Over the past several years of the Eunuch Archive, there have been a number of posts discussing how particular members here first became interested in castration. The most recent such thread to be active is Castration Interest Induced in Childhood (http://www.eunuch.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=3343), which C van D began in May of 2003, and which has only recently been revived with a series of fascinating posts. Because of C van D’s original post discussing how his own interest in castration was brought about by his mother, maternal threats have been the major thrust of the thread.

There are, of course, many other reasons for one to become interested in castration that would be interesting to discuss here:

1) Abuse of ALL kinds, not just maternal threats, but threats from others as well as actual abuse, both sexual and other. I have talked with a number of people here who have discussed childhood abuse among their reasons for being castrated. There have also been at least two (no longer active) members who were actually castrated by abusive parents.

2) Dislike of their own homosexuality and a feeling that being asexual was better than being attracted to same-sex. This has popped up in a number of discussions here and the high percentage of gay Eunuch Archive members (about a third) makes this a reason worthy of discussion. The (glacially slow) improvement in social acceptance of homosexuality may make this less of a reason in the future.

3) Having actively assisted in the castration of farm animals and having become excited by the action and its results. A number of people have mentioned this as one factor in the origin of their interest. It can certainly be a contributing factor, though it cannot be a solely sufficient factor or every farm boy in the world would want to be a eunuch.

4) Religious reasons. This is the most prominent reason in the existing literature on voluntary castration. A majority of those who show up in hospital emergency rooms after attempted self-castration seem to quote Matthew 19:12 (“and there be eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake”). The Skoptzy, a Christian sect that flourished at least until the beginning of WWII, relied more heavily on Revelation 14:4, which they interpreted to mean that the 144,000 who were to be redeemed from earth were to be those who had had absolutely no sexual experience whatesoever. They preferred to castrate little boys before the age of 12, as did the Valensians, a Christian group that lived in what is modern Israel even before the Bible was compiled. They thought it their Christian duty to kidnap and castrate little boys from the surrounding area in order to save their souls. More of those who have discussed religious reasons on the Archive have given NON-Christian reasons, however.

5) A profound desire to reduce (or eliminate) an overactive libido that interfers with having a productive life. Again, this has been frequently stated here on the Archive, but usually without any real details. Overactive, of course, is in the eye of the beholder. Some might envy what others decry.

6) Fear of committing offensive acts. This has certainly been mentioned a number of times on the Archive by several different people. It includes at least two very different kinds of offense that need to be clearly separated, however. Some have expressed a fear that they might, in a weak moment, commit an act against others; some have expressed a fear that they continue to commit a self-directed act, such as masturbation to excess (whatever that might be).

7) Matching the libido of a long-time partner that has been significantly reduced by illness or age. TerryUK has most articulately expressed this as a reason for castration (scattered across a number of very literate posts). When I’ve been asked by outsiders for reasons why ANY male would want to be voluntarily castrated, this is the first reason that I give. It invariably gets a positive response, generally along the lines that it’s a profound expression of love.

8) As a first, and relatively simple and inexpensive, step in Male-to-Female transitioning. Anyone who’s been around the Eunuch Archive will know that there are a number of members here who were born with male plumbing, but whose minds are clearly female. Psychiatry and pharacology have spent decades trying to find a way to change the mind to match the body. They seem to have (finally) realized that it’s far easier, less painful, and less expensive to change the body to match the mind. Social acceptance is gradually growing, though there are still problems to be overcome.

9) Resolution of a Male-to-Eunuch Gender Identity Dysphoria. Just as there are those who are born with male plumbing whose minds are clearly female, there are those whose minds are clearly not male, but neither are they female. Many seem to have thought for a while that they were female, and a few even went through Male-to-Female transitioning, before discovering that they were happiest identifying as “eunuch”, “third gender”, or “other”. My suspicion is that this is far more common in the general populace than is currently recognized.

10) Resolution of a Body Integrity Identity Disorder. There are individuals who, for some reason not yet understood by the medical establishment, believe that a part of their body simply does not belong. Nearly all of the research to date has been on those who want a lateral appendage (arm or leg) removed so that their body is “more complete”. So far, a consensus seems to be growing among psychiatrists that the only “cure” is to lop off the offending body part in a sterile, medical environment.

11) To become more submissive for the benefit of a partner. Fortunately, this reason seems to be mostly confined to those who are here for reasons of fantasy, not reality. While historically the majority of eunuchs may have been submissive, that was because they were largely produced by castrating slaves – submissive by definition. Even then, however, they don’t seem to have been any more submissive than others of their station. Remember the contrary examples of eunuchs such as Narses (the general who drove the Ostrogoths, Franks, and Alemanni out of Italy, saving Rome in the reign of Justinian), Cheng He (the great Chinese admiral), St. Ignatius (one of the most powerful patriarchs of Constantinople), Origen (one of the most important early Christian theologians), Judar (the Morrocan general who was responsible for the first major expansion of Islam across the Sahara), etc. The Chinese eunuchs were frequently reviled because they were too dominant and powerful in government. Castration may actually reduce submission by freeing the mind of sexual interest and allowing more focus on other aspects.

I’m sure that there are additional reasons that the members of the Eunuch Archive have for being interested in castration. What are they? Can we have a discussion of why we are here? What are the factors? Most people are likely to have more than one reason. What are the personal histories?

As an extension of sexual experimentation. As an extention of S&M practices. As an extention of body modification. To experence life differently. Not to end sensuality but to change it. To transcend ordinary existence. To move to another plane of experience. --FLO--

JesusA (imported) wrote: Wed Jan 17, 2007 3:10 pm 1) Abuse of ALL kinds, not just maternal threats, but threats from others as well as actual abuse, both sexual and other. I have talked with a number of people here who have discussed childhood abuse among their reasons for being castrated. There have also been at least two (no longer active) members who were actually castrated by abusive parents.

I had a somewhat undesirable experience when I was young, but I'm not sure I would call it abuse. I was persuaded, not forced. But still, I didn't like it, and I've since felt uneasy about the idea of having sexual experiences.

JesusA (imported) wrote: Wed Jan 17, 2007 3:10 pm 5) A profound desire to reduce (or eliminate) an overactive libido that interfers with having a productive life. Again, this has been frequently stated here on the Archive, but usually without any real details. Overactive, of course, is in the eye of the beholder. Some might envy what others decry.

This is my primary reason. My libido may not really be overactive (not anymore, at least--it's settled down in the past few years), but since I don't intend to have sex anyway, it always manages to be annoying.

JesusA (imported) wrote: Wed Jan 17, 2007 3:10 pm 6) Fear of committing offensive acts. This has certainly been mentioned a number of times on the Archive by several different people. It includes at least two very different kinds of offense that need to be clearly separated, however. Some have expressed a fear that they might, in a weak moment, commit an act against others; some have expressed a fear that they continue to commit a self-directed act, such as masturbation to excess (whatever that might be).

There's this as well, but I'll spare the details.

These are pretty much all my reasons. I still have yet to do it, but I've been looking into chemical castration.

Wow. You’ve put a lot of hard work and thought into this.

However, it could be simplified considerably. One, two, four, five, and six are closely related. It’s all castration to punish or prevent a crime or participation in a crime, the crime being sex or sexuality.

In eight, nine, and ten, it’s the genitalia, not the sexuality, that is inappropriate.

Seven and 11 deal with long-term relationships. That said, I do agree that the to-be-a-better-sub concept does seem to be more a fantasy, yet I know of at least one pup who’s scheduled to be taken to the vet.

As for the spring-round-up farm boy, aside from the fact it appeals to a lot of boys who’ve never been on a farm, I think it’s a misplaced piece here. Perhaps it goes with common castration themes: being kidnapped, raped, and castrated; the climax to the ultimate cbt scene; and so on.

Origin, by the way, is ambiguous. By origin do you mean why I want to be castrated? Or by origin do you mean what first made me realize I want to be castrated? If the former, it’s because I don’t believe I should have balls. If the latter, it’s because of reading a detailed account of a castration in a leathersex book and realized that’s what I deserve.

NB

My true origins of interest in castration were not known to me until after my castration. Sexual abuse I now think was the trigger for my interest as well as my sexual addiction. The sexual abuse had been deeply repressed and was only realized in dreams. While I was not aware of the abuse I was still acting out the pain in many ways during my daily life. The abuse I suffered sexual, physical and verbal locked me into a passive personality who was easily victimized many times in life.

As I was entering puberty I began to feel wrong about myself. I knew I was different than the other boys but I knew I was not a girl. I did go through a stage where I would think about being a girl to make life easier. It was to be many years later before I realized I was a M to E transgender. Of course it was to be even more years before I reached my goal.

As I was struggling with self-identity and acting out due to the repressed memories I became fixated on sex. I remember feeling a great pressure to have sex, which I finally was able to do at 15 years of age. At the time I felt I had already missed several good years. This great interest grew to an addiction, which took control of me. I would have sex rather appropriate or not. The addiction would cause me trouble on some jobs I held. It interfered with all aspects of my life. It even led me to one of the most traumatic periods of my life. Sexual addiction was probably the greatest reasons for castration but it grew out of the early abuse and my gender confusion.

When I was first castrated my reason was to stop the sexual addiction. I had to do this to survive not only myself but also others. Of course now I know that this was not the real origin of my thoughts on castration. I do not know if I could say which was the beginning of the thoughts but they all played a role. The most important thing for me is not what has happened but that I became who I needed to be.

I can't remember why I first got interested...I do remember very young, I would shove my genitalia back between my legs, and close them at night in bed and pretend to be a model and drape the sheets like dresses and skirts ontop of my body and produce a commentary in my head of me as the "model". As I grew up and the sexual side became more powerful, it developed into a fantasy centering around submission and being the "protected" as opposed to the "protector"...my sexual identity is submissive, but my social identity is protective and caring...so I'm not sure where the whole fantasy came from...hmm

Jesus,

When I first came to the E.A., many moons ago, I recall a discussion with a person about how he infected many Gay partners with AIDS. That was several crashes of the E.A. ago and one change of posting boards, I think. I was teaching a class in a certain medical specialty at the time and these students were petrified of 'catching' AIDS on the job and dying. One girl dropped out because of it. I decided to find out as much as I could about the disease and to pass this knowledge along to these people destined to become medical professionals so they would know exactly what it was that they were going to be dealing with. Basically, that is how I came here and once I got hooked on the fascination with this E.A., I stayed and the rest is history.

Well, back to the story.

Anyway, this person's guilt seemed so overwhelming that he wanted nullification and was seeking a Canadian 'cutter'. This is another reason that you can add to your list.

I remember posting to him that he could not bring anyone back in this manner and I also remember discussing how the Gay culture of the early 1980's believed that it was their 'right' to have as much sex as they wanted despite the consequences. Even back then I tried to discourage people from becoming Eunuchs unless there was a good medical reason.

Usually for these folk, it took a watershed event like losing somebody that they cared for or maybe an entire peer group before their guilt set in and they looked to either punish themselves or protect others by curtailing their sex drive or eliminating it all together.

There are a few people who are immune to HIV due to genetics. (Check this out) (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/case_pl ... rview.html) and I can see where somebody who happened to have this type of immunity to HIV would feel like this until they understood that they could not either get infected NOR infect somebody else. This story is fascinating and it was unearthed first by public health epidemiologists.

Of course, I suspeced that this might have been the case, but at the time I knew nothing of the possibility of immune individuals to the pandemic. I remember telling this person that it was O.K. what they had done because it was part of their socialization within their peer group.

I remember imploring this person to forgive himself because nullification would not bring the dead back to life and these who died were willing participants in sex, regardless of the consequences of veneral diseases. Back then Gays did not use condoms and they ridiculed the idea in some cases. There was even some material saying that the virus could go through a comdom which was a falsehood.

The attitude that all veneral diseases could be cured came to an abrupt halt once it was understood that no amount of money could help because medical science had not progressed sufficiently to control the disease at that point and that it was fatal once it was contracted.

This realization could give Gay men who lived through that era a guilt complex regarding why they survived and so many did not that brought on the castration-nullification complex in certain individuals.

So, the reason for castration-nullification complexes is uniquely individualized and although it may be possible to classify them to an extent, each unfortunate individual in this situation has a unique story.

Each needs individualized support regardless of if they 'go through' with it or not...

...and the mental and/or physical abuse of children of BOTH sexes that lies at root of this complex in some cases needs to be stopped, recognized and treated as soon as it is discovered.