But the first time I actually got a good look at a circumcised dick, I was taken aback. It was a quick, tipsy hookup with a friend who yelled “mazel tov” when I told him he was the first circumcised person I’d been with.
The first time I slept with a circumcised person, it didn’t seem too abnormal. I felt myself let go of a breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding. I tensed and felt as though I had been abruptly yanked back down to earth.
Then the nurse came in and quietly asked if my aunt would like to do a circumcision. For me, witnessing the birth process was something of a transformative experience: It seemed almost sacred, and everyone in the room was on an emotional high. Many lost hours of sleep later, she gave birth to a perfectly healthy boy. Excited to see her have her first child, I threw myself into helping in any way possible.
Right before this semester started, I came home from a trip to Iran to find my aunt in early labor.
