I caught an episode of The Surreal Life last week and one of the guests is Alexis Arquette, she/he is transgender...I was wondering is that when you are born with both sets of genitalia...I am confused about the difference between transexual and transgender, I know transvestite means to dress like the opposite sex, at least I think that's right. Thanks!
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04-02-06, 04:56 PM
juanruiz

quote:
I was wondering is that when you are born with both sets of genitalia.



That's an hermaphrodite. There may be some semantic discussion about transexual and transgendered. Some see them as synonyms, others would say the latter refers to those who have undergone a complete surgical transformation, while transexuals have not.
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04-02-06, 05:32 PM
kittypal
Thank you Juan!
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04-03-06, 06:17 PM
honilov

quote:
both sets of genitalia.

People are born with both? Where are the other one located? Confused
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04-03-06, 10:33 PM
jusork

quote:
Originally posted by honilov:
People are born with both? Where are the other one located? Confused

Male genitals develop from female genitals so there's no such thing as two seperate sets of genitals. Intersexual genitals may look nearly female, with a large clitoris, or with some degree of posterior labial fusion. They may look nearly male, with a small penis, or with hypospadias. They may be truly "right in the middle," with a phallus that can be considered either a large clitoris or a small penis, with a structure that might be a split, empty scrotum, or outer labia, and with a small vagina that opens into the urethra rather than into the perineum.
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04-04-06, 03:07 PM
honilov
Thanks Jusork. I understand better now. I just couldn't imagine a person having both sets. There's a lot of interesting info in the link and I read a lot of it.
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04-04-06, 06:34 PM
kittypal
Thanks Jusork , I thought that there was two complete sets of male and female parts.
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04-05-06, 01:43 PM
Georgia85
Honi, it's not a double set of genitals that they have but rather double reproductive tissue. And Justin, a true hermaphrodite does indeed have both male and female reproductive tissue although both are not visible nor fully functioning. A female hermaphrodite often has undescended testicles while a male hermaphrodite has ovaries. But true hermaphrodites are rare.

What Justin is referring to is Pseudo-hermaphroditism which is a lot more common and refers to ambiguous external genitalia.

Kitty, do you know that Alexis Arquette is the brother of Patricia and Roseanna Arquette? And he intends to have sexual reassignment surgery.
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04-06-06, 12:26 AM
jusork
Ah dang. Thanks, Georgia.
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04-16-06, 06:23 PM
kittypal
Wow Georgia, I didn't know she was realated to them...I looked him up on imdb and she is really cute as a guy.
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08-29-06, 01:05 PM
CaseyMorgan
Sorry to bring up an old post. There are actually multiple definitions of transgendered. These are the definitions as they are actually used in the transgender community.

1) The first definition, and the one used to encompass the whole of the Transgender comunity, is that someone's gender presentation is not necessarily always consistant with their birth sex. Ths definition includes both the part-time crossdresser and the transsexual (two S's) although both groups, ironically, may or may not identify as transgendered in this manner.

2) Transgendered is also an identity for those whose gender is neither completely male nor completely female.

3) Transgendered is used as an identity for some whose gender is the opposite of their sex but who are not seeking or have been denied hormones and surgery. This group alternately identifies as non-op transsexuals depending on the individual.

4) Transgendered is an identity for non-op, pre-op, and post-op transsexuals.

5) Transgendered is used as an encompassing term for all those in definitions 2-4. In this sense it's used to mean that your gender is not the same as your birth sex. This includes people whose gender is "other" and "none".

If Alexis Arquette is considering SRS then he (the proper pronoun, as used by Georgia) is technically transsexual. You would have to ask him how he uses the term trandgendered.

Transvestite also has some confusion but it's a little easier. Transvestite and crossdresser can be synonyms. Some will refuse to use one word or the other depending on their mindset. Transvestite can also mean someone who presents as (appears to be) a member of "the opposite sex" full-time or most of the time.

Incidentally, Intersexed seems to be the preferred word instead of hermaphrodite.
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08-29-06, 06:06 PM
Karrow
No need to apologise for reviving an old thread CaseyMorgan; especially when you are posting relevant information.

Welcome to AnswerPool.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: DorianGreyed,