin.

In the end, your choice of sexual behaviors and your experience of sexual pleasure are more limited by your imagination than by whether you are circumcised or not. It’s true that some partners express a preference for circumcised or uncircumcised men, but it’s equally true that the penis is but one of many things that can give and experience sexual pleasure. And there simply is no one “optimal” penis for ever person or every occasion.