Castration : an abbreviated history of western manhood /
Gary Taylor.
- 1st pbk. ed.
- New York : Routledge, 2002.
- 307 pages ; 23 cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index
What Does Manhood Mean? -- Contest of Texts: Christianity, Freudianity, Humanism -- Contest of Males: The Power of Eunuchs -- Contest of Organs: Genital Plural -- Contest of Gods: Dream Divination -- Contest of Reproductions: The Rise of the Penis, the Fall of the Scrotum -- Contest of Genders: Castrating Women -- Contest of Races: Castrated White Men -- Contest of Kinds: Confusing Categories -- Contest of Signs: Branded and Domesticated Male Animals -- Contest of Times: What Would Jesus Do? -- Future of Man
This work looks at the West's fascination with, and misunderstanding of, castrated males, focusing on three key periods: the Early Church, the Early Modern, and the 20th century, where, Taylor argues, Freud got it wrong