What was the purpose of Castration and Eunuchs in the early Christian church?

Question

I recently came across a book titled: "The Manly Eunuch: Masculinity, Gender Ambiguity, and Christian Ideology in Late Antiquity" by Mathew Keufler. I have only read excerpts from this book, but it brought to my attention the historical and religious importance of Eunuchs, also called "Holy Tranvestites". Apparently the removal of a man's testicals helped to rid men of immoral behavior and make them closer to God. Did this practice threaten Roman notions of masculinity, and therefore indirectly contribute to the rise of Patriarchy?

Also, before Patriarchy, Matriarchy must have been the rule of the day. Can anyone enlighten me on accepted gender roles within Matriarchal societies?

Answer 1

I think it was due to a shortage of good sopranos in the Church choir. Okay, that was supposed to be a joke, but then I found this on wikipedia:

"As women were sometimes forbidden to sing in Church, their place was taken by castrati. The practice, known as castratism, remained popular until the 18th century and was known into the 19th century. The last famous Italian castrato, Giovanni Velluti, died in 1861. The sole existing recording of a castrato singer documents the voice of Alessandro Moreschi, one of the last eunuchs in the Sistine Chapel choir. Unfortunately, the early 20th century recording is of poor quality and Moreschi, who was never trained for the stage, is not considered a great singer."