Citation

Serarcangeli C, Rispoli G. Med. Secoli 2001; 13(2): 441-454.

Vernacular Title

La mutilazione crudele: note storiche su castratori e castrati.

Affiliation

Museo di Storia della Medicina, Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Pathologia, Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", Roma, I.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, University of Rome, Institute for the History of Medicine)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12375586

Abstract

Human castration has been performed from early times for different reasons: to punish and revenge, to display one's religious fanaticism, to protect or to control women, for eunuchs' trade, for therapeutical purposes. In early modern times men were castrated to obtain sopranos voices, or for eugenic or racial reasons. Nowadays chemical castration is used as a therapeutic treatment or as a way to punish rape and other criminal behaviours. Castration is surgical or chemical act that may obviously cause serious physical and psychological consequences.

Language: it