I was "circumcised" the day I was born, like most. Next to the words "reason to operate" were the hand written words "live birth". Since when is "live birth" a disease? My mother claims that she does not remember signing a consent form, so I assume they forged her signature.

Like most men, I was not aware of what was missing while growing up. When I noticed the drawings of Greco-Roman nudes and statues, I asked my mother "Why didn't they finish drawing it?" I guess she explained this to me, but I have no audible memory of her words. I was trying to figure out what she was saying, and was thoroughly confused.

When mother told me that I could be drafted one day, I told her I would cut my penis off She replied "You will bleed to death." I hadn't bled to death from the scar they gave me, and could not figure out how they did this. I was glad I did not have to do it again, but was instinctively curious.

When I grew older, in the back of my mind, I was always curious as to what that foreskin thing was all about. I had mixed and confused feelings, but knew that I wish I had been consulted. Assuming my Dad was cut, I was surprised to find out that he was not circumcised when he told me 35 years later. I grew up in a family that did not support nudity as anything good, so much so that when I went to life drawing classes, I was mortified. That mortification was intensified when I first witnessed a "circumcision."