Androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) via either surgical or chemical castration is the standard treatment for advanced prostate cancer (PCa). In North America, it is estimated that more than 40,000 men ...start ADT each year. The side effects of this treatment are extensive and include gynecomastia, erectile dysfunction, and reduced libido. These changes strongly challenge patients’ self-identity and sexuality.
The historical term for a man who has been castrated is ‘eunuch’, now a pejorative term implying overall social and sexual impotence. In this paper, we review key historical features of eunuch social performance and sexuality from a variety of cultures in order to assess the validity of contemporary stereotypes of the androgen-deprived male. Data were taken from secondary sources on the history of Byzantium, Roman Antiquity, Early Islamic societies, the Ottoman Empire, Chinese Dynasties, and the Italian Castrati period. This cross-cultural survey shows that castrated men consistently held powerful social positions that yielded great political influence. Many eunuchs were recognized for their loyalty, managerial style, wisdom, and pedagogical skills. Furthermore, rather than being consistently asexual and celibate, they were often sexually active. In certain cultures, they were objects of sexual desire for males, or females, or both.
Collectively, the historical accounts suggest that, given the right cultural setting and individual motivation, androgen deprivation may actually enhance rather than hinder both social and sexual performance. We conclude that eunuch history contradicts the presumption that androgen deprivation necessarily leads to social and sexual impotence. The capabilities and accomplishments of eunuchs in the past gives patients on ADT grounds for viewing themselves in a positive light, where they are neither socially impotent nor sexually chaste.
‘Gender ideology’ is a term used by many, but especially the Vatican, to chastise the view that sexual difference is more than just male and female, sexuality more than desire of the opposite. Each ...of the three books discussed in this article defends some version of this supposed ideology; each argues—though in different ways—for the need to move beyond a dimorphic account of sexual difference. Their arguments are taken up and deployed against what is here presented as the ideology of sexual dimorphism, as it is seen in the body theology of John Paul II. It is argued that such a theology dehumanises intersexed people, along with homosexuals, and undermines Christian soteriology. The church needs to acknowledge as fully human all who don’t conform to heterosexual dimorphism; it needs to embrace a ‘third sex’ without reserve.
This paper deals with the ideas of queer experiences in the Early Christian movement, seen through early Christian epistemologies of gender and patristic thought focused on sex differences. The lives ...and passions of transgender nuns are used in discussing various aspects of gender fluidity in early Christianity. Theoretically, the paper rests on the idea of the performativity of gender, that is, on the ways gender was constructed and how body modifications enabled renegotiation of gender categories. It also focuses on the social context of queer experiences in the late antique period with regard to Roman social norms.
The perfect servant Ringrose, Kathryn M
2003., 2007, 2004, c2003., 20030101
eBook
The Perfect Servant reevaluates the place of eunuchs in Byzantium. Kathryn Ringrose uses the modern concept of gender as a social construct to identify eunuchs as a distinct gender and to illustrate ...how gender was defined in the Byzantine world. At the same time she explores the changing role of the eunuch in Byzantium from 600 to 1100. Accepted for generations as a legitimate and functional part of Byzantine civilization, eunuchs were prominent in both the imperial court and the church. They were distinctive in physical appearance, dress, and manner and were considered uniquely suited for important roles in Byzantine life. Transcending conventional notions of male and female, eunuchs lived outside of normal patterns of procreation and inheritance and were assigned a unique capacity for mediating across social and spiritual boundaries. This allowed them to perform tasks from which prominent men and women were constrained, making them, in essence, perfect servants. Written with precision and meticulously researched, The Perfect Servant will immediately take its place as a major study on Byzantium and the history of gender.
The caliphal court in Baghdad was the arena of countless conflicts and struggles for power between the caliph and the political elites of the ‘Abbasid empire. In many of these conflicts third parties ...were asked – or styled themselves – as intercessors to intervene on behalf of the subordinate party to ask for mercy or a favour from the superior party. This article will analyse these intercession processes and the types of intercessors that were involved. At the court of caliph al-Muqtadir (r. 295-320/908-932) a colourful group of courtiers – chamberlains, eunuchs, harem stewardess, concubines and the queen mother – functioned as go-betweens in various kinds of conflicts. Their roles as intermediary and their own influence upon the settlement processes are vividly described in the sources. By analysing three cases of political intercession at the court of caliph al-Muqtadir, this article will demonstrate that successful and reliable intercessors were often marginal figures whose position as outsider made them particularly suitable for this job.
This paper analyzes early illustrations of the Miaoshan story, which served a popular hagiography of Bodhisattva Guanyin - the murals of the Hall of the Great Mercy of the Monastery of Great Wisdom ...in Beijing (ca. 1513) - in relation to the vernacular narrative of performative nature, the Precious Scroll of Incense Mountain. These murals, though they have not received much attention from scholars so far, are noteworthy as the whole ensemble of this monastery was commissioned by Zhang Xiong, a powerful eunuch of the Zhengde court. This paper clarifies the source of the subject of these murals with the use of newly discovered textual materials, and also tries to contextualize them in the cultural life of eunuchs. Such analysis also leads to redefining the status of precious scroll literature, which, though written in vernacular language, was also used in the higher stratum of society, and entered the Ming inner court in the fifteenth to early sixteenth centuries.
The Ottoman chief harem eunuch played an essential role in court ceremonies and festivals from the inception of the office of chief harem eunuch in 1588 through the mid-eighteenth century. This ...article examines changes in his ceremonial role over this time span. He was most instrumental in the celebration of milestone life cycle events such as circumcisions and weddings, which were often the occasion for lavish public spectacles. Over this 160-year period, the public visibility of his function in these events steadily increased. Meanwhile, he acquired new ceremonial functions. In the late seventeenth century, future chief eunuchs delivered congratulatory gifts to the Köprülü grand viziers after landmark military victories. In the eighteenth century, they presided over the springtime entertainments known as the Çırağan Eğlenceleri. In all these cases, the chief eunuch performed a mediating role, guiding members of the imperial family from one stage of life to another and from one palace space to another, or transporting valuable goods across spatial boundaries. At the same time, he reinforced the boundaries between different parts of the palace and between public and private spaces.
Chen Cheng 陳誠 has been praised for his accomplishments on the three diplomatic missions to Herat, which took place during Emperor Yongle's 永樂 reign (1403-1424) in the Ming period (1368-1644). This ...acclaim, and the fame that has accrued to him since then, suggest that he played an instrumental role in the relations between China and the Central Asian countries through which he passed. However, since he was second in command of these missions, serving under eunuchs each time, it is difficult to find evidence for his individual contributions to China's relations with the Timurids or with other powers. This article looks not only at Chen's two most famous works, his Xiyu xingcheng ji 西域行程記 and Xiyu fanguo zhi 西域番國志, but also at his writings in other genres, including a long descriptive poem (fu 賦), his shorter poems, his letters from another mission, a memorial to the emperor, a summary of his career, and also writings by others, to see the light they shed on his role. Not only do his various writings complement each other and fill in each other's gaps, but they also reveal that he acted as chief ambassador on at least two side expeditions, and was a member of the inner circle during meetings with various local rulers, enjoying their hospitality and observing their ways of life first hand. Although they do not convey an exact picture of his role on these missions to Herat, taken as a whole his writings convey a sense of his encounter with other civilizations along the Silk Road in the early fifteenth century.
Historiography has shown great interest for many decades in eunuchs and their role in premodern societies. But scholars of medieval Europe have not paid a great deal of attention to the clerics whose ...genitals were amputated. Drawing upon the example of men who had mutilated themselves and sought to become deacons, priests or bishops, this paper shows how their exclusion from the sacred sphere has been shaped in medieval canon law and what were the possible exemptions to the general rule. The pope himself and more especially the Apostolic Penitentiary played an eminent role in their integration, since they granted special authorizations and dispensations to all priests or aspiring priests who were lacking their virilia. Finally, we try to explain why this prohibition addressed to eunuchs reflects the Catholic Church's broader conception of masculinity.
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