JesusA (imported) wrote: Tue Oct 02, 2001 1:40 pm What does it take to become a eunuch? Pain: that's what, and lots of it. In India, of course, the procedure is rife with ritual and old as the cults and attended by careful tests. But while the ceremonies may do much in the way of steeling the initiate's nerve, nothing can really blunt the agony of suffering such a vital loss. The wonder is, indeed, why anyone would voluntarily undergo such an excruciating metamorphosis in the first place, even in exchange for financial security, when there's always, say, swallowing cobras or wrestling rhinos.<p>And yet, so the eunuchs claim, there are some who were born to be neuter. They fall roughly into two classes: the hijiras, or otherwise normal males who have been castrated, and zenanas (the name derives from the Persian word for harem), or hermaphrodites with deceptively feminine looks who tend to be passive homosexuals. Haji Mushtaq, 88, the oldest zenana in Delhi, sniffs that his type look down upon hijiras since, according to him, "most of the hijiras are prostitutes, people who sell their bodies for money, whereas we zenanas are passive sodomists purely for the pleasure of it." Mushtaq notes that when he dallies with a man he feels a full sexual response, even to the point of climax. "But inside me," he adds, "I always feel I am a woman."<p>When a would-be eunuch applies for admission to their society, the formalities are exact, and lengthy. A cult member first breathes into his ear and bores his earlobes with a needle. Notwithstanding Mushtaq's charge, he is then administered a solemn oath that he will never steal, sell his body or work as a pimp. After that, he is admitted tot he community on probation and given coarse sugar to eat as his first sacramental ration. He dons feminine clothes and acquires a new name, now a female one. (Zenanas, on the other hand, take a male name.) <p>During his novitiate, the probationer's conduct is strictly observed and his supposed sexlessness put to the test. If his monitors get suspicious, he might be asked to sleep a few nights with a prostitute, who would then report the recruit's response to the nayak (leader). In Gujarat, the novice is made to sleep with Muslim priests called kamaliyas, regular husbands and fathers who happen to sport moustaches and dress like women.<p>The castration ceremony itself is always performed on an auspicious day, determined either by breaking open coconuts after worshipping the goddess Bahucharamata (if the coconuts are good, then it's an auspicious day) or by thrusting a trident into a water-filled vessel placed between an image of the goddess and the novice (if the trident remains erect, that day is favourable). In former times, castration was performed in the community temple; later that was banned, and it is carried out now in a house of one of the eunuchs.<p>The act is staged at dawn in the presence of the nayak, the priest and other elders of the community. Following an invocatory puja (devotion) to Bahucharamata, during which the participants stand stark naked, the novice is seated on an earthen pot while cold water is streamed over his face and genitals and he inhales a mild anaesthetic. Two eunuchs pinon his arms and legs as a string - or in some places, a slotted bamboo pole - grips the base of his private parts. The "surgeon" then steps forward and, receiving the signal from the nayak, chops with a single stroke. At this stage, the congregation's singing reaches a crescendo to drown out the shrieks. An ointment of warm oil and herbs is applied at once to the wound to staunch bleeding, while the severed symbol of the novice-no-longer's masculinity is ritually buried in an underground cell. <p>There follows a month during which the newly created eunuch (by now designated a "she") is confined to bed, treated and given special food. When fit enough to walk, she is sent to the community well to fetch water as a sign of her acceptance into the fold. Next day, she is endowed with a new name and sari, after which the celebrants adjourn to a feast.<p>There are, perhaps needless to say, three types of emasculation; one removing the testicles only, the second removing the penis only and the third entailing a clean sweep, thus creating a semblance to the female pubis. Dr. B.V. Subramaniam, professor and head of the department of forensic medicine at Baroda's Sri Sayaji General Hospital, notes that, while in the second case sexual desire is retained but the means of satisfying it lost, in the first the penis may continue to function for eighteen months or so since the adrenal cortex secretes its own (admittedly meagre) supply of testosterone, the male hormone. But loss of all genitals, says Subramaniam, will produce eunuchoid syndrome at an early stage, involving hair-shedding, a cracked voice, insomnia and nightmares, diminution of memory and eyesight, melancholia and a sense of alienation.<p>The castration ceremony is more or less the same for Hindu and Muslim eunuchs, but in some places, like southern India's Hyderabad, there are professional Muslim barbers who perform the operation for a price. This sideline has its risks: in Baroda some years ago a licensed physician was prosecuted for offering just such a service at the rate of Rs. 1,000 or more per call. Under the Indian Penal Code, that practice falls under Sec. 320, which defines "grievous hurt." But the code does not forbid self-injury, Thus do fire-walking, cobra-taunting - and self-emasculation - sneak under the law by the width of a razor's edge.<p>---Asiaweek, November 19, 1982, page 29

JesusA (imported) wrote: Tue Oct 02, 2001 1:40 pm What does it take to become a eunuch? Pain: that's what, and lots of it. In India, of course, the procedure is rife with ritual and old as the cults and attended by careful tests. But while the ceremonies may do much in the way of steeling the initiate's nerve, nothing can really blunt the agony of suffering such a vital loss. The wonder is, indeed, why anyone would voluntarily undergo such an excruciating metamorphosis in the first place, even in exchange for financial security, when there's always, say, swallowing cobras or wrestling rhinos.<p>And yet, so the eunuchs claim, there are some who were born to be neuter. They fall roughly into two classes: the hijiras, or otherwise normal males who have been castrated, and zenanas (the name derives from the Persian word for harem), or hermaphrodites with deceptively feminine looks who tend to be passive homosexuals. Haji Mushtaq, 88, the oldest zenana in Delhi, sniffs that his type look down upon hijiras since, according to him, "most of the hijiras are prostitutes, people who sell their bodies for money, whereas we zenanas are passive sodomists purely for the pleasure of it." Mushtaq notes that when he dallies with a man he feels a full sexual response, even to the point of climax. "But inside me," he adds, "I always feel I am a woman."<p>When a would-be eunuch applies for admission to their society, the formalities are exact, and lengthy. A cult member first breathes into his ear and bores his earlobes with a needle. Notwithstanding Mushtaq's charge, he is then administered a solemn oath that he will never steal, sell his body or work as a pimp. After that, he is admitted tot he community on probation and given coarse sugar to eat as his first sacramental ration. He dons feminine clothes and acquires a new name, now a female one. (Zenanas, on the other hand, take a male name.) <p>During his novitiate, the probationer's conduct is strictly observed and his supposed sexlessness put to the test. If his monitors get suspicious, he might be asked to sleep a few nights with a prostitute, who would then report the recruit's response to the nayak (leader). In Gujarat, the novice is made to sleep with Muslim priests called kamaliyas, regular husbands and fathers who happen to sport moustaches and dress like women.<p>The castration ceremony itself is always performed on an auspicious day, determined either by breaking open coconuts after worshipping the goddess Bahucharamata (if the coconuts are good, then it's an auspicious day) or by thrusting a trident into a water-filled vessel placed between an image of the goddess and the novice (if the trident remains erect, that day is favourable). In former times, castration was performed in the community temple; later that was banned, and it is carried out now in a house of one of the eunuchs.<p>The act is staged at dawn in the presence of the nayak, the priest and other elders of the community. Following an invocatory puja (devotion) to Bahucharamata, during which the participants stand stark naked, the novice is seated on an earthen pot while cold water is streamed over his face and genitals and he inhales a mild anaesthetic. Two eunuchs pinon his arms and legs as a string - or in some places, a slotted bamboo pole - grips the base of his private parts. The "surgeon" then steps forward and, receiving the signal from the nayak, chops with a single stroke. At this stage, the congregation's singing reaches a crescendo to drown out the shrieks. An ointment of warm oil and herbs is applied at once to the wound to staunch bleeding, while the severed symbol of the novice-no-longer's masculinity is ritually buried in an underground cell. <p>There follows a month during which the newly created eunuch (by now designated a "she") is confined to bed, treated and given special food. When fit enough to walk, she is sent to the community well to fetch water as a sign of her acceptance into the fold. Next day, she is endowed with a new name and sari, after which the celebrants adjourn to a feast.<p>There are, perhaps needless to say, three types of emasculation; one removing the testicles only, the second removing the penis only and the third entailing a clean sweep, thus creating a semblance to the female pubis. Dr. B.V. Subramaniam, professor and head of the department of forensic medicine at Baroda's Sri Sayaji General Hospital, notes that, while in the second case sexual desire is retained but the means of satisfying it lost, in the first the penis may continue to function for eighteen months or so since the adrenal cortex secretes its own (admittedly meagre) supply of testosterone, the male hormone. But loss of all genitals, says Subramaniam, will produce eunuchoid syndrome at an early stage, involving hair-shedding, a cracked voice, insomnia and nightmares, diminution of memory and eyesight, melancholia and a sense of alienation.<p>The castration ceremony is more or less the same for Hindu and Muslim eunuchs, but in some places, like southern India's Hyderabad, there are professional Muslim barbers who perform the operation for a price. This sideline has its risks: in Baroda some years ago a licensed physician was prosecuted for offering just such a service at the rate of Rs. 1,000 or more per call. Under the Indian Penal Code, that practice falls under Sec. 320, which defines "grievous hurt." But the code does not forbid self-injury, Thus do fire-walking, cobra-taunting - and self-emasculation - sneak under the law by the width of a razor's edge.<p>---Asiaweek, November 19, 1982, page 29

JesusA (imported) wrote: Tue Oct 02, 2001 1:40 pm What does it take to become a eunuch? Pain: that's what, and lots of it. In India, of course, the procedure is rife with ritual and old as the cults and attended by careful tests. But while the ceremonies may do much in the way of steeling the initiate's nerve, nothing can really blunt the agony of suffering such a vital loss. The wonder is, indeed, why anyone would voluntarily undergo such an excruciating metamorphosis in the first place, even in exchange for financial security, when there's always, say, swallowing cobras or wrestling rhinos.<p>And yet, so the eunuchs claim, there are some who were born to be neuter. They fall roughly into two classes: the hijiras, or otherwise normal males who have been castrated, and zenanas (the name derives from the Persian word for harem), or hermaphrodites with deceptively feminine looks who tend to be passive homosexuals. Haji Mushtaq, 88, the oldest zenana in Delhi, sniffs that his type look down upon hijiras since, according to him, "most of the hijiras are prostitutes, people who sell their bodies for money, whereas we zenanas are passive sodomists purely for the pleasure of it." Mushtaq notes that when he dallies with a man he feels a full sexual response, even to the point of climax. "But inside me," he adds, "I always feel I am a woman."<p>When a would-be eunuch applies for admission to their society, the formalities are exact, and lengthy. A cult member first breathes into his ear and bores his earlobes with a needle. Notwithstanding Mushtaq's charge, he is then administered a solemn oath that he will never steal, sell his body or work as a pimp. After that, he is admitted tot he community on probation and given coarse sugar to eat as his first sacramental ration. He dons feminine clothes and acquires a new name, now a female one. (Zenanas, on the other hand, take a male name.) <p>During his novitiate, the probationer's conduct is strictly observed and his supposed sexlessness put to the test. If his monitors get suspicious, he might be asked to sleep a few nights with a prostitute, who would then report the recruit's response to the nayak (leader). In Gujarat, the novice is made to sleep with Muslim priests called kamaliyas, regular husbands and fathers who happen to sport moustaches and dress like women.<p>The castration ceremony itself is always performed on an auspicious day, determined either by breaking open coconuts after worshipping the goddess Bahucharamata (if the coconuts are good, then it's an auspicious day) or by thrusting a trident into a water-filled vessel placed between an image of the goddess and the novice (if the trident remains erect, that day is favourable). In former times, castration was performed in the community temple; later that was banned, and it is carried out now in a house of one of the eunuchs.<p>The act is staged at dawn in the presence of the nayak, the priest and other elders of the community. Following an invocatory puja (devotion) to Bahucharamata, during which the participants stand stark naked, the novice is seated on an earthen pot while cold water is streamed over his face and genitals and he inhales a mild anaesthetic. Two eunuchs pinon his arms and legs as a string - or in some places, a slotted bamboo pole - grips the base of his private parts. The "surgeon" then steps forward and, receiving the signal from the nayak, chops with a single stroke. At this stage, the congregation's singing reaches a crescendo to drown out the shrieks. An ointment of warm oil and herbs is applied at once to the wound to staunch bleeding, while the severed symbol of the novice-no-longer's masculinity is ritually buried in an underground cell. <p>There follows a month during which the newly created eunuch (by now designated a "she") is confined to bed, treated and given special food. When fit enough to walk, she is sent to the community well to fetch water as a sign of her acceptance into the fold. Next day, she is endowed with a new name and sari, after which the celebrants adjourn to a feast.<p>There are, perhaps needless to say, three types of emasculation; one removing the testicles only, the second removing the penis only and the third entailing a clean sweep, thus creating a semblance to the female pubis. Dr. B.V. Subramaniam, professor and head of the department of forensic medicine at Baroda's Sri Sayaji General Hospital, notes that, while in the second case sexual desire is retained but the means of satisfying it lost, in the first the penis may continue to function for eighteen months or so since the adrenal cortex secretes its own (admittedly meagre) supply of testosterone, the male hormone. But loss of all genitals, says Subramaniam, will produce eunuchoid syndrome at an early stage, involving hair-shedding, a cracked voice, insomnia and nightmares, diminution of memory and eyesight, melancholia and a sense of alienation.<p>The castration ceremony is more or less the same for Hindu and Muslim eunuchs, but in some places, like southern India's Hyderabad, there are professional Muslim barbers who perform the operation for a price. This sideline has its risks: in Baroda some years ago a licensed physician was prosecuted for offering just such a service at the rate of Rs. 1,000 or more per call. Under the Indian Penal Code, that practice falls under Sec. 320, which defines "grievous hurt." But the code does not forbid self-injury, Thus do fire-walking, cobra-taunting - and self-emasculation - sneak under the law by the width of a razor's edge.<p>---Asiaweek, November 19, 1982, page 29

JesusA (imported) wrote: Tue Oct 02, 2001 1:40 pm What does it take to become a eunuch? Pain: that's what, and lots of it. In India, of course, the procedure is rife with ritual and old as the cults and attended by careful tests. But while the ceremonies may do much in the way of steeling the initiate's nerve, nothing can really blunt the agony of suffering such a vital loss. The wonder is, indeed, why anyone would voluntarily undergo such an excruciating metamorphosis in the first place, even in exchange for financial security, when there's always, say, swallowing cobras or wrestling rhinos.<p>And yet, so the eunuchs claim, there are some who were born to be neuter. They fall roughly into two classes: the hijiras, or otherwise normal males who have been castrated, and zenanas (the name derives from the Persian word for harem), or hermaphrodites with deceptively feminine looks who tend to be passive homosexuals. Haji Mushtaq, 88, the oldest zenana in Delhi, sniffs that his type look down upon hijiras since, according to him, "most of the hijiras are prostitutes, people who sell their bodies for money, whereas we zenanas are passive sodomists purely for the pleasure of it." Mushtaq notes that when he dallies with a man he feels a full sexual response, even to the point of climax. "But inside me," he adds, "I always feel I am a woman."<p>When a would-be eunuch applies for admission to their society, the formalities are exact, and lengthy. A cult member first breathes into his ear and bores his earlobes with a needle. Notwithstanding Mushtaq's charge, he is then administered a solemn oath that he will never steal, sell his body or work as a pimp. After that, he is admitted tot he community on probation and given coarse sugar to eat as his first sacramental ration. He dons feminine clothes and acquires a new name, now a female one. (Zenanas, on the other hand, take a male name.) <p>During his novitiate, the probationer's conduct is strictly observed and his supposed sexlessness put to the test. If his monitors get suspicious, he might be asked to sleep a few nights with a prostitute, who would then report the recruit's response to the nayak (leader). In Gujarat, the novice is made to sleep with Muslim priests called kamaliyas, regular husbands and fathers who happen to sport moustaches and dress like women.<p>The castration ceremony itself is always performed on an auspicious day, determined either by breaking open coconuts after worshipping the goddess Bahucharamata (if the coconuts are good, then it's an auspicious day) or by thrusting a trident into a water-filled vessel placed between an image of the goddess and the novice (if the trident remains erect, that day is favourable). In former times, castration was performed in the community temple; later that was banned, and it is carried out now in a house of one of the eunuchs.<p>The act is staged at dawn in the presence of the nayak, the priest and other elders of the community. Following an invocatory puja (devotion) to Bahucharamata, during which the participants stand stark naked, the novice is seated on an earthen pot while cold water is streamed over his face and genitals and he inhales a mild anaesthetic. Two eunuchs pinon his arms and legs as a string - or in some places, a slotted bamboo pole - grips the base of his private parts. The "surgeon" then steps forward and, receiving the signal from the nayak, chops with a single stroke. At this stage, the congregation's singing reaches a crescendo to drown out the shrieks. An ointment of warm oil and herbs is applied at once to the wound to staunch bleeding, while the severed symbol of the novice-no-longer's masculinity is ritually buried in an underground cell. <p>There follows a month during which the newly created eunuch (by now designated a "she") is confined to bed, treated and given special food. When fit enough to walk, she is sent to the community well to fetch water as a sign of her acceptance into the fold. Next day, she is endowed with a new name and sari, after which the celebrants adjourn to a feast.<p>There are, perhaps needless to say, three types of emasculation; one removing the testicles only, the second removing the penis only and the third entailing a clean sweep, thus creating a semblance to the female pubis. Dr. B.V. Subramaniam, professor and head of the department of forensic medicine at Baroda's Sri Sayaji General Hospital, notes that, while in the second case sexual desire is retained but the means of satisfying it lost, in the first the penis may continue to function for eighteen months or so since the adrenal cortex secretes its own (admittedly meagre) supply of testosterone, the male hormone. But loss of all genitals, says Subramaniam, will produce eunuchoid syndrome at an early stage, involving hair-shedding, a cracked voice, insomnia and nightmares, diminution of memory and eyesight, melancholia and a sense of alienation.<p>The castration ceremony is more or less the same for Hindu and Muslim eunuchs, but in some places, like southern India's Hyderabad, there are professional Muslim barbers who perform the operation for a price. This sideline has its risks: in Baroda some years ago a licensed physician was prosecuted for offering just such a service at the rate of Rs. 1,000 or more per call. Under the Indian Penal Code, that practice falls under Sec. 320, which defines "grievous hurt." But the code does not forbid self-injury, Thus do fire-walking, cobra-taunting - and self-emasculation - sneak under the law by the width of a razor's edge.<p>---Asiaweek, November 19, 1982, page 29