Burnley Grammar School

Josh H
I was 11 by brother 6, upset at time but healed fast and soon forgotten.

David H

How old were you when you were circumcised, and do you remember it being a traumatic experience?

I buy unlined shorts but I always go commando - perhaps the memories of the slipper whacking my arse are still strong enough that I do trousers off, underpants off, shorts on on autopilot!

First I should apologise to the other David, as had not noted there was another one .. should have known, never worked at a place that did not have 4-5 David's !
My brother and I where circumcised at a doctors office in Aldershot, given injections to make us go to sleep.
Had to be about 40% roundheads at the grammar a lot more than I was aware of at my junior school, at least one fellow cavalier at junior school had joined the roundheads with me.
Once used to my new status I have to say never regretted it, and when it came time for my own son he was done soon after birth.
I remember my mother telling me the future king had had it done, little did she know some 70 years later he still would not be king !

Okay, does anyone actually like built-in liners in their shorts? Now it's almost impossible to find athletic shorts without a liner. I've never met a sewn-in mesh brief that was as comfortable or well-constructed. It's a pain to cut them out, and I dislike buying something brand-new and having to cut it out myself. But as said, l am circumcised and as Julian says the liner really hurts my penis. Circumcised lads are sensitive down there! So yeah the perfect solution for me is to cut out the liner and wear a jock.

Hi Dave
I totally agree. I too cut out the lining of shorts and wear a jockstrap. Still the best.

Dave

Haha ... l do exactly the same, that is cut out the inline netting from shorts. Good to know I am not alone. I wonder if James and Chris G do the same ;)

Hi, James,Chris and Julian, I am just the same as you as regards wearing a jockstrap for support over shorts with a liner. I would normally buy plain shorts but sometimes I have bought shorts with a lining because I liked the look of them and then carefully cut out the liner and worn my jock under them.

Fiona - input to your survey.

Q1: During primary school years I progressed from full PJs, through topless in the summer, to year-round topless by the time I went away to school.

Q2: Pyjamas, 3 pairs

Q3: I joined an established dormitory group with seven other boys, all of whom had been wearing nothing at all to bed for at least a year.

Q4: Less than I had been accustomed to wear at home during the preceding years.

Q5: PJs were specified but the only enforced regulation was that for hygiene, we shouldn't go to bed in anything worn during the day. There was tacit acknowledgement throughout the school that this was best achieved by not wearing anything at all.

Q6: Not at all.

Q7: Mum and Dad were amused, but not surprised, when I went home for my first half-term break with three pairs of unworn PJs, but made no attempt to persuade me to mend my new-found ways.

Chris G, Julian, nice to meet like-minded guys! I hate those built inline shorts. The good old jockstrap, on the other hand, gives us men comfort, support and breathability. Best support going for physical activity. Don't understand why youngsters today wear all that heavy underarmour, and it must roast their privates something rotten!

Julian - I agree. I've never been a fan of shorts with built-in linings, principally due to the lack of support that they generally provide. Like you, I've always found a jockstrap much more practical underwear when wearing shorts.

Matthew
Often! lol but at least we have never had to worry about smegma!

Mathew,I certainly would have preferred not to have been circumcised,I often wonder what it would be to be like other boys, who I considered to be more fortunate who were not circumcised.It was always considered to be the parents'decision,but I deeply regret that they made the decision to have me circumcised.

To Julian
I certainly wasn't "done" for religious reasons but whether it was for medical reasons or because it was "the thing to do", I don't know. But, have you never wondered how it would feel to have a foreskin?

Matthew
Why didn't you like be circumcised? The only irritating part for me was wearing shorts with in sewn support and the material always seemedto be nylon based fabric whivh hurt, but as l started wearing a jockstrap the problem was solved.

Julian, l remember the roundhead cavalier competition! I also was a roundhead and seem to remember that most roundheads were so because they were living overseas at the time of boarding. My parents lived in Rhodesia and l think all boys were automatically circumcised for health reasons. What about your circumstances?

Fiona - response to your survey:

1 - Nominally pyjamas, but increasingly topless in hot weather once I entered my teens.

2 - Pyjamas, three pairs.

3 - PJ bottoms only, by universal personal choice rather than school diktat, even in the depths of winter.

4 - Less.

5 - Back then (late 1950s), sleeping topless was becoming increasingly acceptable among teenage boys, and not just in hot weather. With dormitories maintained at a comfortable temperature, and a sympathetic boarding house-master, it was a no-brainer.

6 - N/A

7 - Mum knew I slept topless in hot weather, and although surprised to find me still topless when I came home for the Christmas holiday, was quite accepting of my choice.

8 - After a long summer of sleeping topless, I had gone to my new school not looking forward to wearing PJ tops again. Finding that topless sleeping was not just tolerated as an individual quirk, but accepted as mainstream practice, came as a great relief.

JOhn, how did your parents feel about you having to sleep topless at school, and did you wear full PJs at home during the holidays?

To David. It was most unfortunate that you were circumcised for social climbing reasons. When you got to the grammar school, were you in a minority of "good boys"? Have you ever resented your circumcision? And how did your brother feel?
I was circumcised as a baby. I don't know why but wish I hadn't been. How do others feel about being circumcised?

Chris G
Gosh that brings back memories the term "roundheads" and "cavaliers" and although l was a 'roundhead' l would say that the 'cavaliers' outnumbered us just!
I too was "done" as an infant for very valid medical reasons.

Morgan
Fascinating to read your message concerning Dr Kellogg and thoughts on circumcision for pubescent boys to stop masturbation!
I had to laugh, as circumcision never stopped me and others who were circumcised! We were as ferocious at masturbation as were those who were those who were 'uncut' at boarding school

I was circumcised as a baby. At boarding school I would say that 80% of lads were. From there I went to university and played rugby so again maybe 60% of the lads were. I continued to play rugby post university and I think probably 50-60% of the guys were cut. These days going to the gym, the number of cut guys is reduced. Probably somewhere around 10-15% and mostly we older men (I mean 60+ here). There's one guy in his 30s I sometimes train with and he is but he was done as an adult because his foreskin was way too tight - he asked me about it before he went for the op so I know why he was done.

It's obviously something that is no longer routine outside of religious reasons.

Hi Chris, the topless rule was decided by the school. However, the rite s was decided by the other guys. Has anyone experienced the rite or punishment of being tied shirtless and “tortured” ?

I was "done" as an infant for very valid medical reasons, as we're our s n's a generation later. At school as a teenager, "roundheads" and "cavaliers" were approximately equal in numbers.

David
How old were you when you were "done" and do you remember anything about it.

David,I wouldn't call it'bizarre'at all.I think your mother was very responsible to have you both circumcised,albeit a little late.I agree it was more customary to have it done in hospital after birth when I was circumcised.
Apart from the obvious reasons,including health and hygiene,I believe it was was also done for cosmetic reasons.
I thought it was common practice for all boys to be circumcised until I had communal showers.
I also felt self-conscious when I realized I was being stared at,as I was the odd one out.

David,
I think that your mum had your best interests at heart by getting you circumcised. Being circumcised greatly reduces your chances of developing penile cancer, women who have a circumcised male partner are less at risk of developing cervical cancer and it is far more hygienic than having a foreskin.

In response to David and Julian.
"Circumcision wasn't popularized in the western world until Victorian times, when a few doctors began to recommend it to prevent boys from masturbating. Dr. Kellogg (of Corn Flakes fame) advocated circumcision for pubescent boys to stop masturbation."

"Kellogg never promoted routine circumcision of all boys, and he had no interest in performing the procedure on infants. He endorsed it solely for the purpose of inflicting genital pain on boys who were caught masturbating.
He saw circumcision merely as a pretext to inflict pain. That’s why his instructions specified that a boy should not receive any anesthesia. He wanted to convert a boy's attitude about his genitals from thoughts of pleasure to thoughts of pain."
Kellogg's Crusade
Circumcision Choice

Though religious circumcision has been practiced in the Middle East for millennia, it wasn’t popular in the U.S. until the puritanical 19th century, when, among other things, sex-phobic doctors promoted it as a way to stop masturbation.
These views on masturbation being an act of self abuse remained prevalent well into the 20th Century in British Boarding Schools.
At my own boarding school a boy caught in the act of so-called self-abuse would be harshly punished. The School Chaplain preached about the evil of such activity regularly. House masters would patrol dormitories and warn us boys to keep our hands above the covers. Boys under suspicion would have their bedsheets inspected for damning evidence.
The comment about all good boys being circumcised at Grammar school would suggest the need for circumcision related to more than just cleanliness. Which proponents of circumcision still claim today.

Julian & Chris
Seems bizarre now - but need to put it in to context.
Born at home before the NHS started.
Better off famileys gave birth at local private hospital, that often included circumcision for the baby boys.
Would now call mum a social climber, trying to move up the social classes,and my brother and I where part of that.
After receiving an inheritance she took the opportunity to have us both done before I started at grammar school.

Fiona

1 - What was your usual sleepwear at home before you went away to boarding school? Pyjamas
2 - Was sleepwear specified for boarders, and if so, what? Pyjamas
3 - What sleepwear was actually worn in your dormitory room? From 13 onwards most of us slept naked
4 - Was this less than, the same as, or more than you were accustomed to wear at home? Became the same pattern at home .. sleeping naked, that is

7 - If you modified your sleepwear to conform with your dormitory mates, did you revert to your previous practice when you went home for holidays? If not, did your parents make any comments? My parents didn't mind. Mum just asked us to ear pjs when grandparents stayed over.