Dear Level

What Women Really Think About Circumcision

Cut. Uncut. We love them all. Most of us, anyway.

Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.

My Facebook comments are in shambles. And it’s all your fault.

You see, as I sat down to write this week’s Dear Level column, I had a realization: I’ve never seen an uncircumcised penis. Sure, I’ve heard all about them, and I get the general gist. A penis with its head covered, yes? I’m struggling to create a mental image. I just know there’s some foreskin involved.

After a search on Google Images, I realized I have very likely seen an uncut penis — when at attention, there’s not much difference between that and one that is circumcised. I probably wouldn’t have noticed one way or another. (Flaccid is another story, though; there’s definitely a shar-pei-like quality to the hooded skin.)

Around the world, circumcision is vanishing. In fact, in many Caribbean countries, the numbers are close to zero.

This rabbit hole brought me to Facebook, my favorite way to crowdsource opinions on the love and sex topics covered in this column. (Think about it: I know the people, I can usually vouch for their truthfulness, and they’re a lot less likely to flood my mentions with porn.) Turns out, circumcision is the most polarizing topic since I wrote about booty play. Some people were arguing whether the practice should even be done at all, which is a different story entirely — but as it pertains to preference, women seem to favor a circumcised penis just a bit more than one that is uncut, seemingly because it’s what they’re more familiar with.

Here’s a comment that pretty much echoes all the others:

It doesn’t matter — and I’ve had experience with both. I didn’t know for quite some time into our relationship that one guy wasn’t circumcised because initially our meetings were just sex appointments and he was always ready to go!

Hygiene first and foremost is preferred; cosmetically speaking, uncircumcised is just better to look at (while flaccid, that is) so…