castrate/castrating (metaphor)
it is not possible to "castrate" a secure, independent person; the man is not an anesthetized patient in this type of surgery. For "castrate" use disarm, disable, incapacitate, undermine, unhinge, unnerve, deprive of power/strength/courage/vigor, devitalize, attenuate, shatter, exhaust, weaken, disqualify, invalidate, paralyze, muzzle, enervate, take the wind out of one's sails, put a spoke in one's wheels. For "castrating": ruthless, aggressive, domineering, controlling, powerful, tyrannical, overwhelming, overpowering.
