Eunuchs

A eunuch is a man who has had his testicles removed. In many cases, this has been done for reasons that were beyond the man's control, such as accidents, cancer, birth defects, atrophy of the testes, or perhaps by force. Other men are fixated on castration for any of a variety of reasons and voluntarily become eunuchs.

In all cultures, people spend a great deal of effort customizing the body for appearances. We change clothes; tattoo, pierce, scar, and brand bodies; adorn ourselves with jewelry and cosmetics; and dye our hair. Body altering and adornment is a way for individuals to present their desired self-image to others, and images are influenced by the style in which a particular social and historical image is cast. Other body alterations, such as sex change, are more radical but are also cast by social history. The eunuch represents another form of “extreme” body customization.

Present images of masculine sexuality have inadvertently made the effigy of the eunuch more permissible, albeit unstated. The meaning of masculinity varies from culture to culture as well as within any specific culture. For example, traditional images of masculinity have embraced men's body hair as a sign of masculinity and virility. However, new images of masculinity are popularizing images of men with little to no body hair. During the 1980s, led by the fashion designer Calvin Klein, the advertising industry began to market male beauty with images drawn from America's gay subculture. Those images are, as often as not, languidly beautiful, silken, and androgynous. These new male ideals, like the eunuch, blur gender boundaries. Many straight mainstream men pierce their ears; some wear nail polish. Thick chest hair has become unfashionable. In contemporary culture, the male of the female erotic gaze resembles a eunuch—a beautiful, hairless, permanent boy.

Sociological forms of sexual deviance are partially explained by the psychological history of the participants, but an elaborate set of ongoing relationships must be created and maintained to ensure the capability to continue the behavior. These allow the actors to reconcile themselves with their otherwise relatively conventional self-images. While changes in sexual mores and the social organization of particular activities are to be expected under any circumstances, the advent of new telecommunications technologies has revolutionized sexual expression.

While traditionally the possession of testicles has been associated with masculine sexuality, it appears that the testicles do not confer any particular erotic advantage, and indeed, it may be seen as an impairment to the new clean, well-shaven images of sexuality. In some ways, we can see that many sexual practices seek and validate sterile sex. The vasectomy is an accepted “edit” to maleness. Others practices such as mutual masturbation, fellatio, cunnilingus, and anal intercourse are not anatomically restricted, particularly since the invention of the portable penis and the vibrating dildo. Similarly, the AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) epidemic has also intensified the abdication of many sorts of sex and has opened up the creative options of those searching for the safe orgasm. The growing complexity of society dictates that people search for the even more bizarre to differentiate themselves from the masses in their projects focused on the body.

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