The male body is a paradox – at once strong and resilient, yet fragile and vulnerable, arguably even more vulnerable than the female form which has its generative organs safely tucked up inside. Nations have been founded on the virility and power of the male body, but if that virility is lost, empires can be lost with it. Castration is therefore often a conversational taboo; references to it elicit a cringe, a grimace, a protective stance and yet it has been part of the bodily discourse as long as humans have communicated. In the modern age, castration (surgical or chemical) is punitive, either a legal sentence for unspeakable crimes or a violent, illegitimate action. In an era bombarded by advertisements for Viagra, Cialis, and other ‘male enhancement’ products, the male genitalia (particularly the penis) are treated as if sacred. Gary Taylor's study, Castration: An Abbreviated History of Western Manhood, captures the essence of this dialogue in a foray into all facets of emasculation (including his own vasectomy) and its history from the dawn of time to Tori Amos. Taylor argues that castration calls into question