Eunuch

A eunuch (/ˈjuːnək/; Ancient Greek: εὐνοῦχος) is a man who (by the common definition of the term) may have been castrated, typically early enough in his life for this change to have major hormonal consequences. In some ancient texts, "eunuch" may refer to a man who is not castrated but who is impotent, celibate, asexual, or otherwise not inclined to marry and procreate or achieve sexual satisfaction. Castration was typically carried out on the soon-to-be eunuch without his consent in order that he might perform a specific social function; this was common in many societies. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 21st century BC. Over the millennia since, they have performed a wide variety of functions in many different cultures: courtiers or equivalent domestics, treble singers, religious specialists, soldiers, royal guards, government officials, and guardians of women or harem servants.

Eunuchs (Channel 4 documentary)

Eunuchs is a Channel 4 documentary broadcast in April 2007 that interviewed and followed the lives of a number of men who chose voluntarily to become eunuchs. It was directed by Danny Horan.

Overview

The film starts by interviewing the Sheriff of Haywood County, North Carolina at the Waynesville home of S&M enthusiast Richard Sciara—known as 'Master Rick'—where he and two of his companions had been castrating men.

The interviewer meets Roger, a British man who was castrated by Dr Murray Kimmel, a surgeon in Philadelphia, and a young American man called Zachary Arnold who was planning to do likewise.

The programme also interviews Bill from Florida, who used a burdizzo at home to remove his own testicles to control his overactive sex drive and put the photographs online.

The fourth man they interview is Brother Shawn Francis Benedict from the LGBT-affirming Ray of Hope Church in Elmira, New York. He said that his castration represented "the end of my cooperation with all the traditional expectations of the American male".