castration

The book "The Last Castrato" is based on the ritual of Castration.

Except in extreme cases of accident or crime (either as criminal activity or punishment,) human castration practically no longer exists. However, in many past cultures, human castration was a reality. Human castration is the act of severing the testes from the body. In some case, the testes alone were removed. In others, the entire scrotal sac was taken. In the most extreme situations, the entire genitalia was removed, but this was rare.

The method of human castration pre-dates written, recorded history. Human castration was performed for a variety of reasons: as punishment or revenge in some societies, or as part of a religious rite. In many societies, castration was done to create eunuch's for the protection and service of women. These women were normally the wives of the king or a nobleman. It also occured in a social context, i.e. to create Castrati for entertainment. In early modern times, (about the beginning of the 15th century), men were castrated to retain their sopranos voices. Whatever the case may be, castration caused serious physical and psychological consequences. The castrated ones were mostly a depressed and neurotic lot, caught in the nexus of gender limbo- neither male nor female.
Castration still exists in the contemporary context. However, this process is mostly voluntary. There are mainly two groups of people who want to have castration done. There is the first group-- those who go through castration, since it fulfills a sexual fantasy. The second group may desire castration to put an end to their sexual side, with the plan to remain celibate after their testicles have been removed.