TIL of Castrato, a type of classical male singing voice created by castration before puberty. At the height of the craze for these voices from 1720-1730 it has been estimated that upwards of 4,000 boys were castrated annually in the service of art.

93re2 · 2017-12-31T03:00:22+00:00

It's very sad. I wonder how many of them were also penectomized in addition to losing their testicles. Castration in China removed all external genitalia, including all the external penile tissue; parents would have this done so their sons could serve as eunuch servants in the imperial court. The boy's pickled genitals would be kept in a jar and they would get told that when they died they would reunite with their organs in the afterlife.

I read about the last Chinese imperial eunuch, who died at some point during the 1990's in advanced age. His parents threw his preserved genitals away after a few years, which emotionally devastated him as in their belief system it meant he would never get to be whole again.

Americanknight7 · 2017-12-31T06:48:28+00:00

One day our descendants will look back on circumcision with the same horror and disgust that we do with castration.

ThatNinaGAL · 2017-12-31T03:56:56+00:00

I heard a tape recording of one of the last living castrati in high school.

Remember the Diva in the 5th Element? It was like that. It was a horrible human rights violation, but I could understand why a culture that valued individual lives so little and sacred music so highly would do this thing.

putamanoutofaplane · 2017-12-31T10:51:53+00:00

In the service of God, not art so much.

bhavv · 2017-12-31T05:00:30+00:00

What if I voluntarily wish I had been castrated before puberty for this very reason? Obviously I couldnt have consented, nor known about it back then, but I would have desired a castrato voice immensely since I first learned about it and wished it could have happened to me.

Sorry I forgot the context, I am a single focused almost savant level autist in music with a music degree and would willingly sacrifice anything for the best singing voice if I could.

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