What, in clinical terms, is a she-male?

Factual Questions
1

I’ve seen these folks listing their services in the free newspapers such as the ones that the Straight Dope newspaper column appears in. They appear to be female, but the ad copy promotes the fact that they’ve got a large, fully functional penis. Are these folks…

  1. Genuine hermaphrodites?
  2. Pre-operative transsexuals? I’d be surprised at this one, as they seem to be promoting use of their male members, but perhaps they’re just making the best of what they intend to be a temporary situation.
  3. Transvestites, whose predilection for acting as the opposite sex goes beyond clothing, but still mentally identify as male?

And, is the term “she-male” synonymous with the term “chick with dick” that I’ve also seen mentioned in those ads?

2

In a clinical sense, I really couldn’t tell you. But from the way I understand it, she-male, at least in the terms of an ad in a newspaper, etc. refers to transvestites. I’m not sure if this is a clinical definition, or just what she-male is typically talking about in a newspaper ad.

**Jamie

3

90%+ of the time it’s #2

4

She-male isn’t a clinical term, so it could probably be any of those things, and maybe others.

5

“She-male” is a term of derision and has no place in clinical practice. Do not use this term to refer to any person whom you do not intend to insult.

6

Well, to be fair, I think it’s also been adopted by the appropriate parts of the G/L/B/T/thereareprobablyseveralmorelettersherealready culture. But it’s certainly not clinical.

7

Marley23, yes, it’s a part of the culture: it’s an insult, on a par with “whore”. She-males are mainly transsexual women who are selling their bodies to pay for hormones or reassignment surgery, either by doing porn or by turning tricks. (I know a few transwomen who claim to enjoy prostitution, but all of them had serious mental disorders.)

8

These people are almost certainly not intersexed – the currently preferred term for what used to be known as hermaphrodites. The word “hermaphrodite” comes from Greek mythology and does suggest a person who appears female and has fully developed breasts but has a fully developed and fully functional penis, but I do not believe this description applies to any real intersexed individuals. If they do exist, they must be very rare. A far more common case would be a person with a general feminine appearance who has a small, childlike penis. And even most people born like that would, unfortunately, have been subjected to “corrective” surgery in infancy.

9

In the present instance, that’s exactly what cmkeller is referring to – not the ts section of the personal ads, but rather the prostitute advertising.