Is the PC name game the latest victim.... Hermaphrodite.

[Lost in CT]

Apparently Hermaphrodite is now a slur. Now I never received a memo or an Email on this so naturally I am quite surprised...

Now this happens all the time when previous scientific or classical terms are turned into slurs... Most famously in the field of Mental Retardation

Mental deficiency used to be more finely classified using the following technical terms that later began to be abused by the rest of society


IQ Range Classification
70-80 Borderline deficiency
50-69 Moron
20-49 Imbecile
below 20 Idiot

http://www.iqcomparisonsite.com/IQBasics.aspx

Needless to say the bottom three above have entered the popular vernacular as slurs...

But if Hermaphrodite had entered the popular vernacular as a slur I haven't heard it. So who decides that the old name is bad and who decides what the new name should be? In this case it seems a handful of squeaky wheels calling themselves advocates are trying to shame well meaning doctors into switching to a new term Intersex, which IMHO is hardly an improvement. In fact a simple argument could be made that the new term is more likely to cause confusion and harassment than the well understood classical term.

http://www.heu.org/~DOCUMENTS/Equity_08/PP_Fall08.pdf

INTERSEX
Someone born with a combination of male and female anatomy. Formerly called “hermaphrodite”, intersex is now the preferred term. About four per cent of all newborns are intersex to some degree. Many are operated on shortly after birth and labeled either male or female. This surgery is not medically necessary; it reflects the dominant belief that there can only be two exclusive genders.


Now name changes are often political... hence the fights between Illegal Alien and Undocumented Worker or Between Myanmar and Burma.

But I am sure academics and the media not wanting to offend even a small group will quickly agree to change the name to intersex and in a small way our language will be less rich for it.

So why do I care? I am not an intersex (see that sounds awful). Why shouldn't people be able to choose their own labels?

Well I think some people change words out of pride but I think more people change words out of shame. There is nothing shameful about being a hermaphrodite. Hey its the way God made you and if the greek root is any hint God's been making them for some time now. Changing the name implies to me that their is something shameful about the condition and that just seems wrong....

It's a bad message sent by a few misguided people who in an attempt to insult no-one end up insulting the exact people they proclaim to be representing....


And to me that is a fucking shame. Maybe it's not to late to get rid of Intersex and stick with the more poetic hermaphrodite. We ought to draw the line somewhere. This seems as good a place as any.

[YOY]

1. Damn you amoebaesque asexual people!

n/t

[Cronus Protagonist]

2. Yeah. and there's nothing shameful about being a ********

...so why do "you *******'s" need to steal another perfectly good word from the mouths of others?

This argument has been applied to gays, blacks, Jews and so forth for decades. It's not new for someone to posit such an argument, but I, for one, am certain that the list of words where this 'complaint' can be applied is almost full to the brim and hopefully I'll never see someone use it again in my lifetime.

[Lost in CT]

6. Fair enough but do think Hermaphrodite is a slur?

And do you really think intersex should be a noun??????

[skooooo]

7. Tell the hermaphrodites in NYC if it is.....

I was there a few years ago, and saw people carrying signs that read, "Hermaphrodites are people too."

[noamnety]

3. A good rule to follow

Oppressed minorities have the ultimate say on how they wish to be identified.

If you are an outsider with privilege, you are not the expert - they are.

Doesn't matter if this is about race, immigration status, gender identity - the oppressed people are in a better position than you to understand the implications of labels being used.

[Lost in CT]

4. But that is my bloody point... I highly doubt that any more than a

handful of well meaning people made this choice...and I am also doubtful that they are all Intersexes...(see it just doesn't work)

My main complaint is that the new word is AWFUL and AWKWARD and it is doubtful someone would choose to be called that themselves.

I'm on their side here...

[tangent90]

5. I was attacked the other day for defending the word 'bastard' as a legitimate

part of the lexicon. I often forget that there are people who make careers out of searching for something they can be offended ("concerned") about. Generally it has nothing to do with them personally, but somebody else they're sure can't defend themselves. (Watch, it won't take long for one or two of them to leap in here)...
:shrug:

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. 'intersex' has been used, as a noun, in English since 1910

to mean an individual with characteristics of both sexes, in a species in which individuals are normally just one of two sexes.

'Hermaphrodite' has been used in the same way since 1398 (in English), but has also been used since 1741 to refer to species in which it is the normal condition, and in which an individual can breed as both male and female (eg snails).

Perhaps people just feel it's worth distinguishing between the cases.

[Lost in CT]

9. Okay I understand that... and I agree it may be something that is used to distinguish on a medical

chart...

But it is being framed as Hermaphrodite is suddenly a bad word when clearly it isn't...

And to my ear intersex is still an awkward sounding noun.

[jmowreader]

10. New terms for IQ range classification

70-80: borderline deficiency
50-69: moron
20-49: idiot
under 20: Republican

[Lost in CT]

11. I think your post is a slur against the mentally challeneged....

:hi: