Eunuch as a Gender Identity
Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 12:58 pm
A new article on eunuchs has just been published by Prof. Richard Wassersug of Dalhousie University. I am posting the abstract and the final four paragraphs of the article below. (Richard would prefer that the entire article NOT be posted on-line because of copyright restrictions of the journal.) Anyone who wants a copy of the article can either send me a <Private Message> here on the Archive, giving me an email address that can accept attachments, or they can write directly to Richard at
Tadpole (at) dal (dot) CA
In his other life, Richard is a neuroanatomist who has published extensively on tadpole morphology and metamorphosis .
Richard J. Wassersug, Emma McKenna & Tucker Lieberman (2012): Eunuch as a gender identity after castration, Journal of Gender Studies, DOI:10.1080/09589236.2012.681178
ABSTRACT: Each year hundreds of thousands of males begin long-term androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), i.e. chemical or surgical castration, to slow the progress of prostate cancer. ADT causes loss of muscle mass and body hair; genital shrinkage and erectile dysfunction; variable amounts of breast growth and the development of a characteristically post- menopausal female pattern of fat distribution. ADT also changes mood and affect, most conspicuously seen as increased emotionality and depressed libido. Given these changes, it is not surprising that many patients on ADT no longer feel manly, yet do not experience themselves as women. For many, this gender liminality is psychologically and socially traumatic. Faced with these difficulties, how can castrated males understand themselves in a positive way?
We explore the idea that some men may benefit from embracing the alternative gender identity of eunuch. Unfortunately, due in part to the historic practice of forced castration, the word eunuch is now largely pejorative, although it is the correct biological term for a castrated male. We examine the benefits and risks of contemporary castrated males accepting this identity to help them adapt to the changes they experience.
The final four paragraphs of the 19 page article:
Eunuch identity lets individuals occupy space outside of the gender binary where they can be at once male (at least in personal history and, to some extent, in public appearance) and not male (in self-acceptance, in the bedroom, and in the eyes of others who accept them). A historical review reveals how eunuch identity addressed the insufficiency of the two-gender system for many castrated males. Reclaiming eunuch identity in contemporary society could mitigate the pain of liminality by grounding the castrated males in a definable alternative gender space.
Male embodiment is lived and felt against the backdrop of a phallocentric culture where a functional penis and male sexual desire signify maleness and masculinity. In our analysis, we have proposed that a loss of male phallocentric sexuality in combination with ambiguous secondary sexual characteristics and a muted libido can collectively mark the castrated male as other neither male nor female, man nor woman, but an alternative sex and gender.
We suggest here that, as an alternative to conceiving of themselves as failed males, castrated males could interpret their emasculation as an opportunity to be something other than male or female. This alterity is not confined to masculine or feminine scripts, or to masculine or feminine social roles; it is in and of itself something other. We have outlined the challenges and harms posed to maintaining a masculine and male identity following castration. Many first-hand accounts show that being and performing male in a chemically and surgically altered body becomes increasingly difficult as gender and sexuality fail to align with social norms and expectations of maleness. Castration causes a rupture in masculinity, and a refusal to look beyond a failed male narrative will offer those men little room for moving forward into a positive place of affirmation.
Although the reasons for castration have changed, emasculation is as real and common now as ever before. The time has come to recognize the potential positive outcomes of eunuch self-identification.
Tadpole (at) dal (dot) CA
In his other life, Richard is a neuroanatomist who has published extensively on tadpole morphology and metamorphosis .
Richard J. Wassersug, Emma McKenna & Tucker Lieberman (2012): Eunuch as a gender identity after castration, Journal of Gender Studies, DOI:10.1080/09589236.2012.681178
ABSTRACT: Each year hundreds of thousands of males begin long-term androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), i.e. chemical or surgical castration, to slow the progress of prostate cancer. ADT causes loss of muscle mass and body hair; genital shrinkage and erectile dysfunction; variable amounts of breast growth and the development of a characteristically post- menopausal female pattern of fat distribution. ADT also changes mood and affect, most conspicuously seen as increased emotionality and depressed libido. Given these changes, it is not surprising that many patients on ADT no longer feel manly, yet do not experience themselves as women. For many, this gender liminality is psychologically and socially traumatic. Faced with these difficulties, how can castrated males understand themselves in a positive way?
We explore the idea that some men may benefit from embracing the alternative gender identity of eunuch. Unfortunately, due in part to the historic practice of forced castration, the word eunuch is now largely pejorative, although it is the correct biological term for a castrated male. We examine the benefits and risks of contemporary castrated males accepting this identity to help them adapt to the changes they experience.
The final four paragraphs of the 19 page article:
Eunuch identity lets individuals occupy space outside of the gender binary where they can be at once male (at least in personal history and, to some extent, in public appearance) and not male (in self-acceptance, in the bedroom, and in the eyes of others who accept them). A historical review reveals how eunuch identity addressed the insufficiency of the two-gender system for many castrated males. Reclaiming eunuch identity in contemporary society could mitigate the pain of liminality by grounding the castrated males in a definable alternative gender space.
Male embodiment is lived and felt against the backdrop of a phallocentric culture where a functional penis and male sexual desire signify maleness and masculinity. In our analysis, we have proposed that a loss of male phallocentric sexuality in combination with ambiguous secondary sexual characteristics and a muted libido can collectively mark the castrated male as other neither male nor female, man nor woman, but an alternative sex and gender.
We suggest here that, as an alternative to conceiving of themselves as failed males, castrated males could interpret their emasculation as an opportunity to be something other than male or female. This alterity is not confined to masculine or feminine scripts, or to masculine or feminine social roles; it is in and of itself something other. We have outlined the challenges and harms posed to maintaining a masculine and male identity following castration. Many first-hand accounts show that being and performing male in a chemically and surgically altered body becomes increasingly difficult as gender and sexuality fail to align with social norms and expectations of maleness. Castration causes a rupture in masculinity, and a refusal to look beyond a failed male narrative will offer those men little room for moving forward into a positive place of affirmation.
Although the reasons for castration have changed, emasculation is as real and common now as ever before. The time has come to recognize the potential positive outcomes of eunuch self-identification.