User:Lwollert/Shemale
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| This is a Wikipedia user page.
This is not an encyclopedia article. If you find this page on any site other than Wikipedia, you are viewing a mirror site. Be aware that the page may be outdated and that the user to whom this page belongs may have no personal affiliation with any site other than Wikipedia itself. The original page is located at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Lwollert/Shemale. |
Shemale is a pejorative term used against Transsexual Women,[1] in common usage in the pornography industry. It is also used to refer to some transgender or genderqueer people.
Contents |
[edit] Etymology and History
She [ʃi:, ʃɪ], is a feminine pronoun of the third person, nominative case. Male(♂) is the sex of an organism, or of a part of an organism, which typically produces smaller, mobile gametes.
In the early 19th century, she-male was used as a colloquialism in american literature for "Female"[2] Davy Crockett is quoted as using the term in regards to a shooting match, when his opponent challenges Davy Crockett to shoot near his opponent's wife, Davy Crockett replies;[3]
| “ | 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 mean "Masculine Lesbian",[2] although this is no longer common usage.[1]
Janice Raymond used the term in her controversial book, The Transsexual Empire[4] where she challenges that Transsexuals attack femininity.
[edit] Modern Usage
The term 'Shemale' is used as a derogatory term to refer to people who display Female secondary sex characteristics and have Male primary sex characteristics. The term 'Shemale' is also used as a derogatory term that refers to transwomen (male-to-female transgender or transsexual people).
Female secondary sex characteristics include female breasts (usually acquired through hormone replacement therapy and/or through breast augmentation), and may have other female secondary sex characteristics. Male primary sex characteristics usually refer to Male Genitalia, which may function to a varying degree, in particular when hormone replacement therapy is used.
For transsexuals who have not yet undergone Sex reassignment surgery but intend to, "Pre-Op Transsexual" is a more accurate term. For transsexuals who have chosen not to have genital reassignment surgery, "Non-Op Transsexual" is more accurate. However neither of these terms may be acceptable to the person in question.
Many transwomen are offended by the term 'shemale'[5] for one or more of the following reasons:
- because of the word's hateful connotations
- because of the association with the sex industry, like pornography, escorting, and sex party scenes
- because many transwomen who have not undergone genital reassignment surgery want it
- because their gender identity is female, not "male," nor do they feel they are only "half-female."
[edit] in Pornography
The term 'Shemale' (along with tranny, ladyboy and "chick with a dick") is commonly, used in pornography and the sex industry; videos and magazines involving such people are a common sub-genre of pornography. It is often seen by transsexual people as a powerful term of abuse.
[edit] in Anime and Manga
main page: Futanari
The term 'Shemale' is often used in English translations for Futanari, a subtype of hentai. However the most correct term for Futanari is perhaps intersexuals or hermaphrodites.[6] Futanari are most traditionally drawn with both Male and Female reproductive organs, and female secondary sexual characteristics, although there are several modern variations on the theme.[6]
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b she-male. Dictionary.com. Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.6). Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. [1] (accessed: February 19, 2007).
- ^ a b she-male. Dictionary.com. Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, Historian. [2] (accessed: February 20, 2007)
- ^ Boorstin, Daniel J. Part Seven: "Search for Symbols" in: The Americans, vol. 2 The National Experience. N.Y. (Vintage) 1965, pp. 335f.
- ^ Raymond J. The Transsexual Empire (1979 and 1994; reprinted by Teachers College, Columbia University, New York; Editions du Seuil, Paris)
- ^ "What's offensive". Retrieved on 2007-02-19.
- ^ a b "Animeph - Anime and manga vocabulary/lingo/terms/translations". Retrieved on 2007-02-20.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
LGBT-footer LGBT-stub
