WheelyFixed wrote: Tue May 28, 2024 11:59 am
I liked it, but it does remind me of a mildly interesting question that I've occasionally wondered about... It seems a fairly common trope in stories of this sort (high %age of near-puberty minor castration, w/o much concern about informed consent on the part of the minor) that behavior and academic performance improves, as well as the 'hero' ending up happy being a eunuch... Is there any 'real world' data that would support the trope? I can easily believe the behavior improvement, but what about the rest?
WheelyFixed
This is an excellent question, and one that probably deserves its own thread. However, Ill try to keep this relatively short. While there is no direct example for comparison, we do have information about a wide variety of body modifications around the world, many of them used as rites of passage: tattooing, scarification, piercings, circumcision, clitoridectomy, etc.
Circumcision is widely practiced, not just as routine infant circumcision, but as a rite of passage. In Moslem culture, the timing can vary, but circumcision is most frequent between ages seven and thirteen. Boys anxiously look forward to their genital mutilation. In some parts of the United States, as many as 90% of infant boys were circumcised. It was just seen as normal and most boys didnt care or didnt even notice. The fad is declining although as many as 50% of boys are still being circumcised in some regions of the U.S.
Clitoridectomy (removal of a girls clitoris) has been practiced in some cultures since ancient times and is still found in many areas. Subincision (splitting open the underside of the penis) was traditionally practiced as a rite of passage in parts of Australia, Fiji, and the Amazon Basin. In parts of Micronesia and of the Horn of Africa, hemicastration (removal of one testicle) was practiced as a rite of passage into adulthood. These are culturally accepted practices and most boys and girls look forward to them in the cultures where they are common.
The closest we can come to an acceptance of routine castration would be Italy at the height of the popularity of castrati. It is estimated that at the peak, over 3000 boys were castrated every year in the Italian Peninsula. Apprenticeship contracts for boys sometimes specified who would be responsible for paying the surgeon for their castration. Some boys from poor families sought funds from local officials to pay for their own castrations. Some families had multiple sons castrated as each became of age for the surgery. In the well-documented Melani family, for example, the second son, Atto, was castrated at age ten and three of his younger brothers were each castrated when they attained about that age. All became members of the local cathedral choir.
We currently have an increase of what has been termed Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria among young pre-teen and teenage girls. These girls suddenly discover that they are gender dysphoric and are really male. They seek breast reduction (if they have already started to develop) and testosterone treatment to masculinize their bodies. There is current academic dispute as to whether the dysphoria is real or is a form of social contagion.
What the girls are seeking is quite close in effect to a male seeking castration to prevent masculinization, with or without estrogen treatment.
All of that doesnt really answer the question, but it should provide food for thought toward an answer.