My Life as a Eunuch

Why would a man choose to have himself castrated? That's a question best answered by a fellow known as Gelding.

A A A Comments By Bob Whitby Thursday, Jun 29 2000

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The sex drive will go, an inevitable result of castration, but this can be reversed with testosterone therapy. “I am kind of discouraged with the sexual scene out here,” he says. “I like sex, but I want to experience the loss of desire. Why go through this unless you are willing to pay the price?”

When he finds a sex scene to his liking, a shot or two will enable him to jump right in. (Human Sexuality 101: Eunuchs on testosterone can get erections and even ejaculate, because most ejaculatory fluid is produced in the prostate.) If all goes well, Robert will be cut this summer. First he must save money to fix his car's transmission. Then he must come up with plane fare to South Florida for a rendezvous with Gelding. They've only met via e-mail and telephone, never in person. Still Robert is confident Gelding is the man for the job. “My whole thing is I have to trust the person,” he says, “and I have gotten to know him.”

Some men are #179;smooth,#178; and some, like Gelding, are hairy #179;bears#178;

Preston

Some men are "smooth," and some, like Gelding, are hairy "bears"

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Through castration Gelding also has come to know himself. And what he's learned is that the human mind, or more precisely his mind, was enigmatic, illogical, and awash in hormones that controlled him in subtle and disturbing ways. At least now he's in charge of the hormones.

“I don't like to be controlled by something I don't understand,” he explains. “This controlled me, the urge, it controlled me for years. You don't know how much you are driven by your hormones until you take them away.”