The annual Hay Festival of Literature and Arts recently came under fire after researcher Cat Bohannon suggested that men and other mammals might live longer if they were castrated. Over 1,500 people attended the festival, famously dubbed “The Woodstock of the mind” by former U.S. President Bill Clinton. Nevertheless, a headline from The Guardian summarizing Bohannon’s views — “Men and other mammals live longer if they are castrated, says researcher” — has caused controversy.
Bohannon, a Columbia University Ph.D. and author of the book “Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution,” referred to testicles as “two little death nuggets” during her speech. She further suggested that men undergoing an orchiectomy — the surgical removal of the testicles — could live longer. The researcher’s claims were instantly critiqued, with some observers noting that the same term — “orchiectomy” — is often linked to testicular cancer or gender-affirming surgery advocated by transgender activists.
Additionally, Bohannon’s assertions of an impending “artificial womb” raised eyebrows. She predicted that such a device would require further knowledge about female bodies to successfully construct a synthetic version. This prediction stirred debate about ethics and differences between so-called transgenderism and transhumanism — ideologies that suggest we can transcend, amend, or hybridize our bodies with machines.
While some might dismiss the ideas presented at the Hay Festival as abstract or irrelevant, their implications should be taken seriously given the extensive public attention such perspectives have gained in recent years.