LOL

This is not the place for this sort of political movement. Maybe if you would have came on here and asked if anyone was offended by the use of the word Hermaphrodite, took a poll and if a large part of the community was actually distressed, MAYBE you could then request it be taken down, then maybe I would agree with you.

But instead you got on a soap box and made yourself a spoke person for ALL hermaphrodites and raised yourself up as some sort of hero of the people. When some spoke up and said they cared not about the terminology, you condemned them and disregarded their words, belittling their thoughts as you claim the people on the forums here have done to you.

You are a hypocrite, and their is no respect to be had for someone who disregards even the words of those they claim to be protecting.



Put the victim card away, everyone has been victimized at some point in their life, in someway or another. You are just as ignorant of others feelings as they are of yours, so just put that card away.




I agree people can mix words up, like I mistook the word intersex to mean something perverted when I first heard it. Even now it has a sort of perverted sound to it that makes me think of orgies although I know the meaning of the word. I guess b.c it makes me think of the intermingling of sexes on a large scale, but who cares if 90% of the population have a huge misconception of both words, lets just cater to this 1 person and their posse and change the site. lol sacasm




It is NOT a fact that the word Hermaphrodite is a slur. It is like the word mammal, both are terms that refer to both humans and animals. Hermaphrodite only meaning someone or animal is born with both male and female reproductive tissue organs. You can turn anything into an insult, and anyone can make any word insulting, but the actual fact of the matter is, people outside of your homeland don't all see the word as derogatory like the people who live where you are or like the people in your group of like minded friends.

Also learn your LGTB history before you run around saying "oh we never had political power." Many years ago we did (like every other group in the world), think ancient Greece long ago. Our museums, works of art, and mythologies are mere reflections of the lifestyles of those back then. Many were gay or bi back then, orgies were all the rage and sex was so out in the public and free you swear it was the newest iphone given away free with drugs. Every gender type and sexual orientation had its shot at power for a time (even bestiality), just like every race suffered slavery at some point. Don't try and play a victim card to justify your oversensitivity.

People make fun of somethings I believe in, and live by, but I don't pick a fight with every single person not fully understanding my way of life. There is nothing wrong with laughing at yourself or others laughing at you. It is a problem when the jokes are made to be malicious. This sight is clearly not aiming to be malicious and no one here is getting those vibes from that drop box. This is not the time to be fighting this battle for respect, you should be focusing this energy on actual sites maliciously targeting you and breeding hatred towards your way of life.

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Okay, as someone who's knowledge of hermaphrodite had come from high school biology (which was a while ago) I went and read up on hermaphrodite and intersex. It seemed like the thing to do before jumping into this conversation. What I found through somewhat shallow research is that hermaphrodite as applied to humans is, if not a slur, stigmatizing, misleading, and definitely used incorrectly when applied to humans.

First, biologically there are two kinds of hermaphrodites according to wikipedia here. From the zoology section: There's sequential hermaphrodites and simultaneous hermaphrodites. Sequential hermaphrodites means the organism can change sex from male to female, female to male, or back and forth. Simultaneous hermaphrodites are adult organisms that have full sets of both sexes. The main point though is that hermaphrodites can reproduce with both their male and female sex organs, meaning a sequential hermaphrodite can reproduce with its male organs when it's male and with it's female organs when it's female and simultaneous hermaphrodites can reproduce with both its male and female organs self fertilization often occurs. Humans can not do this. And from the etymology section: Hermaphrodites when applied to humans are historically seen as monsters.

Now from the intersex wikipedia page here defines intersex as "people [who] are born with any of several variations in sex characteristics including chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones, or genitals." This is different from the term hermaphrodite in that the term intersex looks at more than just the sex organs, aka the "gonads" or more scientifically the phenotype. The page also goes on to say use of the term hermaphrodite for humans is scientifically specious (since it doesn't apply to humans as seen in previous paragraph). Human right organizations, the UN, organizations created by intersex people, and etc all use the term intersex.

So yeah, from the articles I've read so far the term hermaphrodite when used towards humans might as well be a slur since it is stigmatizing, misleading, and doesn't scientifically apply to humans. I'm open to seeing/reading evidence otherwise, especially since I only looked at the wikipedia pages for hermaphrodite and intersex.

As applies to this site, (if we're going with it being a joke since I can see someone thinking hermaphrodite is the correct term then) yeah it was joke written almost a decade ago and like jokes in television a decade or longer ago they reveal our societal norms and prejudices from those times, that's just how it goes. It doesn't mean I can't enjoy those tv shows that I didn't love some of those shows, but the thing is those shows can't be changed anymore and this site can. From reading those wikipedia articles it's easy to see how the hermaphrodite option is an issue, especially when it's asked on the only page where you can personalize your profile (your identity on this site). So yes, I think it needs to be either removed or changed, but I can see how that can be difficult if there's no coder.

(Again, if I'm wrong anywhere let me know.)


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Thank you for your responses. Its hard for people to understand things they don't care to learn about and its hard for them to look beyond themselves. This is in no way defending them however I pity them for their lack of understanding. Thank you for taking the time to defend me and the people that this slur effects.

@lihmao
Thank you for defending me even after I left the thread. I really appreciate the time and effort you spent trying to convince people who don't want to listen. I would like to point out that I left the thread because the admins have seen the thread and decided to give me a warning. They said that I broke the community guidelines for double posting when I obviously did not. I decided that no one cared and this was a way to make me be quiet. I became discouraged. Thank you for showing me that people actually care.

@mikako17
Thank you for looking up the topic before you responded. People like you who care enough to do research before putting your opinion out are amazing and needed. Your research is very well done and thank you for adding it so others can see. You were very thorough and I dont see anything wrong with what you posted. Thank you for keeping the thread alive.

@Utsukushii Yume
Please dont attack me for something you dont understand. Besides the fact that when has how many people dislike something made it right or wrong? There is no need to attack other people because of your lack of understanding, please be respectful. If you want to comment do your research before making incorrect claims.

Last edited by lambchopsil at 10:56 pm, Sep 26 2017

No problem! I'm sorry to hear that the admins tried to silence you with such a blatant lie. Now I wouldn't be surprised if this thread "magically" disappeared.

Also Mikako17, I'd like to thank you for doing some research before posting!

EDIT: Okay so the warning had to do with spotty enforcement of forum rules.

Last edited by Calamansi at 11:38 pm, Sep 26 2017

I feel compelled to point out the irony in making this statement, whether true or not, in a series of posts that most certainly do meet the criteria for double posting.

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Technically the forum rules do no specify what double posting means so it is entirely up to each individual admin what double posting means. In my opinion thanking each individual person is not anymore double posting than the interphobic people saying the same thing over again. I also feel compelled to tell you that this thread is about interphobia and would like to ask you to refrain from making unecessary comments.

You were double posting. Before, you had 3 posts in a row. A few hours ago, you had 4 posts in a row. I said "had" because I combined them into a single post each. You can see evidence of this because your post says "Last edited by lambchopsil." I'm not treating you any differently than anyone else with this rule ever since this forum started 11+ years ago

Last edited by lambchopsil at 11:01 pm, Sep 26 2017

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Oh my God..........are you really saying that anybody that doesn't agree with you across the board, no questions asked, is a homophobe and too stupid to know anything?

It couldn't be, you know, like I've already said, that a huge portion of the community actually know better than getting worked up over petty little things like this, could it?

Everybody that doesn't agree with you isn't necessarily your enemy or as oblivious as you seem to think. I told you from the start to lighten up a little because I was concerned that you could be so upset over single, random word that obviously wasn't meant to be an insult to anyone, and I still very much am.

Well, whatever, I can't tell you how to live your life, but I personally just go about my business, live my life like I want, and don't sweat piddly little stuff like you've brought up here.

But good luck to you

I personally don't believe in simply using only wiki as a go to source as it can easily be changed by anyone at any time.

I did, however, skim through the page you offered, and in the same sentence that you so happily made bold, it clearly states the actual meaning of the word and then proceeds to express that it is a preference that people prefer. In other words the option to use said word falls on a persons preference.

Historically, the term hermaphrodite has also been used to describe ambiguous genitalia and gonadal mosaicism in individuals of gonochoristic species, especially human beings. The word intersex has come into preferred usage for humans, since the word hermaphrodite is considered to be misleading and stigmatizing,3[4] as well as "scientifically specious and clinically problematic".5 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermaphrodite

You can confirm the terminology if you check out webster dictionary which does offer the definition: "a person, plant, or animal that has both male and female parts" - Reference

But that is not what we want to focus on, we want to focus on the words known existence, the word in webster has roots from 14th century, and on wiki it dates back to greek mythology. Both sites acknowledge that the word is old and has scientific roots to address something with two sex organs. Both sites also show that the word can be used to refer to other things as well, like ambiguous sex organs which is not necessarily the same thing as having both male and female parts.

In other words the word hermaphrodite, like most English words, has a loose meaning that can mean one or more things depending on the context of a sentence.

This brings us to the word intersex, which literally means the same thing and does not help ease the confusion as it takes pretty much most of all the same meanings that the word Hermaphrodite has. Thus once again offering numerous meanings based on the sentence context. The words' history still pulls from the word hermaphrodite so it really doesn't help set it apart. The only real difference is that intersex is supposed to be used when only talking about a human.

This word based on Webster can be traced back to the 1900's. The wiki even mentions that:"Until the mid-20th century, "hermaphrodite" was used synonymously with intersex."

Unlike actual slur words, when you research the word hermaphrodite, the meaning never tells you its history was to slur people. The only slur you find is that some people in the past considered them to be monsters. Besides that, a greek god with the name existed and where there is a god their are obviously worshipers.

My point being, that unlike actual slur words like the N word for brown folk or the S word for some Spanish folk or the C word for certain Asian folk, or WT for the pale folk, the word hermaphrodite is not listed as an actual slur. When you google those words, attached to them are the words, a slur, or a derogatory way to address a (insert race) used in the (insert year). Hermaphrodite doesn't have that history. Its history is more closer to the history of being a witch, or a bible reader back in the dark ages when only the priest was allowed to read said book. People shunned, and killed them, they were discriminated against, but it wasn't adapted as a slur like the word witch was never full deemed a slur word (although some people tossed it out for a time as a means to insult others).

While the word "witch" went off to become commercial friendly, the word hermaphrodite sort of fell onto the back burner, becoming a word not used often. Many didn't even know what it meant when introduced to the word and had to look it up. Back then their was no wiki and the ability for highly sensitive people to blow everything out of proportion was limited, so most would just look in a dictionary and see it meant a person with two sex organs. There was no side note in the dictionary like wiki does trying to emphasize and highlight the pain and suffering of the people in order to sway the emotions of others to support their want for another word simply because why not.

So in summary, based on the skimming I did of the article you provided, and a little cross referencing to outside sources, it can be concluded that the word hermaphrodite is not a slur word like the N word so blatantly is. It shares the same meaning as the word intersex, with intersex having the ability to only refer to a human and not a animal or plant. The word intersex is preferred by certain people or movement groups over the word hermaphrodite, however since both words share the same meaning and the word intersex is literally just hermaphrodite except only pertaining to humans because English loves/likes/adores/appreciates/cherishes/relishes the idea of having more than one word share similar descriptions with only mild variations, both terminologies can be used just like I used all those words to express how the English language likes something.



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How can you literally quote a dictionary:



And then turn around and say:



While we're sitting here in the year 2017?

Anyways, I think you're too caught up on the word "slur" being used to describe hermaphrodite. I think of a slur, as a quick google definition provides, as a "derogatory or insulting term applied to particular group of people". I previously described it as a slur because maliciously calling an intersex (or androgynous) person a hermaphrodite is different than if you just use it as a general insult, because you're attacking said person's identity.

But if you prefer, think of it like the b-word, which is fine when applied to certain female animals, but best avoided when referring to women (or people in general) in polite company.

Or, in this case, to avoid being hypocritical when you're a website that has forum rules stating "Don't post offensive content." and "Thread titles must be appropriate for all people from different races, genders, age groups, etc" but turns around and lists hermaphrodite as a joke option. :/ Of course "offensive" is highly subjective and decisions are ultimately up to the admin, but I thought such oversight was due to them having little knowledge about the term.

EDIT: removed off-topic addendum >_<

Last edited by Calamansi at 2:25 am, Sep 27 2017

Eh, I personally think wikipedia works well (for non controversial pages) since it does cite its sources and I did go back and read some of those sources. (Also, I only made parts of it bold since my comment was very long and if people didn't want to read it all, they could just read the bold sections; I realize now I should have made that clear. So yeah as in my previous comment,if you don't want to read my whole comment, you can just read the bold parts.)

I looked at the Webster dictionary definition (you should fix your link, but here) and Webster says "an animal or plant having both male and female reproductive tissue or organs" it doesn't say human. Am I looking at the wrong page? I mean I get what you're trying to say (and use of English words is pretty loose in general since languages change), but when looking at what hermaphrodite means scientifically (specifically in the zoology section of wikipedia here) it doesn't apply to humans. In the journal article here published in 2005, it goes on to say why hermaphrodite and intersex cannot be used interchangeably since hermaphrodite only looks at the gonads and not genotype, sex hormones, etc. I'm not sure where you found that intersex and hermaphrodite mean the same thing.

As for historically, I didn't research much into it, so that fault is mine. Historically hermaphrodite when applied to humans is not used as a slur as seen on this wikipedia section here, but languages change. A better parallel than hermaphrodite and witch would be hermaphrodite and negro. Negro is not defined as a slur and when you google it the definition that pops up is: "a member of a dark-skinned group of peoples originally native to Africa south of the Sahara," but it is offensive. And by the current definition of negro, it's more correct in application than hermaphrodite is. I don't think MU would think use of the word negro would be appropriate if they were asking a user's race, but then I don't know.

Edit: Forgot to bold something in the last paragraph to make reading of just bold parts clear.


Last edited by mikako17 at 6:02 pm, Sep 27 2017

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My mistake, I did not realize I could respond to multiple people in one post. I will refrain from doing that in the future.

this topic has caused me to add a gender to my otherwise blank profile. hermaphrodite ftw.