Former Eunuchs

[Hash (imported)]

The title "eunuch" was a title given to castrated men. It's simply a title denoting that certain men no longer have testicles and in some cases, no penises either. So you can look at yourself as being male, but because you're castrated, you're called a eunuch to distinguish you from intact males. Some eunuchs might consider themselves a third sex or gender, others won't, it depends on what you like. I'm a castrated male and I like the word eunuch, but I'm not transgendered or transsexual, in my opinion. I would guess that a psychiatrist might beg to differ with my assumption, but I have no desire to be female. I've even trained my wife to call me her eunuch, though she doesn't do it public, just behind closed doors. I dote on her a lot.

[mrt (imported)]

I think the comment about transexuals is a good example for many of us who are not seeking to be defined as a Eunuch instead of just being whoever / whatever we are.

Many Transexuals seek to be "Female" or "Male" not to be in "Transition" There are people who are very proud they were able to do transition and are happy to be defined as Transexual. But I respect those that say "I'm a woman / man" now.

For Eunuchs its kind of a one way street because as someone else said once we have our testicles removed thats 'it' we are Eunuchs. But this really is just a social term thing not a lot more in my opinion. I say that because who ever brought up women who have had their ovaries removed is 100% correct. No one goes around calling them Eunuchs or says they were Castrated. In fact not very much is thought or said of this and the procedure is not even thought of as a really big deal. Why? That question I think lends itself to the male centered society we live in.

Which might be why I don't care a lot for either of these terms. Castration is for farm animals. Eunuchs are (In my thinking) more clearly defined along the lines of the Chinese Eunuchs from long ago or Harem Guards. Both being rather negative to my thinking.

[DavidB (imported)]

I am only a chemical eunuch at this point, but i still consider my self to be male. And after going forward to the next step I will still consider myself to be male. The lack of a body part qualifies me as an eunuch, just as much as if I was missing a limb I would be an amputee. I dont believe that because one is by default an eunuch he is automatically another gender.

[evai1234 (imported)]

...

I tend to think that what ever "fuel" you use be it Estrogen or Testosterone can define you as male or female. As to the idea that a third sex (an asexual castrate) being part of this? I agree.

Not only this. I think that most crucial factor here is psycho-social identity- i.e. how one identifies themselves and how one strives to appear in the eyes of others.

[Hash (imported)]

I'd like to add to what MRT said

about women who have their ovaries removed.

I'm not sure when doctors started removing ovaries, probably not until the last 100 years, though I'm not sure. However, men have been castrated for centuries, which is how the term "eunuch" was formed.

It was noticed that castrated men no longer demonstrated outward sexual behavior and if they were lucky enough to keep their penises, it was noticed that they no longer got erect. Hence, eunuchs were sexually non-functioning men and were employed because of their status. I believe that's how the term "eunuch" was formed. It was used to differentiate the functioning male from the non-functioning male. Eunuchs were highly sought after to protect harems and even kings. If there weren't enough eunuchs to do the job, more were made. Since they couldn't perform sexually, but were still fairly strong, they protected the harem.

Castrating women on the hand, was unheard of until the last 100-175 years. I would guess that most people in the past 5-6 centuries never even knew that women had testicle like organs up in their bodies. So that's why there's no stigma or label for castrated women. It's a recent surgical procedure for women and if they're castrated, it's considered menopausal. That's because most women who have hysterectomies have them after 45 years of age. Also, castrated women don't exhibit such a drastic loss of sexuality since their sexuality isn't very high to begin with, at least in a lot of women. It's also true that outwardly there's nothing showing that reflects their lack of ovaries. That's my two cents on the subject.

[_g (imported)]

There never can be a "Former Eunuch" unless they are 1) transplanted, 2) regenerated, or have a sex change. And at this time neither, 1 or 2 is an option!

Once your testicles are gone you are a Eunuch for life, HRT or not, excluding MTF. Of course FTM are eunuchs

_g

[mrt (imported)]

There never can be a "Former Eunuch" unless they are 1) transplanted, 2) regenerated, or have a sex change. And at this time neither, 1 or 2 is an option!

Once your testicles are gone you are a Eunuch for life, HRT or not, excluding MTF. Of course FTM are eunuchs

_g

I have to disagree with this last post and Hashs. I think women sexuality and menopause both describe that women have VERY strong sexual drives and IDs that the lack of hormones can make a ruin of. MrsT went into menopause and it was..... Yikes..... (Shudder) HRT solved that.

And for the FTM transexual that goes to all this effort to be "male" I think they would be very put off to be "defined" as a Eunuch. When one of them goes to (For example) the pain and effort to have bottom surgery and have a nice set of "balls"? Yikes, I dare you to tell them they are just castrated women. It would NOT be pretty!

[devi (imported)]

There did seem to be three gender terms at one time both in the Roman language and also in the Anglo-Saxon (German) language. You can look up the full etymology of "man and woman". Also the Romans seemed to use the term "neuter" for this too from which we get our word neuter from. Obviously I wasn't there so I don't really know completely. The third gender and the term eunuch are not completely sinonymous However the third gender would encompass a lot of walks of life. The word "eunuch" seems to include only those who have no balls or else have immature balls. The ancients seemed to solve this problem of distinction by completely removing the testicles of those that had immature, nonfunctional, or semi-nonfunctional testes so that there would be no doubt of who was a eunuch or not. (And of course they also did this to other individuals as well as we all know.) As for the third gender it seemed to pretty much include anyone who did not have the ability to either produce semen or to bear children. If a noble person could not produce offspring this meant that he was un-masculine (or unfeminine) in some respect therefore they might be considered to be inelligable to hold their rank. Once someone has had their children though then it was obvious that they were never born a eunuch and were not neuter. Once someone has had their children though they could go on to being a eunuch later (by removing their essentials) but they were hardly ever neuter to begin with.

There is a certain Christian site on this web that claims that eunuch was a term to describe "gay" which to some degree is so. However they don't seem to take into account the fact that people with no or undersized balls are by definition not producing enough testoterone in order for them to be seek after sex in the same way that males do. Women and Neuters just don't seek after sex in the same fervor that males seem to have to. It's not like women and neuters don't seek after it but certainly not to the same degree as males and also have other motives to do so. Plus that website doesn't take into account that there are XY-PAIS, XXYs, anatomical deformities and so on as to why a person would actually be a "born eunuch" or else later determined to be a eunuch during adolescence and so on. And then there are those who are made to be eunuchs. It is still a little bit hard for me to consider somebody to be a eunuch that has children though but there are many here that have had children. Usually what people consider to be a eunuch would entail not having a beard or a deep voice. I had once went five years without shaving and had a quarter inch jet black one though. I speak as a male and nobody knows off the bat that I had been one (pituatarily) and am physically one now.

Somehow I have never been able to consider myself as a "male" but I am also neither female. So I do think that there is a third catagory of genders which should be reconsidered by society as a whole but which wouldn't nessarily include all eunuchs but that is more or less limited to "eunuchism" (male or female). Hey, afterall we always never could, cannot now , nor could we ever have children by natural means (without scientific intervention).

Maybe there should be? Masculine, Adneuterine, Feninine. Male, Admale, Female. Man, Unman, Woman. M-A-F. ??? But eunuchism isn't completely the same as having a third gender.

[nullorchis (imported)]

Once a eunuch always a eunuch.

Once emasculated always emasculated.

But a demasculated person can be remasculated.

Initially a eunuch was also known as an emasculated male or castrati; someone who was intentionally physically castrated for a variety of reasons such as to be a servant or singer PRIOR to entering puberty. They developed unique features that were visually different than males or females. Eventually such practices became unpopular and/or outlawed.

Over time "eunuch" became used to describe a variety of physical/hormonal situations at some time in life, before or after puberty, that have occurred to someone who was born as a male which resulted in, at a minimum, loss of natural body-made testosterone and/or ability to perform sexually. Today, One could have testicles that produce adequate amounts of testosterone but for one reason or another not be able to get an erection and still be referred to as a eunuch.

"demasculated" can be used multiple ways: to describe removal of existing actual or perceived masculinity via surgical or cosmetic means.

"emasculate" is surgical castration . While generally used as a verb, it could be used as a noun. Thus while eunuch can have many meanings, an emasculate is only one thing: a person born as a male with testicles who no longer has testicles.

an emasculated man can avoid or reverse demasculation through use of testosterone supplements.

a cosmetically demasculated person can be remasculated cosmetically.

At last, it's as clear as the waters of the Amazon.