By Esther Timberlake.

Being a sex symbol is a heavy load to carry, especially when one is tired, hurt and bewildered.Â Before you collect the guts and brand someone a â€œkihiiâ€ have you examined yourself na ukajikagua vizuri? If you pass the following exam then you are the masterman in your house. It is not about â€œkihiiâ€ it is about your performance status. Jichunge mdomo â€“ the person you are calling â€œkihiiâ€ may be smarter than you in theÂ malehoodÂ industry.Â Esther Timberlake, Melbourne, Australia 2013

Although itâ€™s nice to know how your manhood responds to fine touch, thatâ€™s not necessarily the type of stimulation you may use, or enjoy, during sex. During intercourse you donâ€™t tend to use light touch; itâ€™s deeper, and different parts of the body become sensitive in different ways. Men who are circumcised are in for some bad news â€“ it puts them at a disadvantage in the bedroom. Those whoâ€™ve had their foreskin removed as children or adults experience less intense sexual pleasure and orgasm than their peers.

I conducted research about circumcision while I was dealing with a number of particularly tough cases I was handling recently at the divorce courts. I asked the men who took part in the survey whether they were circumcised, and then asked them to rate how sensitive their penises were, how intense their orgasms were and whether they experienced any pain or numbness when they were aroused. This was all part of evidence gathering for cases where wives had all filed for divorce on the basis of conjugal rights.

Overall, 400 men who took the survey were circumcised, and 2,000 were not. Each rated how sensitive their penis was on a scale from 0 to five, with higher numbers being the most sensitive.

For example, uncircumcised men reported an average sensitivity score of 3.72 when they or their partner stroked the head of their manhood compared to 3.31 amongst circumcised men.

Uncircumcised men also reported more intense orgasms. One possible explanation for any potential difference in sensitivity is that a manâ€™s foreskin may protect his penisâ€™s head from rubbing against underwear and clothing. Itâ€™s possible, the researchers write, that friction makes the head of the penis thicker, drier and ultimately less sensitive.

While conducting a project at Kenya Television Network, I also found circumcised men were more likely to report more pain and numbness during arousal than uncircumcised men likely due to scar tissue. I was amazed that people report pain during sexual pleasure. This was information I was to air during Prime Time news but the project couldnâ€™t materialize due to Governmentâ€™s arbitrary arrests and torture I underwent.

I was going to shock Kenyan homes and families dining tables with research that shocked me too, but felt Â I had to share generously. Circumcised men have a phobia sexually and that is why most of them opt for Viagra or some sexual pills. This is not meant for pleasure but to harden their sheaths and act as pain killers. They sense pain after the intercourse but get used to it.

Circumcision performed to a newborn traumatically interrupts the natural separation of the foreskin from the glans that normally occurs somewhere between birth and age 18. The raw, exposed glans penis heals in a process that measurably thickens the surface of the glans and results in desensitization of the head of the penis.

Circumcised men have less sexual sensitivity given the foreskin is significantly more highly innervated than the rest of the shaft. In my experience, the foreskin itself is the source of by far the most genital sensation and pleasure.

One important function is protecting the glans the way the eyelid protects the eye; in the absence of a foreskin, the glans becomes keratinized from rubbing against clothing and is much less sensitive. Another important function that the foreskin provides an erotogenic (good feeling!) gliding sheath over the shaft, reducing loss of lubrication and decreasing the friction that can decrease pleasure for both partners .

For procreation to occur, the normally flaccid penis must become erect. As it changes from flaccidity to rigidity, the penis increases in length about 50 percent.

As it elongates, the double fold of skin (foreskin) provides the skin necessary for full expansion of the penile shaft. But microscopic examination reveals that the foreskin is more than just penile skin necessary for a natural erection; it is specialized tissue, richly supplied with blood vessels, highly innervated, and uniquely endowed with stretch receptors.

These attributes of the foreskin contribute significantly to the sexual response of the intact male. The complex tissue of the foreskin responds to stimulation during sexual activity.

Stretching of the foreskin over the glans penis activates preputial nerve endings, enhances sexual excitability, and contributes to the male ejaculatory reflex. Besides the neurological role of the preputial tissue, the mucosal surface of the inner lining of the foreskin has a specific function during sexual relations.

During heterosexual activity, the mucosal surfaces of the glans penis and foreskin move back and forth across the mucosal surfaces of the labia and vagina, providing nontraumatic sexual stimulation of both male and female.

This mucous-membrane-to-mucous-membrane contact provides the natural lubrication necessary for sexual relations and prevents both the dryness responsible for painful intercourse and the chafing and abrasions which allow entry of sexually transmitted diseases, both viral and bacterial.

When normal, sexually functioning tissue is removed, sexual functioning is also altered. Changes of the penis that occur with circumcision have been documented. These may vary according to the procedure used and the age at which the circumcision was performed, nevertheless penile changes will inevitably occur following circumcision.

If youâ€™re circumcised, you may need more friction to reach orgasm. I recommend that you keep trying different positions, such as doggy style or missionary, that allow you to maximize stimulation. Or ask your woman to do Kegel exercises and squeeze her pelvic floor muscles, which will put more friction on the head of your penis or else you are one failed husband or boyfriend.

But to the contrary, if you still have your foreskin, take advantage of it. The foreskin contains nerves, and if you roll it back and forth, it stimulates the frenulum. The word frenulum on its own is often used for the frenulum of prepuce of penis or frenulum preputii penis, which is an elastic band of tissue under the glans penis that connects to the prepuce, or foreskin to the vernal mucosa, and helps contract the prepuce over the glans.

Everybody wants to have great sex. If youâ€™re not having any sex, you want it; if youâ€™re having okay sex, you want an upgrade to great and if your sex life is great, well, you want it to be mind-blowing. And itâ€™s possible.

Â Esther Arunga, a former media personality is a Barrister-at-Law in South Wales, Australia. She is also the Chairperson of the Women’s League of PPK.Â To read more of this article, visit Placenta Party website. The article was republished with permission from author.