Wikipedia “Eunuch”

[JesusA (imported)]

I have, today, added a new section to the article “Eunuch” in Wikipedia. It’s posted below, and I would like to invite comments and discussion on it. Given the nature of Wikipedia, it will probably be seriously altered within the next day or two. This is the original:

Eunuchs in the Contemporary World

There may be more castrated men in the world today than ever before in human history. Most of these men would not consider themselves to be eunuchs, but they fit all of the characteristics other than acceptance of the label.

While the hijra of India (see above) may number as many as 2,000,000[26] and are usually described as eunuchs, most of them should probably be better described as Male-to-Female transsexuals who can gain castration surgery, but seldom have access to hormones. Because of the loss of testosterone and lack of estrogen for transitioning, their bodies take on the characteristics of post-pubertal eunuchs.

The most commonly castrated men are not the hijra, however, but advanced prostate cancer patients. In the United States alone there are more than 200,000 new cases of prostate cancer diagnosed each year. It is estimated that over 80,000 of these men will be surgically or chemically castrated within six months of diagnosis.[27] The relative cost advantage of surgical castration means that it is increasing in frequency. With the average life expectancy after castration, there are approximately a half million chemically or surgically castrated prostate cancer patients at any time in the U.S. alone. While most of these men would deny the term “eunuch,” they meet all physiological characteristics of post-pubertal eunuchs. Some do, however, embrace the term for the historic and psychological grounding that it gives them.[28] [29]

While treatment of testicular cancer frequently involves removal of one testicle, it seldom requires removal of both. Accidents involving the loss of both testicles are also rare. In the case of both testicular cancer patients and accident victims, testosterone replacement therapy prevents the individuals from experiencing the hormone loss that characterizes true eunuchs.

Convicted sex offenders, who have been castrated, are also very few in number, although a lack of testosterone and the consequent ability to better control their own libido does result in a recidivism rate approaching zero.[30] The general public often thinks that they are much more common than they are.

The most common group that actually embraces the term “eunuch” are the contemporary voluntary eunuchs, who number 7,000 to 10,000 in North America, with many more around the world.[31] [32] [33]

Many of these are males who have a Male-to-Eunuch Gender Dysphoria. While they are born with male parts, their brain tells them that they are not male, but neither are they female. They seek castration to align their bodies with their brain sex. A second large group of the contemporary eunuchs have a Body Integrity Identity Disorder. This occurs when the brain does not accept the presence of some specific body part. Surgery is often the only way to effect a cure. The balance of contemporary voluntary eunuchs are scattered across a wide variety of paraphilias.

A gathering place on the Internet for contemporary voluntary eunuchs, and for those interested in castration, is the Eunuch Archive, a web site with 3,500 registered members, but visited by hundreds of thousands of unique IP addresses each month.[34]

REFERENCES:

26 Reddy, Gayatri, With Respect to Sex: Negotiating Hijra Identity in South India, 310 pp., University of Chicago Press, 2005 ISBN 0226707555 (see p. 8)

27 Shaninian, Vahakn B., et al. (2006), Determinants of Androgen Deprivation Therapy Use for Prostate Cancer: Role of the Urologist. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, vol. 98, pp. 839-45

28 Wassersug, Richard J. (2007 ), Disfiguring Treatment? No, It Was Healing. The New York Times, March 27 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/health/27case.html

29 Wassersug, Richard J. (2003). Castration anxiety. OUT, September 2003, pp. 66-72. http://www.eunuch.org/Alpha/C/ea_195222castrati.htm

30 Wille, Reinhard & Klaus M. Beier (1989), Castration in Germany. Annals of Sex Research, vol. 2, pp. 103-33

31 Johnson, Thomas W, et al. (2007). Eunuchs in contemporary society: Characterizing men who are voluntarily castrated (Part I). Journal of Sexual Medicine, vol. 4, pp. 930–945

32 Brett, Michelle A, et al. (2007). Eunuchs in contemporary society: Expectations, consequences, and adjustments to castration (Part II). Journal of Sexual Medicine, vol. 4, pp. 946–955

33 Roberts, Lesley F, et al. (2008). A passion for castration: Characterizing men who are fascinated with castration, but have not been castrated. Journal of Sexual Medicine, vol. 5, pp. 1669–1680

34 Eunuch Archive

[BossTamsin (imported)]

A very good addition to their article. At the very least though, I fully expect references to our website to be removed.

[fhunter]

Already a bit edited, according to the history page. No serious edits, just a bit of changes in style here and there.

And a request for citation - in the paragraph about Gender Disphoria and BIID.

Link to EA is still there.

And thank you for your work. Good addition.

[tugon (imported)]

A great addition to the rest of the information. Yes Virginia there still are eunuchs.

[kennath7 (imported)]

a great peice of work

thanks

[Kortpeel (imported)]

A very good entry, beautifully written and easily readable. It contains a lot of information clearly and systematically presented. It's a useful contribution to the topic.

Well done

[Riverwind (imported)]

Thanks Jesus,

See you later this week

River

[blondboy (imported)]

Jesus,

You are an excellent writer and your work on this entry to wikipedia is very informative and educational. It presents the information to readers in a concise but thorough way. I think that it is an invaluable addition to this article and hopefully it will help to educate the public about the contemporary eunuch community.

On another note, I am glad that there is a reference to the archive for it will help those seeking information (who, no doubt, will find their way to wikipedia) information on this site. Hopefully, it will help get those looking into castration here and talking to informed people before they do something rash.

Thanks again. You are an ambassador for this community and I'm sure we all greatly appreciate your work.

[Quillman (imported)]

Yes, I second that!

Quillman UK

[Spadone_<3 (imported)]

Someone split-up the Eunuch article at Wikipedia.

Have U ever heard a Eunuch called "Spadone"? Me either. Check out what someone did!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spadone