(SEX TALK) Is Being Uncut A Handicap For Gay Men?

By: Jerry Plaza
GAY GUYS

Cut or uncut is usually the first question asked when you’re talking to someone on Grindr. As soon as you hear it, you wait patiently for the person on the other end to stop judging you and whatever response you get has the power to affect your sexual confidence.

Depending on your answer, you’re sure to either turn on or turn off a great number of men. Gay guys in America are often scared of the unknown or unrecognizable and since the U.S. is the only country in the world where the majority of baby boys are circumcised for non-religious reasons, is it safe to say that when it comes to dating those with foreskins don’t make the cut?

It’s difficult for the uncircumcised community to feel welcome, especially when it’s clear the majority of Americans don’t accept them. Even those with foreskin seem to prefer men who are cut. It’s as if we’ve taken one bad sexual experience and made a sweeping generalization that all gay guys with foreskin are dirty or unhealthy. This is anything but true.


The foreskin has become a fetish. Being uncircumcised has worked in the favor of many gay guys, but it’s also worked against them as well. Those who hate foreskin have no qualms in expressing their attitudes: “Eeww, gross!” or “Don’t do uncut d*ks, sorry bud” or “I prefer cut. Had a bad experience. Sorry” are normal things to hear on hookup apps. How is that supposed to make someone feel?

I can’t tell you how many horror stories I’ve heard from gay guys cursing the foreskin because of a past experience. Rarely do they consider the fact that, perhaps, the real issue was the man they slept with. Not uncircumcised penises as a whole. It makes sense. In a way it’s kind of like pecan pie. Just because you have a bad slice doesn’t mean that all pecan pies are bad. Maybe it’s the baker you should be blaming instead. It’s the same idea with uncircumcised men. It’s not the foreskin itself that made your experience bad, rather it was the hygiene of the man you slept with.

Uncircumcised men today are too scared to show what’s in their pants out of fear of getting judged or discriminated against, and the only reason why is because we as a culture have somehow convinced them that they’re dirty or unworthy. It’s time we stop this now.

Gay people across the community are guilty of it either which way. We know the discrimination is there, yet we don’t bother to acknowledge it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen guys refusing to go on a second date with a man simply because of his foreskin – I’ve also seen the opposite where men have been dumped for the same reason. It’s never a pretty situation and it always leaves someone with hurt feelings.
Prejudice toward uncut men has escalated in the last few years, despite the fact that more American babies aren’t getting circumcised. New figures from the National Center for Health Statistics have shown rates of circumcision dropping a 10^th over the past three decades.  This shouldn’t be a big deal seeing as nearly 65 – 75% of the world’s population don’t circumcise, but sadly the stigma exists.
As we start to see more foreskins, will the prejudice subside or increase?