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Non-castrated eunuchs
According to Byzantine historian Kathryn Ringrose,[51] while the pagans of Classical Antiquity based their notions of gender in general and eunuchs in particular on physiology (the genitalia), the Byzantine Christians based them on behaviour and more specifically procreation. Hence, by Late Antiquity the term "eunuch" had come to be applied not only to castrated men, but also to a wide range of men with comparable behavior, who had "chosen to withdraw from worldly activities and thus refused to procreate".[52] The broad sense of the term "eunuch" is reflected in the compendium of Roman law created by Justinian I in the 6th century known as the Digest or Pandects. That text distinguishes between two types of eunuchs – spadones (a general term denoting "one who has no generative power, an impotent person, whether by nature or by castration",[53] D 50.16.128) and castrati (castrated males, physically incapable of procreation). Spadones are eligible to marry women (D 23.3.39.1), institute posthumous heirs (D 28.2.6), and adopt children (Institutions of Justinian 1.11.9), unless they are castrati.
[edit]Eunuchs in the contemporary world
The hijra of India (see above) may number as many as 2,000,000,[54] and are usually described as eunuchs, although they may be closer to male-to-female transsexual people, but have surgical castration instead of reassignment surgery, and seldom have access to hormones. The loss of testosterone and lack of estrogen means their bodies take on the characteristics of post-pubertal eunuchs.
The most commonly castrated men are advanced prostate cancer patients. In the United States alone there are more than 200,000 new cases of prostate cancer diagnosed each year. It is estimated that over 80,000 of these men will be surgically or chemically castrated within six months of diagnosis.[55] With the average life expectancy after castration, there are approximately a half million chemically or surgically castrated prostate cancer patients at any time in the U.S. alone.[citation needed] While most of these men would deny the term "eunuch," they meet all physiological characteristics of post-pubertal eunuchs. Some do, however, embrace the term for the historic and psychological grounding that it gives them.[56][57]
Convicted sex offenders who have been castrated are rare; although there is debate as to whether the drastic reduction of testosterone and the consequent diminishing of libido might have an effect on recidivism.[58]
The most common group that actually embraces the term "eunuch" are the contemporary voluntary eunuchs, who number 7,000 to 10,000 in North America, with many more around the world.[59][60][61] Many of these are males who have a Male-to-Eunuch Gender Dysphoria. While they are born with male genitalia, their brain tells them that they are not male, but neither are they female. They seek castration to align their bodies with their brain sex. A second large group of the contemporary eunuchs have a Body Integrity Identity Disorder. This occurs when the brain does not accept the presence of some specific body part.
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Re: The Ethiopiam Eunuch
