Eunuch identity work in post-slavery democracies

[magusuk89 (imported)]

You are, of course, right. The gender issue concerns the mental state of mind. Should the body be adjusted to your gender? But I meant only my particular case. It always seemed to me that society should not be responsible for my fantasies. Therefore, I have always tried to look like a man from above.

Ah! I see. I have tremendous respect for your approach to that -- but personally I do believe a just society ought to be responsible for enabling the self actualisation and celebratory recognition of its members. I acknowledge that I can be something of a martyr to idealism though, and I am insulated enough from consequences that the martyrdom is mostly figurative.

In thinking about the eunuch umbrella I certainly think there is a non-binary world where different masculine, feminine, hybrid, third, fluid and mixed genders exist, and that 'eunuch' as a gender rather than body designation is a non-trivial grouping... but we are back to the word as a floating signifier again --- too many meanings to different people.

[Valery_V (imported)]

Society must be cynical. It is not necessary to spend resources on dead-end branches ... But still, it seems to me that eunuchs can be useful in some areas of activity, for example, in space, where it is impossible to have full-fledged offspring due to increased radiation.

[magusuk89 (imported)]

Society must be cynical. It is not necessary to spend resources on dead-end branches ... But still, it seems to me that eunuchs can be useful in some areas of activity, for example, in space, where it is impossible to have full-fledged offspring due to increased radiation.

The resources involved are negligible. Surgery and HRT are cheaper than treatments for common things like heart trouble, and even if socialised medicine refused on the grounds of funding priorities, that is no reason to prevent private practice doctors helping at the cost of the patient. If we address childlessness on its own, there is plenty of persuasiveness about societal advantages to some people having children and some not. It is the whole social contract model of the Roman Catholic Church since at least the time of St Aldhelm of Malmesbury (thinking of the prose and verse de virginitate), as a kind of demographic management (without birth control). In any case, human life is intrinsically more valuable than to have to defend itself in terms narrowly of reproduction. Regardless, the question would still remain of why should society prevent testicular ablation at all times even if it did fascistically mandate extracting sperm for breeding from every person it can?

[magusuk89 (imported)]

The resources involved are negligible. Surgery and HRT are cheaper than treatments for common things like heart trouble, and even if socialised medicine refused on the grounds of funding priorities, that is no reason to prevent private practice doctors helping at the cost of the patient. If we address childlessness on its own, there is plenty of persuasiveness about societal advantages to some people having children and some not. It is the whole social contract model of the Roman Catholic Church since at least the time of St Aldhelm of Malmesbury (thinking of the prose and verse de virginitate), as a kind of demographic management (without birth control). In any case, human life is intrinsically more valuable than to have to defend itself in terms narrowly of reproduction. Regardless, the question would still remain of why should society prevent testicular ablation at all times even if it did fascistically mandate extracting sperm for breeding from every person it can?

Saying the quiet bit out loud a bit with my last line there... ... but you might be surprised how many times, how loudly and how aggressively I've had doctors shout at me to freeze sperm. It's the other nasty face of eugenics people don't talk about so much (except for women fighting to get treatment for endometriosis, who will tell you some real horror stories).

[ToTheQuick (imported)]

This comment is going back a few steps, but magusuk89, I agree that "eunuch" means many things to many people, but that shouldn't stop a community from using the word. That issue exists across the entire transgender (and even sexual identity) discussion. For me, as I grapple with my own gender identity, I find it fluctuating between "man/male/masc" (see what I mean?) and "eunuch." Or maybe "the third sex," to use an archaic term. That's the only term that feels correct.

[Valery_V (imported)]

It is not difficult to get confused, since many terms have not yet "caught on". The following links may be helpful:

Sex and Gender Identity

https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn ... r-identity

Gender

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender

Sex and gender distinction

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_and_g ... istinction

What is gender? What is sex?

https://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/48642.html

Gender identity & expression

https://smartsexresource.com/topics/gen ... expression

Third gender

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_gender

Third Sex

https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sci ... /third-sex

Third Gender: A Short History

https://foreignpolicy.com/2014/06/30/th ... t-history/