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• Voice Male
Resources
Men’s Resources
(Resources for Gay, Bisexual & Questioning
Men, see page 19)
The American Cancer Society
(413) 734-6000 Prostate support groups,
patient support groups, nutritional supplements,
dressings and supplies, literature,
low-cost housing, and transportation.
Brattleboro Area AIDS Project
(802) 254-4444; free, confidential HIV/AIDS
services, including support, prevention
counseling and volunteer opportunities.
Children’s Aid and Family Service
(413) 584-5690 Special needs adoption
services. Counseling for individuals, families
and children, with a play therapy room for
working with children. Parent aid program
for parents experiencing stress.
HIV Testing Hotline: (800) 750-2016
Interfaith Community Cot Shelter
582-9505(days) or 586-6750(evenings). Overnight
shelter for homeless individuals. 123
Hawley St., Northampton. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Sex & Love Addicts Anonymous (SLAA)
(800) 749-6879 Referrals available for 12-
step groups throughout New England.
TRY Resource/Referral Center for
Adoption Issues
Education and support services for adoptees,
adoptive parents, professionals, etc. Support
group meetings first Wednesday and third
Sunday of each month. Contact: Ann Henry
(413) 584-6599
Fathers
Fathers with Divorce and Custody Concerns
Looking for a lawyer? Call your state bar
association lawyer referral agency. In Mass.
the number is (800) 392-6164. Here are some
websites that may be of use to you:
www.acfc.org *
www.fathering.org
www.dadscan.org
www.divorcedfather.com
www.fatherhoodproject.org
www.dadsrights.org ** (notwww.dadsrights.com)
www.fathers.com
www.fatherhood.org
www.fathersnetwork.org
www.divorcehq.com *
www.divorcewizards.com *
www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/
1259/links.htm *
www.menstuff.org/frameindex.html (Fatherstuff)
* good resource
** strongly recommended
At Home Dad
www.parentsplace.com/readroom/athomedad
The Fathers Resource Center
www.slowlane.com/frc
National Fatherhood Initiative
www.cyfc.umn.edu/Fathernet
The Fatherhood Project
www.fatherhoodproject.org
Internet Resources
Men’s Resource Center for Change
www.mrcforchange.org
The Men’s Bibliography
A comprehensive online bibliography of
writing on men, masculinities and sexualities.
www.anu.edu.au/~a112465/mensbiblio/
mensbibliomenu.html
XY Magazine
www.anu.edu.au/~a112465/XY/xyf.htm
Pro-feminist Men’s FAQ
www.anu.edu.au/~a112465/pffaq.html
Pro-feminist Men’s Mail List
www.anu.edu.au/~a112465/profem.html
Violence Statistics
www.anu.edu.au/~a112465/vstats.html
Homophobia and Masculinities Among Young
Men (Lessons in becoming a straight man)
online.anu.edu.au/~a112465/homophobia.html
National Men’s Resource Center
www.menstuff.org
National calendar of events, directory of
men’s services and a listing of books for
positive change in men’s roles and relationships.
The Men’s Issues Page
www.vix.com/pub/men/index.html
100 Black Men, Inc.
www.100bm.org
Pro-feminist Men’s Groups Listing
www.feminist.com/pro.htm
Pro-feminist Mailing List
coombs.anu.edu.au/~gorkin/profem.html
Magazines
Achilles Heel (from Great Britain)
www.stejonda.demon.co.uk/achilles/issues.html
XY: men, sex politics (from Australia)
coombs.anu.edu.au/~gorkin/XY/xyintro.htm
Ending Men’s Violence-Real Men
www.cs.utk.edu/~bartley/other/realMen.html
The Men’s Rape Prevention Project
www.mrpp.org/intro.html
Quitting Pornography, Men Speak Out
www.geocities.com/CapitalHill/1139/quitporn.html
ROB OKUN
Justice of the Peace
Officiating at Weddings for Couples
in Massachusetts & Beyond
(413) 253-7918
RAOkun@comcast.net
A Eunuch’s Tale continued from page 18
dom as dreadful deprivation, and are
too frightened to give up their core
masculine identity, despite what they
might gain from doing so. Indeed, recent
independent studies out of England,
Australia, Israel, and Canada have all
shown that castrated cancer patients
feel humiliated and ashamed by the
changes they’ve experienced as a result
of their medical treatment. They typically
view those changes as negatives, as
I did at first. And they rarely talk about
those negative feelings—for it is simply
unmanly to discuss feeling unmanly, no
matter how unmanly one feels.
A core part of the problem, I believe,
is the language of emasculation, where
castration is equated with brutal punishment,
mutilation, and total social, as
well as sexual, impotence. I have been
told by a few acquaintances, including
an activist in the prostate cancer community,
that I should avoid the term
eunuch; it’s an insult.
But is this historically valid? Too many
people seem misinformed by mythologies
about eunuchs. They believe that
androgen deprivation must make a man
servile, if not obsequious—meek, malleable,
submissive, a sexual and social
“bottom.” A guy with no balls. This last
may be true anatomically, but not socially.
History shows us that for thousands
of years, in monarchies from one end of
Asia to the other, eunuchs were in the
upper echelon of the social system. They
were the senior government officials, the
glue that held kingdoms together. They
had full access to the seat of power and
became generals, treasurers, chamberlains,
and diplomats. Many proved so
trustworthy and wise that they rose to
prominence within the imperial court
and acquired great wealth, property, and
their own slaves. The eunuchs mentioned
in the Bible affirm their competency.
For example, when Joseph went
down to Egypt, the chief chamberlain to
the pharaoh was a eunuch.
Modern endocrinology also gives a
clear answer as to how docile or submissive
eunuchs might be. My testosterone
levels differ little from those of
women—thus one should not expect
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