I got my first piercing (a frenum) about two weeks ago, on 29 Dec 2006, at 31 years of age. I love it. I just wish now that I'd done it sooner.
At A Glance Author library boy Contact library boy@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Miro Hernández Studio Dandyland Tattoo and Body Piercing Location San Antonio, TX, USA I was circumcised as an infant, and I've come to resent that permanent surgical alteration of my penis that was performed without my consent. So I suppose in a way this is my manner of "reclaiming" my foreskin, in the form of a surgical-grade, stainless steel barbell (12-gauge, 5/8").
I had been thinking of having a genital piercing done for a month or so beforehand, because I'm in the process of slowly leaving behind the conservative ideologies and religious zealotry of my youth. I now celebrate my sexuality, and take great pride and pleasure in my penis. I had thought about getting a PA, but decided that was just a bit too invasive and problematic for me. So I opted for a more "vanilla" frenum piercing. After all, I was a piercing virgin, and I didn't know if my wife would like a PA or not.
I did my homework. I researched the risks of the various male genital piercings, and consulted medically authoritative sources like the American Medical Association, National Institutes of Health, and the PubMed database. I located a piercing shop in my area, Dandyland Tattoo and Body Piercing (http://www.dandyland.com), that's state-licensed and has piercers with certifications from the APP (the Association of Professional Piercers). No way was I going to risk getting my junk lanced by some second-rate hack.
So I went out on a "date night" with my wife to get this done. The folks at Dandyland were fantastic. Clean studios, private piercing rooms, flawless aseptic practices, etc. I was very impressed. My piercer was a guy named Miro. He was really friendly, professional, and put me at ease about the whole thing. His procedures were so clean that he even changed gloves three times before he even started the actual piercing. Very reassuring. I felt perfectly at ease dropping my pants in front of him and letting him do his work.
After very carefully marking the entrance and exit points with an antibacterial dye (he even drew a graph on the underside of my cock just to make sure the points were perfectly aligned with fixed reference lines), he told me to breathe in and out slowly two times. He was already halfway through by the time I finished my first breath. Almost no pain. Just felt kinda like getting a minor injection. But on the second breath, he punched through the far side of the little pinch of skin, completing the piercing. YOW! That really hurt, but only for a second or two. By then, the barbell was in, and I was all done. He did the whole thing freehand, which meant there was no additional discomfort from clamps.
So far, my piercing has been almost totally problem-free. No blood, no bruising, no crusties, no infection, no swelling, no redness. Nothing. It's beautiful. I highly recommend a frenum for guys who want to enhance their cock's appearance, and I even more highly recommend Dandyland Tattoo and Body Piercing as the place to go if you live in the area near San Antonio, Texas.
I think I'm hooked now, too. I want another piercing. I'm not sure about another piece of hardware on my boy toy, as I don't like the "heavy metal" look down there. I was thinking of maybe a septum or a very discreet labret. I work as a librarian at a major university, so I'm obliged to appear professional, and as such my options are limited. My wife doesn't like nipple piercings on guys, so my options are really quite limited. But I'm determined to get another one, somewhere. [Update: Since this essay was written, I went back to Miro at Dandyland and had CBR daiths put in both ears—very handsome.]
I feel "whole" now. There's no way I can ever get my original foreskin back, but this experience has shown me just how barbaric the practice of circumcision really is, and has strengthened my belief that it should never be performed on unconsenting little boys. When that needle poked all the way through just that small pinch of penile skin, it hurt like hell. I can't imagine what it feels like for a little boy to have his whole foreskin sliced off, all the way around. Male infants don't remember the procedure later on, of course (I don't remember mine), but if I ever have a son, his penis WILL be intact until and unless he decides to have it modified later in life.
I'm looking forward to trying out my new hardware in the bedroom. I've not been courageous enough yet to try masturbating, but I can tell that I won't be able to hold out much longer. And once I feel like I'm well enough healed, the wife and I will give intercourse a whirl. I just hope she likes it as much as I do!