I think I have to put my nitpicking hat on again. Despite the disclaimer of Alice Dreger in the blog site Stephen supplied, it's my understanding that, while rare, there is such a thing as a "true hermaphrodite." (No proof that both sets actually work, only hearsay. The stuff of Television Land, I'd suggest.)
What's involved probably isn't two whole "sets" of external genitals (which would require, as Alice amusingly suggests, "two bottoms"), but rather something along the line of an ovary and a testicle. Causes can be a trisomy configuration, fusion of potential monozygotic twins or a mutation in that tricky little SRY gene. And it *is* tricky stuff. Beth Benoit > I agree. There is no such thing as a "true hermaphrodite". People > have only one kind of primary sex organ. It may be male-typical, > female-typical, or in-between, but no one has one of each kind. Alice > Dreger has a witty and authoritative discussion of this issue here: > http://alicedreger.com/both_sets_of_genitals.html > > I also agree that the term I should have used in describing the > protagonist in _Middlesex_ should have been "intersex" rather than > "transgender" (I'm out of practice on these matters). For one, that's > what the Intersex Society of North America (ISNA) advocates, as they > describe in their FAQS, here (http://www.isna.org/faq/transgender ) > and here (http://www.isna.org/faq/what_is_intersex ). And also here > (http://www.isna.org/faq/hermaphrodite ). > > Tricky stuff. > > Stephen > -------------------------------------------- > Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. > Professor of Psychology, Emeritus > Bishop's University > Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada > e-mail: sblack at ubishops.ca > --------------------------------------------- > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13105.b9b37cdd198e940b73969ea6ba7aaf72&n=T&l=tips&o=13038 > or send a blank email to > leave-13038-13105.b9b37cdd198e940b73969ea6ba7aa...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=13047 or send a blank email to leave-13047-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
