I just received the following message from Richard Wassersug, my co-author on a series of papers about the voluntary eunuch community. He is currently a visiting scholar at the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University in Melbourne. He presented a lecture on our research to the students and faculty of the centre on February 9. The lecture is now available as an MP3 file titled “Modern Day Eunuchs” at

http://itunes.apple.com/itunes-u/austra ... d395647341

Yesterday I did an hour interview with Carol Nader of The Age, Melbourne's top newspaper. That was after my talk on modern day eunuchs, which she attended. She is willing to run a full story on modern day eunuchs. But her senior editor will only allow it if she can get one or two local interviews. The Age is, after all, the key newspaper for the State of Victoria, so they understandably want some local sources.

.... I would like to post an invitation on EA for natal males, who are voluntarily castrated, eunuch wannabes, and/or extremely interested and informed about the topic, to contact her for a possible interview. I believe that they can request that their actual name not be used. It might be nice if they were folks who took our last survey. She would prefer that they be in Victoria and preferably in the Melbourne area, though anywhere in Australia would do.

Her contact info is:

Carol Nader

Senior Writer

The Age

--

Media House, 655 Collins Street, Docklands VIC 3008

T 03 8667 2964

F 03 8667 2327

cnader@theage.com.au

www.theage.com.au

Are there any Australian members here who are willing to help her? A nice article in The Age might be a great help for the entire Australian community.

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I was hoping for two sorts of comments on this post:

FIRST, comments about Richard Wassersug's lecture about voluntary eunuchs to an audience in Melbourne, and

SECOND, some EA member from Australia agreeing to speak with Carol Nader about the subject. This is an important opportunity to advance the cause Down Under.

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I too have been waiting for an Austrailian member to speak up. Nothing Richard Wassersug does surprises me. --FLO--

Well i would be glad to do something about it. But what i have noticed about Australia is that even though it is a big opened minded country it does not accept things that are not the norm.

In that it is hard for any one else to show that being a eunuch is different and not widely accepted by the Community here in Australia

tomas.toohey (imported) wrote: Mon Feb 14, 2011 1:02 pm Well i would be glad to do something about it. But what i have noticed about Australia is that even though it is a big opened minded country it does not accept things that are not the norm.

In that it is hard for any one else to show that being a eunuch is different and not widely accepted by the Community here in Australia

Australia is certainly a country that provides an individual with far more freedom than most, but as far as speaking out about Eunuch related issues and ideas, well, it is still a taboo subject.

I believe that I spoke to Richard last year (perhaps 6-8 months ago) when he was in Australia, and he wanted to speak to an Australian on the EA for their insights into things. I'm not sure if my conversation is particularly relevant anymore to such matters though. I'm not thinking about physical castration anymore, though still harbour the thought of giving Androcur a try down the track to reduce/remove my sex drive. If I am single then I think I'd prefer "remove."

I have just had a book released online too, which is my autobiography, though I don't go into much detail on Eunuch things - more about the complications and difficulties surrounding being friends or wanting more than that as a straight male. As I have said before, I post on the EA under my real name, but this still isn't a big deal since people don't really google me and discover that I'm active on here. And as far as my auto goes a lot of the interest will come from my parents - but for the wrong reason.

Fear.

I am going waaaaaaay off topic!

To give a brief example about the taboo nature of these topics; the other day at work one of our sales reps was complaining (it was VERY funny) about not getting any from his wife, and a number of us joined in this playful discussion. Of course one of my main thoughts is, "why don't you look into reducing your sex drive?" But I still don't think that this thing is really thought of by many - we men are still so greatly driven by our sex drive that it is hard to look past this and see that life can be meaningful and I suppose happy without it. Maybe one day I will be able to speak up during such moments and provide some sort of a useful opinion. But it is not that easy to just speak out.

gregrowlerson i agree with every thing you say.. I have spoken to a lot of guys out there (i am gay) and when i tell them what i want (castration and penectomy) they think i want a sex change..

Most Australians can not think of a man having no testicles or penis they think they want to be a woman. But at the same time they also try and not think about it..

I hope that at least a couple of the Australian members will take Carol Nader up on her offer to write something that may help the community. This is your chance to help make a difference.

She has promised anonymity to anyone she interviews, if you request it.

JesusA (imported) wrote: Wed Mar 02, 2011 8:09 pm I hope that at least a couple of the Australian members will take Carol Nader up on her offer to write something that may help the community. This is your chance to help make a difference.

She has promised anonymity to anyone she interviews, if you request it.

I will repeat Jesus' encouragement. There have been several of us in the US and one in the UK who have done this sort of thing. It all helps tremendously toward understanding and accepting. We have actually made progress toward this over the years, and this sort of thing truly helps, especially if well-written. I would encourage folks to give a try - talk Ms. Nader.

kristoff wrote: Wed Mar 02, 2011 8:28 pm I will repeat Jesus' encouragement. There have been several of us in the US and one in the UK who have done this sort of thing. It all helps tremendously toward understanding and accepting. We have actually made progress toward this over the years, and this sort of thing truly helps, especially if well-written. I would encourage folks to give a try - talk Ms. Nader.

i am Ms Nader as a favor for Richard Wassersug