Eunuch as a gender identity after castration

Abstract

Each year hundreds of thousands of males begin long-term androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), i.e. chemical or surgical castration, to slow the progress of prostate cancer. ADT causes loss of muscle mass and body hair; genital shrinkage and erectile dysfunction; variable amounts of breast growth and the development of a characteristically postmenopausal female pattern of fat distribution. ADT also changes mood and affect, most conspicuously seen as increased emotionality and depressed libido. Given these changes, it is not surprising that many patients on ADT no longer feel 'manly', yet do not experience themselves as women. For many, this gender liminality is psychologically and socially traumatic. Faced with these difficulties, how can castrated males understand themselves in a positive way?We explore the idea that some men may benefit from embracing the alternative gender identity of 'eunuch'. Unfortunately, due in part to the historic practice of forced castration, the word 'eunuch' is now largely pejorative, although it is the correct biological term for a castrated male. We examine the benefits and risks of contemporary castrated males accepting this identity to help them adapt to the changes they experience.

Fluidity of gender identity induced by illusory body-sex change

“…The control analyses showed that there was no significant reduction between the reaction times in the congruent vs. the incongruent blocks in other conditions (block  ownership interaction; syncS: Interestingly, this balancing of implicit associations with both genders in syncO was related to a lengthening of the reaction times in the congruent block rather than to a shortening of the reaction times in the incongruent block, which suggests that the body-sex-change illusion mainly hindered the existing associations between the self and gender category consistent with one's sex ( Fig. 2f; main effect of ownership; syncO-congruent: b=6; SE=1; t=4.33; P<0.005; 95% CI [3,9]; syncOincongruent: b=0; SE=2; t=0.25; P=0.81; 95% CI [-3, 3]; linear regression models; two-sided; N=64). Furthermore, the participants who experienced strong illusory ownership of the oppositesex body in syncO (N=24; median-split; see Methods) had similar reaction times in the congruent and incongruent IAT blocks ( Fig.…”

Shining a light on the grey zones of gender construction: breast surgery in France and Italy

“…Tumours, endocrinal or genetic dysfunctions (as the Klinefelter syndrome), or the use of some drugs can cause the condition. It can also be iatrogenic, deriving from therapies such as the 'Androgen Derivation Therapy' prescribed for the treatment of prostate cancer (Wassersug, McKenna, & Lieberman, 2012). However, 'the etiology of gynecomastia is still only understood to a limited extent and up to 50% of the cases may have no obvious cause' (Dornellas de Barros & de Castro Moura Sampaio, 2012, p. 190) and are normal features of the male body.…”

The price of pulchritude, the cost of concupiscence: how to have sex in late modernity

“…These men's bodies are somewhat feminised including, for some, 'gynaecomastia': they lose body hair and muscle mass, gain weight in particular regions, become subject to mood swings and hot flushes, and lose residual sexual function and desire that might have survived earlier treatments. Richard Wassersug, McKenna, and Lieberman (2012) technically and correctly recognise these men as 'eunuchs', although both patients and physicians avoid the term presumably because of its historical associations. Medical journals resist the term too, even if oncologists refer to the treatment as 'castration'.…”