Secrets of "Wannabe Eunuchs"

<body leftmargin="0" bgcolor="#000060" text="#FFFFFF" link="#FFFF00" vlink="#FF9900"> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><font face="Arial" size="4">Secrets of "Wannabe Eunuchs"</font></b> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="1">Posted August 24, 2004<br> World Science Staff</font><font face="Arial" color="#FFFFFF" size="2"><b><br> <br> Researchers have traditionally assumed that a gradual increase in human brainpower over evolutionary history corresponds to an increase in brain size. Not so, Spanish researchers say: instead of greater size, they insist, we have to thank genes that improved brain cells' ability to change and repair their interconnections, boosting learning ability. </b></font> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#FFFFFF"><b>A surprising number of men want to castrate themselves, and their reasons why may be even more startling, researchers have found. <br> <br> It's long been documented that a tiny percentage of men want to yearn for neutering, often secretly. Richard J. Wassersug of Dalhousie University and colleagues used the Internet to drop in on discussion groups among these individuals, and sent them questionnaires to understand their thinking. <br> <br> "Our survey identified a population of well-educated, adult men fascinated with the idea of being castrated and, in some cases, [they] have evidently held such fascination for decades," the researchers wrote in the October issue of the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior. Most of the 134 survey responders had college degrees, and 12 had doctorates, they wrote.<br> <br> The most common reason responders gave for wanting to be castrated was to get their sexual urges under control, the researchers wrote. Forty percent cited that as their reason. The next most common reasons were because they thought it was exciting, because they thought their private parts would look better that way, and because it would help them become more submissive to a sex partner.<br> <br> The authors speculated that the rise of the pop-culture fad of tattoing, body piercing and body mutilation might be influencing some of these "wannabe eunuchs," especially those who wanted castration for cosmetic reasons. <br> <br> Medical professionals should be aware of the risks that these people are taking, the researchers wrote, especially considering that many of them don't want to discuss the subject with their doctors. <br> <br> "People who are not medically qualified offer their services via the Internet to eunuch wannabes for free or at costs below those ofmedically qualified personnel. Some of the would-be eunuchs end up in emergency rooms as a result," they wrote. Also "many of the people who undergo voluntary castration are neither informed, nor prepared, for the plethora of additional long-term side effects of castration. These include osteoporosis, loss of lean muscle mass, increase in body fat, changes in body odor, and loss of body hair."</b></font></p> </body>