The Oxford English Dictionary gives many definitions for the word, the prevailing definition being:
"A human being in which parts characteristic of both sexes are to some extent combined."
By this definition, a hermaphrodite is a physical merging of two different sexes.
A second definition, while identical in theory, paints a less clear cut picture of hermaphrodites.
A second definition, while identical in theory, paints a less clear cut picture of hermaphrodites.
"An effeminate man or virile woman."
This definition suggests characteristics attributed to sex, or more precisely, a merging of gender.
If something is "hermaphroditic" in nature it is "Belonging to or of the nature of a hermaphrodite: combining male and female characteristics" and hermaphroditism is "The condition of a hermaphrodite; coexistence or combination of male or female organs in the same individual." Which brings me to an explanation of where this idea originated.
In P
lato's Symposium, Aristophanes is quoted telling the tale of the hermaphrodite, the "androgynous race," in the classical tradition. He states that our natures started out as not two but three, male, female and "a race whose name still remains though itself has vanished...now it does not exist except for the name that is reserved for reproach." We were, by today's definition, monstrous looking things, with 2 heads, 4 arms, 4 legs and a big ego...we were a bit too big for our britches and Zeus, along with the other gods, decided to cut us in half, leaving the state of humankind separate and always searching for the other half. The only time the halves could feel whole would be through intercourse, the genitalia of one sex fitting the other bringing it all home with our previous definition of "coexistence of male or female organs in the same individual."
Before this gets too too long, let's explore the idea behind the hermaphrodite. The idea: there is a being which possesses a wholeness of men and women, an ultimate understanding, if you will, of both sexes and genders. Within the humanities discipline it is understood that we are cultivating and educating the "moral imagination," the bridge between Us and the Other. If this bridge is made, it is assumed we can understand anything foreign through imagination. The idea of the hermaphrodite removes the need for that bridge, the wholeness of knowledge as viewed by different genders already present.
Is it possible? Can such an understanding of men or women occur in the opposite sex? Not a secular knowledge but a personal knowledge, a knowledge of the Other based upon self, not a textbook. I know what I think, what about you?!
If something is "hermaphroditic" in nature it is "Belonging to or of the nature of a hermaphrodite: combining male and female characteristics" and hermaphroditism is "The condition of a hermaphrodite; coexistence or combination of male or female organs in the same individual." Which brings me to an explanation of where this idea originated.
In P
lato's Symposium, Aristophanes is quoted telling the tale of the hermaphrodite, the "androgynous race," in the classical tradition. He states that our natures started out as not two but three, male, female and "a race whose name still remains though itself has vanished...now it does not exist except for the name that is reserved for reproach." We were, by today's definition, monstrous looking things, with 2 heads, 4 arms, 4 legs and a big ego...we were a bit too big for our britches and Zeus, along with the other gods, decided to cut us in half, leaving the state of humankind separate and always searching for the other half. The only time the halves could feel whole would be through intercourse, the genitalia of one sex fitting the other bringing it all home with our previous definition of "coexistence of male or female organs in the same individual."
Before this gets too too long, let's explore the idea behind the hermaphrodite. The idea: there is a being which possesses a wholeness of men and women, an ultimate understanding, if you will, of both sexes and genders. Within the humanities discipline it is understood that we are cultivating and educating the "moral imagination," the bridge between Us and the Other. If this bridge is made, it is assumed we can understand anything foreign through imagination. The idea of the hermaphrodite removes the need for that bridge, the wholeness of knowledge as viewed by different genders already present.Is it possible? Can such an understanding of men or women occur in the opposite sex? Not a secular knowledge but a personal knowledge, a knowledge of the Other based upon self, not a textbook. I know what I think, what about you?!
