Deviant Behavior

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Deviant Behavior

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Postmodern Masculinities and the Eunuch

To cite this Article: , 'Postmodern Masculinities and the Eunuch', Deviant Behavior, 28:3, 201 - 218 To link to this article: DOI: 10.1080/01639620701232961 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01639620701232961

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Deviant Behavior, 28: 201–218, 2007 Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 0163-9625 print/1521-0456 online DOI: 10.1080/01639620701232961

postmodern masculinities and the eunuch Tina H. Deshotels Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, Alabama, USA Craig J. Forsyth University of Louisiana, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA This research examines the recent rise of the eunuch within several sociological contexts. The contention of this article is that present images of masculine sexuality have inadvertently made the effigy of the eunuch more permissible, albeit, unstated. In addition, as a form of sexual deviance, this practice relies on both individual pathologies and communities for membership. Recent technological advances in the computer industry have simplified access to like-minded individuals fostering fellowship. Using both primary and secondary sources of data, individual motivations to becoming a eunuch are examined.

INTRODUCTION In all cultures people spend lots of effort customizing the body for appearances. We change clothes, tattoo skin, get pierced, scarred, branded, adorn ourselves with jewelry and cosmetics, and dye our hair. Clearly body altering and adornment is a way for individuals to present their desired Received 1 September 2005; accepted 28 July 2006. Address correspondence to Tina Deshotels, Ph.D, Department of Sociology, 326 Brewer Hall, Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, Alabama 36265, USA. E-mail: [email protected]

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self-image to others (Randall and Polhemus 1996). These images are, indeed, influenced by the style in which a particular social historical image is cast. Other body alterations like sex change are more radical, but are also cast by social history. The eunuch is another form of extreme body customization. A eunuch is a man that has had his testicles removed. Many had this done for reasons which were out of the man’s control, like accidents, cancer, birth defects, atrophy of the testes, or perhaps it was forced on them. Other men are fixated on castration for a variety of reasons and voluntarily become eunuchs.1 The focus of this present study is on this latter group. Although some argue that castration is considered ‘the ultimate humiliation’ (Taylor 2000), research has documented many cases of voluntary castration (Becker and Hartman 1997; Masson and Klein 2002). The contention of this article is that present images of masculine sexuality have inadvertently made the effigy of the eunuch more permissible, albeit, unstated (Draper 2000). In addition, as a form of sexual deviance, this practice relies on both individual pathologies and communities for membership (Quinn and Forsyth 2005). Recent technological advances in the computer industry have simplified access to like-minded individuals fostering fellowship. Simply put the eunuch has resurfaced because this individual pathology finds a good fit with today’s version of masculine sexuality. The purpose of this research is to examine this form of deviance and describe the array of sociological forces which mold and motive the eunuch. First we discuss views of masculine sexuality that have made becoming a eunuch acceptable. We then offer the information gleaned from the community of eunuchs and relate it to changing images of masculine sexuality. Next, the technology that fosters this community will be discussed. Finally, the eunuch will be fitted within the field of deviance. THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF MASCULININITY/SEXUALITY Masculinity is expressed and acquired in many contexts, at work (Martin 2001), in the family (Deutsch 1999), in fraternities 1 There is also chemical or non-functional castration. This is not the topic here. We are also not interested in castration in the process of becoming a transsexual.



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(Boswell and Spade 1996), in sports (Curry 1991), and perhaps most importantly, masculinity is enacted through the body and sexuality (Stoltenberg 2000). Research in the social construction of masculinity examines how the ‘‘meaning of masculinity is neither trans-historical nor culturally universal, but rather varies from culture to culture and within any one culture’’ (Kimmel and Messner 2004:xvi). For example, traditional images of masculinity have embraced men’s body hair as a sign of masculinity and virility. However, new images of masculinity, referred to as the metro-sexual, are popularizing images of men with little to no body hair. During the eighties, led by 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, androgynous. Insofar as they define a new male ideal, they do so in terms those, like the eunuch, deliberately blur gender boundaries. Straight mainstream men pierce their ears; some even wear nail polish . . . jungle-thick chest hair has become unfashionable . . . Increasingly, the male of the female erotic gaze resembles a eunuch: a beautiful hairless permanent boy. Lots of women prefer . . . adolescent vulnerability . . . to a testosterone-fest. (Taylor 2000:6 7)

Indeed, research is showing a rise in men engaging in body depilation (Boroughs, Cafri, and Thompson 2005) and cosmetic surgeries in order to fit these new images (Davis 2002). As such, the body has increasingly become a ‘‘new identity project’’ for men (Gill, Henwood, and McLean 2005). However, although there is great variety and historical change within the constructions of masculinity in general and masculine sexuality specifically, one underlying commonality across each context is an emphasis on power and control (Kimmell and Messner 2004). In this way, there is both continuity and change in the construction of masculinity and masculine sexuality. For example, although the body modification strategies for men (surgery and body depilation) may be new, the meanings men give to their behavior are not new. That is, when men undergo body modification as an identity project it is interpreted as empowering in that they are able to control their outward appearances (Bell 2001; Ganter 2005).


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There is also some evidence to suggest that body modification in general is seen as a way to gain control over identity formation (Featherstone 1999). For example, men claim that tattooing is a means by which identity is asserted and structured (Bell 2001; Gill et al. 2005; Iksanen and Turtiainen 2004). However, as modifications become more and more main stream (Iksanen and Turtiainen 2004), it would be necessary to escalate the level of modification in order to control their ability to create a unique self identity. It is also possible that becoming a eunuch is viewed as a way to control sexual urges and emotions. Indeed, previous research has documented celibacy and the desire to control sexual urges as a primary motivation for voluntary castration (Gawande 1997). This is not a new justification. Historically, the desire to transcend or overcome the body and its carnal desires has been a justification for voluntary castration (Money 1988; Scholz 2001; Taylor 2000). Similarly, research has documented that public perception of the psychological effects of androgen deprivation include the idea of a eunuch calm; that is, individuals perceive that castration would induce those castrated to be more in control of their anger and emotions (Higano 2003).2 Underlying each of the previous explanations for desiring castration is also the idea of the power to control nature. Perhaps especially empowering for the eunuch and the eunuch wannabe is the idea that modification is the ability to control and alter nature. Once upon a time, the signs of manhood, like the signs of race, derived the authority of their allegories from Nature. But it is now our Nature to choose which nature we prefer, and if we don’t like any of the available Natures, we can design a new one. Biology itself is becoming a cultural choice, an elected arbitrary sign. Anatomy may still be destiny, but we are increasingly able to alter our anatomies and shop for our destinies. The Human race is about to transform itself into a radical biological construct, a bioengineered new genus. On the stage we are about to enter, at that 2 We are not claming that any of the justifications for becoming a eunuch (i.e., reduced sex drive, AIDs prevention, control of anger) are correct. Indeed, there is no firm evidence for any of these ideas. Rather, we are examining justifications individuals give for interest in or becoming a eunuch.



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unavoidable meeting ’twixt our fear and our desire, we will all, like Middleton’s Black Knight’s Pawn, discover what it means ‘‘to make an eunuch’’ (2.1.230)—because Everyman will be hand-made. (Taylor 2000:233)

Indeed, the justification for becoming a eunuch could be seen as not just control over nature, but as improvement over nature. ‘‘It is likely that for certain specialized purposes, the eunuch can be seen not as a defective man but an improved one’’ (Taylor 2000:38). The literature on the history of the eunuch at once denies the impotence of the eunuch and works to create new meanings of eunuchs that capitalize on the power involved in the formation of this identity. The ability to control nature this way is seen as what makes us truly human. The eunuch attracts myths as fruit does flies . . . Eunuchs are in fact not impotent, but powerful; they are often sexually active, and capable of erections; castration does not so much suppress Eros as redirect and in some ways liberate it; castration need have nothing to do with the penis . . . castration is not an obsolete and degrading savagery, but a humane corollary of civilization and a first, prescient technology for transcending our genetic limitations; castration, by treating people as livestock, distinguishes humans from animals. (Taylor 2000:16)

Research has documented changing images of masculine sexuality. However, while there may be new images of masculine sexuality that are increasing the likelihood of individuals wanting to be and becoming eunuchs we expect that the justifications will draw on traditional definitions of masculinity specifically, the power and ability to control the body, the self, and even improve nature aesthetically, reproductively, and with regard to protection from disease. METHODOLOGY Websites, chat rooms, mailing lists, and personal ads devoted to the subject of castration have become part of the Internet landscape in the last few years. The primary data for this project were obtained from these Internet sources. This ultimately constituted an availability sample of men


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who have been castrated, and others who seek information regarding the practice. In this latter group were those who want to do it, but are not sure about the process and those for whom it is a fantasy. Data were also obtained form a physician who performs castrations, cutters who illegally perform them and middle men who connect ‘‘wanna-be’’ eunuchs with those who perform the cut. In addition, interviews were conducted with four men who had already become eunuchs. Secondary data include the existing literature on voluntary castration information posted on web sites, and literature supplied through our sample. Due to the exploratory nature of this study, many questions remain unanswered. In particular, the characteristics of this population are unknown. The anonymity provided by the Internet makes identification of these individuals for interviews particularly difficult, and consequently, demographic characteristics can only be surmised from user profiles which are not always available. Furthermore, because of the potential use of these profiles, many users may have changed important descriptions about themselves in order to remain truly anonymous. EXPLANATIONS FOR THE EUNUCH This article analyzes the discourse of participants for their wanting to be castrated and examines these explanations within the context of meanings of sexual behavior for the formation of personal gender identities. The following explanations are focused particularly on those who have been castrated and those who currently seek to be. Although a few individuals do not know why they became a eunuch, seek it or information about it, most individuals do have an explanation. Several lines of explanation have emerged from the literature, Internet data sources, bulletin boards, observations in chat rooms, interviews, and conversations through e-mail. Men voluntarily become eunuchs for a variety of reasons: calm; tranquility; no more violence; no more sex urges; wife does not want sex so now she does not have to worry about the husband; health=prolongs life; self mutilators; ascetics; allows one to gain membership as a eunuch; many of those who seek castration were once abused and they are ashamed of their sex



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going back to their childhood; an extension of body modification; sadistic behavior; or combinations of these. Although not a focus of this research there are also those who want to be eunuchs for one or more of the aforementioned reasons, but who are also looking to be trans-gendered and castration is a part of the process. Although many social observers might dismiss some categories of participants as unimportant, each category is intricately related to the others, and therefore should not be dismissed from discussion. Analytically these categories seem easy to separate, practically they are connected. Most importantly, as will be discussed, an underlying theme in this data is a rejection of traditional masculinity and manhood and the responsibility associated with it (West and Zimmerman 1987) and simultaneously a re-creation of a new masculinity that builds on previous definitions of power and control. In this way we see how there is continuity within change in the definitions of masculine sexuality. Some men have a fixation on castration. Generally a castration fantasy (generally of a sexual nature) is the primary reason. (Eunuch Organization 2000a:1) Some . . . have a fixation on castration . . . for many it is just a fantasy . . . not something they really would do or want to do but for others it is a very real wish or something they keep considering but are not sure yet. Some are trans-gendered or looking to be trans-gendered, and removal of the testes is part of the process for them. (Eunuch Organization 2000b:1 2) I would have to say it started at the age of nine and really was prevalent in my mind at 11 12. I really hated my balls . . . As I grew into adolescence . . . the desire to be castrated grew. As a young man my desire to be castrated was as strong as ever, but also was my need to experience love and sex with women so I lost my virginity and began an important and difficult part of my life . . . I married a wonderful woman when we were both in our twenties, and sex with her was good most of the time but lurking in my mind was my over-whelming desire to be castrated for reasons that are impossible to . . . put into words. (Talula 2000:1)

Several men see the physical benefits; such as they disliked the look of testicles. For these eunuchs ascetics are important


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and becoming a eunuch was a way for them to control their body image. I am . . . getting clamped with the burdizzo on . . . . I do not want to go to the doctor . . . for hormones . . . I want to live as I do now but without my nuts. . . . When can I walk on the beach with just a penis and an empty sack? I want to do this really bad but I don’t want to change the way I live. [bulletin board] . . . truck drivers, college professors, computer consultants, bankers, . . . graphic artist. The truck drivers were both body builders and their reasons include the fact their balls were shrinking any way because of the steroids, and now they are going to have a legal reason to take hormones. (Eunuch Organization 2000a:1 2) I love the way I look with no balls . . . I’m clean. [Interview] Its slick . . . I am a eunuch . . . It made me beautiful. [Interview] I never liked my testicles . . . I always wanted my balls off me. [Interview] It made me flawless. [Interview]

Many of those who seek castration were once abused and they are ashamed of their sex going back to their childhood. For them the eunuch offers both a haven and an untouched, almost virgin status. I had sex with my mother . . . I had sex with my mother’s girlfriend . . . . When I was young my mother and I lived with these two fagot freaks . . . I had sex with both of them . . . I became a eunuch because I wanted to be clean . . . man I wanted to look clean and somehow rid myself of my history . . . I wanted a different identity . . . one that was free from pain and sex and filth . . . it was a relief to be castrated . . . I am a eunuch. I have been purified. [Interview]

For some men becoming a eunuch was seen as a way to control their sex drive. . . . to have your life controlled by sex is crazy . . . it took too much of my time and energy. [Interview] There is also a group of men whose main desire to be relieved of their testicles is the need to end sexual desire. (Talula 2000:4)



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For many they just don’t know why themselves, but some do know why, however the reasons for that are varied, and most have had this fixation for most of their lives, many starting at early childhood. Some got the interest from being or living on farms and watching animals get castrated, some were teased about that and got turned on by the idea, some just hate their being controlled by their sexual urges, and some dislike having balls, again, the reasons vary widely . . . (Eunuch Organization 2000b:2) . . . except for this one strange but not uncommon fixation. This seems to be the case with most eunuchs I know, that they are all great guys and mostly very intelligent, successful, artistic, sports minded and fun-loving but have this strange fixation. Each . . . has his own . . . reasons for getting castrated . . . neutered, nutted, de-balled, and other terms we use with each other . . . and no two of these reasons are the same for any two eunuchs, except for the one about feelings out of control . . . being fanatical about having sex all the time without the ability to control one’s sexual activities. (Eunuch Organization 2000a:1)

For some respondents, becoming a eunuch offered relief from fear of an out of control sex drive. The problem had been a fear that they would engage in uninhibited sexual behavior and risk contracting a disease. These individuals seek the comfort of knowing they are in control of their desires. I wanted to know I would not engage in risky sexual behavior so that I could get on with living my life. [Interview]

Other individuals have noted castration was a way to control their self identities. These respondents explain how the process of castration was=is a transforming experience. You go through this amazing kind of transformation. You look at things for the first time, in a powerful new way that you’ve never looked at them before in your whole life. [e-mail comment] to understand people who use the language of self and identity to explain why they want these interventions: a man who says he is ‘‘not himself’’ unless he is on Prozac; a woman who gets breast-reduction surgery because she is ‘‘not the large-breasted type’’; a body builder who says he took anabolic steroids because he wants to look on the outside the way he feels on the inside; and-perhaps most


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common-transsexuals whose experience is described as ‘‘Being trapped in the wrong body.’’ The image is striking, and more than a little odd. The true self is the one produced by medical science. (Elliott 2000:74) I look upon myself as male, just a castrated male . . . (Talula 2000:1)

For others, the problem of self definition is one of seclusion. Many men in our sample feel disenfranchised. The loss of fellowship is overwhelming. Castration becomes a form of empowerment in that they feel like they now belong to a group. I feel like I belong to something now. I am a person that is connected to a human group. Before I felt isolated. I wanted to be castrated and because of that I was not like others of any group. Now I am different than most . . . but I feel good about being with others like myself. [Interview] I did not want to participate in sex and I felt alone . . . but castration allowed it to be okay . . . I am out of the race because they see me as a eunuch. [Interview] Looking for leads on people who preserve testicles after removal. I’m having my balls removed in late April, and I’m looking to have a taxidermist or jeweler preserve them so I can make them into a necklace or earrings. Has anyone any possible sources for this very specialized way to enjoy the ‘‘family jewels!’’ [bulletin board]

Others saw castration as a way to control anger. . . . They certainly solve that one . . . the guys are calm . . . (Eunuch Organization 2000a:1)

Many of the men in our sample see psychological benefits, albeit for a variety of reasons. For many individuals, regardless of sexual orientation, the most captivating quality of the sex act is the erotic context of its irrationality. This category of eunuchs defines their behavior as part of an erotic experience. These individuals perceive heightened sexual satisfaction derived from this sexual encounter where in they flirt with the ability to control nature. The idea that I changed nature was very erotic . . . when I was castrated . . . it was the most erotic experience I ever had. [Interview]



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Becoming a eunuch is a life changing proposition and needs to be approached with thought and planning. You can allow a piercing to heal up. You can laser off a tattoo. You cannot replace your testicles, and once you lose them you are a eunuch for life. Castration is . . . [too] important [of a] decision to allow it to happen at the spur of the moment or during the heat of sex. (Talula 2000:5)

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 assure the capability to continue the behavior. The resultant social relationships follow the parameters of social learning theory by including not only the techniques and motives of the act(s) but also the associated attitudes and rationalizations that allow the actors to reconcile them with their otherwise relatively conventional self-images (Little 1983; Silverman 2001; Stern and Handel 2001). Eunuchs had a training based on absolute honor and fidelity. In Antiquity, we entrust them with important administrative responsibilities . . . we entrusted them with imperial harem guard. We must admire such men who gave up their own life in order to fulfill the duties we leave in their care. Men, today, should draw their inspiration from them, above all concerning honor. [bulletin board] . . . eunuchs are a hot commodity . . . In 1972, in The Persian Boy Mary Renault made a sensitive eunuch the protagonist of a historical fiction . . . that became a cult classic; in 1982 the hero of Cry to Heaven—by another popular novelist, Anne Rice—was a castrated bisexual; a gorgeous hetero castrato dominates the eye-catching ear-thrilling award-winning film Farinelli (1994). (Taylor 2000:6)

Specifically, literature places the eunuch in positive albeit heroic character, historically and contemporarily. THE CYBER-COMMUNITY The Internet has created an unprecedented opportunity for individuals to have anonymous and unfettered access to a virtually unlimited range of sexually explicit ideas. The Internet increasingly provides a mechanism for linking people


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with bizarre sexual needs with one another. The impact of the Internet on the distribution and organization of deviant sexuality is indeed enormous. The Internet is a technic-way that represents an important means of sexual expression for an increasing number of individuals that is not immediately accessible to societal constraints. The sexuality of the Internet is not confined to a red light district and its wide dissemination has led to boundary shifts in sexuality, indeed, one does not have to look for the bizarre rather it comes looking for you (Grace 2000). This means that a socially proscribed and severely sanctioned behavior that was once relegated largely to secrecy among isolated individuals is now at the center of a cyber-community in which all manner of support is readily available (Quinn and Forsyth 2005). The Internet makes possible the formation and continuity of communities that found it difficult to survive as viable entities in the pre-Internet era (deYoung 1989). Pathological actors usually discovered the behavior long before they engaged in social contacts with representative organizations in the pre-Internet era. However, the opposite may now be true; the Internet may whet the appetite of the curious and introduce them to sophisticated versions of its rationalization systems before actually participating in the act. Alternatively, it may serve as a surrogate for the act and thus act as a safety valve for potentially pathological actors. In either case, the internet is an especially effective environment for spawning and supporting communities formed around behaviors that are on the extremity of deviance. The small numbers of individuals committed to these activities deter the development of a subculture being initiated in physical space. The Internet creates a locus that is analogous to what Goffman (1963:81) calls ‘‘back places,’’ where people of similar preferences feel no need to conceal their pathology and can openly seek out one another for support and advice. The anonymity of cyber space eases stigma and the threat of sanction, and offers at least a felt-anonymity, and perhaps a real one (Akdeniz 2002; Gyorgy 2002), which lends itself to fantasy and experimentation with forbidden behaviors. It is also an effective means for communicating with others who share similar interests regardless of how bizarre or rare that interest may be (Bell and Lyall 2000).



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Although 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. The internet’s impact on sexual expression is known to be vast and the new communities it offers have begun to be integrated into deviant research. Many forms of deviance that were previously seen as unlikely to spread now have technologybased structures to maintain or popularize them (Durkin and Bryant 1995; Gauthier and Forsyth 1999; Quinn and Forsyth 2005).3 DISCUSSION This study revealed several surprising findings. First, our findings indicate that individuals in our sample who are either eunuchs or wanna-be eunuchs, while removing that which has been most definitive of masculinity, use justifications that embody masculine power and control to explain removing the testicles. Given that castration sociologically=culturally means losing masculine power=virility when men loose their testes this is particularly note worthy. Specifically, individuals claim that castration provides a way to control their body image, their personalities, their sexual urges, and ultimately enables them to control nature. It seems that the views of masculinity employed by these respondents, while changing, also contain a trans-historical focus on power and control. Although traditionally the possession of testicles has been associated with masculine sexuality, at least for our sample, it appears that the testicles do not confer any particular erotic advantage, and indeed 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 (Taylor 2000:9). Other practices such as mutual masturbation, fellatio, cunnilingus, anal intercourse are not anatomically 3 Although our data is primarily from the Internet and hence part of the cyber community, indeed, each of the four individuals interviewed had some contact with cyber communities. Although none admitted to being initially coaxed into being a eunuch by the communities all of them said they were encouraged by such contact.


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restricted particularly since the invention of the portable penis and the vibrating dildo (Taylor 2000:7). Similarly, the AIDS epidemic has also intensified the meltdown of many sorts of sex, and has opened up the creative options of those searching for the safe orgasm. The demand for semen free-sex is increasing. As new forms of STDs and combinations of old ones enter and reenter the world of sex; the bizarre becomes ordinary. The centuries-slow ebb of the reproductive imperative has licensed a panoply of heterosexual perversions (Taylor 2000:7). Another interesting finding was the idea that the surgery or fantasizing about the surgery could be seen as a way to place the individual outside of the social roles and therefore increase their control over self definition. That is, defining oneself by differentiating oneself from the masses is a way to lessen social control and thereby regain individual control. Our findings suggest that the growing complexity of society dictates that people search for the even more bizarre to differentiate themselves from the masses in their body projects. Although body modification can be perceived as a way to form a unique self identity, it is also a way to create a group identity. This new identity can be seen as a way to gain control over self definition and minimize social control. That is, individuals use body modification as ways to form a group identity that separates them from others and places them outside of normative social control (Jetten, Branscombe, Schmitt, and Spers 2001). For example, the hijras of India are said to be outside of the traditional social roles that define the social person in Hindu culture and that are the main sources of social control of an individual. They are marginal and thus unencumbered by the social rules that govern the behavior of individuals (Nanda 1990). So perhaps some individuals engage in the bizarre because they want out of society (Gramling and Forsyth 1987; Nanda 1990). Perhaps eunuchs see their behavior as a politically charged action in response to the larger, sexual oriented culture. Other justifications for becoming a eunuch revolved around the perceived ability to control their sex drive and their emotions. What is problematic about these responses is that there is no evidence to support either assumption. In this way, individuals may be engaging in a permanent life altering process with inaccurate knowledge of the outcomes.



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Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the justifications from the responses was the underlying theme of the erotic, perhaps almost godly ability to manipulate and control nature. Again, it seems that respondents are not aware of the limitations of human ability to predict just what the outcomes of this manipulation might be. Much of the sociology of deviance examines the way that previous little-known pathologies or forms of deviance spread for reasons that nobody seems to fully understand (Elliott 2000; Quinn and Forsyth 2005). This research suggests several inquiries into this expansion. First, does the fact that people are altering their bodies contribute to the spread of the desire? We can say that with tattoos. But other more extreme desires can also be encouraged to come out rather than suffer in silence. Second, the eunuch is an ancient condition. There have always been people who fall outside the traditional sexual norms. However, only during the last few decades have we developed the endocrinological and surgical tools to ‘‘fix’’ the problem. Finally, our culture and history has not only revealed transsexuals but created them. Once sexual reassignment surgery or other forms of body modification become common linguistic currency more individuals began conceptualizing and interpreting their experience in those terms. Individuals started to make sense of their lives in a way that had not been available to them before and to some degree these individuals actually became the kinds of people described by these terms (Elliott 2000). This research also found that cyber communities were essential to the formation of this new group identity. Technology is increasingly facilitating a wide variety of interactions in which such individuals come to believe or recognize they are not different from others. This raises the question of whether the exposure to such media content inspires new interests in proscribed and even predatory behavior or if it simply supports repressed intentions and brings them to the surface. This form of deviance will generate much public controversy in the future, reflecting the larger cultural division in the United States over the complex meanings of sexual behavior and the role of medical procedure in the altering of nature. As a form of sexual deviance, the pathology of the eunuch represents a sociological construct in that it has


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evolved distinct communities which help to sustain involvement. These communities includes wanna-bes, eunuchs, underground practitioners called cutters, the SM crowd, middle men, physicians, psychiatrics, and those who toy with the idea because for them being a eunuch is a sexual fantasy. Also notable is the Internet forum that has developed to facilitate exchanges. In this way, the eunuch is propagated by two sociological phenomena: changing views of masculine sexuality and cyber communities. These phenomena are interrelated. The changing images have laid the ground work for the popularization of the eunuch, but this practice relies on communities generated through recent technological advances in the computer industry that simplify access to like-minded individuals. REFERENCES Akdeniz, Yaman. 2002. ‘‘Anonymity, Democracy, and Cyberspace.’’ Social Research 69(1):223 237. Becker, H. and U. Hartman. 1997. ‘‘Genital Self-Injury and Behavior: Phenomenologic and Differential Diagnosis Considerations From the Psychiatric Viewpoint.’’ Fortschritte der Neurologie-Psychiatrie 19:69 76. Bell, Claudia and John Lyall. 2000. ‘‘Community in the New Epoch.’’ Futures 32(8):749 758. Bell, David. 2001. ‘‘Meat and Metal.’’ Pp. 168 178. In Contested Bodies, edited by Holliday, Rugh and John Hassard. London: Routledge. Boroughs, Michael, Guy Cafri, and Kevin J. Thompson. 2005. ‘‘Male Body Depilation: Prevalence and Associated Features of Body Hair Removal.’’ Sex Roles: A Journal of Research 52:637 644. Boswell, Ayers A. and Joan Z. Spade. 1996. ‘‘Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture: Why are Some Fraternities More Dangerous Places for Women?’’ Gender & Society 10(2): 133 147. Curry, T. J. 1991. ‘‘Fraternal bonding in the Locker Room: A Profeminist Analysis of Talk about Competition and Women.’’ Sociology of Sport Journal 8(2):119 135. Davis, Kathy. 2002. ‘‘A Dubious Equality: Men, Women and Cosmetic Surgery.’’ Body and Society 8:1 49 65. Deutsch, Francine. 1999. Having it All Cambridge. MA: Harvard University Press. deYoung, Mary. 1989. ‘‘The World According to NAMBLA: Accounting for Deviance.’’ Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare 16(1):111 126. Draper, Robert. 2000. ‘‘Farewell My Lovelies.’’ Gentlemen Quarterly (April):245 252.



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