Eunuchs and Gender

[twaddler (imported)]

*yoink*

[truly committed (imported)]

you are a weird one...

[calmeilles (imported)]

I'm very interested to know now, if I get castrated, does that make me NOT a male anymore?

Like, is it the Testosterone in a person that makes them male and Estrogen than makes them female?

I have to question how much gender identity is equipment and hormones and how much is cultural baggage that goes along with those characteristics.

When I read the comment that women are more emotional than men and I immediately thought, no they're not, they're just more emotionally expressive than men are and that I think is because of what our culture tells us women are allowed or expected to do and behave.

Being castrated might help in not being male, might be neccessary for some as per thefraj's remark.

But I'd suspect that for many who don't identify with accepted gender roles being castrated doesn't mean stopping being male in identity while for others being non-male could be achieved without losing the balls. The difficulty is in finding an identity wich is non-male, or non-female for that matter, because our culture doesn't have one ready made to offer us. We have to construct out own and therein possibly face the problems that Dingbat has set out over the last few weeks.

[liz (imported)]

I have observed that women are much more emotional than men. One man here that I have corresponded with said he thought testosterone has an emotion-blocking effect. This lines up with my observation.

In my everyday business conversations, which involves some art, if I get too emotional, a male customer will tune me out. I can "feel" immediately when he is no longer tracking with the conversation.

his causes trouble in relationships (relationships being involved with affection and love and ethics, which are related to emotion).

Once I went to a firewalk in Calif. Most of us walked over burning hot coals - an amazing experience. A man decided not to walk, which was fine, it was totally voluntary. The reason he said, which everyone respected, was that he did not know whether he should be feeling fear or not - he felt nothing, so did not trust his judgement regarding firewalking.

This is not opinion, this is observation. We only need to look around.

[invivo (imported)]

From experience I can tell you, yes testosterone does change you, especially the sex drive, I was born female, but the older I got, the more females make me ill, but now I only want all gender stuff gone off me, onward to genderless nation..

[devi (imported)]

Liz,

In my experience as a boy having gotten many welt marks from a belt straps across the back of my legs and rear for as little as not being able to memorize poetry I have to tell you that believe me you learn: YOU DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES SHOW ANY EMOTION WHATSOEVER. (PERIOD.) "And did I just see a tear drop in your eye? WHAT DID I JUST TELL YOU GODDAMMIT!"