Etymologically, the term “hermaphrodite” came from Hermaphroditus, son of the Messenger of the Gods, Hermes, and the Goddess of Love and Beauty, Aphrodite, of the Greek Mythology (Harper 6). According to Ovid’s tale, a nymph named Salmacis professed her love to Hermaphroditus and was shocked and got alarmed, he attempted to escape from Salmacis’ presence but she blocked him and threw both of them into the river where she lives – she wrapped herself to him, making sure he would not be able to free himself (Norder par. 16-18).
The nymph prayed to the gods to let her and Hermaphroditus become one and was granted, they became one individual with both male and female attributes. From the Ancient Art to the Neoclassical Art, Hermophroditus have always been a favorite subject and is usually illustrated with his exposed genitals (Snyder par. 2 & 4). In the beginning of the Renaissance, writers regarded hermaphrodites as symbol of marriage, however, that image changed and they were considered as “sideshow freaks” (Snyder par. 3 & 5). Biologically speaking, hermaphrodites do not only pertain to human beings. Hermaphroditism is even more common in plants and animals.
In Botany, 70% of plants are hermaphrodites and the word can refer to three things: (1) flowers – flowers that have both pistil and stamen; (2) plants – plants that have hermaphrodite flowers; and (3) plant populations – population od exclusively hermaphrodite plants (Monlar par. 6-8). On the other hand, in Zoology, hermaphrodites are organisms that have functional reproductive organs of both male and female (Essenfeld et. al. 470). This is an advantage for them because most of these organisms do not come across one another most of the time, but they can still mate with one another and both can produce an offspring.
Unfortunately, hermaphroditism on mammals and birds are not the same in the case of the organisms for it can cause them infertility (Ho par. 1). Still, there is a group of vertebrates that are naturally hermaphrodites like fishes such as Clownfish and Angelfish (Ho par. 6-7). Hermaphrodites in the Animal Kingdom are group into two: the synchronous hermaphrodites and the sequential hermaphrodites. Both possess male and female reproductive organs, however, Synchronous Hermaphrodites have both organs actively functioning simultaneously while Sequential Hermaphrodites have both reproductive organs that do not work at the same time (Ho par.
2). Moreover, Sequential Hermaphrodites are classified as protogynus hermaphrodites and protandrous hermaphrodites. Protogynus hermaphrodites are those who are female at the early stage and then turn into males while protandrous hermaphrodites are just the vice versa. Unfortunately, the focus of this paper will be neither on the hermaphrodites in mythology, art, plants and animals but on human beings. This paper will focus on how the hermaphrodites are treated by the medical community in the United States of America.
The discussion will also center on the issues that are connected with the treatments and the laws that USA provides for hermaphrodites to see if these affect the treatments of the hermaphrodites in the said country. Human Hermaphroditism When it comes to human anatomy, a hermaphrodite refers to a person who possesses both ovarian and testicular tissues. Hermaphroditism is considered as a “sexual disorder” or a “chromosome anomaly” (Fallon Jr. 1). It occurs because of anomaly in cell division (Hatch par. 1). A fetus will possess cells with male chromosomes (46XY) and cells with female chromosomes (46XX).
Hermaphroditism is classified into two: true hermaphroditism and pseudohermaphroditism. The type of hermaphroditism can be confirmed through a series on tests like “laparoscopy” – the examination of abdominal and pelvic organs, thorax, head and neck – or by just checking the external genitals, there are also other methods such as chromosomal analysis, hormonal assay, endoscopic examination and ultrasound (Fallon Jr. 1). A true hermaphrodite is someone born with both ovarian and testicular tissues which are either both separated or combined – combined ovary and testes are referred to as “ovatestes” (Zaparackaite & Barauskas 106).
The genitals are either male, female, both (ovotestes) or ambiguous; true hermaphrodites with male genitalia are raised as male while true hermaphrodites with female genitalia can live as a female, on the other hand, those that were born with both can chose which sex they would like while those who have ambiguous genitalia should go under a series of medical exams to determine what sex they should have – surgeries takes place during infancy. There are only around 500 people that are identified with this kind of hermaphroditism and experts are still puzzled how this kind of condition occurs (Fallon Jr.
1). On the other hand, pseudohermaphroditism pertains to “gonadal dysgenesis” or abnormal development of gonads (Fallon Jr. 1). Furthermore, pseudohermaphroditism is subdivided into two: male pseudohermaphroditism and female pseudohermaphroditism. Though it is not easy to determine how many pseudohermaphroditism incidences are there, it is more common than true hermaphroditism – in male pseudohermaphroditism, there are 3-15 cases per 100,000 people while there are between 1-8 cases in female pseudohermaphroditism (Fallon Jr. 1).
Male pseudohermaphrodites have male chromosomes; however, the genitalia – both external and internal – are ambiguous. If it happens to be testes though, it may be not as hard as it should be and the person will not be as masculine as he should (Fallon Jr. 1). This is caused by “Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS)” or also known as “testicular feminization” (Zaparackaite & Barauskas 109). In AIS, the fetus inside the womb has male chromosomes but does not respond to the testosterone and androgen that are being produced which resulted for the baby that is born to be a female externally (Rotten par. 18).
In contrast, female pseudohermaphrodites possess female chromosomes and female internal genitals but have masculine external genital which is referred to as “clitoral hypertrophy” (Fallon Jr. 1). They also appear more as a male than as a female. Female pseudohermaphroditism is most like caused by Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) where androgens were overproduced by the adrenal glands (Rotten par. 18). As time goes by, the term hermaphroditism was changed to “intersex” for organizations such as Intersex Society of North America (ISNA) pointed out that the word hermaphroditism is misleading and can cause a series of misunderstanding.
These organizations and other medical experts believe that if one is a hermaphrodite, he or she should possess two separate sets of genitals that could perform their functions perfectly, however, such is not possible in humans (Intersex Society of North America). In addition, the organizations believe that labeling a person hermaphrodite does not help them emotionally and psychologically. The concept of hermaphroditism was applied on humans by doctors from the 19th century with not enough knowledge about Genetics, Embryology and Endocrinology and so the intersex organizations want the term to be removed in modern medicine.
So, to properly define, intersex refers to the group conditions that have sexual anomalies and could not be classified as male or female (Intersex Society of North America). However, the terms “true hermaphroditism” and “pseudohermaphroditism” are still used and considered as a variety of intersex. Other variations of intersex are gonadal dysgenesis, Klinefelter Syndrome, CAH, maternal synthetic progestins, testosterone synthesis error, AIS, chromosomal mosaicisms, hypospadias, micropenis, adult crypotorchism, clitoromegaly, and agenesis of mullerian structures and defects in its metabolism (McLaughin).