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20 Functions of the Foreskin
This list is intended to be exhaustive (including all functions, no
matter how trivial, just as the most trivial of reasons to circumcise
is taken seriously), in descending order of importance in each section.
| Sexual |
|
1 |
Erotic pleasure, especially via the ridged band and Meissner's corpuscles |
|
2 |
Acts as a rolling bearing in intercourse and masturbation |
|
3 |
Prevents dyspareunia (painful intercourse) |
|
4 |
Stimulates partner's genitalia, giving erotic pleasure |
|
5 |
Supplies skin to cover the shaft in erection and prevent tightness |
|
6 |
Stores pheromones and releases them on arousal |
|
7 |
Stores, releases and helps distribute natural lubricants ("smegma" and pre-ejaculatory fluid) |
|
8 |
Makes the glans a visual signal of sexual arousal |
|
9 |
Provides a seal against the vaginal wall to contain semen |
| Protective |
|
10 |
Prevents the glans becoming keratinised, and keeps it soft and moist |
|
11 |
Protects the thin-skinned glans against injury
But you know what happened to me when I was 10 years old? I was
playing on a playground and slipped down a wet slide backwards. I
landed facedown at the bottom. The ground was covered in rocks there
from someone who had dumped a pile at the bottom of the slide. I
scratched up my legs and stomach and tore my penis skin. It was hanging
almost from a strand. The doctor made sure it was clean and sealed it
with glue. Do you know what he said to me? He said, "If you were
missing your foreskin, you would be having cosmetic surgery right now."
My penis skin saved me from surgery!
- LK, aged 13 on The Daily Guggie Daly, Februrary 1, 2011
|
|
12 |
Protects the nerves of the glans, retaining their erotic function |
|
13 |
In infancy, protects the urethra against contamination, meatal stenosis, (and UTIs?) |
|
14 |
Provides lysosomes for bacteriostatic action around the glans |
|
15 |
Pigmented, it protects the unpigmented glans against sunburn |
|
16 |
Vascular (rich in blood vessels that bring heat to the tissues), it protects the less vascular glans against frostbite, as Sir Ranulph Fiennes found on his epic transpolar walk.
|
| Other |
| 17 | As a tag with which to pull the penis out through the fly |
|
18 |
Provides skin for grafts to burnt eyelids, reconstructive surgery, etc.
... to close an ulcer on his shin, caused by an auto accident. ...
Hawaiian_Gecko in the Washington Post, December 28, 2013
|
| 19 | Provides sensitive skin to line the vagina in male-to-female sex-reassignment surgery |
|
20 |
"The foreskin is important embryologically in the formation of the
end of the penis and the urethra. If there is no foreskin the urethral
opening is not at the end of the penis where it should be, but
somewhere on the underside of the penis (hypospadius [sic])." - Dr Edgar Schoen (!) (but he claims that is its only function. Aposthia is not a prerequisite for hypospadias.) |
|
21 |
Holds absorbant tissue in place after urethral surgery, in case of minimal incontinence, etc. |
|
22 |
Holds semen after masturbating until it can be disposed of. Comedian Joe Diaz describes doing so here (3:55 NSFW). |
|
23 |
Holds M&Ms in a "pouch-off" (contest to see whose holds the most). (NSFW)
To win a bet/as a joke: Man fits 42 Gummy Bears in his Foreskin (NSFW)
|
|
24 |
Conceals notes. "Members of the IRA were known to hide notes under their foreskins when incarcerated" - Richard English, Armed Struggle (2004) 200-201 quoted in Non-Therapeutic Male Circumcision, Issues Paper No 14, 2009, Tasmania Law Reform Institute
|
|
25 |
Stores contact lenses, keys, drugs, smuggled jewels, etc. - not all recommended uses ...
|
Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard
April 8, 2008
Dealer hid heroin in his foreskin
By Simon Davies
Drug dealer John Goscombe has been jailed for five years |
A DRUG dealer caught with two packets of heroin hidden around his foreskin was jailed for five years today.
John Goscombe, 33, of Jubilee Green, Cirencester, had denied having the intimately concealed drug with intent to supply it.
But a jury at Gloucester Crown Court took less than an hour to find Goscombe guilty.
... |
|
WLKY
February 3, 2011
Officers Say Drugs Found In Man's Penis
Police: Suspected Crack Cocaine Found In Foreskin
LOUISVILLE, KY. - A Fairdale man faces charges after Louisville
Metro Corrections officers said they discovered suspected crack cocaine
in the foreskin of his penis.
According to the arrest report, officers asked Antoine Banks if he
had any drugs, weapons or contraband on him as he entered Metro
Corrections after his arrest. He told them he didn’t, police said.
During a clothed pat-down, officers said they found a small bag of suspected cocaine tied to the waistband of Banks’ boxers.
After that bag was found, a strip search was ordered, according to
the arrest report. During the strip search, another small bag was in
the foreskin of his penis, police said.
...
|
|
This Is Lincolnshire (UK)
October 26, 2011
Boston cyclist hid drugs under his foreskin
A MAN hid four wraps of illegal drugs under his foreskin, magistrates have heard.
Police, acting on tip off, had stopped Edward Sear as he cycled along Witham Bank West, Boston, on September 28.
Scales of Justice
He was arrested and taken to Boston Police Station where the wraps of diamorphine, a Class A drug, were discovered.
Unemployed Sear, 34, of Jubilee Avenue, Boston, admitted a drug possession charge.
He was sentenced to take part in a six month drug rehabilitation course and pay £40 costs.
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I always keep a [hand]cuff key hidden in my foreskin.
- DogtheBountyHunter on the Gothamist, April 5, 2012
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... it would be preposterous to suggest that babies should be
cut to prevent them doing this as adults, but such is the
irrational pressure to cut, there are those who will.
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The Doctors Opposing Circumcision (DOC) website has a clear and comprehensive video about the structure and functions of the prepuce.
Related pages:
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