Gender Issues !! Amazing Case study

Hermaphrodite

Below Is a case study of Gender issues:

Hermaphrodites are people or animals who are born with both male and female reproductive organs. The outward physical appearance of human hermaphrodites may skew more toward male or female, but the genitalia and reproductive system will still exist ambiguously.
The term "hermaphrodite" derives from Hermaphroditus, the son of Hermes and Aphrodite in Greek mythology, who was fused with a nymph, Salmacis, resulting in one individual possessing physical traits of both sexes.
Historically, the term hermaphrodite has also been used to describe ambiguous genitalia and gonadal mosaicism in individuals of gonochoristic species, especially human beings.

Different hermaphrodite humans may have different systemic characteristics: Some hermaphrodites will have a both a penis and a vagina, while others will have a phallus that is somewhere between a penis and a clitoris, and partially closed labia.
Human hermaphrodites may or may not have breasts at the same time as having a partial- or full-size penis.
Many hermaphrodites will experience menstrual cycles and bleeding, although infertility is a noted and widespread problem among hermaphrodites.

In the 1600s, a hermaphrodite living as a woman in Scotland was put to death (buried alive) for impregnating "her" master's daughter.
Human hermaphrodites cannot self-reproduce as they are not born with two complete sets of reproductive systems, causing some key elements in biological reproduction to be missing from the equation.

The word hermaphrodite entered the English lexicon in the 15th century, derived from the Greek Hermaphroditos.
Recently, the word "intersex" has come into preferred usage for humans, since the word "hermaphrodite" is considered to be misleading and stigmatizing.

In biology, a hermaphrodite is a plant or animal that has reproductive organs normally associated with both male and female sexes.
Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have separate sexes. In these groups, hermaphroditism is a normal condition, enabling a form of sexual reproduction in which both partners can act as the "female" or "male".

For example, the great majority of pulmonate snails, opisthobranch snails and slugs are hermaphrodites. Hermaphroditism is also found in some fish and to a lesser degree in other vertebrates. Most plants are also hermaphrodites.

True Hermaphrodite :
A true Hermaphrodite is a person who is born with ovary and testicular tissue and this could be taken as two gonads (one of each) or it could be a combination of both the organs in one.

However, the genitalia can differ from a male or female, either in combination or it could also look ambiguous. The chromosome can be referred as XX (female), XY (male), XX/XY (mosaic) or XO (extremely rare).

The XX chromosomes which possess female genitalia are bought up as females and some have also given birth. Similarly, XY with male genitalia are bought up as males and few of them have children who have fathers.

Infants who are born with XX/XY or XO who are born either with male or female genitalia are bought up in the species that they resemble the most. Persons born with ambiguous genitalia have to undergo a lot of medical tests.

These tests are done to allocate them to the respective sex they belong. Once they have assigned the sex they are advised to go through a surgery so that they can start looking more of the sex they belong to an early stage.

Born True Hermaphrodite- A case study :
Lynn Edward Harris, born Lynn Elizabeth Harris, 09/13/50 at 6:12 p.m. P.D.T. in the city of Orange, California, USA, south of the Los Angeles County line.

On November 8th, 1973 at age 23 Harris was clinically diagnosed by a team of specialists as possessing a rare, complex, congenital condition known as "True Hermaphroditism" with undescended, sub-sized ovotestes i.e. "gonadal mosaicism" found in approximately 1-in-25,000 births as mentioned in the report of New England Journal of Medicine, 01-14-98.

Due to ambiguously-formed genitalia at birth [stunted penis; divided scrotum; and vagina], Harris, (mal)assigned "female" by both parents and pediatrician, was raised as such and continued living in said social gender role until age 29 (1979) --- six years after the disclosure of this fixed, irreversible, yet-evolving biological state.

After puberty, minor neurological problems eventually abated. Sexual development remained at a pubertal level while naturally-occurring virilization of secondary characteristics compounded.
As Harris' anatomy had developed clearly along non-female lines i.e. no breasts, no milk glands, no child-bearing hips, no menses, sterility; early beard growth, male vocal chords, male skeletal structure, male musculature, male libido, male genetic patterning, he felt justified to elect to live full-time in the male social gender role beginning February, 1979.

For the following four years (1979 to 1983) he lived in a sexual legal limbo, still carrying the original-and-only, valid female I.D. which now appeared both obsolete and fraudulent. On numerous occasions when asked for proof of identification, he was accused of strangely utilizing a 'counterfeit' or 'stolen' I.D. card belonging to some woman.

Desire for a permanent legal remedy to rectify all I.D., thus making it consistent with his outward persona, had become crucial. The subject approached the Superior Court, County of Los Angeles, wrote his own petition and pled his own case for -
1) a change of middle name from "Elizabeth" to "Edward"; and
2) a re-issued birth certificate changing the sex designation from "female" to "male".

Based upon his unusual, documented medical history, on February 18, 1983 the Court, realizing the case had merit, granted the two-part request by favorably adjudicating Case # 437625. With the judge's signature, Lynn Elizabeth Harris no longer existed: She had become a legal non-entity.

Within a 30-day grace period following the Court proceeding, said change was registered as legally required with the Social Security Administration, the Secretary of State, and the State Registrar of Vital Statistics. State and public agencies, intended to function as "subservient" to the courts, are obligated to enforce and comply with all rulings as handed down.

In a blatant and unconscionable fashion the Vital Statistics Branch dared to supersede the Superior Court and rejected the simple filing of the matter because -- as was stipulated in their California Health and Safety Code -- 'no plastic surgeon's affidavit of surgery had accompanied the approved, submitted petition.'

However, within said code, no clause existed which mandated one's person to 'go under the knife' in order to obtain "characteristics of the opposite sex" -- whatever they may be.
Since any type of "sex reassignment" surgical procedure to define his ambiguous anatomy had never been his objective at any time, in his petition Harris -- even after having investigated the pros and cons -- disavowed any need for possible risk of mutilation, disfigurement, and / or rejection of foreign implants.

Unequivocally, Lynn Edward Harris had proven to the Court -- but not to the Sacramento bureaucrats who, then, designed to issue an amended Birth Certificate reading "Lynn Edward Harris" / "Female" -- that Nature had bestowed upon him "characteristics of the opposite sex" from birth.

Harris, denigrated by this mockery of his civil status, was already making preparations to sue the state and / or approach an Appellate Court for enforcement of his case which had seen prior favorable adjudication.

After a four-month delay, the Chief of the Vital Statistics Branch fully recanted and admitted to having mis-handled the filing from the start.
Finally, the preferred middle name combined with, not an amended, but a brand new Certificate of Live Birth with sex designation listed as "male" was formally issued on June 2, 1983.
All records of the original female middle name and female birth certificate from 1950 were permanently frozen and sealed for life.

This case, which the Vital Statistics Branch could never define in their terms as having "an opposite sex," has gone uncontested and unchallenged by other bureaucratic, legal, and medical authorities.
Subsequently, Harris is presumed to have set the landmark or legal precedent in California, if not the nation, of one's obtaining a legal sex revision without benefit of any cosmetic or reconstructive "sex reassignment"-type surgery.

Lynn Edward Harris is single, resides in Los Angeles, California, leads a mainstream lifestyle and is a devotee of all classic arts, cultural events, antiques, travel, and metaphysics.

The Two Types of Hermaphrodites :
Sequential hermaphrodites (dichogamy) occur in species in which the individual is born as one sex, but can later change into the alternate sex.
This is in contrast with simultaneous hermaphrodites, in which an individual may possess fully functional male and female gonads.
Sequential hermaphroditism is common in fish (particularly teleost fish), many gastropods (such as the common slipper shell), and some flowering plants. While some sequential hermaphrodites can change sex multiple times, most can only change sex once.
Sequential hermaphrodism is important in understanding behavioral ecology and life history theory.

I. Sequential hermaphrodites fall into two broad categories:
(1) Protandry: Where an organism is born as a male, and then changes sex to a female.
+ Example: The clownfish (Genus Amphiprion) are colorful reef fish found living in symbiosis with sea anemones. Generally one anemone contains a 'harem', consisting of a large female, a smaller reproductive male, and even smaller non-reproductive males.
 If the female is removed, the reproductive male will change sex and the largest of the non-reproductive males will mature and become reproductive.
It has been shown that fishing pressure can change when the switch from male to female occurs, since fishermen naturally prefer to catch the larger fish. The populations are generally changing sex at a smaller size, due to natural selection.

(2) Protogyny: Where the organism starts as a female, and then changes sex to a male.
+ Example: wrasses (Family Labridae) are a group of reef fish in which protogyny is common. Wrasses also have an uncommon life history strategy, which is termed diandry (literally, two males). In these species, two male morphs exists: an initial phase male or a terminal phase male.

Initial phase males do not look like males and spawn in groups with other females. They are not territorial. They are, perhaps, female mimics (which is why they are found swimming in group with other females).
Terminal phase males are territorial and have a distinctively bright coloration. Individuals are born as males or females, but if they are born males, they are not born as terminal phase males.

Females and initial phase males can become terminal phase males. Usually, the most dominant female or initial phase male replaces any terminal phase male, when those males die or abandon the group.

II. Simultaneous hermaphrodites
A simultaneous or synchronous hermaphrodite (homogamy) is an adult organism that has both male and female sexual organs at the same time. Usually, self-fertilization does not occur.

- Reproductive system of gastropods:
+ Pulmonate land snails and land slugs are perhaps the best-known kind of simultaneous hermaphrodite, and are the most widespread of terrestrial animals possessing this sexual polymorphism.

Sexual material is exchanged between both animals via spermatophore, which can then be stored in the spermatheca. After exchange of spermatozoa, both animals will lay fertilized eggs after a period of gestation; then the eggs will proceed to hatch after a development period. Snails typically reproduce in early spring and late autumn.

+ Banana slugs are one example of a hermaphroditic gastropod. Mating with a partner is more desirable biologically, as the genetic material of the resultant offspring is varied, but if mating with a partner is not possible, self-fertilization is practiced.
The male sexual organ of an adult banana slug is quite large in proportion to its size, as well as compared to the female organ.

It is possible for banana slugs, while mating, to become stuck together. If a substantial amount of wiggling fails to separate them, the male organ will be bitten off (using the slug's radula).
If a banana slug has lost its male sexual organ, it can still mate as a female, making its hermaphroditic quality a valuable adaptation.

- Hamlets, unlike other fish, seem quite at ease mating in front of divers, allowing observations in the wild to occur readily. They do not practice self-fertilization, but when they find a mate, the pair takes turns between which one acts as the male and which acts as the female through multiple matings, usually over the course of several nights.

- Earthworms are another example of a simultaneous hermaphrodite. Although they possess ovaries and testes, they have a protective mechanism against self fertilization. Sexual reproduction occurs when two worms meet and exchange gametes, copulating on damp nights during warm seasons. Fertilized eggs are protected by a cocoon, which is buried on or near the surface of the ground.

III. Pseudohermaphroditism
Female Hyenas have a clitoris that is greatly enlarged, so much so, that they were described as hermaphrodites – not only by the ancient Greeks, but as recently as the 20th-century circus animal handlers – until scientific information was provided that clarified the misunderstanding.

As in Botany :
Hermaphrodite is used in botany to describe a flower that has both staminate (male, pollen-producing) and carpellate (female, ovule-producing) parts. This condition is seen in many common garden plants. A closer analogy to hermaphroditism in animals is the presence of separate male and female flowers on the same individual—such plants are called monoecious. Monoecy is especially common in conifers, but occurs in only about 7% of angiosperm species (Molnar, 2004).

Famous Stories About Hermaphrodites
1. Plato's Symposium (fiction) - According to Plato, the original perfect human form was hermaphrodite. But when the god, Zeus, decided humanity had gotten too numerous, he split humanity, into male and female parts, causing humans to spend most of their sexually separate lives trying to find each other and rejoin.7

2. Levi Suydam (non-fiction) - In 1843 Salisbury, Connecticut, Levi Suydam tried to register as a Whig voter, but came upon objections that he was, in fact, a she, making it illegal for him/her to vote. To address the objection, Levi was examined by a doctor who clearly saw that he had a penis, and gave the okay for him to vote in the election. Levi did just that, and the Whigs won the election by one vote. Later, it was discovered that Levi had been menstruating and had well-developed breasts.

3. Caster Semenya (non-fiction) - In 2009, South African world champion runner Caster Semenya was questioned about her gender after an amazing running performance, and based on her somewhat masculine features. Semenya, who was raised since birth as a girl, underwent gender identification tests that proved she has breasts, no womb or ovaries, and testosterone levels that are three times higher than most women. The test results verified that Semenya is a hermaphrodite, and eventually she was allowed to return to international women's running competitions.

Raising an Intersexual Child
- Children who are intersexual should be treated without shame in a supportive environment.
- The truth about their sexual characteristics should never be hidden.
- They should be given access to psychologists, clergymen, or other therapists who can held aid the process of becoming comfortable in their own skin.
- There are also online support groups that can connect these children and reduce feelings of isolation.
- Parents may need additional support as well to properly "grieve" the abnormality.
- It helps if these children are given a gender assignment that they can identify with as they age.
- Surgeries done purely for cosmetic benefit should only be performed with the child’s consent when they are old enough to decide. - Surgery done to "normalize" a child has not been documented to save them from future psychological harm.
- Hermaphrodites, or intersexuals, often face confusion, anger, sadness, and social exclusion. However, they are every bit a human being just as much as anyone else, with emotions, desires, motivations, and dreams. Intersexuals can hopefully start being regarded with respect and accepted without shame.

Today's View :
In modern day, many hermaphrodites are "assigned" a gender at birth according to which gender seems to be most dominant. Many human rights groups lobby against such an "assignment", which is often surgically performed and permanent (shortening a phallus or closing up the labia).
Most physicians and people of ambiguous gender in today's world prefer to use the term "intersexual" to refer to hermaphrodites.

Although documented cases of intersexuality in humans have existed since the beginning of humanity, tales of the existence of such people has, at times, passed into myth and lore. Even today, so many people doubt or question the existence that photos of hermaphrodites are widely circulated around the Internet.