In ancient civilizations, removal of the human penis was sometimes used as a means of demonstrating superiority: armies were sometimes known to sever the penises of their enemies to count the dead, as well as for trophies. The practice of castration (removal of the testicles) sometimes also involves the removal of all or part of the penis, generally with a tube inserted to keep the urethra open for urination. Castration has been used to create a class of servants or slaves (and especially harem-keepers) called eunuchs in many different places and eras.
In the modern era, removal of the human penis is very rare (with some exceptions listed below), and references to removal of the penis are almost always symbolic. Castration is less rare, and is performed as a last resort in the treatment of androgen-sensitive prostate cancer.
In addition to the examples below, there have been instances in the 21st century in which captives in Iraq and Yemen have been castrated.
Human penis removal in medicine and psychology
Some men have penile amputations, known as penectomies, for medical reasons. Cancer, for example, sometimes necessitates removal of all or part of the penis. In some instances, botched childhood circumcisions have also resulted in full or partial penectomies.
Genital surgical procedures for trans women (transgender or transsexual women) undergoing sex reassignment surgery, do not usually involve the complete removal of the penis; part or all of the glans is usually kept and reshaped as a clitoris, and the skin of the penile shaft may also be inverted to form the vagina. When procedures such as this are not possible, other procedures such as colovaginoplasty are used which do involve the removal of the penis.
Issues related to the removal of the penis appear in psychology, for example in the condition known as castration anxiety. Others, who associate the organ with rape and male dominance and aggression, may consciously or subconsciously see the organ (their own or those of others) as a weapon and express a hatred for it, potentially desiring to see it violently removed.
Some men have undergone penectomies as a voluntary body modification, thus including it as part of a body dysmorphic disorder. Professional opinion is divided regarding the desire for penile amputation as a pathology, much as all other forms of treatment by amputation for body dysmorphic disorder. Voluntary subincision, removal of the glans penis, and bifurcation of the penis are related topics.
History of Involuntary penis removal
There have been incidents in which men have been assaulted, usually by their sexual partners, by having their penises severed. The case of John and Lorena Bobbitt, for example, was popularly known for Lorena Bobbitt cutting off the penis of her husband, John, out of rage after he allegedly raped her, though he claimed it was for revenge when she discovered his infidelity. Bobbitt's penis was successfully reattached, and he later had a brief career in pornographic movies.
This was not the first modern case, however. On May 18, 1936, Sada Abe strangled her lover (believed to be at his request, he wanted to die while having sex) Kichizo Ishida and cut off his penis, placed it in her kimono and carried it around with her for days before eventually turning it over to the police. She spent a very brief time in jail, and was granted amnesty in 1940. The penis was last seen at a department store exhibition in 1949. This episode was the basis of the film In the Realm of the Senses.
Mutilation or forcible removal of the penis has special symbolic significance. As a symbol of male sexuality, fertility, and masculinity, the removal of the penis may be inspired by a desire to emasculate, and sometimes results in the emasculation of the victim. Another motive, particularly in cases of spousal assault, is sexual.
From 1973 to 1980 one hundred cases of Thai women cutting off their husband's penises were recorded. Most of them were not reattached.
In 1990, Alan Wayne Boggs, 43, picked up a transient on Orlando, Florida's infamous tea room known as the Orange Blossom Trail. He took the transient home, offered him homosexual favors, then attacked him, cutting off his penis. Boggs claimed self-defense, but also being so drunk that he had little memory of the incident. A judge sentenced him to 15 years in prison. Boggs vowed to become clean and sober.Because it was perpetrated by a man, Oddball Daily rated it the most disturbing penis removal incident in history.
A study of penis reattachment in China, found that of a group of 50 men, 98% reacquired functionality, even though some involved full reconstructive surgery using tissue and bone. Reportedly some of these men later fathered children.
An article titled "Status Quo of Female Criminals in Nanjing" was translated on the All-China Women's Federation's website on July 21, 2008, concerning the rise in young female criminals over the previous three years, numbering 2,140 and mostly Aged 35 or younger. Under "Crime Caused by Impulsion", it stated that several incidents in Nanjing in China occurred where Chinese men had their penis severed by their wives. An explanation given by a procurator said "Their reasons are simple. The wife could not bear the fact that her husband is gambling or cheating on her. It is a crime of impulsion in an emotional crisis." The majority of the women criminals in Nanjing were given lenient jail time or not punished at all.
Cases of Penis Removal
1900s
On April 1979, in Toronto, Canada, a taxi driver was killed by seventeen year old Susan Lynn Wood, after which she severed his genitalia.
On April, 1980, in Los Angeles, USA, a boy, eight years old, who returned from school to his home angered his father because he was late. His penis was then sliced off and flushed by his father down a toilet. After a 90 minute hunt, the penis was located and retrieved from the sewers by police and firemen. 180 metres away from the house, a wire mesh was set up at a location and the penis was forced toward the mesh by water pressure. Dr. Howard Frydman and his team operated on and reattached the penis. The boy's father was imprisoned.
On 1987, in Hong Kong, 40 year old Lin Yu-sang was sleeping while his 39 year old wife Tsui Mei-ying used scissors to sever a portion of his penis and flushing it in the toilet afterwards, due to his infidelity.
On 1989, in Thailand, a man's penis was cut off by his wife. She cooked it in a soup after she used a meat grinder on it.
On June 20, 1992, in Shanghai, China at the Shanghai Children's Welfare Institute a girl hurt a five year old Chinese boy when she used scissors and almost sliced off his penis, while they were left alone. The injury was severe, gangrene set in after his penis was sitched, causing him to loose a part of the organ, more stitches were then added.
On September, 1992, in Bangladesh, Abdul Motaleb was tricked by his ex-wife Sharmin Begum into visiting her house, where he was ambushed by several persons who restrained him while Begum severed his penis. Begum was arrested by the police.[22]
On September 29, 1993, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a Chinese taxi driver, Tai Kit Lim was attacked by an Indian woman, Nirmala B., who used a penknife to sever his penis while trying to rob him. He was brought to Kuala Lumpur General Hospital and treated for his injury, having survived the attack.
On October, 1992, in Nakhodka, Russia, 25 year old Vasily's penis and testicles were sliced off by his lover Tamara, 35 years old. She used a knife, and the doctors were unable to reattach the organs. She was upset that they were breaking up, since Vasily felt she was too old for him.
On February, 1994, in Xinyang, Henan, China, the Tianjin Today Evening News reported that a 27 year old Chinese man, Hu Changfa, had his penis severed off by his wife Zhang. She committed suicide after cutting it, due to Hu's gambling addiction.
On 1994, in Henan, China, an infant Chinese boy bled to death when his six and seven year old sisters used a paring knife to sever his penis, since they took their father Wang Tianbao seriously after he joked about cutting off his son's penis, since his family was fined for having a boy when they already had two daughters due to China's One Child policy. The girls were then killed by Wang before he committed suicide.
On October 6, 1994, in Jamalpur, Bangladesh, eighteen year old Monwara Begum used a knife to cut off the penis of an intruder who entered her hut and went onto her bed.
On March 1996, in Sydney, Australia, Tom Thong Tran's penis was sliced at by his wife Tran Tu Tran and it almost came off, with only a "thread" connecting it to his body. Tom was hospitalized, but charges against his wife were dismissed after he asked the judge to do so.
On July 1, 1997, in Vancouver, Canada, 42 year old Vi Hoc Phung was asleep when his 38 year old wife Kim Phuong Tran used a meat cleaver to complete sever his penis up to his pubic bone. She then flushed the penis down a toilet. Phung could no longer have sex and what remained of his organ was only a stub. The couple were Vietnamese.
On January 13, 1998, in Beijing, China, a Chinese man's penis was severed by his 28 year old wife with scissors, she claimed it was due to his infidelity and maltreatment of her.
