My Letter to the Producers of 'American Eunuchs'

[Paolo]

Below is a copy of the letter which I sent to the producer in charge of retooling this travesty of a film for British TV. Another copy also went to franco@americaneunuchs.com and gc@americaneunuchs.com . So far, there has been no response. If you have not seen this escapade into Trash-TV, don't waste your time. If you do plan to watch it, have the Prozac ready...it's damn depressing as well as disgusting.

Dear Mr. Kerslake:

In order to avoid confusion, I shall introduce myself as BK and not Brian, as Eunuch.org was founded by another Bryan some time ago. I go by the screen-name of Paolo on the Eunuch Archive; I am sure that you know the web address by now.

Last night, May 19, 2004, I viewed the program “American Eunuchs” which was recorded by a friend and sent to me. It was aired on a cable channel that I do not have, nor can I get. After watching it, I sent an email to my friend. We later chatted on the phone about the program.

There are no words for how this show made me feel.

I can only come up with ‘appalled’. This was nothing more than trash TV at its lowest. Well, next to lowest, if you take Jerry Springer’s show into account.

For years, the Staff (of which I am a member) at Eunuch.org has worked to provide a friendly and safe online Community for those seeking castration and for those already castrated. We have worked very many hours, spent our own money, dedicated our time, and basically worked our tails off for the sake of promoting castration and the understanding of the issue and its aftereffects. And guess what? This Community was never mentioned. 6,000 members +, and no mention?

What this television program has done has set us back by…light years, for lack of a better word. As I mentioned, I am having trouble coming up with words to use for how I feel after watching this show. This show, I feel, no matter how ‘worked over’ or ‘retuned’ it may become, will never be anything more than the likes of “shock-journalism” and Trash-TV.

What was wrong with it?

Where to begin? There’s so much, as the show made everyone involved – and anyone who has even THOUGHT about voluntary castration – appear to be a freak. That, and a LOT of the information contained therein was simply wrong.

Let us start with George and Cookie, as George was not too bad. His reasons for voluntary castration, to me, seemed valid. He seems to be a level-headed fellow who explained his position quite well. Still, the editing made him look like a “weirdo”, again for lack of a better word. Out of the whole show, I think he might have been the best part. I can only hope that he lost some weight, too. Selecting the first interview with an overweight black man, I feel, was only an attempt at shock or degradation.

As for the segment on Dr. Felix Spector – basically, Dr. Spector became such an icon to the Community in the late 90’s because he was the ONLY port in the so-called storm. One can easily equate his services to women seeking abortions in years past. I do not argue that some of his surgeries went wrong and sent men to the hospital mentioned in the show. Common sense dictates that when you are getting old, and you start making mistakes, it’s time to stop what you are doing. However, the program made him out, as it did everyone else involved, to appear as a deviant. The segment with the tenants of his building, who didn’t know what he was doing, was disgusting. How long did it take them to find these two? Couldn’t they find anyone else to add to it, maybe two minutes worth of tape, to level this out?

It’s hard enough to talk about the subject without something like that clouding the issue.

I can speak from personal experience about “coming out” in my desires for castration. Yes, I have them. No, I am still “all one piece”, and not happy about it. Some years ago, I mentioned this to a friend. As with the gentleman on the show, the tenant, he was stunned and thought that I was insane. Then I explained my reasons. They are of a medical nature. More on that later. But as the problem grew worse, and I soon found that no one in the professional medical world was going to take me seriously, I decided to explain it to my boss and coworkers. NOT ONE of them was shocked. Men and women, old and young. Bottom line – I have a problem. I was/am in pain and misery. Fortunately, I was met with understanding. Two of the people I worked with at the time, ladies, simply said, “Well why can’t they just take your balls out and give you hormones, then?”

And there were others that I told of this. In all cases, the reactions were basically the same:

“Why won’t anyone DO anything about it?”

The answer? Because of the social belief that men should have balls and penises. Anything that interferes with such much be immediately repair and the male genital set salvaged and repaired at all costs. On the other hand, there are doctors out there who do not believe that anything can or ever does go wrong with the male genitals. Anyone complaining of this, once testicle cancer is ruled out, is immediately labeled as “insane.” This is yet another reason for men seeking the services of those like Felix Spector or JR/Jack, from the show.

Now there’s a wonderful addition to the program – JR.

A minister who later gets busted for child pornography after confessing to doing nullifications (complete removal of the male genital set) in motel rooms.

I could simply scream. There was absolutely NO WAY that this program could have sunk any lower, or done more damage to our cause, than by adding JR to it. What did his arrest on child pornography have to do with it?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

What did the end credits, showing the “demise” of several characters in the show have to do with conveying the idea of voluntary castration?

Again, absolutely nothing.

And then we have Bruce, or Gelding, as he is known.

Gelding is hardly the “guru” of the Community that he is reported to be. The Eunuch Archive is by far the largest, most coherent Eunuch Community in existence. And Gelding, by choice, is not a large part of it. He is registered, he might read the boards, but his input at EA is minimal. Gelding has his own reasons for all of the contacts that he mentions. Years ago, I was one of them. I can only say that his intentions are/were less than pure. Personally, he frightened me. He still does. His story about an attempted self-castration has merit, though, if it is to be believed. Again, another reason to seek out the likes of Spector or JR.

And what does a set of bouncing breasts, or Gelding’s butt, have to do with the topic of the show? Uhhh, nothing?! Right again.

Then we come to the information that he gives in the show, which was at best limited, and in some cases, downright WRONG.

Burdizzos do not often work on humans. Yes, they do hurt. Common sense would tell you that. Elastrators were designed for small animals, like baby goats (kids, as farm people call them) and lambs or very small calves. Again, they do NOT work on humans, as Gelding states. In growing up in a farming community, I can tell you from personal experience that the use of either of these tools is ALWAYS accompanied by injections and oral antibiotics. Always. And they do not have a 100% success rate on the little critters, either. The show does not mention the fact that either method here will leave a mass of dead or dying tissue attached to the body, which will more than likely lead to gangrene and a huge hospital bill. And if the hospital is not involved, it will lead to death. Bottom line – humans are not like animals. Hence the “flocking” to Dr. Spector, or the shady likes of JR.

This leads us to Michael/Madison. Here we have a confused boy who obviously had some serious issues about his manhood and had no one to talk with about them. In short, his own desires led him to an underground cutter, and very probably without the knowledge of how his body and life were going to change after the surgery. I also feel that a LOT of what Michael said was probably left on the cutting room floor. It would be very interesting to hear of his confusion, his boyhood, his teen years, and what was going through his mind. Alas, this is not to be seen in the show. I think I can relate to him, which I will get to shortly.

This leads me to believe that there is no difference between women who sought “back-alley” abortions years ago, and men who would seek to have their testicles and/or penises removed today. There are cutters out there. Dr. Kimmell is doing castrations now, instead of Dr. Spector. As long as the “real” medical community continues to ignore the issue, this trend will continue.

The reasons for this desire for voluntary castration are myriad. I could write a book on them. I will not attempt to do so here. I have already mentioned my own dilemma, pain. I cannot begin to tell you of the humiliation and physical suffering I endured while attempting to correct this problem. It was not until an older family member let slip a secret to me that I began to put the pieces together. The story is not all that complex – at the age of 3, I had the mumps. They covered it up. I had a late and difficult puberty, involving a “tetanus shot” every time I so much as got a tiny cut. In short, I was lied to. I have no records or proof, but those shots were more than likely HRT. I grew up watching the other boys grow muscles, chase girls, shave, grow body hair, and all the while wondering “When is it my turn?” Then came the shots and the rough ride that was puberty. This was a very confusing time for me, and as I mentioned, I think that I can relate to Michael’s story in this one area. If I was indeed “male”, then I was already made to feel like “not-quite-right-male”. Looking back, I can say that I was built with the same hardware as the other boys, but that mine wasn’t working like theirs was. I was different, and I knew it, but I didn’t know why or what to do about it. Also being prone to infections, in my late 20’s and on through early 30’s, I began to have several more. Eventually, my testicles became the target – several times. After almost a year of antibiotics and then simply being told that I needed psychiatric help, I figured it all out.

I had a defective set of testicles, and no one cared. My system had been forcibly “booted” into maleness, per say, and now the machinery was failing.

Stop and think for a moment about the last time that something impacted YOUR own testicles. Do you remember that? How would you like to walk around feeling that way for, let’s say, ten years or more? Trust me, after about a month, you’ll do ANYTHING to be rid of them.

The depression that followed this discovery, as well as the fact that I learned that I cannot have children, has been very hard to deal with. HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) does not agree with me, and I find myself a “eunuch” for all accounts. The only difference is that I am, to a point, chronically miserable. Finding others with the same desire, NO MATTER what their reasoning, has proven to be much of a comfort. Before the Internet, and before EA, and before mailing lists, even, those like me were out here, all alone, wondering if we really were insane or if there were other males who had this desire. I cannot begin to describe what a relief that finding Eunuch.org was for me.

I can truthfully state, that when I discovered the site, I was on the verge of doing something stupid. I was ready to contact a cutter, or just do it myself and call 911. The friends that I made at EA stopped me. Very probably, they saved my life.

Then along comes “American Eunuchs.”

I think I can best describe it now when I think of Auntie R. throwing her hands in the air and stalking away saying, “OY!”

In closing, I would only say that this program is damaging beyond words. It has undermined everything that the Community has worked for since the boom in the Internet with the Eunuch Archive. It is also nothing more than a slap in the face to people like me. I am reminded of the 1930’s film “Freaks”, unfortunately.

In the end, that is what this all boils down to – men who want to be, or have been – castrated - portrayed as freaks for the enjoyment of the masses. These are real people that the producers have “played with” and degraded by editing for the sake of the sensational. Is there any real information to be gained from watching this program?

No.

Let us also not forget that there are men (and probably boys, too) out there that would rather die than have to endure castration for ANY reason. I certainly hope that none of them watched this show, as if they did, they have probably committed suicide by now after seeing it. The damage that this Trash-TV program has done is incalculable. I can visualize an older man sitting there, watching it, and suffering from some condition that might lead to castration. Perhaps prostate cancer? I can also visualize, let’s say, a teenager diagnosed with testicular cancer. He is upset, afraid of being “not a man” anymore, and not understanding all of the issues. Enter the “American Eunuchs” show, and its ratings and warnings designed to rope them in. He then puts a shotgun in his mouth and pulls the trigger after seeing it.

His blood is on the producers’ hands.

BK / Paolo

#2 and Editor/Moderator,

The Eunuch Archive

www.eunuch.org (http://www.eunuch.org/)

paolo@eunuch.org (paolo@eunuch.org)

[Falcon (imported)]

hehehehe. don't piss off our paolo !!

quite a letter, hope SOMEBODY listens.

tb

[jemagirl (imported)]

I did not get to see the film but have heard enough about it to know its a hack job. So I wrote this e-mail to the producers. I hope no one thinks I was too harsh:

Dear Sir or Madame as the case may be,

I am writing to you about you so called documentary film "American Eunuch". I have only one question. Why did you have to hop the pond to make this film? After all England has its own eunuchs as do all the fine countries of Europe. Some even say Tony Bl.......oh never mind. In any case you could have made a film called "British Eunuch" or "French Eunuch" and saved your self the plane fair, but perhaps you wanted to have a little distance from your victims. After all France is not so far away since they built the Chunnel.

Jema

[Riverwind (imported)]

I agree, dont piss off paolo, but do I think these people will respond, I doubt it, which is unforgivable. We must remember that slim balls like this also live in our world.

RW

[JesusA (imported)]

Paolo was not the only Archive member to send a very strong letter about this pseudo-documentary. Below is a slightly edited version of the letter that I sent out on my letterhead. I removed the real names of all of the individual Archive members (who gave me permission to include them in the copies that I mailed) and added a few comments in square brackets before posting here. Talula also wrote a letter strong enough to blister paint:

Dear Dr. Mueller [a professor of Sociology at Hunter College]:

I recently watched the documentary American Eunuchs, for which you served as Consulting Producer. I am appalled that a professional sociologist would take public responsibility for such a piece of shock journalism that slanders its subject population. Your participation in this "documentary" seems to me to be a clear violation of the Code of Ethics of the American Sociological Association.

I am an anthropologist who has been conducting research on the eunuch community for some time. I am working specifically with the members of the Eunuch Archive (www.eunuch.org), the largest coherent group of eunuchs in North America with nearly 6,000 members. Even so, it represents only a small fraction of the number of eunuchs in the world. Approximately 40,000 men are castrated annually in North America alone as part of their treatment for prostate cancer (the growth of which is testosterone dependant). [Number from the unpublished research of Dr. Richard Wassersug, Medical School, Dalhousie University.] Only a few of these eunuchs are members of the Archive. Nearly 7,000 young men are diagnosed each year with testicular cancer, for which testicle removal is required for diagnosis. There are also, as you are well aware, a large number of male-to-female transsexuals who have their testicles removed as a first step in their transformation. Again, only a small part of these communities participate in the Archive. The Archive is made up primarily of men who seek or have undergone voluntary castration for some combination of physiological and psychological needs. Their reasons are far more varied than American Eunuchs indicates.

In addition to its communication and support function, the Eunuch Archive also provides space for members to explore their fantasies and anxieties as an alternative to taking any further action. My interviews with Archive members indicate that some of them find that presenting their nightmares for others’ scrutiny is enough to vanquish them.

I have met face-to-face with many eunuchs and have had extensive telephone, written, and e-mail communication with many others. The community is more diverse than any other that I've studied. So far I have worked with Eunuch Archive members who are corporate executives, university professors, mailmen, farmers, accountants, lawyers, sales clerks, and many other occupations. Some of them have convinced me that their reasons for seeking voluntary castration are logical and reasonable; some have not. Some are among the nicest people I have ever met, under any circumstances; two or three make my skin crawl just thinking of them.

As one of the members of the Archive has written to me, "the eunuch community is made up of straight, bi, gay, transgendered and others; we are between the ages of 18 and 80; we are married, divorced, with or without partners. You cannot find any other group that is more diverse than this one, yet we are all brothers." [“Riverwind,” with whose permission I included his full name in the version I mailed.]

Your documentary focuses on a very few members of the community, quite deviant from the norm of this already somewhat deviant community. The movie moreover portrays all eunuchs as freaks, rather than as complex human beings. The documentary features "Gelding" as the "guru" of the eunuch community. [I included “Gelding’s” real name in the letter that I sent as evidence that I knew what I was talking about – the only person whose name I included without asking permission.] In reality, he is held in very low repute by most members of the Archive, and he is certainly not a “guru” to any of the many eunuchs that I know. Some of the statements made by or about Gelding are highly misleading, if not false. I know that you were advised by members of the eunuch community well in advance of release of this film that Gelding does not in any way represent American eunuchs other than himself.

The opening segment of the documentary is best described by Talula. "The George M. segment I found to be disjointed. With no offense to George meant, the timeline and messages are mixed. George is interested in castration, grooming animals, hacking the air with a sword, lifting weights, getting up early, not working Wednesdays, and now weight reduction as he saw how bad he looks on camera." [personal communication] Through it all, though, George comes across as a gentle soul, trying to find what is best for his own life without causing harm to any others. It is the only part of the documentary that seems to come close to a genuine portrayal of the many members of the Eunuch Archive whom I know.

A much better portrayal of voluntary eunuchs and eunuch wannabees would come from a personal communication recently sent to me by a member of the Eunuch Archive Steering Committee:

"There is also a small percentage of the community who would seek castration for valid medical reasons, which, unfortunately are not taken seriously by the medical establishment. As a child, at age 3, I had the mumps. My family covered it up. I did not find about this until a rough trip through very late puberty, which also consisted of a lot of "tetanus" shots that I couldn’t figure out WHY I needed. It was not until I turned 30 that I found out, when a rampant infection (which was also not taken seriously) managed to get into my testicles and stay there. After a shutdown in what little hormone production I had, I found myself "a eunuch" for all intents and purposes. Little to no sex drive, no sperm count to speak of, and the depression that followed knowing that I had been lied to and realizing that I would never have a biological child of my own. The only thing is, I am a "eunuch" who still has all of his hardware attached. Hormone replacement therapy does not agree with me, and I am left with chronic pain from my barely functioning testicles that has been ruled as a PSYCHIATRIC disorder. Hundreds of antibiotic pills and thousands of dollars later, I am miserable in many ways. I take comfort in the fact that there are five boys in my life [two nephews and three godsons], none of them mine, who have helped me deal with this trying ordeal. Still, there are nights that I lay awake and ponder what a failure my life has been to date, largely because of my "testicular condition." Voluntary castration would, if nothing else, help eliminate the pain and discomfort, which sometimes can incapacitate me for days on end."

“Paolo”, the author of this paragraph, is an acknowledged leader of the eunuch community and a FAR better representative of American Eunuchs than anyone profiled in your film. He is creative, intelligent, witty, and one of the finest people I have ever met anywhere. He is struggling to find a solution to problems that the professional establishment would prefer to ignore. A properly conceived documentary claiming to portray “American eunuchs” would feature people much more like Paolo than those whom you chose.

"Madison", the final eunuch portrayed, is very strange as an M-t-F transsexual. Nearly all M-t-F transsexuals know by a very young age that their body is not consonant with their gender. According to the documentary (which may or may not give an accurate portrayal), she did not know that she was female until AFTER she was castrated. I have serious doubts.

The segment on Dr. Felix Spector seemed to focus more on the seedy neighborhood in which his office was located and on his age and senility than on the surgery that he performed. The film could have, just as easily, shown scenes of Constitution Hall and the Liberty Bell, which were a short walk from his office. There have been several reports that he botched operations due to his advancing age and it is unclear why his license was revoked—for his senility, for which several complaints were filed—or for the type of surgery that he performed, which is what your film strongly implies. That another surgeon, Dr. Murray Kimmel, has taken over his practice argues strongly that it was incompetence, not the nature of the surgeries, that resulted in the loss of his license.

Among other problems that I see with your "documentary" are that:

1) Members of the Eunuch Archive community offered to provide factual material that would have made the documentary more accurate. The offers were ignored.

2) The film showed ignorance of the very real medical and psychological reasons for castration, only briefly mentioning them in a way that most viewers would not even notice.

3) Not informing viewers that "Gelding" takes large doses of testosterone, whereas the transsexuals do not. Most of the eunuch community either cannot or will not take testosterone. "Gelding" is not even a potential role model for the vast majority. The film seems to have purposefully confused the viewers about both the physiological and psychological effects of castration.

4) It is furthermore wrong that you involved a graduate student—Lisa J. Davis, listed in the film as a "Research Associate"—in this project. She was the initial recipient of most of the email with the Eunuch Archive members, and so was made aware of problems with the film from the beginning. Was she coerced, or entrapped, by financial necessity? If so, then minimally you should step down from your role as a graduate student advisor. If she elected to be involved voluntarily, that raises issues about her own understanding of the ethics of working with human subjects, and

5) My main concern with showing the documentary, however, is that there are far too many men with prostate cancer or with testicular cancer, who would rather die than be castrated. Castration can add years to their life expectancy or, in the case of testicular cancer, allow them a normal life expectancy. Their quality of life does NOT need to be diminished by lack of functioning testicles; they need information and support. This documentary, I'm afraid, with its portrayal of eunuchs as freaks, may lead to poor decisions by men with cancer. It may lead to them making choices that result in an early death. One of the Eunuch Archive members, in his reaction to the film, had nightmares of young men with testicular cancer and who had seen your film committing suicide rather than be castrated and become a freak such as those you depicted.

I feel that your film will set back any attempt to rationally approach the issue of castration and of eunuchs in society, not just for those cancer patients who would rather die than be castrated, but also for the entire community of voluntary eunuchs.

As I wrote at the beginning, I am appalled that any professional sociologist would be associated with such a project, let alone publicly take credit for the damage that he has caused.

Copies of the letter (with appropriate cover letters) were also sent to:

Dr. Robert Perinbanayagam, Chair, Dept. of Sociology. Hunter College (CUNY)

Judith Friedlander, Ph.D., Dean, School of Arts & Sciences, Hunter College

Chancellor Matthew Goldstein, Hunter College, The City University of New York

Dr. Sherryl Graves, Co-Chair, Institutional Review Board, Hunter College

Dr. Andrea Savage, Co-Chair, Institutional Review Board, Hunter College

Dr. Sally T. Hillsman, Committee on Professional Ethics, American Sociological Association

Gian Claudio Guiducci, Co-Producer, American Eunuchs

Franco Sacchi, Co-Producer, American Eunuchs

Larry Aidem, President, Sundance Channel L.L.C.

Paola Freccero, V-P, Film Programming, Sundance Channel L.L.C.

[jemagirl (imported)]

I finally had a chance to see the film in question. Thankfully I was not expecting a fair and balanced documentary or I would have been very disappointed. To be fair there were some good points but when take as a whole the film lacked a balanced portrayal of our community. I think the worst part for me is the missed opportunity to educate people rather than shock them. I was reminded of fictitious documentaries of the "Faces of Death" series.

[An Onymus (imported)]

Although Dr. Mueller, if he is conscientious about maintaining his professional integrity, may have taken Jesus' letter to heart, it should be realized that film producers usually categorize letters like those which Paolo and Jesus wrote, as "idiot mail," and seldom take them seriously. They may actually be glad to get them, because the fact that their film, made somebody angry, means that it is controversial--and controversy sells. People want to see what it is, that made people mad.

Since the Sundance Channel has a relatively small viewership, the detrimental effects of the documentary may be limited so far. Perhaps some effort should be made to prevent showing of the film in England, or on a more widely available channel like Discovery. If further airing of the documentary can't be stopped, perhaps the channels on which it is shown, could be convinced to provide equal time for a documentary with a fairer and more balanced view, if any documentaries of that kind are available.

[JesusA (imported)]

An Onymus, of course, has it absolutely right. The producers of this travesty will revel in ANY reaction or publicity. Letters aimed directly at them will do nothing except encourage them to produce more of the same.

Any attempt to be effective must aim somewhere else. Paolo’s letter (as well as one that I also sent) is aimed at preventing the showing of this film on television in the U.K. It may or may not work, but Simon Kerslake is at least more likely to try to provide better balance in any version that is edited for Channel 5.

My letter to Mueller (and the powerful one that Talula sent) is aimed at someone whose profession depends on both good relations with those he studies and on his accuracy and truthfullness. My letter intentionally was copied to the ethics committee of the largest professional organization in his field and to the relevant administrators (and ethics committee co-chairs) at his university. By pointing out his involvement of a student in his work and by involving different organizations that will each be looking over their shoulders at what the others are doing, I have tried to force an investigation of Mueller’s research ethics.

At the very least, he will be reluctant to become involved in any future shock journalism projects. At best he will be censured, no longer allowed to serve as a student advisor, and have difficulty receiving research grants in the future.

The film, unfortunately, will go on and continue to be shown at film festivals. So far it has been shown in several festivals in a number of countries. We need a better, and more accurate, film.

[A-1 (imported)]

Still,

A film is a film.

This movie is no more accurate than "The Day After Tomorrow"

But, the fact that it is there, regardless of how inaccurate it is, is a concession to the cause of sorts. To admit that the EA exists may send some seeking it. Because if they feel a certain way, they will seek it to check the accuracy of what they saw and out of curiosity.

So, the cause is served.

However, the PRODUCER...heh heh heh

LET US MAKE A NICE STORY ABOUT HIM BEING CASTRATED AT A FILM FESTIVAL WHILE A HORRIFIED AUDIENCE LOOKS ON...

I'd bet you a dollar against a donut that this place titillates the HELL out of him and he TRASHED it out of resentment and denial.

OH!, what a bastard. He deserves nullification in effigy...

A-1

[sag111 (imported)]

I didnt get a chance to see this film and after reading the responces i dont even want to.I feel people just love to lable someone else or a group it makes them feel better about their problems that they may not be able to address.And i am glad my doctor didnt see this film eather or he might not have agreed to give me the orchidectomy that i asked him for and he has agreed to give me i guess he just didnt see a nut case when he talked to me.I dont see myself as a nut case or anyone else here for that matter but to lable us that way just showes his personial thoughts and that is sad.

It is sad that people can hert others without knowing them or even trying to know or understand them or us in this case