Spinoza vol 3 ebook: Chapter 4: Women and Eunuchs – Effeminacy and Power (in the TP)

Chapter 4: Women and Eunuchs – Effeminacy and Power (TP)

As part of my overarching discussion of life and death in relation to gender roles shaping social perceptions and expectations, I shall explore the following passage (in TP 6.5) over the course of this chapter and the next:

“…quod rex libidini obnoxius omnia saepe moderetur ex libidine unius aut alterius pellicis aut cinaedi. ,,Audieram, inquit Orsines, in Asia olim regnasse feminas; hoc vero novum est, regnare castratum!“ ”[i]            

I shall examine the first part, quod…cinaedi, in the next chapter. In this chapter, I will focus on the second part in which Spinoza gives the example of a politically powerful eunuch (Audieram…castratum). Throughout both chapters, I wish to continue the feminist strand of my interpretation of Spinoza, combining it with my LGBTQIA philosophy (#lgbtqiaphilosophy) because, I think, they particularly intersect on gender identity, stereotyping, and exploring non-binary people. I aim to highlight that Spinoza was aware of a potential lack of social acceptance not just of women but also of effeminate men in political roles. I think it is fascinating that it even crossed Spinoza’s mind, back in the 17^th century, to take account of gender non-conforming individuals in job roles later eras struggle to accept.

Even in the 21^st century, people still have very gender binary notions and project these onto females and males through their social expectations of what is acceptable for each gender. UK academic evidence and a related poll discovered that 45% of respondents answered that gender expectations impacted on behavioural expectations of them when they were children[ii]. This continues into adult life. The UK academic and poll findings showed 70% of women between 18-34 years old replied that gender stereotypes impacted on their career choice and that 69% of men between 18-35 years old said gender stereotypes have a detrimental impact on people’s perception “of what it means to be a man or a woman”[iii]. Therefore, as the Rt Hon David Lammy, MP, points out, it is a matter of social justice and fairness to deconstruct gender stereotyping[iv]. Furthermore, I suggest Spinoza’s awareness of the history of the social condition of effeminate men is as relevant as ever. Further key findings discovered that 59% of people think “it is more acceptable for a girl to be a ‘tomboy’ than for a boy to be ‘feminine’”[v]. Hence, I suggest that perhaps Spinoza’s eunuch example serves as one of the best illustrations of his tolerant, inclusive social and political attitudes by raising awareness of this eunuch who rose through class structure to become a politically powerful and influential ruler. Although the eunuch suffers discriminatory attitudes and comments, Spinoza’s example depicts the moment when the tables turn and it is the person discriminating against him who becomes the victim of his own biased attitudes and behaviour, rather than perpetuating a victimhood image of non-binary people as a result of either their gender identity or sexual orientation. In this chapter and the next, I will also look at the role of gendered language and expectation both in societies down the ages as well as the complexities encountered when deciphering Spinoza’s choice of words in his original political texts.

Setting aside the controversy surrounding the issue of whether readers wish to understand events in Alexander the Great’s life as fictional or historical, I shall only be addressing the question of what function this example has within Spinoza’s text and how it can contribute to my discussion and exploration of perennial, harmful gender expectations in society.

I shall attempt to demonstrate that a thorough analysis of gender in Spinoza’s works sometimes requires an analysis of the different layers at which bias can be introduced when reading Spinoza. In addition to examining Spinoza’s concepts and arguments for possible gender bias, a feminist interpretation of Spinoza can be enriched by looking at further potential sources of bias, such as the prejudiced anti-LGBTQIA community and sexist stereotypes inherent in language itself, both ancient and modern, as well as how this is introduced by translators themselves through their choice of words.

I try to distinguish different layers of gender bias to clarify what gender biases are present and at which layer they have been introduced. The three main layers I shall analyse over my two chapters (4 and 5) are:

         i.            the historical, cultural, social

       ii.            the translation and linguistic (Latin and English)

      iii.            the original Latin primary text to provide an alternative reading of Spinoza’s philosophy

As I have illustrated in my previous chapters, I suggest one has to be careful how one reads Spinoza’s attitudes and be open to considering alternative, more positive, readings of his philosophy. There are many gendered associations and assumptions within Latin and English which makes this passage vulnerable to potential gender biased translations and readings of Spinoza’s words, concepts and argument.

The quote I am evaluating in this chapter is a striking sentence about gender which is easy to overlook as unimportant because it seems to appear from nowhere and go nowhere:

“Audieram, inquit Orsines, in Asia olim regnasse feminas; hoc vero novum est, regnare castratum!”[vi]

Audieram,	inquit	Orsines,	in	Asia
I have heard	It is said Impersonal form	Orsines	In + ablative - in	Asia ablative
olim	regnasse	feminas;	hoc	vero
formerly	To have ruled, reigned Syncopated perfect active infinitive Regno–regnavisse contracted here by cancelling v and i to get regnasse (contraction is a similar idea to elision between 2 words in Ancient Greek grammar)	women	this	Noun: truth, reality, fact; Adjective: well founded; right, fair, proper; true, real, genuine certainly; truly, to be sure; however dative; ablative
novum	est,	regnare	castratum!
new, fresh, young; unusual, extraordinary adjective nominative; accusative	is	To rule Present active infinitive	Noun: eunuch,  castrated man; Adjective: emasculate/unman diminish/impair/weaken; nominative, accusative

The first three words here depict the moment when Orsines, just before he is executed, looks at Bagoas, a eunuch who is the top courtier and advisor to Alexander the Great, to say his last defiant statement. A reference provided in Spinoza’s text shows that here, Spinoza is citing from Curtius, the Roman historian circa 1^st century CE, as a way of giving an example of how one person cannot rule alone but often has political advisors/aides[vii]. These advisors/aides do not just help with decision making but are also capable of representing the monarch and carrying out joint decisions. I think it is useful to compare Spinoza’s passage with that of Curtius, where this sentence originally occurs, because it gives the context of Spinoza’s sentence. Furthermore, there is a difference in punctuation between various editions of Spinoza’s Latin. The Bruder[viii] edition and the Vloten and Land[ix] edition use a semicolon but the Gebhardt[x] edition has a colon, in keeping with the colon in Curtius’s text which more clearly emphasizes Orsines’s attitude shift between women ruling (which he seems to accept matter-of-factly) and effeminate eunuchs doing the same (which he sees as a preposterous novelty). 

“Quem Orsines intuens, ‘Audieram’, inquit, ‘in Asia olim regnasse feminas: hoc vero novum est, regnare castratum!’ ”[xi]

In both Spinoza and Curtius’s text, Orsines claims that he has heard of women formerly ruling in Asia, but it is truly new/unusual/extraordinary for a eunuch to rule.

Is Spinoza prompting us to ask the question: Why is Orsines more accepting of women ruling than a eunuch?

This question perhaps shows the empirical role of gender expectation in society, both then and now. Orsines is more used to seeing women ruling in his part of the world, so has no issue with them doing so and does not see it as stepping outside gender and societal expectations and norms. However, he is not used to seeing eunuchs ruling and largely grounds his rejection of a eunuch having political power and influence on the lack of a precedent.

To attempt to answer this question in further detail, I think it is helpful to comprehend the circumstances surrounding this event and the current general knowledge available concerning gender perceptions in ancient Greek and Persian culture.

What did it mean to be a eunuch in the Ancient world? Eunuchs were not extremely rare at this time and have been discovered in various cultures, ranging from Ancient China to Ancient Egypt. The general gender perception of being a eunuch in the Ancient world was non-binary in the sense that they were not categorised as either male or female. However, in terms of sexuality, eunuchs in the Ancient world did not enter into relationships with women but often did so with men. Their social status could vary from being a slave, a prostitute, a concubine to holding a highly ranked, trusted role in a royal court, especially with kings who wanted to avoid the potential problem of his male confidants fathering children with his wife. Not all eunuchs were physically the same so there were different types of eunuchs depending on what procedures they had undergone. If, for instance, they were castrated before puberty, they would grow-up to look far more effeminate than non-castrated males. Although slaves were often not eunuchs by choice, others did choose to be eunuchs. They could take on work in a gender fluid way, having either traditionally feminine or masculine jobs. Some eunuchs were socially considered to be female and taken as a bride by a man. Although Romans did not allow castration, this did not prevent Emperor Nero from castrating Sporus before marrying him and treating and dressing him as a bride, complete with a dowry[xii]. As Nero’s wife, Sporus held the title of Empress and dressed accordingly[xiii]. Conversely, Emperor Nero also publicly became a bride and wife to at least one man, Pythagorus (freedman)[xiv]. Thus, Emperor Nero was not only a husband to a eunuch but also a wife to a man, as well as having heterosexual marriages with women.

In the Ancient world, a man was considered effeminate according to whether he was attracted to or in a relationship with a man, not as a result of being a eunuch. This is relevant background information to Bagoas, the Persian eunuch referred to in Spinoza’s chapter 6 on monarchy. He goes from being a concubine to one king (Darius III, last king of the Empire of Persia reigning between 336-330 BC) to being with another king (Alexander the Great when he extended his massive empire by invading and ruling Persia). This resulted in Bagoas becoming the highest ranking, chief political advisor, and possibly a bride of sorts, to the most powerful king with the most extensive empire in the ancient world. Indeed, Bagoas is possibly the only person to have the honour of being called Alexander the Great’s beloved (ἐρώμενος from the verb ἐράω meaning to love). Bagoas became so in favour with the king, that people thought he ruled Asia more than the King himself, Alexander the Great.

There are a number of reasons why Orsines had an attitude problem towards Bagoas. It could be gender related because he denigrates him for being a eunuch and refuses to obey the king’s command to shower him with gifts (customarily an honour bestowed on brides). Orsines also persists in perceiving Bagoas as having a lower status than a bride (such as a slave or prostitute). However, this is strange considering that Bagoas had already been a concubine to Darius III while Orsines was Darius’s general. Surely Orsines was used to the concept of Bagoas being in a relationship with a king? However, in his culture, he was perhaps less used to a bride, be it a woman or a eunuch, enjoying such an equal relationship with a king, so much so that the king would allow that person to rule his empire. Perhaps there was an element of residual loyalty to his previous king, his fellow Persian Darius III which was brought out by seeing Bagoas with a different king and enjoying a higher status with him. This may have been exacerbated by Bagoas being a gift to Alexander the Great from a different general who may have helped the opposition by turning on Darius III, leading to his defeat and death. Maybe Orsines struggled to accept how far and fast Bagoas had risen through the social ranks and gained so much social, political power and status compared to himself, despite formerly being a general. So there might be underlying class issues and conflicts surrounding this example.

Indeed, how class and race intersect with gender stereotypes is still an on-going, insufficiently understood issue under examination today[xv]. One shall never know for sure why Orsines displays a lack of social acceptance of Bagoas given that he uses the fact that he is a eunuch as a way of insulting him. Orsines comes across as having very preconceived, gender biased notions and perceptions of effeminate, gender non-conforming eunuchs, even defying the king over what social and political roles were acceptable for a eunuch to hold. Nevertheless, there is a lack of general knowledge of Persian culture surrounding this example because Spinoza does not go into details. It is also a very different type of example because, contrary to expectation, it is Orsines who falls out of favour with the king due to his anti-LGBTQIA stance, while Bagoas retains his political power.

Having analysed the historical, cultural and social layer behind Spinoza’s eunuch example, how does this help one grasp what role it plays in chapter 6 of the TP? What can one learn from such an example?  Bagoas fits as an example for Spinoza of a close political confidant of a king who helps him rule his empire. It shows that Spinoza is right to claim earlier in section 5[xvi] that it is relatively common for a king to appear to rule completely alone yet, in fact, also have the support of a loved one (often one of their women or eunuchs) to help him rule or even rule for him. (I shall develop this aspect of a supportive confidant to a monarch in the next chapter using the example of Queen Anne.) Thus, one learns in Spinoza the variety of ways both women and eunuchs have held political positions of power and ruled. Although it is easier to focus only on those who become queens, there are also those without whom men and women could not reign.

Hence, I suggest one learns from Spinoza that a comprehensive account of gender and political power needs to also take account of women who ruled through men, as well as so-called effeminate men who may have gender non-binary social identities, such as eunuchs. I think it is interesting to note that discussions about women, effeminate men and people who are gender fluid are often considered very new and contemporary issues.  A eunuch such as Bagoas would perhaps nowadays, in western culture, be labelled a transwoman or androgynous (in terms of combining both male and female gender identities and expression into one gender ambiguous category). However, in other cultures, Bagoas may identify as being a third gender individual. There is a great deal of variation within this gender identity. The nearest present day example is possibly the hijra in the Indian Subcontinent who have sometimes been referred to as eunuchs. In 2014, India created a legal category for third gender people, which more precisely included hijra, eunuchs, transpeople and intersex[xvii]. Hijras in Delhi trace their history back to the eunuchs in the Farsi speaking medieval Moghul courts, therefore, these hijras have chosen to speak their own dialect of Farsi, known as Hijra Farsi[xviii]. A year earlier, in Pakistan 2013, the first transwoman ran as a candidate in their general elections and campaigns for non-stereotyping of hijras[xix].    

So, one can see that Spinoza is referring to the social and political role of eunuchs back in the Ancient world showing that gender non-conforming individuals have always been a part of society and culture. However, they are often ignored or written out of history, as is the case with women too, so Spinoza could have easily left the eunuch example out of his TP. Given the sexist, conservative and theological views held by some of Spinoza’s fellow academics who read and commented on his work, I suggest it was rather ground-breaking of Spinoza to choose to include a mention in his TP of an LGBTQIA person ruling a continent. As we can see above, it would have been easy for Spinoza to stay with gender binary examples and gendered expectations of political roles. Nevertheless, his eunuch example shows he could think outside the gender box and was aware that social acceptance and gender expectation are influenced by what people are used to hearing about, seeing or experiencing, as was the case with Orsines. Therefore, I think it gives Spinoza and his TP a contemporary feel with on-going relevance for 21^st century politics and society.

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[i] Benedict de Spinoza, Opera: DE INTELLECTUS EMENDATIONE, TRACTATUS POLITICUS, EPISTOLAE., ed. C.H. Bruder, EDITI ONIBUS PRINCIPIBUS DENUO EDIDIT, EDITIO STEREOTYPA, (google e-book), vol. II (Leipzig, Germany: TYPIS ET SUMTIBUS BERNH. TAUCHNITZ JUN., 1844), 76, https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QadzEPDWXpqdc1w64BhFzajGArDBTQxm7-OplWX-YAvgSP9r0aWjRuX_tWKyc91-v3Gs_dl8Bj6OsIx-MXggSVv8YstyN_hv_92hGuIgl7pjaissVrP4yATRaHCCUioseMVU8P140b-vRAVXK3X2671uEoDyNHgJNglQzeqMHaWArZG409KntocN2v_33hMNHHIie-SfXal-O7pNaaJTNnYo5Vdp_tP0ZStSFL2ajcir8s3q1LHnTpfqUrXkIlOd7woTP-bA2LMP2J729nBFPsQz-WHMOw.

[ii] Fawcett Society, ‘Fawcett Launches Commission as Research Reveals Widespread Concern about Gender Stereotypes in Product Marketing’, society, https://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk, 30 April 2019, https://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/News/fawcett-research-reveals-widespread-concern-about-gender-stereotypes-in-product-marketing.

[iii] Fawcett Society.

[iv] Fawcett Society.

[v] Fawcett Society.

[vi] Spinoza, Opera: DE INTELLECTUS EMENDATIONE, TRACTATUS POLITICUS, EPISTOLAE., II:76.

[vii] Spinoza, II:75–76.

[viii] Spinoza, II:76.

[ix] Benedict de Spinoza, Benedicti de Spinoza Opera quotquot reperta sunt, ed. J. van Vloten and JPN Land, Editio Altera, Tomus Primus (Netherlands: Hagae comitum, M. Nijhoff, 1895), 291, https://archive.org/details/Spinoza1895Opera2VlotenLand2ed/page/n7.

[x] Benedictus de Spinoza and Carl Gebhardt, Opera, vol. 3 (Heidelberg, Germany: C. Winter, 1925), 293;299, http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/primo-explore/fulldisplay?vid=SOLO&docid=oxfaleph012466133&context=L.

[xi] Curtius Rufus Quintus, Historiarum Alexandri Magni Macedonis Libri Qui Supersunt, ed. Stangl Thomas (Leipzig, Germany: Verlag von G. Freytag, 1902), 284, https://archive.org/details/qcurtirufihisto00stangoog/page/n9.

[xii] Cassius Dio, ‘Roman History’, Educational, penelope.uchicago.edu, updated 2011, http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/62*.html.

[xiii] Dio.

[xiv] Dio.

[xv] Fawcett Society, ‘Fawcett Launches Commission as Research Reveals Widespread Concern about Gender Stereotypes in Product Marketing’.

[xvi] Benedict de Spinoza, THE CHIEF WORKS of BENEDICT DE SPINOZA, trans. R. H. M. Elwes, REVISED EDITION. London, UK, vol. I, BOHN’S PHILOSOPHICAL LIBRARY. SPINOZA’S WORKS. (London: york street, covent garden: GEORGE BELL & SONS, 1891), 317–18, http://lf-oll.s3.amazonaws.com/titles/1710/1321.01_Bk.pdf.

[xvii] Dhananjay Mahapatra, ‘Supreme Court Recognnizes Transgender as “Third Gender”’, The Times of India, 15 April 2014, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Supreme-Court-recognizes-transgenders-as-third-gender/articleshow/33767900.cms.

[xviii] Kira Hall, ‘Unnatural’ Gender in Hindi’, in Gender across Languages: The Linguistic Representation of Women and Men, ed. Marlis Hellinger, Hadumod Bussmann, and Heiko Motschenbacher, Impact, Studies in Language and Society, v. 9-<11, 36 > (Amsterdam ; Philadelphia: J. Benjamins, 2001).

[xix] Corinne Pinfold, ‘Pakistan: First Trans Woman in General Election Says the Community Is “more than Dancers and Beggars”’, 2013, https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/02/26/pakistan-first-trans-woman-in-general-election-says-the-community-is-more-than-dancers-and-beggars/.