I think that the pulling back idea comes from the concept that it looks and feels more sexy, like you are ready for action! The animal world have penises which expand and uncover when they are on heat, so as to show off their sexuality to the females, but otherwise need it all tucked away so that it doesn't get damaged when not having sex and looking for food. Interestingly of course, many ancient societies introduced circumcision as something that was part of growing up, or was a special state of privilege (like the priests in Egypt), again about being seen as ready for action. In many early cultures in the Middle East circumcision was possibly developed to avoid the effect of desert sand and dust getting caught inside the foreskin - that is probably how the Jewish, and later the Islamic peoples ended up with circumcision as a ritual and preferred method. In African tribes, again maybe it was something to do with the heat. Why that didn't translate into a tradition carried on in colder climates when people moved further North, no one knows, but presumably colder climates encouraged keeping the glans covered in order to avoid getting a frozen penis. Nowadays climate is less extreme, or is better controlled indoors, so circumcision or baring the glans became much more an optional situation. Regards James