Subject: Androgynous, intersex, and hermaphrodite
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Posted on: 2015-08-13 20:54:00 UTC

Medical perspective here:

Human hermaphrodites simply don't exist in the Real World--or if they do, I've never heard of one existing. A hermaphroditic organism has the equipment for both sexes and can reproduce as either the "mother" or "father". Some hermaphroditic organisms can reproduce with themselves.

What humans can be is intersex--being in-between due to hormones or chromosomes or environment or some combination thereof. If you study prenatal development, basically we all start out with a female configuration, and a male fetus will switch over during development. So, if a female gets some of the "be male" signals, or a male doesn't, the result can be a baby whose gender is hard to determine. They will have ovaries or testes or something in between; their external genitalia can be either type or in between. Some intersex people look very much like a typical member of one gender or the other; some look in-between androgynous. Their gender identity and the people they're attracted to can be anything in the human spectrum.

Barring a hypothetical very rare partly-fused chimera or conjoined twin situation, human hermaphrodites don't exist because humans only get one set of reproductive organs apiece. That means that the only hermaphrodites are in mythology, fiction, porn, and the animal kingdom. Since porn and animals are the most common places for hermaphrodites to be mentioned, it is entirely understandable that intersex people do not want to be called "hermaphrodites", as they're neither sex objects nor less than human.

As for "androgynous", it refers more to the way you present yourself, your identity, or your appearance. I'm mildly androgynous, with both feminine and masculine traits, even though I look quite feminine and have XX chromosomes and don't mind marking "female" on forms if there's no other choice. Other people are much more strongly androgyne or neutrois and feel quite horrible if they are pushed into one gender box or the other. Quite a few deities and mythical creatures are in-between androgynous as well, looking like somewhat feminine teen boys or somewhat masculine teen girls in drawings and statuary; many deities are able to change shape or change gender at will and may be depicted as any gender by various artists. A person's reproductive equipment is rather irrelevant to the term "androgynous".

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