Hey! I put a lot of this information in my introduction, but I realize it should have probably been posted here. Sorry, I've been pretty sleep deprived for a while so my judgement isn't really that good.
Hello, all! This might be a bit long, but I hope you’ll bear with me.
I’m a more or less normal woman. I am biologically and mentally a woman, but the reason I joined this forum is because I’m writing a novel about a man who had his penis cut off by his fiancée’s former lover. She dumped him, and he eventually decided to have his testes removed to get rid of the sexual frustration. The story is about him recovering mentally and surviving (the story world’s society is a bit worse than ours, and long story short a lot of people want him to be mercy killed. Including his family and former fiancée.)
I know this story is probably depressing to some of you; I know it’s depressing to me. I want to make it uplifting at the end, at least. I just wanted to write it because I think that romance is emphasized way too much in the arts today, and acting like romantic love is the most important love of them all and kind of pushing the other kinds to the side makes our culture a lot…shallower, I suppose. It’s not that I don’t think romantic love is unimportant, and I know that eunuchs can still be involved in romances, it’s just that the MC won’t be involved in any more and I just wanted to write a story that showcases the power of philos (friendship), storge (affection), and agape (charity). I’ve also been disturbed by people making jokes about eunuchs or victims of sexual crimes that involve removing a man’s genitals. I thought that on the off chance my story gets popular, that means a lot of people would be empathizing with a eunuch.
(That’s also not the only theme in the story. I just wanted to explain that parts that relate to this site.)
You of course don’t have to read it if you don’t want to. I just want to make it as accurate as possible and I want to be able to get into the main character’s head as well as possible. I’m especially concerned about getting the physical effects of castration and penis removal down accurately. (This takes place in a world that looks a lot like the mid to late 1800s, and there’s no HRT, though there is a kind of seaweed that prevents bone density and muscle loss) I’m concerned about urinary incontinence and lingering pain from the penis removal (since the penis removal wasn’t done by a surgeon, though the MC was treated by a person with special healing powers, which is a thing in this fantasy universe, though regrowing lost limbs still isn’t), development of breasts (are we just talking moobs because of weight gain or something else?), weight gain, and personality changes. I’ve mentioned a plant that exists in this fantasy world that prevents muscle and bone density loss, but I may have to take that away from the MC in the plot at some point, so I’d like to learn about that, too.
Would a very physical job (crew member of tall ship) prevent him from gaining weight and developing breasts? He’s also fairly poor, so he can’t afford more calorie-filled foods, and if you’re on a ship for extended periods of time rationing happens, too. I know that trying to go back to his old job will be something he’ll try to do, since he loved it a lot. How much would his personality change? I know people are usually a lot calmer when they’re castrated, but I don’t know to what extent that happens generally. I plan on him being very angry about at least a couple of things, mostly injustices (as you may probably guess by the premise. He also gets angry about mistreatment of his new friend, and gets scared about bad things happening to her, etc.). I know he’d probably be way more calm if someone tripped and spilled food on his shirt, but I thought I'd be safe and ask you.
(The MC gets a very close friend who is intersex because of chimerism, so if you know anything about that, too, that would be awesome.)
I don’t plan on publishing my story, however many novels it turns out to be, here. I plan on making the first draft of the novel (or first novel) in the July session of Camp NaNoWriMo. I originally found out about this site in the NaNoWriMo.org forums, in the Reference Desk forum. The stories part here seems to mostly be for short stories anyway. If anyone wants to proof read it once it’s done, I’d be okay with that, though.
I certainly want my story or stories to be popular, though I don’t know if my story idea’s weirdness will be an obstacle or a help to that goal. If Fifty Shades of Grey can become a smash hit, maybe my books can! It’s worth a try, anyway. My creative writing class in my university liked a section from the story that I’ve already written a lot. A few men in the class, including the teacher, even wanted to write about the MC and his friend in a poetry assignment! That’s a good indication. (Sorry if it sounded like I was bragging.) I know most of the writing on this site is erotica, but I hope you'll help me with this even though it isn't erotica.
Sorry if some of the setting details are a bit confusing. I just have so much information about the setting I didn't want to bog this post down even more. If you have questions, I'll tell you.
I don't want to go through the other forums to look for the answers because I'm easily disturbed and have some emotional attachment problems. Sometimes, if a news story, personal story, or even part of history has certain aspects to it, I'll react to the story the same way a someone who personally knew the people in the story would, and I'll cry for months. All the stories here have at least one of the triggers. I don't want to accidentally traumatize myself again. I just got over a news story I saw in late January. They put it on a humor site, so I wan't really expecting it. (General facts about conditions and effects are okay, though, so that's why I'm asking.)
Sorry for the long post! Thanks for reading!
Please help me research for my novel(s)! :)
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Aeschere (imported)
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JesusA (imported)
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Re: Please help me research for my novel(s)! :)
Hello Aeschre,
Welcome to the Archive. You've certainly set before yourself an interesting task with your proposed story. Your descriptive essay demonstrates that you are a very fine writer and you have asked some very important questions to help you with some of the technical aspects of your plot.
However, you have probably written too much and asked too much to get very many responses. The members here are likely to read and appreciate what you've set about, but also to feel inadequate to take on the entire set of your questions, both the explicit and the implicit ones.
I will try to come at some of this with a few random comments that may help you to get started and then I would encourage you to ask short, simple and, most importantly, single questions to get responses from other members here.
First of all, contrary to popular belief, castration is NOT rare in western society. There are over 600,000 castrated males in the United States today. You probably know one or more of them, you just don't know who they are. Prostate cancer is testosterone dependent and over one-third of men diagnosed with prostate cancer are castrated within six months of their diagnosis. A great many of the rest will be, too, as their cancer progresses. Many of these men are put on short-term chemical castration (to slow the progression of their cancer) while other treatment options are tried. Once the cancer has progressed beyond the prostate gland itself, however, permanent castration is the best alternative available. The chemical castration shuts down the testicles so that they are merely "decorative ornaments." They are absolutely non-functioning. About 90% of those castrated in the U.S. are on chemical castration though if continued for more than a few months, it is largely irreversible but cosmetically preferred by most males. Only about 10% of prostate cancer eunuchs have been surgically castrated, though this percentage is rising in the U.S. and is already over 30% in Europe. Chemical castration is expensive and becomes more expensive than surgical after about six months of injections. The average life expectancy of castrated prostate cancer patients is extended by seven to eight years. (Remember that most of them are elderly to start with.) The chemicals used also greatly increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, making the life expectancy of those on long-term chemical castration shorter than that of men who have been surgically castrated.
Some of the information that you seek can probably be easily found in your university library by searching for prostate cancer information. Outside the medical literature, however, castration for prostate cancer is generally termed either "Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT)" or "hormonal therapy." Most PCa patients who have been castrated try to hide their status and would not reveal their castrated state, but the odds are that about one in twenty-four males in the U.S. will be castrated for prostate cancer in their lifetime.
Without testosterone in the system, libido generally does drop, though it seldom disappears entirely. For some castrated males there may still be a relatively high libido. One of my friends was diagnosed with aggressive PCa over 20 years ago and was castrated as part of his treatment. He was divorced at the time, but has since remarried and he and his wife have discovered the utility of sex toys for a very satisying sex life.
Among the physical effects that your protagonist would experience would be a change in hair pattern below the neck (but not above). Body hair would gradually shift toward the female pattern. Fat distribution would also gradually shift toward the female pattern with deposit on the hips, rather than the belly (actually much better for heart health). There would usually be some breast growth, though they amount varies from almost none to quite visible. These changes lead to the greatest health risk for castrated prostate cancer patients they stop going to the gym or beach for fear of exposing themselves; they stop exercising. Osteoporosis is the major risk, though research is finding ways around that so long as they continue to be physically active.
You are correct to assume that there will be some personality changes with the absence of testosterone in a male brain. Recent research in neuroanatomy has demonstrated that there are subtle, but very real, differences in the brain structures of male and female infants. It is postulated that this is the result of fetal hormones. Castration, whether prepubertal as with historic eunuchs and castrati or postpubertal as with your protagonist, is operating on a brain that is already masculinized. The information below is from psychological tests on postpubertal eunuchs and a closely matched control group using the Big Five Personality Inventory. You can check your university library for probably hundreds of research articles using the test.
Cross-culturally, the biggest single difference between adult males and adult females is on the "Neuroticism" scale where females, in every population tested, score significantly higher. Our postpubertal eunuchs scored slightly LOWER than intact males, though well within the range of chance variation. In other words, their personalities do NOT become "female," but something different entirely.
The results on the "Extraversion" scale were the same for both castrated and non-castrated survey participants. The eunuchs were, however, higher on the "Conscientiousness" scale, lower on the "Openness" scale, and vastly higher on the "Agreeability" scale at a p-value of less than 0.001.
To put some more common terms to it, eunuchs are more efficient and organized, more consistent and cautious, and vastly more friendly and compassionate (on average) than the uncastrated male.
There is reason why eunuchs were preferred government officials and military leaders in the empires of Eurasia over a span of over three millenia. They were the "glue" that held empires together. Also, in societies where eunuchs were common, they were the preferred pedagogues and educators for young children. Tests find them to be more nurturing than females, on average.
I hope that this helps with your plot development. I look forward to seeing more of your writing.
Welcome to the Archive. You've certainly set before yourself an interesting task with your proposed story. Your descriptive essay demonstrates that you are a very fine writer and you have asked some very important questions to help you with some of the technical aspects of your plot.
However, you have probably written too much and asked too much to get very many responses. The members here are likely to read and appreciate what you've set about, but also to feel inadequate to take on the entire set of your questions, both the explicit and the implicit ones.
I will try to come at some of this with a few random comments that may help you to get started and then I would encourage you to ask short, simple and, most importantly, single questions to get responses from other members here.
First of all, contrary to popular belief, castration is NOT rare in western society. There are over 600,000 castrated males in the United States today. You probably know one or more of them, you just don't know who they are. Prostate cancer is testosterone dependent and over one-third of men diagnosed with prostate cancer are castrated within six months of their diagnosis. A great many of the rest will be, too, as their cancer progresses. Many of these men are put on short-term chemical castration (to slow the progression of their cancer) while other treatment options are tried. Once the cancer has progressed beyond the prostate gland itself, however, permanent castration is the best alternative available. The chemical castration shuts down the testicles so that they are merely "decorative ornaments." They are absolutely non-functioning. About 90% of those castrated in the U.S. are on chemical castration though if continued for more than a few months, it is largely irreversible but cosmetically preferred by most males. Only about 10% of prostate cancer eunuchs have been surgically castrated, though this percentage is rising in the U.S. and is already over 30% in Europe. Chemical castration is expensive and becomes more expensive than surgical after about six months of injections. The average life expectancy of castrated prostate cancer patients is extended by seven to eight years. (Remember that most of them are elderly to start with.) The chemicals used also greatly increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, making the life expectancy of those on long-term chemical castration shorter than that of men who have been surgically castrated.
Some of the information that you seek can probably be easily found in your university library by searching for prostate cancer information. Outside the medical literature, however, castration for prostate cancer is generally termed either "Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT)" or "hormonal therapy." Most PCa patients who have been castrated try to hide their status and would not reveal their castrated state, but the odds are that about one in twenty-four males in the U.S. will be castrated for prostate cancer in their lifetime.
Without testosterone in the system, libido generally does drop, though it seldom disappears entirely. For some castrated males there may still be a relatively high libido. One of my friends was diagnosed with aggressive PCa over 20 years ago and was castrated as part of his treatment. He was divorced at the time, but has since remarried and he and his wife have discovered the utility of sex toys for a very satisying sex life.
Among the physical effects that your protagonist would experience would be a change in hair pattern below the neck (but not above). Body hair would gradually shift toward the female pattern. Fat distribution would also gradually shift toward the female pattern with deposit on the hips, rather than the belly (actually much better for heart health). There would usually be some breast growth, though they amount varies from almost none to quite visible. These changes lead to the greatest health risk for castrated prostate cancer patients they stop going to the gym or beach for fear of exposing themselves; they stop exercising. Osteoporosis is the major risk, though research is finding ways around that so long as they continue to be physically active.
You are correct to assume that there will be some personality changes with the absence of testosterone in a male brain. Recent research in neuroanatomy has demonstrated that there are subtle, but very real, differences in the brain structures of male and female infants. It is postulated that this is the result of fetal hormones. Castration, whether prepubertal as with historic eunuchs and castrati or postpubertal as with your protagonist, is operating on a brain that is already masculinized. The information below is from psychological tests on postpubertal eunuchs and a closely matched control group using the Big Five Personality Inventory. You can check your university library for probably hundreds of research articles using the test.
Cross-culturally, the biggest single difference between adult males and adult females is on the "Neuroticism" scale where females, in every population tested, score significantly higher. Our postpubertal eunuchs scored slightly LOWER than intact males, though well within the range of chance variation. In other words, their personalities do NOT become "female," but something different entirely.
The results on the "Extraversion" scale were the same for both castrated and non-castrated survey participants. The eunuchs were, however, higher on the "Conscientiousness" scale, lower on the "Openness" scale, and vastly higher on the "Agreeability" scale at a p-value of less than 0.001.
To put some more common terms to it, eunuchs are more efficient and organized, more consistent and cautious, and vastly more friendly and compassionate (on average) than the uncastrated male.
There is reason why eunuchs were preferred government officials and military leaders in the empires of Eurasia over a span of over three millenia. They were the "glue" that held empires together. Also, in societies where eunuchs were common, they were the preferred pedagogues and educators for young children. Tests find them to be more nurturing than females, on average.
I hope that this helps with your plot development. I look forward to seeing more of your writing.
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ZeuterMe (imported)
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Re: Please help me research for my novel(s)! :)
I would suggest Aeschere would do well to start off by breaking the task into a series of bite-sized individual questions that can be addressed by anyone with a few spare minutes.
This can turn into a dialogue more easily than trying to address the entire wall of text simultaneously and thoroughly.
This can turn into a dialogue more easily than trying to address the entire wall of text simultaneously and thoroughly.
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Losethem (imported)
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Re: Please help me research for my novel(s)! :)
Keep in mind many of us here are wary of answering questions for such purposes because people claiming to be writers in the past have turned around a maligned us publicly.
--LT
--LT
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Aeschere (imported)
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Re: Please help me research for my novel(s)! :)
Maligned you publicly? That's pretty bad!
As it turns out, I've revised my story idea so that he's only going to go through the mental and emotional changes (I'm not sure wether it's because of some drug that exists in that fantasy world or because he wasn't castrated in the first place, but something supernatural happened to him that caused him to have the personality of a eunuch).
How do you deal with your new personality?
Thanks for your replies so far!
As it turns out, I've revised my story idea so that he's only going to go through the mental and emotional changes (I'm not sure wether it's because of some drug that exists in that fantasy world or because he wasn't castrated in the first place, but something supernatural happened to him that caused him to have the personality of a eunuch).
How do you deal with your new personality?
Thanks for your replies so far!
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Aeschere (imported)
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Re: Please help me research for my novel(s)! :)
Making it so that he doesn't have to go through the physical changes feels a bit like cheating to me, but that's what I feel like I should do, plus it fits better with the story.
If I do make the MC a eunuch, which I almost definitely will now, taking the not having to deal with physical side effects route because of drugs will actually make the story have a to more conflict later on. Trust me. Truuuuust me. I might have him be both castrated and have his penis cut off in the initial crime. It depends on how much of his doctor's ulterior motives I want to show early on.
If I do make the MC a eunuch, which I almost definitely will now, taking the not having to deal with physical side effects route because of drugs will actually make the story have a to more conflict later on. Trust me. Truuuuust me. I might have him be both castrated and have his penis cut off in the initial crime. It depends on how much of his doctor's ulterior motives I want to show early on.