In literature, the term “a neuter” has been used both as a literal descriptor for castrated men (eunuchs) and as a self-applied identity for characters who consider themselves outside the binary of male and female due to trauma or choice.

The most prominent instances are found in modern and early modern literature:

1. Kurt Vonnegut, Deadeye Dick (1982)

In this novel, the narrator and protagonist, Rudy Waltz, refers to himself throughout the book as a "neuter." As a twelve-year-old, Rudy accidentally fires a gun out of a window, killing a pregnant woman. The resulting trauma and social shunning lead him to a state of total sexual and emotional withdrawal. While his castration is primarily psychological/asexual in nature, he uses the term "neuter" as a definitive noun for his status as a "non-man":

"People talk a lot about all the homosexuals there are to see in Greenwich Village, but it was all the neuters that caught my eye that day. These were my people..."

2. Kurban Said, Ali and Nino (1937)

In this famous novel set in Azerbaijan, a eunuch character (the uncle’s servant) is explicitly described as a neuter. The narrator, Ali, observes the social freedom and unique status of the castrated man:

"A eunuch can be as cheeky as he likes. He is a neuter, neither man nor woman."

3. Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica (1646)

In this classic of 17th-century prose, the polymath Sir Thomas Browne discusses the nature of eunuchs and hermaphrodites. He categorizes those who have been castrated as being in a middle state:

"Eunuchs... are as it were Neuters; and such as have lost the main distinctive part of their Sex."

4. Edith Södergran, "Vierge moderne" (1916)

Though Södergran was a woman, her landmark poem "Vierge moderne" is often cited in literary studies of gender because the speaker explicitly claims the identity of "a neuter" (ett neutrum) to escape the constraints of traditional femininity:

"I am no woman. I am a neuter. I am a child, a page-boy, and a bold decision..."

Summary of Usage

Historically, the word "neuter" (from the Latin ne-uter, meaning "neither of the two") was the standard technical and literary term for those who were neither fully male nor female. Before the mid-20th century, it was frequently applied to:

• Castrati: Italian opera singers were often referred to in 18th-century memoirs and critiques as "neuter beings."
• Eunuchs: In translations of ancient texts (such as Buddhist Vinaya or Greek histories), "neuter" is often the preferred translation for categories of castrated men who occupied a third-gender role.