Eunuchs, Castration and Erections

[w.p....@uk.ac.newcastle]

Eunuchs, Castrastion and Erections
OR Improve your sex live with one swift cut :-)

In Tom Burnam's "The Dictionary of Misinformation", copyright 1975 he has
a paragraph on eunuchs and erections.
He says that provided the castration involves removal only of the testicles
and takes place after puberty then they can have them. He also says that it
was reported that in ancient Rome women preferred them as lovers because there
was no risk of pregnancy and because they were able to maintain an erection
longer than uncastrated males.

I was under the inpression that castration removed sexual desire, and the
penis would cease to be able to erect?

Is it true that eunuchs can maintian erections for longer?
If so people should know, especially those people who are helping drive the
rhino to extinction, in their demand for rhino horn :-)

..............................................................
Department of Process and Chemical Engineering, +
Newcastle University, United Kingdom. + "You can lead a horse to
+ to water, but a pencil
JANET: W.P....@uk.ac.newcastle + must be lead,"
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................ ................................+.......................

[Russell Turpin]

-----
In article <1991Apr10....@newcastle.ac.uk> w.p....@uk.ac.newcastle writes:
> [Tom Burnam] says that provided the castration involves removal

> only of the testicles and takes place after puberty then they
> can have them. He also says that it was reported that in ancient
> Rome women preferred them as lovers because there was no risk of
> pregnancy and because they were able to maintain an erection
> longer than uncastrated males.
>
> I was under the inpression that castration removed sexual desire,
> and the penis would cease to be able to erect?

You were under a common misimpression. In some ancient cultures
where eunuchs mixed with the king's harem, it was perfectly
acceptable for them to enjoy the king's concubines. The purpose
in their castration was to guarantee that any children and
potential heirs were really the king's. (Of course, in other
ancient cultures, eunuchs were made by lopping off *all* the
standard equipment, and obviously, what one does not have will
never become erect.)

Russell

[dors...@csgrad.cs.vt.edu]

In article <1991Apr10....@newcastle.ac.uk> w.p....@uk.ac.newcastle writes:
>

>Is it true that eunuchs can maintian erections for longer?
>

If a eunuch is defined as someone whose testicles are no longer extant, what
about men who have had vasectomies?

--Ed

[w.p....@uk.ac.newcastle]

tur...@cs.utexas.edu (Russell Turpin) writes:

Would they still experience sexual desire once their testicles were removed?
Or would the sudden change in the homones in their bodies ( caused by the
removal of the testes) have only minor effect on sex drive, while having a
bigger effect on other aspects of behaviour, personality etc?

I think I remember reading in an introduction to psychology text book of an
experiment in which rats or mice were castrated. They then ceased to bother
with sex. When they were later injected with some sex homone (testosterone
I think) their sex drive went back to its previous levels. The conclusion of
the experiment being testosterone acted as a switch - provided it was above
a minimum level you had a sex drive of a certain level, but increased
concentrations had no effect on strength of the drive.

Department of Process and Chemical Engineering, +

Newcastle University, United Kingdom. + "If we breed like rabbits,
+ in the long run we have
JANET: W.P....@uk.ac.newcastle + we have to die like
UUCP : ...!ukc!newcastle.ac.uk!W.P.Coyne + rabbits" Carlson on
ARPA : W.P....@newcastle.ac.uk + population growth.
................ ................................+.......................

[Paul S. Winalski]

Removal of a portion of the vas deferens (vasectomy) merely prevents
sperm from being in the ejaculate. It does not affect the testicles,
which continue to produce sperm and hormones. One would therefore not
expect to see any difference in sexual performance (aside from fertility,
of course) between men who have had vasectomies and those who have not.

--PSW

[sbi...@desire.wright.edu]

In article <10...@creatures.cs.vt.edu>, dors...@csgrad.cs.vt.edu writes:

Don't know which you are questioning, whether men with vasectomies can have
an erection or what they are called. The answer to the first is yes and the
answer to the second is sterile.