8 Negative Effects of Male Circumcision on Female Sexuality

Male circumcision has not only developmental and lifelong emotional consequences for the man, but several studies uncover the negative impact of male circumcision on female sexuality.

The mutilation and removal of the foreskin from a baby boy’s genitals has lifelong repercussions for his physical and emotional well being, and also for all relationships and female sexual partners he has in his lifetime.  Let’s explore the scientific literature to take an evidence-based look at what happens to the sexual experiences of women with circumcised men.

1. Circumcision Causes Vaginal Dryness

Maintaining a fully in tact foreskin helps to avoid problems with excessive dryness of the vagina, report Dr. John P. Warren and Psychologist Jim Bigelow in a scientific review published in the British Journal of Sexual Medicine.

The tip of a man’s penis resides naturally inside his foreskin, making it an internally protected body part, but when the foreskin is removed, the glans or head of the penis constantly rubs against the fabric of his clothing and consequently, it forces it to adapt to its unnatural external environment by drying out.  Not only does the dried out head of the penis demand more lubrication of the female sex partner, as Dr. Paul M. Fleiss explains in his book What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Circumcision, the lack of gliding action and the shape of the glans actually drags vaginal lubrication out of the vagina.

O’Hara and O’Hara reported significantly more vaginal dryness and discomfort in circumcised partners versus intact partners, in a survey of sexual enjoyment for women.

2. Less Women Prefer Circumcised Penis

BJUI is one of the most highly respected medical journals in the world, and in 1999 K. O’Hara and J. O’Hara published a survey they conducted on American women who have had sex with both circumcised and intact partners.  The results “show clearly that women preferred vaginal intercourse with an anatomically complete penis over that with a circumcised penis”.  In fact, the women preferred the partner to be intact by a ratio of 8.6 to 1.  After declaring that there may be meany reasons for this preference, they explain that “When the anatomically complete penis thrusts in the vagina, it does not slide, but rather glides on its own ‘bedding’ of movable skin, in much the same way that a turtle’s neck glides in and out of the folding layers of skin surrounding it.”

3. More Aggressive and Painful Thrusting

Due to the desensitization of the penis caused by circumcision, circumcised men are forced to thrust more aggressively to reach orgasm, causing pain and discomfort in the woman.

Gillian A. Bensley and Gregory J. Boyle of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences in Australia discovered this in an exploratory survey they conducted to determine the long term effects of circumcision in the human male and their partners.  One of the sexual consequences that Bensley and Boyle uncovered in their surveys was that the desensitized penis may cause a need for intense stimulation to reach orgasm.  The necessity of excessive thrusting during intercourse was a view supported by 40% of the men who participated in their survey, and many even claimed that vaginal sex offered inadequate stimulation for pleasure or orgasm.  This could be a significant part of the reason why pornography is so popular – because it offers some of the most intense kind of stimulation and many circumcised men are prone to seek.
In his book Circumcision: The Hidden Trauma, Ronald Goldman cited letters he received from a man who had been circumcised at age 30 who said “there are feelings you’ll just never have without a foreskin”, and from another who wrote that orgasm after circumcision was “like sight without color”.
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4. Reduced Female Orgasms and Multiple Orgasms

A survey was designed by O’Hara and O’Hara to determine the effect of male circumcision on a woman’s ability to reach both single and multiple vaginal orgasms.

Published in BJUI in 1999, some of the findings were as follows:

  • 85.5% of women reported they were more likely to have vaginal orgasms with intact partners.
  • Many women reported that they have had orgasms with intact partners, but have never reached orgasm with circumcised partners.
  • Women were found more likely to have multiple orgasms with intact partners, and to have never had a multiple orgasm with circumcised partners.
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5. Circumcision Increases the Need for Lube

An Australian survey by Bensley & Boyle in 2001 found that because of the reduction in sensitivity of the penis, circumcised men were found to be less likely to use condoms.  Less use of condoms obviously means a greater chance of contracting a sexually transmitted disease, as well as a greater chance of experiencing an undesired and unplanned pregnancy.

6. Circumcision Reduces Sexual Fulfillment

The sexual experience reported by women with a circumcised partner was found to be similar to the symptoms that occur in “female arousal disorder”.  The Bensley & Boyle survey publication in the New Zealand Medical Journal from 2003 concluded that “most likely, reported vaginal dryness and the related clinical designation `female arousal disorder’ is but a normal female response to coitus with a man with an iatrogenically deficient penis.”

If the dragging of vaginal lubrication out of the vagina due to a lack of gliding action and the shape of the glans wasn’t bad enough, the normal biological response of a female engaging in intercourse with a circumcised male partner could very well be ‘female arousal disorder’, further compounding the problem by leading to less arousal and more vaginal dryness.

Morten Frisch and his team of researchers in Denmark conducted a study in 2011 to examine the effects of male circumcision on both partners.  The results of the examination indicated that “circumcised men reported more partners and were more likely to report frequent orgasm difficulties”, and “women with circumcised spouses more often reported incomplete sexual needs fulfillment”.

CONCLUSION

Having been circumcised myself, I feel a deep sorrow inside me knowing that there is a level of pleasure my body was supposed to allow me to experience but no longer can.  I also resent the fact that my ability to connection emotionally and have a fulfilling relationship has been limited by this gruesome and cruel act.

Knowing that I will not be able to give a woman the same fulfillment that I would have been able to had my foreskin not been severed from my body is disheartening.  I feel like I am missing out on a big part of life, and that things have been stolen from me against my will.   If I had a choice in the matter, I would never have been circumcised, and if I have a child of my own some day I will not subject him to the same fate.

In light of this information, both men and women now have abundant reasons to refuse the practice of circumcision, and we must use this information to educate the human family until the barbaric and despicable ritual of circumcision is permanently eradicated.

REFERENCES

  • Male circumcision and sexual function in men and women [study]
  • Physical, Sexual and Psychological Effects of Male Infant Circumcision [study]
  • The effect of male circumcision on the sexual enjoyment of the female partner [study]
  • Effects of male circumcision on female arousal and orgasm [study]
  • The Case Against Circumcision [study]