Skin in the Game

Intact America's "SKIN IN THE GAME: CIRCUMCISION CUTS THROUGH US ALL" is the photographic storytelling campaign designed to communicate the trauma and harm caused by the routine cutting of the genitals of baby boys and children, who cannot consent yet are subjected to this irreversible, life-altering surgery. Since 2008, the nonprofit has been working to reveal the truth about the harm the most common pediatric surgery in the United States--unnecessary with no medical benefit--causes to baby boys, the men they become, and everyone in that person's intimate circle, who loves them. This slim volume provides the truth about circumcision through the stories of those whose lives have been impacted in some way and the stark, black and white images that capture the range of emotions of the participants in the photo shoots that took place twice in Atlanta and once in Dallas in 2023. Many of those who agreed to be interviewed had never shared their stories before. The book outlines the most common emotions that those who have been harmed physically, mentally, or spiritually experience. It also offers proactive ways to start to heal and help save future generations of men. There are so many forces at work that allow the medical machine to keep peddling this unnecessary surgery to parents and guardians. Key are the pressure from culture; pressure from family members; pressure from peers and sexual partners. In Intact America's 2020 survey of a national, random sample of 2,519 women, who'd given birth to boys between 2017 and 2020, 97 percent reported that they were asked, pressured, shamed, misled, or coerced by doctors and nurses in healthcare settings to "consent" to circumcision. Why is the routine cutting of boys' genitals being perpetuated? Our health care system is based on a fee-for-service model, and circumcision has become a big business: almost $6 billion dollars a year when the cost of circumcision; the cost of circumcision repairs; erectile dysfunction drugs; and personal lubricants are all added up. Those who would benefit from this informative read: expectant parents, men who have suffered injuries, medical professionals, midwives, doulas, lactation specialists, librarians, and academics and students in fields ranging from bioethics to human sexuality to trauma-informed psychology to gender studies and more.