Hi newzealander,
Well I can honestly say I believe the rate of circumcision in nz has even impacted my sexuality.
I'm an Aussie and like 2/3 of us born in the late 70s am circumcised. However I had no idea it was that mainstream until well after high school... And well the internet was around.
We moved to nz before I started school. I remember discovering (bathtime) that my penis looked different to some friends I would stay with our they would stay with us (probably only one or two).
It was enough for me to start thinking there was something unusual about mine.... I became very shy about nudity and changing in front if anyone.
Years later we returned to Australia, I finished primary then began high school, all while managing to avoid communal showers and locker rooms.
If only i had a brother who would be in the same boat and explain more to me...
Occasionally "it" came up... Limited sex ed explanation, irrelevant reference in religion class, or a segment on a current affairs type program.
I remember after discovering whet it was and that i was circumcised - I spent the entire next day at school wondering if anyone else was like me. Who was? Who wasn't? Why? Why not? What it rich boys? Country boys? Anglo boys? What did it mean, how would it affect sex, would girls mind (ha!)
It couldn't be "good" for me that the first few years of puberty were spent thinking about other boys penises.
Once or twice I had a brief conversation about it where I changed the subject very quickly as I was ashamed.... But it turns out I had no need to be...I now know the guys I was talking to were circumcised too... Maybe they were as anxious as me...
Finally, I started a boarding school for year 11+12 - nightmare... Zero privacy!
But I quickly learnt at this school (well off Catholic) my class was 85%+ circumcised. Yep I kept a list. It became an obsession.
Over the years through uni and after, if with friends and drunk enough I would always bring it up to find out who else was "on my team"... Fortunately it's usually the guys I like most.
To this day, any guy I ever met socially or even through work I profile in my head the chances of him being circumcised... Race, place of birth, age, religion (if that easy) socioeconomic factors, older siblings/parents...
Do I like being circumcised, yes I do. I know I'll never know how different sex/jo might be. But I know it looks a hell of a lot better ... there are "pretty" uncut penises but there are a lot more pretty cut penises. To me it just looks more refined/upgraded/finished ... V2.0 if you will.
Anyway you may have gone through more shame/secrecy then me, as in my peer group it is a lot more common then in yours... But that doesn't mean you should worry about it at all either... It is no different to having a big one or a small one... Or if you have curly red hair or are bald... We get what we get. You're you, I'm me and we both have lives (including sex lives) to get on with.
I do think if it was explained to me when I was young (with some kind of reference to my peers status) I may have had a chance to learn about it and move on like somehow 95% of circumcised straight guys do...
Have you ever had a conversation in your family? Any friends? Locker rooms
Just how rare is it in NZ? Say for guys born 1980?
Jamie
