am I an eunuch?

[kietboy (imported)]

ok, i don't have balls anymore but i take hormones and they were removed because of the story you know ... can i consider myself as a castrated man and/or eunuch since it seems that to be one there's a state of mind implied...

Kietboy

[kristoff]

ok, i don't have balls anymore but i take hormones and they were removed because of the story you know ... can i consider myself as a castrated man and/or eunuch since it seems that to be one there's a state of mind implied...

Kietboy

You are an eunuch. State of mind is between your ears. Eunuchs are focused a bit further south....

[smoothie36 (imported)]

You are just a castrated male getting you testosterone from a different source. Not my definition of a eunuch. I think the classical definitions of Eunuch had no idea there would ever be an alternative source of testosterone.

[mrt (imported)]

I pondered this myself.

From Wikipedia

A eunuch is a castrated man.

*Note I perfer the medical term better then the word castration because to me castration envisions animal castration or cutters.

Also from Wikipedia

Castration (also referred as: gelding, neutering, orchiectomy, orchidectomy, and oophorectomy) is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which a male loses the functions of the testes or a female loses the functions of the ovaries.

If your testes are in the medical waste / incenerator you clearly have lost them. If you are unable to reproduce (no ability to make sperm) because you have had a bilateral Orchiectomy your a Eunuch / castrate. If being on HRT makes you feel male (as it does me) I think its fine to continue to define yourself as male.

I do for what thats worth.

[tugon (imported)]

I call myself a eunuch because I was castrated at my request and because I did not feel male. I did not like the effects of testosterone. Technically you are a eunuch but it sounds like you will still think of yourself as male. I think of you more as a castrated man. Whatever you decide you are I hope you can enjoy life.

[Uncle Flo (imported)]

I was also castrated at my request. I often describe myself as an altered male. In my mind being male is genetic, I have altered that state. I am a eunuch. --FLO--

[nonuts (imported)]

The definition of eunuch is usually castrated male. But then even the definition of castrated male is up to interpretation to some degree (Freud was referring to loss of penis in most of his references for example). The presence or absence of spermatozoa is irrelevant. A sterile man for example is never referred to as a eunuch (at least not by professionals in the medical field). If you define eunichism as the absence of virility (personally what I think the intention of the term is to be) then by all means a male who has no balls, but who is capable of virility attributes, is for all intents and purposes "functional".

Just my BS opinion.

[JesusA (imported)]

Kietboy,

There is a general desire to pigeon-hole everyone into two simple categories of sex and gender – male and female – and a desire by many to then demand that “God” intended for everyone to be “heteronormative” (meaning that they would be sexually attracted only to those who had been placed into the pigeon-hole other than the one into which they, themselves, had been shoved).

Most people, by now, know that this simple bifurcation of all of humanity is inaccurate. Human beings are vastly more complex than this simple pair of binary categories. Not all individuals are born with either XX or XY chromosomes (defining them as female or male). There are other possibilities. Not all babies are born with unambiguous “boy-parts” or “girl-parts” so that an obstetrician can proclaim, “It’s a boy!” or “It’s a girl!” Many are born “intersexed” with extermal plumbing somewhere on the Prader Scale between the two end points. The external plumbing need not match the chromosomes. Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) can result in individuals with XX chromosomes having external plumbing that is initially judged as “boy-parts.” Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS) can result in individuals with XY chromosomes having external plumbing that is initially judged as “girl-parts.”

The internal plumbing need not match the external. What’s inside the head need not match the body. Sexual attraction is incredibly complex.

Within all this complexity and diversity, you’ve asked for a definition of “eunuch.”

The simplist would be that a eunuch is someone who has, at some point, been judged as “male,” does not have XX chromosomes, and yet has no testicles or has non-functioning testicles.

“Eunuch” has to do with physiology, not what’s between the ears.

You are, by definition, a eunuch. You are also on hormone replacement therapy and identify as “male.” These are not contradictory. When you get replacement prostheses, you will still be a eunuch, though your body will look identical to a non-eunuch male and, I would guess, those around you would think of you as unambiguously male.

What is important is that you feel comfortable with who and what you are. In your case, prostheses are probably important for your self-image.

What you will find here on the Eunuch Archive is an information source about eunuchism in all its aspects (probably much better than what your physician can provide) and a strong support group whenever you have any questions. This is a very friendly and helpful place.

[Batman (imported)]

It's just a label/term really...you are what you think you are. If you think/feel you are a man, then you are...

Batman

[plix (imported)]

Castration has always meant loss of testicles. Freud is the one who confused everyone with calling loss of the penis "castration." That confusion still is present today among a good number of people. Like I've said before, I think a good number of people who support "castration" for sex offenders believe that the offender will lose his penis.

Eunuch by official definition is a genetic male who does not have testicles. Some people have adopted "eunuch" as a gender identity, and I believe this is separate from the physical state of being a eunuch - not all eunuchs define themselves as eunuchs in the identity sense.

I think people who do not have testicles can define themselves anyway they like