One of the first and strongest trends you'll notice, if you look at portraits of Farinelli and other castrati, is that ALL of their faces become indistinguishable from those of normal, anatomically and hormonally intact men by age 30.
Their arms and legs are proportionally LONGER relative to the rest of their bodies, too... and they're taller than average men, too (since pubertal testosterone is the main factor cutting off the height growth of teen boys). They end up built like men with Marfan's syndrome (look up if you're not familiar).
(These last couple facts surprise many, but have actually been known since PREhistory—as far back as neutering has been used as an animal husbandry technique, meaning AT LEAST as long ago as the very earliest proto-hieroglyphs on rock walls: Steers are bigger and taller than bulls; wethers are bigger and taller than rams; geldings are bigger and taller than stallions; etc. It's about as obvious as analogies get.)
Women's arms and legs are noticeably shorter on average than men's, so, by the time eunuchs are in the heart of their young adulthood, their appearance is the exact antithesis of "femininity"—and will stay that way for the rest of their unusually long lives (they outlive normal men on average, because low testosterone and lower body weight protect them from heart disease).
To see the end-stage facial masculinization and long, gangly, decidedly un-"feminine" limbs (starting to suffer dysplasia and spontaneous dislocations) in real life, just look at "slut pop" singer Kim Petras, who was neutered as a "trans teen". Petras is now a 31 year old man with an ever-growing slate of health problems—severe enough for him to have cancelled all his concerts for last year and this year—caused by long term excess of extrinsically supplied estrogen... and he looks every bit the part (i.e., like a 31-year-old man with severe health issues).
It is such a heart breaking tale. Carlo had no idea what he was asking for when he wanted his singing voice to be preserved. More than likely his adult male voice would have been wonderful as well.
There were the castrati and even before that, the priests of Cybele -- many of whom were forced to join the cult as young boys. Given that the cult of Cybele was so popular in ancient Rome, I wonder if the tradition of castrati dates back to then in some form. Cybele is Neolithic in origin. At one point under Justinian the Apostate, Justinian tried to make Cybele a rival to Christianity and the Catholic church does have this habit of co-opting various pagan traditions.
The stories of the castrati hold a lot of fascination and horror for me.. I was first exposed to that history by Anne Rice's "Cry to Heaven." My intent with this essay was to make a (probably too subtle) connection with the current controversy over the medicalization of kids who may or may not be transgender.
Oh I understood your intent. It is an interesting analogy. There are a number of folk tales which also use the same thing about regret. It is why 'first do no harm' should be engraved on every doctor's heart.
There is also the Skopsty cult from Russia which indulged in mutilation btw. A friend told me about them.
One of the first and strongest trends you'll notice, if you look at portraits of Farinelli and other castrati, is that ALL of their faces become indistinguishable from those of normal, anatomically and hormonally intact men by age 30.
Their arms and legs are proportionally LONGER relative to the rest of their bodies, too... and they're taller than average men, too (since pubertal testosterone is the main factor cutting off the height growth of teen boys). They end up built like men with Marfan's syndrome (look up if you're not familiar).
(These last couple facts surprise many, but have actually been known since PREhistory—as far back as neutering has been used as an animal husbandry technique, meaning AT LEAST as long ago as the very earliest proto-hieroglyphs on rock walls: Steers are bigger and taller than bulls; wethers are bigger and taller than rams; geldings are bigger and taller than stallions; etc. It's about as obvious as analogies get.)
Women's arms and legs are noticeably shorter on average than men's, so, by the time eunuchs are in the heart of their young adulthood, their appearance is the exact antithesis of "femininity"—and will stay that way for the rest of their unusually long lives (they outlive normal men on average, because low testosterone and lower body weight protect them from heart disease).
To see the end-stage facial masculinization and long, gangly, decidedly un-"feminine" limbs (starting to suffer dysplasia and spontaneous dislocations) in real life, just look at "slut pop" singer Kim Petras, who was neutered as a "trans teen". Petras is now a 31 year old man with an ever-growing slate of health problems—severe enough for him to have cancelled all his concerts for last year and this year—caused by long term excess of extrinsically supplied estrogen... and he looks every bit the part (i.e., like a 31-year-old man with severe health issues).
It is such a heart breaking tale. Carlo had no idea what he was asking for when he wanted his singing voice to be preserved. More than likely his adult male voice would have been wonderful as well.
There were the castrati and even before that, the priests of Cybele -- many of whom were forced to join the cult as young boys. Given that the cult of Cybele was so popular in ancient Rome, I wonder if the tradition of castrati dates back to then in some form. Cybele is Neolithic in origin. At one point under Justinian the Apostate, Justinian tried to make Cybele a rival to Christianity and the Catholic church does have this habit of co-opting various pagan traditions.
The stories of the castrati hold a lot of fascination and horror for me.. I was first exposed to that history by Anne Rice's "Cry to Heaven." My intent with this essay was to make a (probably too subtle) connection with the current controversy over the medicalization of kids who may or may not be transgender.
Oh I understood your intent. It is an interesting analogy. There are a number of folk tales which also use the same thing about regret. It is why 'first do no harm' should be engraved on every doctor's heart.
There is also the Skopsty cult from Russia which indulged in mutilation btw. A friend told me about them.
Anyway have you read the latest NHS service specification for the new clinics? There is a huge emphasis on distinguishing between children who are gender variant and indulge in that sort of behaviour and those who are gender incongruent. And there is a recognition that Adolescence gender incongruency is different from childhood. It is interesting to see where England is moving on this. https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Interim-service-specification-for-Specialist-Gender-Incongruence-Services-for-Children-and-Young-People.pdf