TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2020//
TI  - 'One Stroak of His Razour': Tales of Self-Gelding in Early Modern England
JO  - Social history of medicine
A1  - Skuse, Alanna
SP  - 377
EP  - 393
VL  - 33
IS  - 2
N2  - This article examines stories of men who gelded themselves in early modern England. These events, it argues, were shaped and partly motivated by a culture in which castration was seen as both degrading and potentially empowering. Religious precedents such as that of Origen of Alexandria framed self-gelding as a foolhardy activity, but one which nevertheless indicated an impressive degree of mastery over the body and its urges. Meanwhile, judicial and popular contexts framed castration as a humiliating and emasculating ordeal. Instances of self-gelding in this period are rare but nonetheless illuminating. Relayed in medical texts and popular ballads, such actions typically occurred as a response to emotional distress. In particular, men gelded themselves as a means to express feelings of emasculation within heterosexual relationships, and to dramatically renounce their role in the libidinal economy.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0951-631X
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/shm/hky100
ID  - ref1
ER  -