That is a historical misuse and misunderstanding of the word hermaphrodite, even if still used colloquially. Technically it refers to a species where individuals can produce both types of gametes. No human in history could do that.

But the people you refer to, now called intersex, aren't always truly intersex either.  It depends on definitions though.  And that is where none of us will ever agree.

For instance, you could define it by gamete production. However, some people fail to produce either. What are they?

You could define it by choromosomes, however in very rare cases people can be chimeras of both sexes (I don't know if that ever actually happened). This seems the most reliable, the most likely definition to leave no (or vanishingly low) ambiguity.

In practice historically it was defined by the appearance of genitalia, which is pretty piss-poor science IMHO.

If someone is born with a tootsie-roll maybe-penis-maybe-clitoris, doctors historically did an "emergency operation" to force their genitals to be one way or the other, and instructed the parents on how important it was to reinforce the sex that the doctor chose. IMHO that is abusive. Horrific actually.

There are so many sexual characteristics that socially matter. Who you are attracted to and who is attracted to you. Whether two people can bear children. How you think of yourself based on (probably) pre-natal testosterone levels or something like that. You can look at chromosomes, but that is no guarantee that it will align with how the person turns out after puberty. So it probably makes sense to let the person remain intersex and let them choose when they get older.

Why am I writing a book on this topic I know virtually nothing about? I am going to stop typing now. 

 Wow!! I started reading your reply and then stopped. Not because I disagree with what you're saying, I just thought, wow!! OK Mike, again, I'll say, I really like your posts. Nostr is a good debating ground. We can back and fourth, without abuse.

I'm no learned gentleman but I'm not stupid either. You are simply getting into semantics here. Are persons/homo sapiens, if you will, sometimes born, with both sets of reproductive organs? You can call them hermaphrodite or you can call them exhibit A, B or C, so, WTF are they, in the simplest of terms, and do they exist. Are they Male or Female? Or are they neither, Sir. Thankfully, they are extremely rare, you are not one (I presume), and neither am I. Imagine if you was though? Fuck me, what a sorry state.

I replied to another note earlier on with regards to gender, and I'll be clear. I'm a straight Cis male who has a child. The gist of my earlier reply was that some people are "Born into the wrong body/type", that to me, just makes them either gay of lesbian. Neither of which, I've got a problem with. 

What I do have a problem with is this whole woke BS about gender reassignment amongst children, that is wrong.

I think I've raised a valid point by saying well what about hermaphrodites, You've said there's no such thing, what? In the/your lexicon? They are now known by another name🤔? Do they exist? Do they have any validity? How will your book address them on the issue😂😂??

Fuck me🙄. I look forward to reading your reply. Again, I have massive respect for you and 99% of what you post, you're clearly a clever guy. I don't know why this has piqued me, it just has🤷🏻‍♂️. 

 

 I may be ignorant here. I'm reading that there are people who have both testicular and ovarian tissue (ovotesticular syndrome). So ok. I dunno, all this is too complicated, and I'm not sure to what end. The Athenians threw them into the sea and the Romans threw them into the Tiber... probably so they didn't have to deal with the complexity of it all. I don't think we should do that.

But let's not ignore the elephant in the room. You guys have to get rid of first-past-the-post. 

 Ha ha ha, we'll draw a line under the hermaphrodite debate but yes, we absolutely have to get past the first past the post shite. On a brighter note, I have a new username. It's simply "L" denoting, in Roaman numeral terms, how many follows I'm wishing to, well, follow. You've undoubtedly made the grade. People will be deleted/added as appropriate. You're firmly in the list😁🫡.  

 People think things are complicated already around intersex and trangender issues. But things are going to get a lot more complicated once they find out that artificial sweeteners are what is causing women to have transgender and non-binary children. And calls to change the formulas of these artificial sweeteners are going to be fought against by trans-rights people who will claim that we are genociding them (and we would be actually eugenically reducing transgenderism by changing the artificial sweeteners). Then the debates will get real fun. 

 That's an interesting point and a whole separate debate.