Shemale
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Shemale (sometimes she-male or she-man) is a noun in the English language, most notable for its slang usage in a pejorative context referring to male-to-female transsexuals (transwomen).[1] Shemale is widely used in sex industries to refer to transsexual people who have breasts of an adult female (either grown naturally as a result of an intersex condition such as Androgen insensitivity syndrome, through hormone replacement therapy, or through breast augmentation surgery) and may have other female secondary sex characteristics, but have not undergone male-to-female sex reassignment surgery,[1] It is important to note the myriad instances in which intersex persons born with ambiguous genitalia have, at the request of their parents, or on the advice of surgeons, been surgically altered to appear more male before puberty (which may be the reason that many shemales appear to have female skeletal structure and fat distribution, feminine body hair patterns, and/or small genitals resembling those of a prepubescent boy); this often occurs in children with Reifenstein syndrome, a form of PAIS. Shemale, along with tranny, ladyboy, chicks with dicks, and other terms with similar connotations, are commonly used in pornography, escorting, and associated sex industries; videos and magazines involving such people are a common sub-genre of pornography.[2] Melissa Hope Ditmore, of the Trafficked Persons Rights Project, notes the term "is an invention of the sex industry, and most transwomen find the term abhorrent."[3]
According to Philip H. Herbst's Wimmin, Wimps & Wallflowers, shemale has been applied to "almost anyone who appears to have bridged gender lines", including effeminate men and lesbians.[1] In LGBT communities, especially amongst transgender individuals, the term is considered offensive for its connotations, associations with sex industries and implication that one's gender identity is less than genuine. It is often seen by transsexual people as a term of abuse.[1][4][5] According to Professors Laura Castañeda and Shannon Campbell at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School of Journalism, using the term for a transwoman is considered "highly offensive and inaccurate" because it implies "she is working 'in the [sex] trade and retains her male genitalia.' It may be considered libellous."[6]
Some have adopted the term as a self-descriptor but this is often in context of sex work.[1] In Walking on The Wild Side: Shemale Internet Pornography, John Phillips writes that shemale is "a linguistic oxymoron that simultaneously reflects but, by its very impossibility, challenges [gender] binary thinking, collapsing the divide between the masculine and the feminine."[2] In some cultures it can also be used interchangably with other terms referring to transwoman but author Julia Serano notes that it remains "derogatory or sensationalistic."[7]
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[edit] Early uses
The term has had numerous, widely varying meanings.
In the early 19th century, she-male was used as a colloquialism in American literature for female, often pejoratively.[8][9] Davy Crockett is quoted as using the term in regard to a shooting match, when his opponent challenges Davy Crockett to shoot near his opponent's wife, Davy Crockett is reported to have replied:[10]
| “ | No, No, Mike," sez I, Davy Crockett's hand would be sure to shake, if his iron pointed within a hundred miles of a shemale, and I give up beat... | ” |
According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, by 1970 the term shemale had come to be used disparagingly for "masculine lesbian", although this is no longer common usage.[8]
In 1979, Janice Raymond employed the term as a derogatory descriptor for post-operative transsexuals in her controversial book, The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-Male in which she argues that from a feminist point of view, transsexuals constitute an attack by males upon femininity.[11]
In her 1990 book From Masculine To Feminine And All points In Between, Jennifer Anne Stevens, defined she-male as "usually a gay male who lives full time as a woman; a gay transgenderist".[9]
[edit] In scientific study
Two technical names for she-males are: gynandromorph and gynemimetomorph.[12][13] A gynandromorph is an organism that contains both male and female characteristics. Gynandromorphy is a term of Greek etymology which means to have some of the body morphology and measurements of both an average woman and man.[14] Gynemimism is the adoption of female characteristics by a male.[15]
Psychologist Ray Blanchard has used the term repeatedly in his work ("The she-male phenomenon and the concept of partial autogynephilia" and "Men with Sexual Interest in Transvestites, Transsexuals, and She-Males", both 1993), has used it to describe transwomen, and considers it a synonym of gynandromorph and gynemimetomorph.[16][17][18] Blanchard coined the term autogynephilia to describe men with an erotic desire to be women and posits that gender identity disorder in biological males only has two types: homosexual gender dysphoria and non-homosexual gender dysphoria. Within transsexual communities, there has been much controversy surrounding Blanchard's ideas.
[edit] See also
 |
Look up shemale in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
- Futanari (a genre of Anime/Manga)
- Hermaphrodite
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Herbst, Philip H. (2001), Wimmin, Wimps & Wallflowers: An Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Gender and Sexual orientation Bias in The United States, Intercultural Press, p. 252-3, ISBN 1877864803, http://books.google.com/books?id=8rgUeEpWfbsC&pg=PA38&dq=shemale+empowerment&sig=heIoin691HMnIucKQBuK1_4mbWE#PPA253,M1, retrieved on 2007-10-25
- ^ a b Sigel, Lisa Z.; John Phillips (2005). International Exposure: Perspectives on Modern European Pornography, 1800-2000. Rutgers University Press. pp. 254–271. ISBN 0813535190, 9780813535197. http://books.google.com/books?id=KiyY_nlqaQEC. Retrieved on 2008-12-14.
- ^ Ditmore, Melissa Hope (2006). Encyclopedia of Prostitution and Sex Work. Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 9780313329685
- ^ "SHEMALE", WordWebOnline, http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/SHEMALE, retrieved on 2007-10-26
"(sometimes offensive) a form of transsexual, esp. one in the sex industry" WordWeb Online - ^ "Transgender Terms & Definitions", ETransgender.com, http://etransgender.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=188, retrieved on 2007-10-26
"A highly demeaning/derogatory term used to describe transgendered people. Term comes from the pornography industry, characterizing those with fem features and male genitalia. This term is also often used to portray "girls" involved in prostitution and pornography." - ^ Castañeda , Laura and Shannon B. Campbell News and Sexuality: Media Portraits of Diversity. SAGE, ISBN 9781412909990
- ^ Serano, Julia (2007). "Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity. Seal press, ISBN 9781580051545, p. 175.
- ^ a b Harper, Douglas, "she-male", Online Etymology Dictionary, http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=she-male, retrieved on 2007-09-11
- ^ a b Cassidy, Frederic Gomes; Joan Houston Hall (2002). Dictionary of American Regional English.. Harvard University Press. pp. 901. ISBN 0674008847, 9780674008847. http://books.google.com/books?id=i33BWgxbvXgC. Retrieved on 2008-12-22.
- ^ Boorstin, Daniel J. (1965), "Part Seven: "Search for Symbols"", The Americans, vol. 2 The National Experience., N.Y.: Vintage, p. 335f, ISBN 0394703588
- ^ Raymond, J. (1994), The Transsexual Empire, New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, ISBN 0807762725
- ^ Blanchard, R., & Collins, P. I. (1993). Men with sexual interest in transvestites, transsexuals, and she males. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 181, 570–575.
- ^ Money, J. (1984). Paraphilias: Phenomenology and classification. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 38, 164-178.
- ^ The Illustrated Dictionary of Sex: Gynandromorphy
- ^ The Illustrated Dictionary of Sex: Gynemimism
- ^ "The she-male phenomenon and the concept of partial autogynephilia". R. Blanchard - Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 1993.
- ^ Blanchard, R., & Collins, P. I. (1993). Men with sexual interest in transvestites, transsexuals, and she males. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 181, 570–575.
- ^ Money, J. (1984). Paraphilias: Phenomenology and classification. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 38, 164-178.
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