# Do American women prefer circumcised lovers? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 17, 2003, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-women-prefer-circumcised-lovers/161893 "2003-03-17T02:00:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![InLikeFlynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f19dbf/32.png) [@InLikeFlynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InLikeFlynn)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-women-prefer-circumcised-lovers/161893/1 "2003-03-17T02:00:32Z")
My married sister is pregnant and expecting her first boy to be born this August. Her husband was born in Italy and is not circumcised (nor is any other male in his entire family). My sister was born in the USA and thinks that a little snipping is in order here. My sister is just as determined to have the “non-religious” procedure take place, as her husband is to never let the family tradition **be cut short!** The whole heated argument got me thinking. _(beyond all the medical pro’s and con’s surrounding the great debate)_ What do women prefer their lovers to be sporting in their boxers? Do you ladies favor lean and clean or should nature boy reign supreme? I am trying to give some additional info (ammo) to the warring parties and was wondering what the other half have to say on the issue. \*\*\* To snip or not to snip, that is the question!\*\*\* ---
**Author:** ![ultress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/7c8e57/32.png) [@ultress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultress)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-women-prefer-circumcised-lovers/161893/2 "2003-03-17T02:07:47Z")
Snip ---
**Author:** ![InLikeFlynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f19dbf/32.png) [@InLikeFlynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InLikeFlynn)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-women-prefer-circumcised-lovers/161893/3 "2003-03-17T02:10:55Z")
I really don’t want this to turn into a poll. Please provide a bit of elaboration if possible. Thx! ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-women-prefer-circumcised-lovers/161893/4 "2003-03-17T02:15:52Z")
Dude, YOU turned it into a poll; there’s no other way to answer the question. For what it’s worth, here’s some survey stuff from [http://www.circumcision.org/advocates.htm](http://www.circumcision.org/advocates.htm) Advocates In a national survey, circumcised men reported less sexual dysfunction than intact men [28]. Women prefer circumcised sexual partners [29]. Psychological effects are not recognized. Critics The difference in reported sexual dysfunction above is not statistically significant [30]. The Williamson study consists of young, Midwestern, 98% white mothers. They live in an area of the country with the highest circumcision rate, and 78% of the group had no experience with intact men. In a more recent survey, women with longer dual experience preferred anatomically complete men overwhelmingly to circumcised men [31]. Without the foreskin to provide a movable sleeve of skin, intercourse with a circumcised penis resulted in decreased vaginal secretions, more vaginal discomfort, harder and deeper thrusting of the partner, less chance of having an orgasm, less frequent orgasms, less frequent multiple orgasms, and shorter duration of coitus. (28) Laumann, E., Masi, C., and Zuckerman, E. “Circumcision in the United States: Prevalence, Prophylactic Effects, and Sexual Practice.” Journal of the American Medical Association 277 (1997): 1052-57. (29) Williamson, M., and Williamson, P. “Women’s Preferences for Penile Circumcision in Sexual Partners.” Journal of Sex Education and Therapy 14 (1988): 8-12. (30) Van Howe, R. personal communication (2000). (31) O’Hara, K., and O’Hara, J. “The Effect of Male Circumcision on the Sexual Enjoyment of the Female Partner.” BJU International 83 suppl. 1 (1999): 79-84. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-women-prefer-circumcised-lovers/161893/5 "2003-03-17T02:17:04Z")
I hope they like 'em snipped. It’s hard to get that undone! [sub]This **is** a poll and would be better off in IMHO, I should think[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-women-prefer-circumcised-lovers/161893/6 "2003-03-17T02:19:06Z")
I realize this isn’t a poll, but… I don’t have a huge preference. My current SO is intact - the first man I’ve been with that is - and I’m kind of digging it. He’s really clean - I imagine if a fella was less… conscientious about things it could be a tad nasty. However, that being said, the majority of my friends, when this topic comes up say they prefer the snip. ---
**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-women-prefer-circumcised-lovers/161893/7 "2003-03-17T02:32:56Z")
As a male , EWWW!!! I mean it’s elective surgery on your 'nads! :eek: [Mild aside] Hey **Nametag** , do you know if those studies took into account social/economic status? WAG, but since the Jewish people tend to be (treads carefully around racial sterotypes) more ‘economically stable’ than other groups, the health benefits measured by statistical surveys are about the Jews rather than the actual circumcision. It’s a little pet peev I have about statistical reports made by the media. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-women-prefer-circumcised-lovers/161893/8 "2003-03-17T03:44:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by alice\_in\_wonderland \* > \*\*I realize this isn’t a poll, but… > > I imagine if a fella was less… conscientious about things it could be a tad nasty. \*\* Geez, I must be dyslexic… I read those last two words as: " **nad tasty**. heh heh ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-women-prefer-circumcised-lovers/161893/9 "2003-03-17T03:55:26Z")
Couldn’t care less, and I have experience with both. (And FWIW, I’m a white Midwestern Jew.) It’s the least of the possible issues to me. Then again, it’s not like I have a statistical sample, ummm, under my belt, so one never knows… ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-women-prefer-circumcised-lovers/161893/10 "2003-03-17T04:53:48Z")
Widespread circumcision in the USA seems to have begun as a harebrained attempt to halt masturbation: [http://www.cirp.org/library/history/moscucci/](http://www.cirp.org/library/history/moscucci/) and it was believed to prevent paralysis, dementia, and all manner of other ailments: [http://www.cirp.org/library/history/gollaher/](http://www.cirp.org/library/history/gollaher/) Like all Victorian-era attempts to medicalize sexual mores of the era, it was based on no scientific evidence, whatseover. What I know from personal experience was that we nearly resorted to threatening violence to prevent our first son from being circumcised (he ultimately was not–but my wife was going to pound the nurse if she came in one more time to ask if we “wanted a circ”) ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-women-prefer-circumcised-lovers/161893/11 "2003-03-17T04:57:45Z")
An addendum: In 1999 the Council on Scientific Affairs of the American Medical Association reclassified routine infant circumcision as “a non therapeutic procedure”. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-women-prefer-circumcised-lovers/161893/12 "2003-03-17T05:18:27Z")
The population of the U.S. is only 2% Jewish, so I consider that to be totally without effect on the statistics. The vast majority of circumsized men in the U.S. are Christians. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-women-prefer-circumcised-lovers/161893/13 "2003-03-17T06:05:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dogface \* > \*\*Widespread circumcision in the USA seems to have begun as a harebrained attempt to halt masturbation… \*\* Let me assure you that it does NOT halt masturbation. I know! Err… because my friend told me… yeah.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-women-prefer-circumcised-lovers/161893/14 "2003-03-17T07:45:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Astroboy14 \* > \*\*:smack: \*\* I hope you washed that hand before you smacked your forehead with it. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-women-prefer-circumcised-lovers/161893/15 "2003-03-17T10:46:01Z")
Couldn’t care less if my lovers are cut or uncut. However, I am opposed to unnecessary surgery on infants. Circumcism is becoming less and less common in the US, so most likely the little tyke will not be the only uncut boy in the locker room at school ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-women-prefer-circumcised-lovers/161893/16 "2003-03-17T21:34:58Z")
Well, as the mohel said when he bungled the bris, It won’t be long now! ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-women-prefer-circumcised-lovers/161893/17 "2003-03-17T22:26:15Z")
Ask your sister if she would you consider having her daughter go through surgery for the benefit of the possible whims of future sexual partners. (This is IMHO bound and isn’t going to end without a fight…) ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-women-prefer-circumcised-lovers/161893/18 "2003-03-17T22:30:00Z")
I’ll phrase that again! :rolleyes: Ask your sister if she would consider having her daughter go through surgery for the benefit of the possible whims of future sexual partners. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-women-prefer-circumcised-lovers/161893/19 "2003-03-18T00:08:38Z")
I’ve known both and I strongly prefer circumcised – for reasons of hygiene and, frankly, aesthetics. It’s not the most important thing as a criterion in a lover or potential lover – for me, the question of whether he smokes or drinks too much would be more important – but it isn’t entirely insignificant, either. ---
**Author:** ![InLikeFlynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f19dbf/32.png) [@InLikeFlynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InLikeFlynn)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-women-prefer-circumcised-lovers/161893/20 "2003-03-18T00:24:22Z")
Why would this thread be IMHO bound? **Futile Gesture** has been the only poster to diss the question with a **“trolling gesture”**! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-women-prefer-circumcised-lovers/161893.md?page=2)