Hermaphrodite: structure of reproductive organs. Hermaphrodite is like

– a congenital disorder of sexual differentiation, characterized by the presence in an individual of two types of gonads (ovary and testis) or gonads of a mixed structure (ovotestis). Clinical manifestations of true hermaphroditism can be different and depend on the predominance of the functional activity of the male or female gonad. Patients with true hermaphroditism may experience a disturbance in the structure of the external genitalia (small penis, hypospadias, cryptorchidism, clitoral hypertrophy), gynecomastia, bisexual body type; menstruation, ovulation and spermatogenesis are possible. The diagnosis of true hermaphroditism is established on the basis of examination of the genital organs, ultrasound of the gonads, examination of the level of sex hormones, determination of the karyotype and biopsy of the gonads. Therapeutic tactics are determined by the psychosexual orientation of patients and consist of removing the gonads of the opposite sex and conducting hormonal therapy.

On the side of the testicle, the epididymis and vas deferens are usually formed; on the opposite side, a unicornuate uterus and fallopian tube develop. The vagina may be well developed and open into the perineum, along the midline of the scrotum, or into the posterior urethra. As a rule, the ovaries are positioned correctly; ovulation occurs in 25% of patients with true hermaphroditism.

During puberty, signs of virilization or feminization may be observed; secondary sexual characteristics of both sexes are often present (bisexual body type, gynecomastia, low timbre of voice, male-pattern hair growth). Half of patients experience menstruation; in the male phenotype, monthly bleeding is manifested by cyclic hematuria. Patients with true hermaphroditism may have problems with gender identity and social adaptation; tendency towards bisexuality, homosexuality, transsexuality, transvestism.

Diagnosis of true hermaphroditism

In order to confirm or exclude the diagnosis of true hermaphroditism, patients should be consulted by an endocrinologist, urologist, gynecologist, or geneticist. During a physical examination, the development of the external genitalia and the severity of secondary sexual characteristics are assessed. Palpation of the scrotum area, vaginal or rectal examination, ultrasound of the pelvic organs and adrenal glands are performed.

True hermaphroditism must be differentiated from false hermaphroditism, gonadal dysgenesis (Klinefelter syndrome). For this purpose, determination of sex chromatin, karyotyping, study of hormone levels (testosterone, estrogens, FSH, 17-ketosteroids in daily urine), other tests and samples are carried out. A definitive diagnosis of true hermaphroditism can only be made after exploratory laparotomy, gonadal biopsy and histological confirmation of the presence of both ovarian and testicular tissue.

Treatment of true hermaphroditism

The issue of assigning a passport gender and the nature of gender education of persons with true hermaphroditism is complex; requires taking into account the karyotype, hormonal status, psychosexual orientation of the patient’s personality and is resolved with the involvement of medical specialists. In most cases, newborns with true hermaphroditism are classified as female and raised as girls, since the activity of the ovarian part of the gonad usually prevails over the testicular part.

Subsequently, taking into account the anatomical, psychological and functional aspects, surgical correction of true hermaphroditism is carried out, including gonadectomy and plastic surgery on the external genitalia. In persons with a passport female gender, all testicular tissue is removed or ovotestis, resection of the clitoris, and vaginal plastic surgery. The problem of excess hair growth is solved using hair removal methods. Subsequently, throughout the entire reproductive age, cyclic administration of estrogen-gestagen drugs is prescribed. When choosing a male passport gender, patients with true hermaphroditism undergo complete removal of ovarian tissue and female genital organs, correction of gynecomastia, formation of the scrotum, and plastic surgery of the penis. From puberty, androgen replacement (maintenance, stimulating) therapy is carried out.

Prognosis of true hermaphroditism

Normal psychosexual development and adaptation of patients with true hermaphroditism in society depends on the correct choice of sex, the correspondence of the phenotype of the chosen gender and self-identification. Typically, patients with true hermaphroditism are infertile, but isolated cases have been described in which individuals with a female and male phenotype, after removal of the ovotestis or gonads of the opposite sex, were able to acquire offspring.

Patients with true hermaphroditism, even after gonadectomy, should remain under close supervision of an endocrinologist to monitor the correctness of hormone therapy. In some cases, such patients need the help of a psychologist, psychotherapist, or sexologist.

Today, a hermaphrodite is a person who has both female and male genital organs. This definition can, in principle, be considered correct, but it is far from the only one. Therefore, below we will talk about who a hermaphrodite is and why he received such a name.

Hermaphrodite in mythology

The word hermaphrodite appears in Greek mythology. That was the name of one of the characters, who was the son of the god Hermes and the goddess Aphrodite.

We are seen as deformed, somehow deficient anatomically, and so the way to correct this is to group us into what they deem an acceptable format, rather than allowing us to exist in society. When Ruth Spencer gave birth two years ago in the East Midlands, her midwife told her she was having a boy. He was checked by a pediatrician; Ruth and her husband received paperwork for a birth certificate. But as they were about to be released, the receptionist approached their booth.

Is the world finally waking up to off-season rights?

She asked where the birth certificate letter was written. It was our first child, it was such an amazing experience - and then they just pulled the rug out from under us. We told the family we were having a boy and we named him. Luke was born at 30am and they didn't tell us anything until 4pm. It was two more days before Luke had his ultrasound; While the Spencers waited, each new shift of midwives asked them if they were having a boy or a girl. Simple things like that could make it a lot easier, Ruth recalls.

This young man, at the age of 15, went to travel the world and, while bathing in the spring of the nymph Salacida, fell in love with her. Their feelings were mutual, and the nymph persuaded the gods to unite their destinies forever. Thus their bodies and souls merged together. Since then, a legend has appeared that every person who bathed at least once in this source himself became a hermaphrodite, if not in physical terms, then certainly in moral terms. And from then on, it became customary to call all simultaneously living bisexual creatures by the name Hermaphroditus.

Prevention of hermaphroditism in a child

Luke is now two, and the family still doesn't have a diagnosis. He had two surgeries: one was medically necessary to preserve his fertility; the other was done to avoid future discomfort for him, Ruth says. Getting out of the procedure was not easy. I trust all these doctors and yet there are such conflicting opinions about what to do. We were able to leave all treatment as long as possible so that we could attract him. It was just, this is what we're going to do. Anomaly, disorder, problem - these are all the words that are thrown at you.

Who is a hermaphrodite today?

Today, a hermaphrodite is a creature that has both male and female sexual characteristics. Most often this is the name given to a person who is a bisexual being. This structure of the human body is abnormal and is quite rare. It is a consequence of disruption of the hormonal system and the functioning of DNA chains in the body. Abnormal hermaphroditism occurs not only in humans, but also in developed animals, such as monkeys.

This does something wrong. It may not be the standard, but it is still nature. She sighs. "It's such a huge decision." In theory, parents like Ruth and Juliet should be given specialist mental health support to help them make these decisions, but provision across the country is patchy and underfunded. Even where experienced psychologists are available, they are stretched thin.

She says almost every family she meets has felt shame or embarrassment after their treatment in the maternity ward. While tests and surgical techniques have changed over the course of her career, she still hears parents describing "the same problems, the same worries, the same time purgatories" as 20 years ago.

Moreover, such hermaphroditism can be of two types:

True. Characterized by the presence of male and female genital organs at the same time. In such a situation, as a rule, only one genital organ is left at the request of the patient.
False. In this case, there is a significant contradiction between gender (external signs) and the psychological perception of one’s self (internal signs). That is, a man feels like a woman and vice versa. In this case, either long-term psychiatric treatment or gender reassignment is required.

What is a hermaphrodite in the natural world?

Back in school, during biology lessons, we were told about dioecious, polyecious and monoecious plants. So, monoecious plants are natural hermaphrodites. But not only plants can be hermaphrodites; they are also some species of fish, coelenterates, crustaceans and even insects.

Disorders of gonadal differentiation

In Bristol, Alderson works with a multidisciplinary team of surgeons, geneticists and endocrinologists. Her role is to invite families to think. All very well-intentioned, passionate and caring healthcare professionals have strong views about what is right and present options for all treatments in a way that is best. People do not feel like they are making a decision: it is very easy to accept what is offered and what seems recommended.

By creating such natural hermaphrodites, nature made sure that these species could create their offspring independently.

Hermaphroditism is a rather mysterious phenomenon and the exact reasons for its development are not clear to medical scientists even today. The existence of hermaphrodites has been known since ancient times. According to legend, the first of them was the bisexual son of Hermes and Aphrodite.

Females give their verdict

And how long can the operation last? Parents may hope that surgery will allow their children to be more comfortable in their bodies, but a child raised to have a positive personality about being different may be safer than one who is scarred and needs regular hospital care checks, she claims. Any surgery for these kinds of problems is a bit of a compromise - you're trying to include parents and manage their expectations, making them realize that we can't achieve normalcy, no matter how much we want or how hard we try.

There are many known cases of this pathology in animals, but sometimes a similar phenomenon occurs in humans. Depending on which gonads predominate, have an advantage in their importance, certain female or male characteristics appear. This applies to:

external genitalia;
mammary glands;
voice timbre;
hairline.

The predominance of male or female gonads even affects the manner of behavior or gait, the level of psycho-emotional sensitivity, and character. The most common is true hermaphroditism, leading to infertility, disruption of psycho-emotional balance, and sometimes even to inappropriate and immoral human behavior.

Nichols' words may be framed in terms of "abnormalities" and "problems," but he says most parents consider sexual development disorders. Surgeons are under constant pressure from parents to “figure it out.” They want their child to be normal. They want the problem to go away. This is absolutely understandable. But the more severe your abnormality, the more difficult it is to achieve satisfactory results.

If surgery is successful enough for people to pass as their chosen gender without any complications, they don't want to broadcast what they had, Nichols points out. We don't tend to hear from people who are doing very well. You heard a lot from people who had a lot of problems. These are problems mainly with sexual function and the need for further surgery as the child gets older. These refer to procedures that were done a while ago, which are probably a little different from what many of us do now.

Obvious signs of hermaphroditism are the discrepancy between the established sex of a person and its characteristics, more precisely:

the presence of well-developed mammary glands in men;
deformation of the penis;
formation of the genital organs in a man according to the female type;
the presence of male external genitalia in women;
amenorrhea associated with the absence of the uterus and appendages;
the presence of a full vagina and a significantly enlarged (to the size of the penis) clitoris;
the presence of a so-called “blind” vagina and displacement of the urethra.

How then can you correctly determine the gender of a person – a hermaphrodite?

We like to think that we cause less scarring, fewer problems down the road, but we won't know for 20 years. Mark Woodward, a pediatric surgeon and urologist who works with Nichols, agrees. A small group of people who have had surgery and are understandably unhappy will distract from the true picture of the whole mass of people who were not unhappy. Based on this, it is difficult to write off the operation.

Surgery in infancy is easier than later in life, says Woodward: the tissue is easier to work with and heals better, and the distances to the bridge are shorter. Performing the surgery before the child remembers the trauma prevents them from having to go through it as a teenager. Additionally, no one has experience working with young people old enough to give informed consent.

In some cases, the patient goes to a medical facility with a suspected inguinal hernia, but during the examination it is discovered that the testicles are located in the depths of the enlarged labia.

According to scientists, this pathology is caused by a genetic failure and is the reason that a person has both male and female secondary sexual characteristics. Researchers distinguish two types of disease:

If everyone is now too worried about these kids doing the wrong things and we say, “Let's leave it until they're 15,” who's going to do the surgery? It will not be a pediatric urologist. It's not like there's a generation of surgeons out there who will have any experience with this very niche surgery. Surgeons are becoming less experienced, if anything. There is not enough research and too few cases to draw meaningful conclusions about the well-being of intersex children who do not have surgery.

Deciding not to work with a child has some consequences, just like choosing to have surgery: raising a child with an ambiguous anatomy in a world where binary understandings of gender are still not easy. At the moment, both options are available to UK parents: opt out or opt for surgery. And while a ban on "normalizing" surgery is not imminent, the intersex rights movement is already influencing medical attitudes and surgical decisions, with a growing number of British parents beginning to choose not to have any surgery for their children.

true or natural hermaphroditism;
false.

The emergence of both forms is caused by a process during which, even during the intrauterine development of the fetus, genes and chromosomes change, they mutate and a disruption in hormonal balance occurs in the body of the mother or fetus.

Hermaphroditism in humans, otherwise known as bisexuality, occurs in both men and women. And in both cases it can be true or false. Only a highly qualified doctor can make a final diagnosis and prescribe an adequate solution.

Doctors told Tanya she was having a girl, but wrote in her notes that Clara was “ambiguous.” Darts was sent to Great Ormond Street Hospital, where they met a psychologist and an endocrinologist. They explained it so well. The option was there, but as they explained to us, it was very clear that we could leave it. They know there are big challenges ahead for Clara. They haven't decided how or when they will tell her. "We're following the advice from the hospital that it should be a very gradual process, starting from when we think it's best," Tanya says.

True bisexuality

Ambisexuality, bisexuality, or true hermaphroditism is quite rare. According to statistics, this is only 1 case per 10 thousand newborn babies. In this case, germ cells of both sexes will be detected in the body immediately after birth, and a visual examination will reveal the presence of sexual characteristics inherent to both sexes.

They know that Clara will never be able to get pregnant and explained to her that some women cannot have their own children and can adopt if they want. Clara thinks that sounds very kind. But their biggest concern is how Clara might be perceived in a world that is inexorably different. Why does stigma exist? Tanya pauses. I want as many people as possible to know about these conditions. I hope there will be a day in my daughter's life when everyone knows about intersex and it's not a big deal.

In the first word, the word "sex" was replaced by the word "sex". . Here's the extended interview. When did you first discover your interest in intersex people and the biology of sexual development? In this case, it was more like people would say it's just common sense - if your clit is sticking out that much, you should fix it. Or, if the penis is truly too small, it should be larger. Otherwise, what kind of life will this child have? There were many patients and it was always the same discussions.

Bisexuality determines the presence of both male and female gonads in the patient’s blood. True hermaphroditism can be:

Bilateral, when at the location of the gonads on both sides there is either an ovotestis, containing tissue cells of both gonads, or an ovary and a testicle. Moreover, the ovotestis, like the ovary, is located in the abdominal cavity, and the testicle is in the inguinal canal or descends into the scrotum.
Unilageral - on one side there is an ovotestis, and on the other there is an ovary or testicle.
Lateral is characterized by the absence of ovotestis, but there is an ovary on one side and a testicle on the opposite side.

The peculiarity of such gonads is that the ovaries can be full, and the testicles completely lack the process of producing sperm. Androgens and estrogens in these cases are produced normally, secondary sexual characteristics are mixed. Hermaphroditism in humans is a rather rare phenomenon, whereas in the nature around us it is characteristic of many living beings, fungi, and plants.

And it was mainly about contracting the clitoris. He has a book called Herculinus Barbinus. It basically tells the story of this girl who apparently has a big clit. She goes and gets sexually aroused when she sleeps in other girls' beds, as was normal for girls. She goes to this religious institution for girls until eventually someone finds out and then it's a big scandal.

Hermaphroditism in nature

She becomes a pariah and she commits suicide. The definition of normal has always been an obsession of mine. How do you determine what is abnormal versus normal? But why did you decide to study intersex issues for the rest of your career?

For example, for worms to reproduce, one individual is enough, in the body of which there are germ cells of both sexes. This pathology is so rare that during the entire period of observation and research, only two hundred similar cases were recorded. Much more common is another pathology associated with the presence of gonads of one sex and secondary sexual characteristics of the other. This is false hermaphroditism.

My scientific bent was excited about this because not only did it understand a rare condition that makes people different, all these social aspects, but it also has scientific implications in the basic developmental biology of a man or a woman. Always in biology you want to look at the exception to understand the general. Thus, understanding intersex people forces us to understand how typical males and typical females develop.

So what has your research overall been able to say about the development of sex? We have identified new molecular mechanisms of sex determination. In reality it is probably more complicated. What we have shown is that making a man, yes, activates some male genes, but also inhibits some anti-male genes. It's a much more complex network, a delicate dance between pro-male and anti-small molecules. And these anti-male molecules may be pro-women, although that's harder to prove.

Pseudobisexuality in women

If true hermaphroditism presupposes the presence of a testicle and an ovary in the patient’s body at the same time, then false hermaphroditism is a condition in which the structure of the genitals and their appearance inherent in one or another sex does not correspond to the gender of the gonads. The cause of hermaphroditism in women can be intrauterine virilization of the fetus. Is it possible:

Pure gonadal agenesis syndrome

You seem to be describing a shift from the prevailing view that female development is the default molecular pathway for active pro-male and anti-male pathways. Are there also pro-female and anti-antigenic pathways? The presence of a testicle defines masculinity, and the absence of a testicle defines femininity. The ovary is not sex determining. It will not affect the development of the external genitalia.

So if you combine these two paradigms, you have a molecular basis that is likely to be a factor, a genome, which is a determining factor for determining the testis, and it is a gene determining a gene, so the field based on that is really focused on identifying factors , determining factors. However, we found that these are not simply factors that determine the pro-test.

if there is a tumor in the mother’s body that produces or stimulates the production of androgens (male sex hormones);
the second reason is the woman’s regular use of medications that increase the level of androgen production;
the third is congenital dysfunction of the adrenal cortex, which is responsible for the stable production of progesterone and other hormones.

This pathology can be inherited. If it is present, the formation of the gonads proceeds correctly and the ovaries do not differ and there are no developmental disorders. Secondary sexual characteristics have characteristics of both male and female. The severity of the changes depends on how high the degree of mutation is. This may be a slight enlargement of the clitoris, or it may have formed genitals in appearance and size that do not differ from those of men.

Additional signs of pathology can be considered the presence of well-developed muscles, a rough voice, and increased secondary hair growth in the fairer sex. Often such women perceive themselves as a man, and others treat them the same way. Much more dangerous is the situation in which, even in the delivery room, immediately after birth, a child is assigned male gender in accordance with his external sexual characteristics, but only over time it turns out that his gonads are ovaries. Living for some time in ignorance, such a person voluntarily classifies himself as a passive homosexual.

False bisexuality in men

Male pseudohermaphroditism is a pathology in which a man has male gonads and female external genitalia. There are two forms of this pathology:

hypospadias, which is characterized by abnormal development of the urethra;
cryptorchidism, when abnormal development is characteristic of the male gonads (testicles).

If true hermaphroditism is extremely rare, and a case where a patient had full female and male genital organs at the same time has not been described at all, then false bisexuality occurs quite often in both women and men. Hermaphroditism presupposes infertility, but healthy women are carriers of the genome capable of passing it on. In men, the pathology manifests itself in the form of androgen insensitivity syndrome.

The tissues of the male body become insensitive to androgens (male sex hormones), and sensitivity to estrogens (female hormones), on the contrary, increases noticeably. Despite the fact that the patient looks like a woman, he has:

the vagina is completely absent;
despite the presence of female genital organs, there is no menstruation, since there is no uterus;
the mammary glands are quite enlarged (developed according to the female type);
Secondary hair growth is insignificant or completely absent.

The main distinguishing feature is the incorrect location of the testicles. They are not located in the scrotum, but in the inguinal canals. They can be found deep in the labia majora or in the abdominal cavity.

Feminization of the patient may be complete or incomplete. This depends on how high or low the level of sensitivity of the male body tissues to androgens is. In cases where a doctor diagnoses Reifenstein, the patient has genitals that are almost completely outwardly consistent with being normally developed, full-fledged and functional.

Types of false hermaphroditism

There are three types of false hermaphroditism in men:

feminizing, in which the patient has a female body type;
virile – typically masculine physique;
eunuchoid - the mammary glands are undeveloped, but there is no secondary hair growth and the timbre of the voice is greatly changed.

Turning to specialists for the treatment of hermaphroditism is caused by discomfort and the patient’s desire to achieve a match between the inner world and the existing appearance. The possibility of surgical treatment is often determined by the patient’s gender, but in some situations (with minor defects of the external genitalia) correction is possible.

In any case, therapy is strictly individual, and according to the doctor’s decision, the patient may be prescribed hormonal drugs and drugs that stimulate the function of the pituitary gland. It is important to regularly attend psychotherapeutic classes and communicate with a psychologist. Diagnosis and treatment of this pathology must be carried out in early childhood, which places a huge responsibility on pediatricians.

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There are many actions that people perform automatically, without thinking about a particular issue. For example, when filling out a questionnaire, a person automatically provides information about gender, age, race, etc.

For many people, the concept of gender does not bring any doubt that a woman is feminine and a man is masculine. But not everything is so categorical, as it seems, because there is a group of people who do not fit into the general framework.

These are hermaphrodite people and for them such a point in the questionnaire is a big question that is not so easy to answer. Let's try to figure out who hermaphrodite people are, what they look like and how they differ from others.

Hermaphrodites are individuals who have sexual characteristics of both sexes, i.e. both women and men. In relation to hermaphrodites, it is also customary to use the definition “androgyne”, translated from Greek meaning “aner” - man, “gyne” - woman.

The concept of hermaphroditism originates from ancient Greek legends. When the son of the gods Aphrodite and Hermes was born, the boy was given such a big name as Hermaphrodite, which was coined from the two names of his parents (Phrodite from Aphrodite and Herma from Hermes). At the age of fifteen, a nymph who lived in the water fell in love with the young man; he, too, was inflamed with reciprocal passion and asked the gods to unite them into one; the gods fulfilled his request. This is how the first hermaphrodite appeared.

And already in the Middle Ages, this kind of sexual metamorphosis was considered to be the work of evil spirits, and according to the inquisitorial practice of the 16th–17th centuries. cases of persecution of hermaphrodites were identified. For example, in the 16th century in Darmstadt, a baby of dubious gender was baptized, who was given the name Elizabeth, and then John, after which John again turned into Elizabeth, who, in order to prevent such transformations, was burned at the stake.

Features of body structure

It is known that every human embryo transforms into a male or female fetus, and during development in the uterus has a natural tendency to take on female flesh or is subject to changes based on chromosomes, which determine the sex of the unborn baby. However, one should not exclude genetic and hormonal reasons that can influence the development process of an embryo or fetus and lead to the birth of a non-standard baby.

In some animal species, hermaphroditism is the norm; in humans, the situation is different, and such pathology is primarily a violation of sexual differentiation. Despite the fact that this phenomenon is quite rare among people, it still has a certain percentage of the risk of improper development of the human body in our time. According to statistics, such a pathology occurs in one out of two thousand newborns.

A hermaphrodite is a person whose body may contain the genitals of a man, and the breasts of a woman, and instead of the ovaries, there may be a mixture of tissues from them and from the testes. It is very difficult to determine gender based on such features of the human body, because hybrid tissue is not capable of synthesizing hormones, since it does not have eggs and follicles, therefore hermaphrodites cannot reproduce and live in a life of sexual uncertainty.

It is also possible to have mixed external genitalia if the gonads are formed correctly according to the female or male type.

The difference in the first and second cases is explained by the types of hermaphroditism:

true hermaphroditism;
pseudohermaphroditism.

It happens that a person is born with both a penis and a vagina, that is, with full-fledged female and male genital organs, while having both ovaries and testicles. But these individuals still do not have the ability to reproduce, since their genitals are inactive.

To date, there is only one such case, which was described in The New York Journal of Medicine.

One interesting human individual (hermaphrodite) had both full-fledged genitals, ejaculated sperm and experienced menstruation, and was also able to have normal sexual relations with both a man and a woman. This amazing phenomenon came to light during the arrest of a twenty-eight-year-old woman for prostitution.

Pseudohermaphroditism

Pseudohermaphroditism represents the following cases:

when the genitals of both men and women are formed in such a way that they externally resemble the genitals of the opposite sex, while their internal structure is normal;
a hermaphrodite woman faces the problem of developing the clitoris, it grows to enormous sizes, to the point that it is mistaken for the penis;
in hermaphrodite men, the scrotum and testicles are retracted inside and become like two folds of skin that resemble the labia;
There are known cases in which men, as a result of accidental testicular atrophy, exhibited external feminine characteristics (for example, a female figure and appearance).

Causes of the disease

The following reasons can lead to the birth of a child with signs of a hermaphrodite:

The desire to recover and get rid of such a disease for many people is accompanied by severe psychological shocks, because in fact, gender adjustment is their second birth in a completely different body. The life of hermaphrodites in a new capacity can be real torture, so the help of a psychologist in this case is mandatory.

However, not every person with such a problem is able to pay for quality medical care, and therefore continues to live with signs of hermaphroditism. He constantly faces problems such as: replacement of documents, transfer to another educational institution, medical care, etc. And yet this may seem like a trifle before later life, because a person must adapt to think about his personality, develop and not lose his sense of self-esteem.

The lives of famous hermaphrodites

During the existence of the first hermaphrodites on earth, fate was cruel to them. In the Middle Ages, people with deviations from the norm were subjected to extermination, and bisexual people were treated with particular cruelty.

Eg , Antide Collas, declared a hermaphrodite in 1559, was imprisoned and examined by doctors. They could not explain the reasons for such an abnormal state of her body and she was accused of having entered into a relationship with Satan, for which she was burned.

A few years later, a law was put forward that people with such characteristics could exercise the right given to them and declare the choice of one flesh, but without changing their decision subsequently.

Attitudes towards hermaphrodites often depended on their family status. An example of this is the life of Charles de Beaumont, Chevalier d'Eon, also known as Genevieve de Beaumont and Mademoiselle d'Eon. This man was a pseudohermaphrodite and had a significant influence on the politics of France in the 18th century. He chose the gender of a man, lived for 82 years, and did not show interest in any of the women; he had the same attitude towards men, because his true gender was a mystery to him. Despite the fact that Charles made a huge contribution to politics, for unknown reasons he was exiled and lived in London as a woman, but after an examination by the royal doctor, who declared his gender female, he was allowed to return with the condition of taking vows of monasticism.

In the 19th century There were attempts by scientists to figure out the phenomenon of hermaphroditism, but diagnosing this disease turned out to be difficult. For example, an American from a wealthy family, Marie Dorothy, was raised as a woman, despite the fact that she was a hermaphrodite, and only when the issue arose with a will in which a man was declared the heir, doctors began to examine her. Two doctors recognized her as a woman, three as a man, and one as both a woman and a man. The court decided that half of the fortune belonged to the male half of Marie Dorothy.

Very soon, hermaphrodites became popular at outdoor deformity attractions. Public display of body parts was prohibited, so hermaphrodites grew hair on the right side of the body, like men, and shaved the left side, so that she represents a woman's appearance. Famous hermaphrodite actors of the time were: Diana/Edgar, Donald/Diana and Bobby Cork.

In 1966, the hermaphrodite Bill Raskam, who later became a woman and took the name Renee Richards, gained fame thanks to big-time sports and the scandalous defense of his own rights, as the topic was raised about the gender discrepancy of several participants in an athletics competition, which is why the European sports The federation decided to conduct special tests. In order not to undergo a humiliating procedure, many athletes stopped participating in competitions, while others easily agreed, believing that any manifestations of hermaphroditism would only give them popularity.

Renee Richards also decided to participate in the tennis tournament, but refused to take tests to determine the real gender of the participants in the competition and brought the matter to court. However, she still had to undergo the examination, since it was not limited to one physical examination and was based solely on the results of analyzes of chromosomal cells of the oral mucosa. Renee Richards' size was impressive: 80 kilograms of weight and 185 centimeters of height; Thanks to her physical fitness and toughness, she was an excellent opponent for both male and female players and achieved great success in her sporting life.

Another famous hermaphrodite of our time is South African runner Caster Semenya, who resisted the American Federation's decision to ban people with hermaphroditism from competing in international competitions. After a series of tests, she was still classified as a woman, she competed, and for a long time no one paid attention to the characteristics of her body.

A huge scandal erupted on August 19, 2009, when Caster Semenya received a gold medal at the World Championships in Berlin in the 800-meter race; many drew attention to the lack of a female athlete’s figure, as well as masculine facial features. But despite everything, the famous runner has secured her status as an athlete and has become the most famous hermaphrodite in sports in recent years.

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Salmacis and Hermaphroditus, 1582 (Bartholomeus Spranger)

The son of the gods Hermes and Aphrodite, as evidenced by his name, he was suckled by naiads in the Idean caves. During the wanderings of Hermaphroditus in his native Caria at the age of 15, a nymph saw him Salmacis was inflamed with love for him. When Hermaphroditus bathed in the spring in which Salmacis lived, she clung to him and asked the gods to unite them forever. He fell in love with her. The gods fulfilled her wish, and they merged into one being. According to legend, everyone who drank from this source suffered the fate of Hermaphrodite - if not literally, then at least in the sense that he became painfully feminine.

Salmacis Salmatia - a nymph who lived near a source where Hermaphroditus once stopped to rest. Hermaphrodite's beloved, in a lake in Caria, merged with him into one being.

The myth about her was expounded by Ovid in Metamorphoses. The girl had a charming appearance, combined with ineradicable laziness. Other nymphs, armed with spears and bows, amused themselves with hunting; Salmacis valued “indestructible peace” above all else. Bathing in a spring, combing her luxurious hair, covering her head with flowers, admiring herself in the mirror of the waters - she did not want any other activities. “Why are you ruining your youth in idleness?” - her friends vying with each other reproached her. But they were not successful.

According to later tradition, the spring at Halicarnassus, where this occurred, contributed to the effeminacy of those who drink from it.

Hermaphrodite, mosaic (North Africa, Roman period, II-III century BC)

At his birth Apollo I wanted him to be a boy and die on the water.
According to some reports, lovers Dionysus

In literature

There was a comedy by Posidippus “Hermaphroditus”.

Hermaphrodites

Hermaphrodites are individuals who have sexual characteristics, both male and female. In relation to such people, they also use the following definition: “androgynic,” which comes from the Greek words “aner” - man and “gyne” - woman.

Mythology(Wikipedia)

Androgyne(ancient Greek ἀνδρόγυνος: from ἀνήρ “husband, man” and γυνή “woman”) - an “ideal” person, endowed with external characteristics of both sexes, combining both sexes or devoid of any sexual characteristics.

In mythology androgynes are mythical ancestor creatures, first humans, combining male and female sexual characteristics, less often - asexual. Because the androgynes tried to attack the gods (they became proud of their strength and beauty), the gods divided them in two and scattered them throughout the world. And since then, people are doomed to search for their other half.
In his dialogue “The Symposium,” Plato tells the myth of androgynes, the ancestors of people who combined male and female characteristics. Like the titans, androgynes were terrible in their strength and encroached on the power of the gods. Zeus decided to cut them in half, thereby reducing their strength and arrogance by half. The basis of this myth may have ancient origins, but in Plato’s presentation the myth resembles more of a parody of etiological myths, and in fact serves as an introduction to the doctrine of Eros (it is Eros that unites the separated halves of androgynes). Further description becomes more comical: androgynes had a rounded spherical body, their back did not differ from the chest, there were four arms and legs, on the head there were two completely identical faces, looking in opposite directions, and two pairs of ears.

Every human embryo transforms into a male or female fetus. During its development in the womb, the human embryo, which has a natural tendency to take on female flesh, is subject to changes based on the chromosomes that determine the sex of the future newborn. Various reasons, including hormonal and genetic disorders, can affect the process of fetal development. Let's consider only two main types of bisexual creatures: true hermaphrodites and pseudohermaphrodites.

Hermaphrodite and nymph Salmacis

True hermaphroditism

In the world of vegetation, an individual often possesses both female and male reproductive organs. The same can be said about some lower vertebrates, such as bivalves, gastropods, earthworms and leeches. But this does not occur either in higher animals or in humans.
Sometimes it can happen that a person is born with a penis and vagina, and even with ovaries and a testicle. But these individuals are not capable of reproduction and always one, or even both, genital organs are inactive.
So far, only one extreme case is known in which a human being is capable of normal sexual relations with both a man and a woman. This person had a penis 14 cm long and a vagina 8.5 cm long. The New York Journal of Medicine wrote that he/she had both ovaries and testicles, experienced menstruation and ejaculated sperm. This amazing phenomenon was discovered when the police arrested a twenty-eight year old woman for prostitution. Some time later, the same person was arrested again, this time for rape!

Pseudohermaphroditism

Often, hermaphrodites are people whose genitals are shaped so that they resemble the genitals of the opposite sex. In such cases, we are dealing with pseudohermaphroditism, which affects both men and women. The structure of their internal genital organs is normal, but the external ones give the impression of organs of the opposite sex. In women, the clitoris develops to such a huge size that it can be mistaken for a penis. In men, the testicles and scrotum change and retract inward in such a way that two folds of skin adjacent to each other remain, reminiscent of the labia.
Some male pseudohermaphrodites retain certain masculine characteristics, such as facial hair and a flat chest, while others have feminine ones! figure. Through a simple operation one can completely get rid of femininity, but such a person will never be able to have a child.
Female pseudohermaphrodites are born much less frequently. From a genetic point of view, their internal structure is the same as that of all women. The individual possesses, for example, ovaries, oviducts, and a uterus, but the external genitalia develop into a penis.
At the moment of birth, not all sexual characteristics that distinguish a man from a woman are formed. Newborns have neither breasts nor body hair, and the torso and pelvis of a male and female child are built identically. It is very easy to make a mistake, since the only key feature by which we distinguish a boy from a girl is the appearance of the external genitalia. And then children are raised as representatives of the opposite sex, which is the cause of many abnormal phenomena, both sexual and psychological.
There are cases where external female signs in a man were only the result of accidental testicular atrophy. Among the ancient Scythians there were many men with female figures. Herodotus and Hippocrates attributed this anomaly to excessive horse riding during puberty.
At the beginning of this century, the American professor Hammond, who studied Indians from the Pueblo tribe in New Mexico, described the men of this tribe who possessed all tertiary female sexual characteristics. Anthropologist Henry Meij, who also studied the Pueblo Indians, said that they had well-shaped breasts, small genitals, high-pitched voices and very modest body hair. In his opinion, such anomalies are artificial and arose during puberty “due to excessive masturbation and horse riding.”

Hermaphrodites in mythology and history

Hermaphrodite and nymph Salmacis - (Francesco Albani)

In Greek mythology, Hermaphroditus was the son of Hermes and Aphrodite. Legend tells that at the age of fifteen he was traveling through Halicarnassus and at the end of his journey he stopped at a lake, wanting to swim. The nymph Salmakis, seeing him naked, fell madly in love with him. However, unable to charm him, she turned to the gods to unite their bodies forever. The prayer was answered, and a bisexual creature appeared in the world. Since then, the lake has gained fame: every couple who swam in it experienced a similar transformation.

Hermaphroditus and Salmacis at the moment of reincarnation, ca. 1516 (Mabuse (1478-1532)

There were many bisexual creatures in Greek mythology. Aesop explained the appearance of such creatures this way: “One night, after staying with Bacchus, drunken Prometheus began modeling human bodies from clay, but made several mistakes...” Thus, androgynists appeared in the world. Plato suspected that for the foreseeable past the human race was composed exclusively of hermaphrodites, each with two bodies, one male, the other female, and two faces on one head. These self-righteous creatures quarreled with the gods, and Zeus, as punishment, divided them into two sexes. Plato explained that the sexual attraction of opposite sexes is based on the desire to reunite the separated halves.

Hermaphrodite, c. 1800 (fresco)

Some medieval Christian theologians believed that Adam was bisexual. Saint Martin of Amboise wrote: "Before the Fall, when man was in a state of innocence, he was self-satisfied like his Creator. He could reproduce and procreate while contemplating his divine body, since he was a spiritual hermaphrodite." However, original sin was the reason that man found himself divided into two halves, which differ not only in appearance, but also in spiritual preferences. Moreover, intelligence and devotion to God are mainly masculine characteristics, while love, admiration, and deification are feminine. The weaknesses and imperfections of each sex can only be corrected through marriage, the sole and fundamental purpose of which is the re-deification of human nature through reunification into one.

Statue of Hermaphroditus. (Pergamon Museum. Berlin)

Many of those who adhered to the theory according to which, together with the end of the world, both halves, both flesh, both sexes would unite in one body, were burned at the stake in the Middle Ages, since a different point of view then prevailed. Even today, Catholic law commands that "the hermaphrodite must decide which flesh predominates in his body to preserve himself according to such declaration."

Fragment of the statue of Hermaphroditus

Fate is cruel for hermaphrodites. Despite their supposedly divine origin, their life was much worse than that of other representatives of the human race. Among many ancient peoples there was a custom of killing children of unspecified flesh immediately after birth. In this way the Greeks sought to preserve the perfection of their own race. For the Romans, such unfortunate people were an evil sign, an unkind omen, and the Egyptians, although they honored such gods as Bes or Ptah, recognized bisexuals as an insult to Nature. At the beginning of our era, the Romans stopped persecuting hermaphrodites, although Titus Livius said that throughout his life he saw many such creatures, but they were all thrown into the river. Some ancients recognized hermaphrodites as the quintessence of perfection and many of the nudes are immortalized in classical works of art.

Fragment of the statue of Hermaphroditus

In the Middle Ages, human characteristics and deviations were subjected to extermination, and bisexual people were persecuted with particular cruelty. According to church teaching, they were in league with the devil, and many died during the Inquisition. The fate of Antide Collas, for example, was typical of that time. Declared a hermaphrodite in 1559 and deprived of her liberty by law, she was examined by several doctors who recognized that her abnormal condition was the result of a relationship with Satan. For her connection with the devil, the unfortunate woman was burned at the stake in the main market of the city.

However, not all hermaphrodites were killed. One could once use a special right and declare one’s choice in favor of one flesh or another, but without the possibility of changing the decision in the future. How difficult it was to apply such a right in practice is well illustrated by the example of Margaret Malor. An orphan, until the age of twenty-one Margaret was convinced that all women were like her, and it was only when she fell ill in 1686 that a doctor from Toulouse made the following diagnosis: “An extremely unusual hermaphrodite, more reminiscent of a man than a woman.”

Hellenistic statue of Hermaphroditus (Lady Lever Art Gallery)

The office of the bishop in Toulouse, on pain of death, ordered Margaret to wear men's clothing. The girl, amazed by this discovery, fled from Toulouse to Bordeaux, where she went to work as a maid for a rich family. But in 1691, a Toulouse who came to Bordeaux recognized her and she became a prisoner. On June 21 of the same year, the municipal court of Bordeaux decided that she should change her name to a man's name - Arno and forbade her to wear women's clothing under pain of flogging.

Having a feminine figure, face, habits and inclinations, Margaret was forced to look for a man's job. “Arno” did not have the physical strength inherent in men, and therefore had to feed himself from alms, by begging. Having somehow managed to get to Paris, “Arno” found the famous doctor, surgeon Savyard, who ultimately made the only correct diagnosis and issued a certificate indicating that the bearer of this, in his physical and mental condition, is much closer to a woman than to to a man. But the doctors and judges did not want to admit their mistakes, and their verdict remained in force until the lawyer, sympathizing with Margaret's torment, convinced the king to intervene in her fate.

The extent to which pseudohermaphrodites were persecuted often depended on the general status of the family to which he/she belonged. An example of this was Charles de Beaumont, Chevalier d'Eon, better known as Genevieve de Beaumont, Mademoiselle d'Eon.

Charles Genevieve Louis Auguste Andre Timothy d'Eon de Beaumont was a pseudohermaphrodite who had a huge influence on the politics of France in the 18th century. It should be emphasized that he was more a man than a woman, lived 82 years and all his life his flesh, his gender remained a mystery. He played the role of a man and a woman with equal success.Husbands sent their wives to him, and fathers sent their daughters, but all their efforts were in vain, because no one could observe even a slight interest in either women or men.

As captain of the dragoons, he showed extraordinary courage at times and, although his friends in arms recognized him as a man, he often discouraged them with his extreme impressionability. Among those who considered Charles a woman was a grenadier captain named Pommereau, who wanted to marry him, as well as the great Beaumarchais himself.

The whole life of the Cavalier d'Eon was extraordinary. Until the age of three he was raised as a girl, but when it was time to study, he entered a military school. As an adult he had a girlish figure, pleasant features and a feminine voice, which did not prevent him from gaining fame as the best swordsman and archer in Europe. Soon the king called Charles to court, because he believed that d'Eon could be used as a secret agent.

Charles was sent to Russia to spy on Queen Elizabeth II. At that time he was introduced as one of her ladies-in-waiting named Lia de Beaumont. One of his most successful undertakings was the organization of the Treaty of Paris. He managed to reach an understanding so useful for France that the English statesman John Wilkes remarked: “This agreement should be called God's Peace, since it does not fit within the boundaries of understanding.”
In 1745, d'Eon got involved in intrigues with the Scots, who were at war with England, and persuaded them to pursue policies useful for France. His role was so great that Beaumarchais once exclaimed: "d"Eon is the new Jeanne d “Arc!”, to which Voltaire replied: “Neither a man nor a woman - and this is precisely the kind of creature de Beaumont is recognized for - should be tested so hard by fate." Later, for unknown reasons, Charles was expelled to London, where he lived as a woman. He was then allowed to return on the condition that he go to a monastery.

d'Eon returned to Paris, where, after an examination, the royal doctor declared him a woman. De Beaumont took the vow of a nun. During the French Revolution, Charles offered his services to the new French government, but they were not used. They say that he ended his life in England as a woman, but she made her living by teaching fencing.

The 19th century saw a breakthrough in an attempt to use scientific principles to understand the amazing phenomenon of hermaphroditism. Diagnosing hermaphroditism is not easy. The difficulty in this can be illustrated by the example of an American woman named Marie Dorothy, who belonged to a very wealthy family, who was dressed and raised like a woman, but was a hermaphrodite. In 1823 it turned out that he was the only heir to a huge fortune. However, the will for inheritance stated that only a man could be the heir.
Marie was examined by several of the most famous doctors of the time. Two of them recognized her as a woman, three others as a man, and the sixth admitted under oath that this creature was both a man and a woman. The case went to court, and the judge announced a truly Solomonic decision: the male half of Marie Dorothy receives half of the fortune.
Another famous figure was Joseph Maso, born in 1830. The parents named the newborn Marie, raised him as a girl until he was twelve years old, then doctors stated that he was a boy. Then the name was changed to Joseph. According to doctors, Joseph's testicles remained in the abdominal cavity. An extremely enlarged clitoris was mistakenly mistaken for a penis. After Mazo's death in 1864, pathologists stated that, despite the male appearance of the head and body, he was, in essence, a woman who had a vagina, uterus and ovaries. Marie/Joseph had countless relationships with women, smoked, drank, and was interested in politics.

During the 19th century, hermaphrodites became extremely popular as monstrosity attractions. Circus directors argued that with a good “fifty-fifty”—another name for androgyny—the success of the show was guaranteed. However, public display of intimate parts of the body, even as a subject of scientific interest, was unconditionally prohibited. In order to somehow satisfy the interests of the public, they came up with a variety of tricks. According to a belief as old as time, the right side of the body is masculine and strong in nature, while the left side is delicate and more feminine. And hermaphrodites allowed hair to grow on the right side of the body, while the left side was carefully shaved. Short, straight hair on the right side of the head contrasted with free-growing long or carefully combed locks on the left side. With the help of special exercises, the right biceps was enlarged. The left side of the face was decorated with makeup, and the left palm and wrist were decorated with a huge amount of jewelry. To achieve full effect, silicone was often injected into the left breast. Some of the hermaphrodites were hugely successful, such as Diana/Edgar, Bobby Cork and Donald/Diana, who performed publicly as early as 1950.

Hermaphrodites and love

Some "fifty-fifty" aroused real passion. Joseph Nilton was such an attractive hermaphrodite that one American soldier left his wife and children for him. Another, François/Françoise Murphy, was raped by a sailor on the New York subway. Evelyn S. changed her gender at the age of 40 and married her own children's governess.

George W. Jorgensen changed his gender in 1952 at the age of 26. The doctor who performed the operation was forced to repeat it six more times, then he prescribed the patient two thousand hormonal injections. After this, George changed his name to Christina and became a cabaret dancer. One pilot sergeant who had an affair with her claimed that Christina had the most beautiful female body he had ever seen.

Hermaphrodites and sports

In 1966, during European athletics competitions, the topic of the real gender of some female competitors was discussed, which forced the European Sports Federation to subject the athletes there to the test. Many wished to stop participating in the tournament so as not to undergo a humiliating procedure. The rest readily agreed, believing that hermaphroditism would only give them popularity.

This happened, for example, with Bill Raskam, a famous ophthalmologist recognized as one of the promising American tennis players. In 1975, at the age of forty-two, Bill Ruskam came out as a woman and took the name Renee Richards. That same year, he decided to compete in the United States Women's Championship. Refusing to submit to tests to determine the real gender of the participants, Renee brought the case to court. It should be recalled that the examination is not limited only to a physical examination, but is based solely on the analysis of chromosomal cells of the oral mucosa.

Rene's dimensions were quite impressive: 185 centimeters in height and 80 kilograms in weight. An excellent opponent for both male and female players, she literally amazed athletes with the power of her backhand. The American Tennis Federation considered this technique to be the most convincing argument in favor of Renee’s male gender and banned her from competing in international competitions. However, Renee played as a woman in the Australian Open.

Now there are several more individuals whose sex is difficult to determine. However, advances in surgery and psychiatry make it possible for such men or women to make an unambiguous decision to change sex. Men become good housewives, and women become priests, soldiers or athletes.
The mother gave birth to either a boyfriend or a daughter that night!

This man has two names, two destinies, two genders: nature created him as a man,
and a woman at the same time. He lived for 30 years as the pretty Khadycha, and then became the courageous Kharis
...Mother Nature also makes mistakes, endowing her child with a male body and a female soul. People have learned to cope with this tragic absurdity with the help of a scalpel - gender reassignment has turned into a surgical operation. But what to do in the case when at birth it is not precisely determined who this time turned out to be: a man or a woman? The choice remains with the person, and often his whole life is not enough for him to understand himself.
The doctors did not know what to tell the woman in labor.

We arrived to visit Kharis Kamalov, who lives in the village of Malaevka, Cherdaklinsky district, Ulyanovsk region, immediately after the New Year holidays.

We knocked on the door of the desired house. “Ah-ah! Come visit us!” - the man looked at us over his shoulder and continued to carefully sweep the floor. He finished cleaning and straightened up. Gray hair, a womanly smooth face - not a stubble, not a pimple, well-groomed hands and strange eyes - black with glitter. “He really looks like a woman!” - this thought made me feel creepy.

But then an elderly woman came out of the room and introduced herself: “Kharis’s wife, call me Nurgalyam.”
Without asking why they came, she sat us down at the table and sent her husband to put the kettle on. “Let's eat Tatar pancakes!” - she explained affably.

It was a real pleasure to communicate with Nurgalyam - cheerful, open. It’s more difficult with Kharis. And even then, he felt that I was stealthily looking at him. Who will like it? But then, when we sat and got used to it, the owner of the house told his amazing story.

Kamalov’s parents also lived in Malaevka. Haris's mother really wanted to have a daughter. The birth went well. “Who do I have?” - asked the woman in labor. The doctors hesitated in confusion: the newborn had both male and female genital organs. Until this day, doctors only read about this in textbooks and told parents: decide for yourself what the baby should be. They agreed to consider the baby a girl and registered her under the name Khadycha.
Khadycha realized early that there was something wrong with her. The mother took her daughter to wash in the women's bathhouse, so the women shied away from the naked child like the plague.

The girl grew up, grew long, fluffy braids, began to wear beautiful dresses, and filled her eyebrows. But in a small village you can’t even hide a sew in a bag.

Yes, Khadycha is pretty and sweet, but she’s just not like everyone else. Guys from neighboring villages came to woo Khadycha. But as soon as they found out about her secret, they turned the shafts. And Khadycha is happy to death! She didn't like guys, but she was interested in girls.

Surprisingly, Khadycha herself was very popular with both men and women. Those round dances revolved around a pretty girl.

At home - lovers, on the street - girlfriends

One day the beautiful Halime came to the village. The guys started spinning around her. Suitors are a dime a dozen! And she liked Khadycha. Soon a rumor spread throughout Malaevka: “There is something between Halime and Khadycha!”
And when Halime settled in Khadycha’s house, fellow villagers literally tormented the guest with questions: “How are you and Khadycha living?” She answered: “We are just friends!”

But Halime was cunning: she fell head over heels in love with Khadycha - as with a man. But Halime did not have the courage to recognize this man as her husband. And the lovers continued to lead a double life: at home - lovers, on the street - girlfriends. Soon such lies became a burden to both of them. Halime ran away.

I met Nurgalyam Khadycha in the village of Yanganaevo, where she came on business. “I talked to her, and there was some kind of excitement in my soul: I liked her, and that’s all! - recalls Nurgalyam. - And these amazing eyes! I was about 30 then, because I was five years older than Khadycha. She buried her husband and her daughter is an adult. I started going to Malaevka to visit. I had relatives there. Here in the evenings there are festivities, Khadycha always plays the harmonica. It's so great! The best! Then the locals told me that it was “double”. At first I was scared, I didn’t even want to see Khadycha anymore. But I soon realized that I loved her.”

The wedding was held at home

Nurgalyam’s romance with Khadycha was short-lived. After a modest home wedding, the wife hinted to her “other half”: “What is the reason for you to remain a woman?” Relatives also advised Khadycha to call herself by a man's name and put on trousers - they say that those around her will not immediately, of course, but in the end they will get used to it.

And Khadycha-Kharis finally made up his mind: he cut his hair short, put on an ironed suit and went out into the street arm in arm with his wife - like an actor on stage! The whole village poured out to see the newlyweds! Kharis blushed and was embarrassed, but he managed.

Kharis turned out to be an amazing husband: affectionate, flexible, understanding. He did all the hard work himself, and also helped his wife in the kitchen. Nurgalyam blossomed before our eyes, literally glowing with happiness. Out of nowhere, envious people appeared among the married couple: either they were irritated by the whole unreality of what happened, or they were biting their elbows for missing out on the groom. And Nurgalyam and Kharis fell more and more in love with each other.

Nurgalyam did not pay attention to the gossip. I was only worried about my daughter, who flatly refused to even meet her mother’s new husband. “Nothing, everything will work out,” she reassured herself.

Years passed before Nurgalyam’s daughter finally agreed to accept her new dad (soon he also became a happy grandfather), and the villagers came to terms with this unusual marriage. Now only evil and heartless people offend the Kamalovs.

Perhaps Kharis was luckier than others: his life turned out to be psychologically and emotionally richer and more intense than that of same-sex intelligent beings. Kharis lives with dignity both as a woman and as a man. Although, in my opinion, Kharis still hasn’t fully figured out who there is more in him.

Hermaphrodites are individuals who have the sexual characteristics of both men and women. In relation to such people, they also use the following definition: “androgynic,” which comes from the Greek words “aner” - man and “gyne” - woman.

Various reasons, including hormonal and genetic disorders, can affect the process of fetal development. Let's consider only two main types of bisexual creatures: true hermaphrodites and pseudohermaphrodites.

Sometimes it can happen that a person is born with a penis and vagina, and even with ovaries and a testicle. But these individuals are not capable of reproduction and always one, or even both, genital organs are inactive.

So far, only one extreme case is known in which a human being is capable of normal sexual relations with both a man and a woman.

This individual had a penis 14 cm long and a vagina 8.5 cm long. The New York Journal of Medicine wrote that he/she had both ovaries and testicles, experienced menstruation and ejaculated sperm.

This amazing phenomenon was discovered when the police arrested a twenty-eight year old woman for prostitution. Some time later, the same person was arrested again, this time for rape!

PSEUDOGERMAPHRODITISM

Hermaphrodites are often people whose genitals are formed so that they resemble the genitals of the opposite sex. In such cases, we are dealing with pseudohermaphroditism, which affects both men and women. The structure of their internal genital organs is normal, but the external ones give the impression of organs of the opposite sex.

In women, the clitoris develops to such a huge size that it can be mistaken for a penis. In men, the testicles and scrotum change and are retracted in such a way that two folds of skin adjacent to each other remain, resembling the labia. Some male pseudohermaphrodites retain certain masculine characteristics, such as facial hair and a flat chest, while others have a feminine figure. Through a simple operation one can completely get rid of femininity, but such a person will never be able to have a child.

Female pseudohermaphrodites are born much less frequently. From a genetic point of view, their internal structure is the same as that of all women. The individual possesses, for example, ovaries, oviducts, and a uterus, but the external genitalia develop into a penis.

At the moment of birth, not all sexual characteristics that distinguish a man from a woman are formed. Newborns have neither breasts nor body hair, and the torso and pelvis of a male and female child are built identically.

It is very easy to make a mistake, since the only key feature by which we distinguish a boy from a girl is the appearance of the external genitalia. And then children are raised as representatives of the opposite sex, which is the cause of many abnormal phenomena, both sexual and psychological.

There are cases where external female signs in a man were only the result of accidental testicular atrophy.

Among the ancient Scythians there were many men with female figures. Herodotus and Hippocrates attributed this anomaly to excessive horse riding during puberty.

At the beginning of this century, the American professor Hammond, who studied Indians from the Pueblo tribe in New Mexico, described the men of this tribe who possessed all tertiary female sexual characteristics.

Anthropologist Henry Meij, who also studied the Pueblo Indians, said that they had well-shaped breasts, small genitals, high-pitched voices and very modest body hair. In his opinion, such anomalies are artificial and arose during puberty “due to excessive masturbation and horse riding.

HERMAPHRODITES IN MYTHOLOGY AND HISTORY

The prayer was heard and a bisexual creature appeared in the world. Since then, the lake has gained fame: every couple who swam in it experienced a similar transformation.

Thus, androgynics appeared in the world. Plato suspected that for the foreseeable past the human race was composed exclusively of hermaphrodites, each with two bodies, one male, the other female, and two faces on one head.

These self-righteous creatures quarreled with the gods and Zeus divided them into two sexes as punishment. Plato explained that the sexual attraction of opposite sexes is based on the desire to reunite the separated halves.

Some medieval Christian theologians believed that Adam was bisexual. Saint Martin of Amboise wrote:

"Before the Fall, when man was in a state of innocence, he was self-satisfied like his Creator. He could reproduce and procreate while contemplating his divine body, since he was a spiritual hermaphrodite."

However, original sin was the reason that man found himself divided into two halves, which differ not only in appearance, but also in spiritual preferences. Moreover, intelligence and devotion to God are mainly masculine characteristics, while love, admiration, and idolization are feminine. The weaknesses and imperfections of each sex can only be corrected through marriage, the sole and fundamental purpose of which is the re-deification of human nature through reunification into one.

Many of those who adhered to the theory according to which, together with the end of the world, both halves, both flesh, both sexes would unite in one body, were burned at the stake in the Middle Ages, since a different point of view then prevailed. And even today Catholic law commands that "the hermaphrodite must decide which flesh predominates in his body and preserve himself according to such declaration."

For the Romans, such unfortunate people were an evil sign, an unkind omen, and the Egyptians, although they honored such gods as Bes or Ptah, recognized bisexuals as an insult to Nature. At the beginning of our era, the Romans stopped persecuting hermaphrodites, although Titus Livius said that throughout his life he saw many such creatures, but they were all thrown into the river. Some ancients recognized hermaphrodites as the quintessence of perfection and many are immortalized in classical works of art.

The fate of Antide Collas, for example, was typical of that time. Declared a hermaphrodite in 1559 and deprived of her liberty by law, she was examined by several doctors who recognized that her abnormal condition was the result of a relationship with Satan. For her connection with the devil, the unfortunate woman was burned at the stake in the main market of the city.

How difficult it was to apply such a right in practice is well illustrated by the example of Margaret Malor.

Being an orphan, until the age of twenty-one Margaret was convinced that all women were like her and only when she fell ill in 1686, a doctor from Toulouse made the following diagnosis: “An extremely unusual hermaphrodite, more reminiscent of a man than a woman.”

The office of the bishop in Toulouse, on pain of death, ordered Margaret to wear men's clothing. The girl, amazed by this discovery, fled from Toulouse to Bordeaux, where she went to work as a maid for a rich family. But in 1691, a Toulouse who came to Bordeaux recognized her and she became a prisoner. On June 21 of the same year, the municipal court of Bordeaux decided that she should change her name to the masculine Arno and forbade her to wear women's clothing under pain of flogging.

Having a feminine figure, face, habits and inclinations, Margaret was forced to look for a man's job. “Arno” did not have the physical strength inherent in men and therefore had to feed on alms, by begging. Having somehow managed to get to Paris, “Arno” found a famous doctor, surgeon Savyard, who eventually made the only correct diagnosis and issued a certificate indicating that the bearer of this, in his physical and mental state, is much closer to a woman than to a man. But the doctors and judges did not want to admit their mistakes and their verdict remained in force until the lawyer, sympathizing with Margaret’s torment, convinced the king to intervene in her fate.

The extent to which pseudohermaphrodites were persecuted often depended on the overall status of the family to which he/she belonged. An example of this was Charles de Beaumont, Chevalier d'Eon, better known as Genevieve de Beaumont, Mademoiselle d'Eon.

Charles-Genevieve-Louis-Auguste-André-Timothée d'Éon de Beaumont was a pseudohermaphrodite who had a huge influence on the politics of 18th-century France.

It should be emphasized that he was more a man than a woman, he lived to be 82 years old, and his true gender remained a mystery all his life. He played the role of a man and a woman with equal success. Husbands sent their wives to him, and fathers sent their daughters, but all their efforts were in vain, because no one was able to observe even a slight interest

Charles was sent to Russia to spy on Queen Elizabeth II. At that time, he was introduced as one of her ladies-in-waiting, named Lia de Beaumont. One of his most successful endeavors was organizing the Treaty of Paris. He managed to reach an understanding so useful for France that the English statesman John Wilkes remarked: “This agreement should be called God's Peace, since it does not fit within the boundaries of understanding.”

In 1745, d'Eon got involved in intrigues with the Scots, who were at war with England, and persuaded them to pursue policies useful for France. His role was so great that Beaumarchais once exclaimed: "d"Eon is the new Jeanne d “Ark!”, to which Voltaire replied: “Neither a man nor a woman - and de Beaumont is recognized as such a being - should not be tested so hard by fate.”

Later, for unknown reasons, Charles was banished to London, where he lived as a woman. He was then allowed to return on the condition that he go to a monastery. d'Eon returned to Paris, where, after an examination, the royal doctor declared him a woman. De Beaumont took the vow of a nun.

During the French Revolution, Charles offered his services to the new French government, but they were not used. They say that he ended his life in England as a woman, but she earned her living by teaching fencing.

Marie was examined by several of the most famous doctors of the time. Two of them recognized her as a woman, three others as a man, and the sixth admitted under oath that this creature was both a man and a woman. The case went to court and the judge announced a truly Solomonic decision: the male half of Marie Dorothy receives half of the fortune.

Another famous figure was Joseph Maso, born in 1830. The parents named the newborn Marie and raised him as a girl until he was twelve years old, then doctors stated that he was a boy. Then the name was changed to Joseph. According to doctors, Joseph's testicles remained in the abdominal cavity. An extremely enlarged clitoris was mistakenly mistaken for a penis.

After Maso's death in 1864, pathologists declared that despite his masculine head and body, he was essentially a woman with a vagina, uterus, and ovaries. Marie/Joseph had countless relationships with women, smoked, drank, and was interested in politics.

During the 19th century, hermaphrodites became extremely popular as monstrosity attractions. Circus directors claimed that with a good "fifty-fifty" - another name for androgynists - the success of the show was guaranteed. However, public display of intimate parts of the body, even as a subject of scientific interest, was unconditionally prohibited.

In order to somehow satisfy the interests of the public, they came up with a variety of tricks. According to a belief as old as time, the right side of the body is masculine and strong in nature, while the left side is delicate and more feminine. And hermaphrodites allowed hair to grow on the right side of the body, while the left side was carefully shaved.

Short, straight hair on the right side of the head contrasted with free-growing long or carefully combed locks on the left side.

With the help of special exercises, the right biceps was enlarged. The left side of the face was decorated with makeup, and the left palm and wrist were decorated with a huge amount of jewelry. To achieve full effect, silicone was often injected into the left breast.

Some of the hermaphrodites were hugely successful, such as Diana/Edgar, Bobby Cork and Donald/Diana, who performed publicly as early as 1950.

HERMAPHRODITES AND LOVE

Some "fifty-fifty" aroused real passion. Joseph Nilton was such an attractive hermaphrodite that one American soldier left his wife and children for him.

Another, François/Françoise Murphy, was raped by a sailor on the New York subway. Evelyn S. changed gender at the age of 40 and married her children's governess. George W. Jorgensen changed gender in 1952 at the age of 26. The doctor who performed the operation was forced to repeat it six more times, then he prescribed two thousand hormonal injections to the patient. After this, George changed his name to Christina and became a cabaret dancer. One pilot sergeant who had an affair with her claimed that Christina had the most beautiful female body he had ever seen.

HERMAPHRODITES AND SPORTS

In 1966, during European athletics competitions, the topic of the real gender of some female competitors was discussed, which forced the European Athletic Federation to subject the athletes to tests. Many wished to stop participating in the tournament so as not to undergo a humiliating procedure. The rest readily agreed, believing that hermaphroditism would only give them popularity.

The American Tennis Federation considered this technique to be the most convincing argument in favor of Renee’s male gender and banned her from competing in international competitions. However, Renee played as a woman in the Australian Open.

South African runner Caster Semenya has become the most famous hermaphrodite in sports in recent years. At first, after a series of tests, she was classified as a woman. No one attached any importance to this then. The flame was rekindled a few months later when Semenya won the 800m gold medal at the World Championships in Berlin on 19 August 2009. It was then that many journalists drew attention, in particular, to the obvious absence of feminine features in the figure and appearance of the athlete.

After this, Semenya underwent a series of tests, which showed that the athlete’s level of the male hormone testosterone was off the charts. However, later, as a result of gender tests, it was proven that Semenya is a woman.