An intact American bodyworker who has taken classes in England writes:

Massaging the genitals is basic to tantric body massage, so it is important to understand the workings of the intact male genitalia.

All the penis massage methods that have been commercially taught so far come essentially from the Body Electric School in Berkeley, California and are implicitly designed for the circumcised penis.

Intact men may develop a "circumcised" view of their own genitalia through pictures and videos they have seen, instructional materials from Body Electric and its like, and general public ignorance of the penis and how it works.

European bodyworkers are frustrated that the techniques they are taught by Body Electric are the same dreadful sort of stimulations published in sexual technique books published in the United States - namely, treating the penis as a big and relatively insensitive banana, focusing most if not all of the stimulation on the glans, treating the shaft as merely something to hold on to, and ignoring the existence of the foreskin altogether.

European bodyworkers employing the genital massage techniques taught by Body Electric merely produced unhappy, painful results on their intact British and European (and US) clientele.

Unlike most of the rest of the human body, the penis is wired end-to-end. The nerve endings run horizontally instead of vertically, through all the penile skin and mucosal surfaces, including the foreskin. Cutting out a significant piece of this sleeve through circumcision, or even a small piece, essentially short-wires the neurologic map of the penis and changes the stimulation landscape completely. If you imagine an electric current in the skin running continuously from glans sulcus to pubis, through and including the foreskin, the dramatic effects of circumcision become immediately apparent.

The foreskin can be stimulated through gentle stretching, both forward and backward (tugging and retracting, both specifically stimulating the ridged band). The glans (but really the inner foreskin) can be stimulated by keeping the foreskin over the glans and gently massaging the corona through the double-layer of foreskin. (Material from professional bodywork courses either ignores the foreskin or emphasizes getting it out of the way as quickly as possible, holding it back so the "jewel" can be worked on). It is the glans that actually stimulates the foreskin predominantly, and not the other way around.

Leaders at body workshops should specifically retract each participant in turn to demonstrate how the ridged band is a common feature of all intact males, regardless of foreskin length or shape, and then gently stimulate the ridged band in its locked "open" position so that each man can understand this specialized mucosa's role in intercourse.

The inner foreskin and especially the ridged band have a role in the early detection of erection, in which subtle changes in glans engorgement are immediately detected by the inner foreskin. It is a useful feeling that every intact man has on a daily basis, a defining feature of his anatomy, but most never actually think about it. Yet its loss is one of the most frequent complaints following circumcision.

Workers should explore the subtle sensation differences between the ventral and dorsal sides of the penis, the unique structure and role of the frenulum in carrying blood and nerve sensation to the foreskin and glans, the raphe from anus through perinaeum, scrotum, urethra and frenulum right up to the meatal lips. Most had never noticed or thought about their meatal lips, but three-quarters of circumcised men have some sort of permanent damage to the tender lips through loss of blood supply and exposure abrasion, leading to meatal stenosis.

They should compare differences in sensation coming from circular stimulation of the inner foreskin to direct, in-line stimulation and gentle tugging. They should emphasise the differences in innervation between glans and inner foreskin, explaining about the fine-touch nerve endings clustered in the foreskin, particularly at the ridged band. But mostly, focus on the incredible continuity of sensation in the intact penis, how the innervation runs from one end to the other and the phallus needs to be treated as an organic whole. Once you get going, you're really conducting a symphony orchestra!

The question arises how how anyone in their right mind could condone circumcision if they know all this. The answer is of course that hardly anyone performing or consenting to circumcision has this understanding, and that ignorance of our bodies is a big factor in allowing the disgrace of circumcision to continue and proliferate. Bodyworkers who have this understanding say they can never look at their circumcised students and clients now without a sense of great loss for them.

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