It's almost time for Foreskin Day (4.4)! You’ve probably already visited our Foreskin Hub here and educated yourself on the Foreskin Gap in sex ed and the work we’re doing to address it. Or perhaps you spent some time reading our blog on reducing Foreskin Stigma. Our foreskin survey results uncovered so many insightful and meaningful individual experiences and we’ve been proud to share them and open up the conversation. However, the foreskin shouldn’t just be defined by discrimination, othering, or shaming. There are so many positives and pleasure enhancing opportunities that go along with having a foreskin. Sometimes we’re just so focused on innovation and problem-solving, we forget to bask in the positive. Like the fact that the foreskin isn’t just there to look pretty, it’s an entire microcosm of sexual pleasure.
So many people shared positive experiences related to their foreskin and even more asked us to highlight the role it plays in pleasure. We’re never one to let our customers down – so sit back, retract, and glide into pleasure with our ONE Foreskin Pleasure Enhancement Guide.
Tip 1: Be gentle!
If you’ve never seen a foreskin before, it’s possible to be a little overwhelmed when basking in its greatness. It’s not simply just an extra flap of skin, it’s a double-layered, retractable, invertible sheath of tissue that works in wonderful harmony with the other parts of the penis. All together a foreskin has an average of 30-50 square centimeters of surface area and countless specialized nerve endings that increase pleasure and sensitivity. It makes sense that people without foreskins might not know how to handle this complex apparatus, and so many of our survey friends begged us to talk about this in detail. If you’ve got a foreskin staring you right down the gullet, our best advice is to be gentle!
The increased sensitivity of a penis with a foreskin can be euphoric, but if your partner is not careful this can turn into a mixed blessing. All of the moving parts require a gentle touch. Oftentimes the first instinct of a sexual partner is to retract the foreskin as much as possible, usually pulling too much and causing stress on the frenulum – the extra sensitive connection between the foreskin and the glans. Every foreskin is different, and what hurts one person might not hurt the other. There are even some people who are not able to retract their foreskin at all because of a medical condition known as phimosis.
That’s why it’s important to communicate with your partner before grabbing the sheath and pulling like you’re starting a lawnmower. There are people who do want the foreskin fully retracted during sex and enjoy stimulation on their exposed head, there are people who prefer the back and forth gliding motion of the foreskin over the glans, and there are people with longer foreskins who prefer to keep it up the whole time.
If you’ve never had a partner with a foreskin before this might sound a little intimidating, there’s just so much to consider. Just keep the extra sensitivity in mind, don’t be afraid to explore, experiment, and have fun with the new experience. The foreskin provides so many opportunities to increase pleasure for everyone involved, fore-ward thinking partners won’t squander that opportunity.
Tip 2: It’s all in the glide
With all this talk about the aesthetics of penies and foreskins, so many of us seem to be forgetting – it’s not the size of the boat, it’s the motion of the ocean. We briefly mentioned the back and forth gliding motion of the foreskin above, but this aspect of foreskin pleasure deserves its own spotlight. This gliding motion is usually the main source of pleasure for people with foreskins, yet there is barely a mention of it in most sexual health education and resources.
The glans are so extremely sensitive on all penies, but especially so for people with foreskins. The protection that it provides to the penis head prevents keratinization – the process by which skin hardens and loses sensitivity as a result of exposure to air and/or friction against abrasive clothing. This means that providing stimulation directly to the penis head of someone with a foreskin can oftentimes be overwhelming.
That’s why it’s important to focus on the glide during foreplay and intercourse, gently retract and return the foreskin over the head – paying a little extra attention to the frenulum might even be the cherry on top for your partner. Just go slow and steady at first and let the penis function naturally. As your partner becomes more excited, just like with a vagina – a penis with a foreskin is self-lubricating because of the secretion of pre-ejactualte that collects in and around the foreskin. Once this is added to the equation, the foreskin glides easier and easier, and that extra lubrication reduces friction on the penis itself and whatever it might be playing with
“Almost all of [my partners] have enjoyed it more compared to circumcised penises, due to aesthetics, increased feeling, less friction, less lube required and lube lasting longer.” - Foreskin Survey Participant
We want to make it clear that not everyone with a foreskin has experienced negative reactions. Cultural, geographic, and personal factors influence individual experiences. Most people with foreskins, even those who have experienced that kind of discrimination, love their built in hoodie and all of the pleasure opportunities it adds to their sex lives. There are so many things to consider when it comes to foreskin, but as long as you communicate with your partner and maintain awareness of the increased sensitivity and differing functionality of a penis with a foreskin, you’re sure to have a fun time.
Tip 3: Get creative!
Apart from the logistical considerations, the foreskin really is a blank canvas for your sexual artistry. Apart from enhancing so many aspects of the vanilla sexual experience, the foreskin can act as sort of a wild card. We received so many responses from customers highlighting the kinky, unique, and oftentimes amusing things they can do with their foreskins. Like this person with their foreskin fanatic partner:
Now you can truly taste the rainbow, although the leprechaun might be surprised by what he finds at the end. We wouldn’t recommend putting food of any kind into your foreskin from a sexual health perspective, but we definitely recommend foreskin theater. Perhaps you could get your foreskin to recite some Shakespeare or a treatise on quantum thermodynamics. Maybe you could even use it as an aid in any relationship conflicts – after all, it’s hard to get upset at a talking foreskin. And if a foreskin can talk well then you know it can sing.
We highly advise against tying a knot in your foreskin, but we’re all for foreskin symphony orchestras. We’d love to hear a rendition of Beethoven’s Fore-th, just don’t forget to begin in B♭ minor with a low B, play the pizzicato and pianissimo by the strings, and follow up with a long-held chord in the wind. Or you could just blow into it like a kazoo – art is art at the end of the day.
If you know of any other fun ways to enhance foreskin pleasure or just want to talk shop, don’t be afraid to drop a line to our Size Specialist Superhero Cosmo here. And don’t forget, it’s never too early to start prepping for Foreskin Day 2025!
