I suppose this is like AITA. Meaning: Am I The Asshole?

About 6 months ago I started feeling gender confused. Not necessarily dysphoria, but confused. (I've compartmentalized for convenience, realism, & safety.)
I think I've settled on non-binary. & hermaphrodite exactly. I read that it's considered an insult to intersex people. But if I'm directing the term at myself, do others retain the right to be insulted?
One redditor stated that it's not the OP's term to use.
...
What?
Is hermaphrodite on the same level as fag & n-word?

As an intersex male, referring to me as a hermaphrodite is indeed inaccurate. I'm a man despite the odd appearance of my genitalia and being born with ovotestes. In the biological sense of being capable of two-way reproduction (like slugs) it would not be an insult as it would be an accurate description, but there has never been a recorded case of a true hermaphrodite human.

That said, intersex is not a gender identity any more than "I have a 7-inch dick" is.

lenkagetsu said:
As an intersex male, referring to me as a hermaphrodite is indeed inaccurate. I'm a man despite the odd appearance of my genitalia and being born with ovotestes. In the biological sense of being capable of two-way reproduction (like slugs) it would not be an insult as it would be an accurate description, but there has never been a recorded case of a true hermaphrodite human.

That said, intersex is not a gender identity any more than "I have a 7-inch dick" is.

I am aware of this. I would never use the term to refer to someone like you.

But you're saying that as a biological term, hermaphrodite shouldn't be used as an identity?
It's better to use non-binary?

11110100110101000111 said:
I am aware of this. I would never use the term to refer to someone like you.

But you're saying that as a biological term, hermaphrodite shouldn't be used as an identity?
It's better to use non-binary?

I don't keep track of such things but there's probably something more specific if you feel you are both rather than neither.

11110100110101000111 said:
I suppose this is like AITA. Meaning: Am I The Asshole?

About 6 months ago I started feeling gender confused. Not necessarily dysphoria, but confused. (I've compartmentalized for convenience, realism, & safety.)
I think I've settled on non-binary. & hermaphrodite exactly. I read that it's considered an insult to intersex people. But if I'm directing the term at myself, do others retain the right to be insulted?
One redditor stated that it's not the OP's term to use.
...
What?
Is hermaphrodite on the same level as fag & n-word?

An hermaphrodite is an animal that can reproduce with any other hermaphrodite. A male needs a female to reproduce, but snails are neither male nor female and can reproduce with any other snail. In fact, you cannot be herm.

wolfmanfur said:
An hermaphrodite is an animal that can reproduce with any other hermaphrodite. A male needs a female to reproduce, but snails are neither male nor female and can reproduce with any other snail. In fact, you cannot be herm.

I might as well chime in, as it's inevitable somebody will, that chimerism and vestigial/parasitic twins don't count, given in that case you're not one being, but an amalgam of two. There's also sequential hermaphrodites, like some fish.

lenkagetsu said:
I don't keep track of such things but there's probably something more specific if you feel you are both rather than neither.

Maybe genderfluid would be better.
I also found bi-gender & dual-gender but am uncertain of them.

wolfmanfur said:
An hermaphrodite is an animal that can reproduce with any other hermaphrodite. A male needs a female to reproduce, but snails are neither male nor female and can reproduce with any other snail. In fact, you cannot be herm.

I am aware. But we're talking gender here. As in, "within the mind."
Using that logic, I can argue that a trans-woman isn't a real woman because there was never a point that they could get pregnant. Even remotely. Barred by technological limits.
Of course, by arguing that way, I would be "an asshole."

I find the convention is not very well thought through.

It's one of a handful of reasons I've chosen to compartmentalize it away. As I stated in the OP.
What I'm doing here is attempting to make sense of it so the question doesn't nag me as heavily.

votp said:
I might as well chime in, as it's inevitable somebody will, that chimerism and vestigial/parasitic twins don't count, given in that case you're not one being, but an amalgam of two. There's also sequential hermaphrodites, like some fish.

I also found that as I was reading. They were technically a conjoined twin, except the conjoining was within the sex organs & more than likely had a domino effect in the mind.
IIRC they still had fertility issues.

11110100110101000111 said:
I am aware. But we're talking gender here. As in, "within the mind."
Using that logic, I can argue that a trans-woman isn't a real woman because there was never a point that they could get pregnant. Even remotely. Barred by technological limits.
Of course, by arguing that way, I would be "an asshole."

I find the convention is not very well thought through.

It's one of a handful of reasons I've chosen to compartmentalize it away. As I stated in the OP.
What I'm doing here is attempting to make sense of it so the question doesn't nag me as heavily.

Hermaphrodism is not a gender; It is the same as male, female and intersex, a.k.a a sex.

You were probably thinking of bigender when you wrote that post, but used the wrong word to describe it.

wolfmanfur said:
Hermaphrodism is not a gender; It is the same as male, female and intersex, a.k.a a sex.

You were probably thinking of bigender when you wrote that post, but used the wrong word to describe it.

I think I'm getting it now.

There's male, female, & herm. The sex.
There's man, woman, & bi/dual-gender (or whatever else fits for non-binary). The gender.
There's masculine, feminine, & androgynous. The presentation.

I'd find myself in the 3rd category.
Thanks for clarifying. C:

Yet to be sure, I'd go hermaphrodite if the bioengineering & genetic compatibility allowed it. XD

11110100110101000111 said:
About 6 months ago I started feeling gender confused. Not necessarily dysphoria, but confused. (I've compartmentalized for convenience, realism, & safety.)
I think I've settled on non-binary. & hermaphrodite exactly. I read that it's considered an insult to intersex people. But if I'm directing the term at myself, do others retain the right to be insulted?
One redditor stated that it's not the OP's term to use.

If you mean you want to have both sets of genitals, I've heard people calling this salmacian. There's a subreddit for it you might be interested in :)
The surgeries do indeed exist! You can have both. There's pictures on the subreddit.

cloudpie said:
If you mean you want to have both sets of genitals, I've heard people calling this salmacian. There's a subreddit for it you might be interested in :)
The surgeries do indeed exist! You can have both. There's pictures on the subreddit.

Neato!
Though I take functionality very seriously. Cosmetic changes alone aren't enough. Let's say... I'm greedy. 😜
But I do very appreciate the kind thought!

11110100110101000111 said:
Neato!
Though I take functionality very seriously. Cosmetic changes alone aren't enough. Let's say... I'm greedy. 😜
But I do very appreciate the kind thought!

Oh they're functional all right! Unless you mean for reproduction purposes lol. But sexually yes they do usually function how you'd expect

It's a scientific terminalogy.
You CAN get offended by it

but science doesn't care about a person's feelings.
That's basically it.

YOU CAN be insulted by anything that isn't meant to be an insult, technically speaking.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________-
EDIT: I'd need to fact check myself. But doesn't Herm- mean you HAVE two reproductive organs? The penis AND Vagina?
It's a very rare birth defect (Though this age it may be an "insult" to call it a defect) these people DO exist though.

Unless you have a penis and vagina, you can't really be considered a Herm-. This flies under the Gender or Sex..........so they may want to be called Intersex.
On an application that's where the option (Other) comes in.

But I feel like most herms are female assined gender....I think.

closetpossum said:
EDIT: I'd need to fact check myself. But doesn't Herm- mean you HAVE two reproductive organs? The penis AND Vagina?
It's a very rare birth defect (Though this age it may be an "insult" to call it a defect) these people DO exist though.

Unless you have a penis and vagina, you can't really be considered a Herm-. This flies under the Gender or Sex..........so they may want to be called Intersex.
On an application that's where the option (Other) comes in.

But I feel like most herms are female assined gender....I think.

No, that's intersex what you're thinking of.

Are you sure you are non-binary? You could just be cassgender. I am not telling you that you are, just that it is a posibility. You say you want to have two sets of genitals, but what if it's just a sexual fantasy and nothing serious? _{(And probably a common one among users of this site.)}

cloudpie said:
Oh they're functional all right! Unless you mean for reproduction purposes lol. But sexually yes they do usually function how you'd expect

Yes. Reproductive capability is what I'm referring to.

electricitywolf said:
Are you sure you are non-binary? You could just be cassgender. I am not telling you that you are, just that it is a posibility. You say you want to have two sets of genitals, but what if it's just a sexual fantasy and nothing serious? _{(And probably a common one among users of this site.)}

Hmm. Maybe cassfluix then. Though salmacian sounds close by.

11110100110101000111 said:
sincerity[..] As opposed to masculine & feminine. Which I find extraordinarily not useful in terms of self-improvement
[..]
reading about the creatures that blur that line (plants, invertebrates, certain fish, & the dayak fruit bat) makes me wonder about how this problem isn't spoken about more.
[..]
I also have some further philosophical moral dilemmas with the nature of dimorphic sex in consideration of my reading.
[..]
It's a big reason my persona is flippant & keeps to robotic avatars.

For a while I've held the belief that most traits of sexual dimorphism are evolutionarily driven by the social construct that is gender, to help explain my own innate aversion to some physical traits I see as gendered. (e.g. emphasis/enlarging of breasts and male-musculature, female anthros having heightened emphasis on human-specific traits compared to males under the same setting/artist.)^{I don't think it's a coincidence that your favourites contain several trout_(artist) posts, an artist I gravitate to myself out of a tendency toward lower-dimorphism.}

The cass portion of cassfluix, of not caring about my gender, is more down to brute force logic than any innate inclinations.

I think you should consider the possibility that your brute force logic is only possible because your personal neurology doesn't slot you into the system of normative human gender.

As mentioned, people can take anything in a bad way, although I'd be confused if someone used it to be insulting.

11110100110101000111 said:
I think I'm getting it now.

There's male, female, & herm. The sex.
There's man, woman, & bi/dual-gender (or whatever else fits for non-binary). The gender.
There's masculine, feminine, & androgynous. The presentation.

I'd find myself in the 3rd category.
Thanks for clarifying. C:

Yet to be sure, I'd go hermaphrodite if the bioengineering & genetic compatibility allowed it. XD

Hmm, do some people swap the meanings of the words gender and sex?

Interesting reading on the replies, BTW. I was aware of a lot of it but still learned a few things. ;) It's interesting how plants are largely hermaphrodites, but animals usually aren't. Even weirder is that some species of insects basically are 99.9999%+ female, as males are just flying half-sets of chromosomes (single copies instead of pairs). Effectively, a male bee for example, is just an explosive delivery system for the (future) queen bea's cousins' DNA, to reinforce genetic diversity. In mammals, the Y chromosome seems dominate, but in birds, the analog sex chromosomes instead are reversed. They even use two different letters than X and Y because of this, I guess. W and Z . The really interesting thing is when you realize that genes can move between chromosomes...

alphamule said:
Hmm, do some people swap the meanings of the words gender and sex?

"Gender" is a relatively modern invention, the usage of it outside of the "sex" of words only dates back to the 1970s. There was a period where medical literature started using it specifically to refer to biological sex so as to avoid confusion with coitus, further confusing things, it's fully understandable that people get confused or use it different ways, because it never had a proper use beyond the original "male or female word" to begin with. It's similar to how if you say "gas" an American might think of petrol, a Brit might think of methane, and a German might--EXPUNGED

alphamule said:
As mentioned, people can take anything in a bad way, although I'd be confused if someone used it to be insulting.

Hmm, do some people swap the meanings of the words gender and sex?

The reddit post I found the sentiment had someone explain that hermaphrodite is an insult because the past researchers named intersex people "pseudohermaphroditic."
So now the idea of being called a hermaphrodite is a turn off to them. & some argue that non-intersex people aren't "allowed" to use the word, even if not directed at others, because of that.

Essentially, they're being excessively sensitive & PC.
It's like telling an LGBT person that they're not allowed to call themselves a fag.

Gender is easily mixed up by those outside the bubble. I know I found it confusing.
That's why I asked. :)

alphamule said:
Interesting reading on the replies, BTW. I was aware of a lot of it but still learned a few things. ;) It's interesting how plants are largely hermaphrodites, but animals usually aren't. Even weirder is that some species of insects basically are 99.9999%+ female, as males are just flying half-sets of chromosomes (single copies instead of pairs). Effectively, a male bee for example, is just an explosive delivery system for the (future) queen bea's cousins' DNA, to reinforce genetic diversity. In mammals, the Y chromosome seems dominate, but in birds, the analog sex chromosomes instead are reversed. They even use two different letters than X and Y because of this, I guess. W and Z. The really interesting thing is when you realize that genes can move between chromosomes...

Yep. All that is true.
Though there are plants that are in a transition phase where male, female, & herms exist altogether. IIRC there's a strawberry plant as one of them.

There's simultaneous herm & sequential herm.
Simultaneous is what is popularly known.
Sequential is when only one side of the sex is active at a given time. Within which there are further categories that are largely based on how many times the creature can swap role. Ranging from only once, to multiple times, to effectively unlimited swaps.

The Y chromosome is only a logic gate that activates the male specific traits.
In avians the W chromosome is the logic gate for activating female specific traits.
Epigenetic & congenital malfunction of these systems is what results in intersex conditions.

magnuseffect said:
For a while I've held the belief that most traits of sexual dimorphism are evolutionarily driven by the social construct that is gender, to help explain my own innate aversion to some physical traits I see as gendered. (e.g. emphasis/enlarging of breasts and male-musculature, female anthros having heightened emphasis on human-specific traits compared to males under the same setting/artist.)^{I don't think it's a coincidence that your favourites contain several trout_(artist) posts, an artist I gravitate to myself out of a tendency toward lower-dimorphism.}

I think you should consider the possibility that your brute force logic is only possible because your personal neurology doesn't slot you into the system of normative human gender.

I should note that I >didn't< do the extensive reading I did >before< developing the feelings.
I did the reading after.
So all this knowledge I'm dropping is >after< the development. So very recent.
When I have a problem, my go to coping mechanism is to read about it religiously.
Kowledge is power as they say. It's how I tame & control not only my immediate environment, but myself.
I'm that type of person.
Not necessarily megalomaniacal. I'm well aware of that predilection that "dark intellectuals" tend to have.
It's autism. Bringing order to chaos. Intensified by my background in military intelligence.

Hopefully that's clarifying.

Another thing is that I don't always come here for the spank material.
In fact, I mostly come here for the community & to be a goofball. 😚🤪
If you take another look at my favorites, you'll notice mostly humor, memes, & just a smidge of contradictory content & PoVs.
I find Troutsworth to be more cutesy & funny than erotic. Though a good portion is definitely "cuddle worthy."
I was real sad to see Dosent & Kabuko leave. I don't think Kabuko even lasted a year. I think they were disgusted by the obnoxious users.

I wouldn't think too hard on evolution.
It's more randomized trial & error than anything.
Not to diminish it. It's still incredible. Invention & innovation is the same. Even AI training simulators.
But there is a point where one wants to take some more agency so they don't feel like 🎶dust in the wind.🎶

Calling themselves homosexual seems better analogy? Then again, maybe naming someone after 'burning sticks' or 'fish' wasn't always considered a hateful word?

You get some plants that technically we consider each _flower_ to be separate from a reproductive POV. Like, yeah specific flower produces virile pollen and other produces fertile eggs, or some produce both. Tomatoes are infamously self-fertilizing and will pretty much automatically self-propagate (in the same flower, nonetheless!). To cross two tomato plants, you basically have to bypass that entire mechanism and manually pollinate them.

The idea of switching was mentioned in some older scifi novels I read. It's been 30 years though, so good luck remembering names of them. I feel old. :/

That article was kind of neat.

Most of my interactions here are tagging and posting, and helping people with said things, getting started on site, etc. I really try to avoid the drama. I see that Dosent left FA as well, sigh...

alphamule said:
I see that Dosent left FA as well, sigh...

you mean you "saw"? because dosent has been back on FA for a while now under dosentnsfw

they did delete their whole gallary for a hot "i don't like porn" second, but re-enabled it pretty quick after, not unlike whygena (although a whole comic has been deleted entirelly, including a fourway with the couple from that comic and Please Leave A Mess-)

alphamule said:
Calling themselves homosexual seems better analogy? Then again, maybe naming someone after 'burning sticks' or 'fish' wasn't always considered a hateful word?

You get some plants that technically we consider each _flower_ to be separate from a reproductive POV. Like, yeah specific flower produces virile pollen and other produces fertile eggs, or some produce both. Tomatoes are infamously self-fertilizing and will pretty much automatically self-propagate (in the same flower, nonetheless!). To cross two tomato plants, you basically have to bypass that entire mechanism and manually pollinate them.

The idea of switching was mentioned in some older scifi novels I read. It's been 30 years though, so good luck remembering names of them. I feel old. :/

That article was kind of neat.

Most of my interactions here are tagging and posting, and helping people with said things, getting started on site, etc. I really try to avoid the drama. I see that Dosent left FA as well, sigh...

You'd be surprised. I've seen some real radical left type stuff. Like TERF.

I think there's an IRL creature that can change sex, once, based on whether their personality & build is dominant or submissive.
I thought it was clownfish. But I checked & was wrong. ^{_{They do change sex though.}}
Real world erotica for any 💋sissies💋 here who are into gender_transformation.

votp said:
"Gender" is a relatively modern invention, the usage of it outside of the "sex" of words only dates back to the 1970s. There was a period where medical literature started using it specifically to refer to biological sex so as to avoid confusion with coitus, further confusing things, it's fully understandable that people get confused or use it different ways, because it never had a proper use beyond the original "male or female word" to begin with. It's similar to how if you say "gas" an American might think of petrol, a Brit might think of methane, and a German might--EXPUNGED

Have you heard/read the story of John William Money's dastardly human experiments?

11110100110101000111 said:
I think there's an IRL creature that can change sex, once, based on whether their personality & build is dominant or submissive.

The only sequential hermaphrodites I'm aware of are various varieties of fish, although that's simply a lifespan thing that triggers that. Technically, you might include some flatworms in a weird in-between area.

11110100110101000111 said:
Have you heard/read the story of John William Money's dastardly human experiments?

A polite way of describing a paedophile being a paedophile.

11110100110101000111 said:
I wouldn't think too hard on evolution.
It's more randomized trial & error than anything.
Not to diminish it. It's still incredible. Invention & innovation is the same. Even AI training simulators.
But there is a point where one wants to take some more agency so they don't feel like 🎶dust in the wind.🎶

Selection processes are more important than you think. It may have a randomised trial & error component but that's funneled through who gets to reproduce^{and how much} and who doesn't.
We got heightened thought capacity and social manipulation became so much larger a part of our sexual selection process, namely which females^{human males are more typically selected on ability to obtain resources} have the "best" apparent physical^{T&A, babyface} or social^{idealised female-gendered behaviours} traits on display.

Another thing is that I don't always come here for the spank material.
In fact, I mostly come here for the community & to be a goofball. 😚🤪
If you take another look at my favorites, you'll notice mostly humor, memes, & just a smidge of contradictory content & PoVs.
I find Troutsworth to be more cutesy & funny than erotic. Though a good portion is definitely "cuddle worthy."

Nah, I caught that fact on the first look. I didn't mention porn at all myself; aesthetic preferences transcend it.

dripen_arn said:
you mean you "saw"? because dosent has been back on FA for a while now under dosentnsfw

they did delete their whole gallary for a hot "i don't like porn" second, but re-enabled it pretty quick after, not unlike whygena (although a whole comic has been deleted entirelly, including a fourway with the couple from that comic and Please Leave A Mess-)

Noticed that after seeing the cleared-out account. Weird, most people who do that just have two accounts - SFW + NSFW. :/

Two things

11110100110101000111 said:
You'd be surprised. I've seen some real radical left type stuff. Like TERF.

TERFs are absolutely not far left. They are firmly entrenched in the reactionary second-wave feminist right.

11110100110101000111 said:
Have you heard/read the story of John William Money's dastardly human experiments?

This is kind of an upsetting thing to bring up in response to the idea that gender is a recent concept. If I sound upset, it's because this is a common talking point brought up in anti-trans circles as evidence that transition leads to suicide. So to get this out of the way, John Money sexually tortured a child. Yes, his actions were horrifying. Also, gender as we understand it today IS a relatively recent concept. John Money forced David Reimer into experiencing what is now called body dysmorphia, which is a thing that almost everyone experiences, though it's most obvious in trans and intersex people.
It feels like you are suggesting that John Money's experiment proves that gender is innate and it can't be a new concept. If that is what you're saying, then that is incorrect. If Money's "experiment" can be said to prove anything, it only proves that forcing a person to live in a body they do not identify with will increase their risk of suicide.

scorpi032 said:
If Money's "experiment" can be said to prove anything, it only proves that forcing a person to live in a body they do not identify with will increase their risk of suicide.

like legit! i remember the first time I read about the money story, my main takeaway was that gender dysphoria is a real thing even in cis people (if so forced into a different gender)

scorpi032 said:
Two things
TERFs are absolutely not far left. They are firmly entrenched in the reactionary second-wave feminist right.

Reminds me of that song "Won't get Fooled, Again" (The Who). It almost feels like aging out effect...

dripen_arn said:
gender dysphoria is a real thing even in cis people

Absolutely. It's the thing that causes a boy to stop doing and liking "girly" things because "that's not how a man acts". There's a social pressure on him that causes him to act in a way that he wouldn't otherwise. That's also a reason why it's hard for a woman to be "kind of a tomboy". A lot of women will have to really lean into it before they are taken seriously.

Not only gender dysphoria, but almost everyone experiences body dysmorphia to some degree. Every time someone looks in the mirror and hates the way their ass looks, that's the same phenomenon. Every guy who hates that they don't have a square jaw and everyone who gets botox experienced the same thing. I have a bit of a gut that I don't think belongs. It doesn't feel like part of me and I'd rather be rid of it. That's body dysmorphia. It happens to everyone, it's just not debilitating for most.

This may be derailing the conversation somewhat, but I think it's neat.

alphamule said:
Reminds me of that song "Won't get Fooled, Again" (The Who). It almost feels like aging out effect...

Sorry, I don't know what that means

magnuseffect said:
Selection processes are more important than you think. It may have a randomised trial & error component but that's funneled through who gets to reproduce^{and how much} and who doesn't.
We got heightened thought capacity and social manipulation became so much larger a part of our sexual selection process, namely which females^{human males are more typically selected on ability to obtain resources} have the "best" apparent physical^{T&A, babyface} or social^{idealised female-gendered behaviours} traits on display.

What does T&A mean?

I'd still argue even the social development is quite randomized. The herm snails mentioned before. I've taken big notice at their reproduction method. They perform what is called "penis fencing." Essentially a fight. Where the winner gets the right to impregnate & >not< be knocked up.
-
That is uncomfortably close to idealizing rape in an evolutionary sense. If not full on doing so.
-
I have a hard time believing that just arises "out of choice."
& as I stated. I didn't mean to diminish it. Randomization is more complicated than what you initially perceive me presenting it as.

I view randomization as akin to throwing a dart at a spirographic target board.
That then becomes the start point to flow through "the path" of that beautiful shape.
Maybe you mean to add a spiritual dynamic that disproves the randomness because of the desires of whatever powers that be in your religion/philosophy.

magnuseffect said:
Nah, I caught that fact on the first look. I didn't mention porn at all myself; aesthetic preferences transcend it.

Hmm. So you're saying that the lower dimorphism, a.k.a. androgyny, is the innate desire.
Aren't hermaphrodites normally considered androgynous?
I think I'll agree on that point then.
Troutsworth's style is very attractive in that sense.

scorpi032 said:
Two things
TERFs are absolutely not far left. They are firmly entrenched in the reactionary second-wave feminist right.

Sorry. I mixed them up as I categorized them as "undesirable behavior" alongside being excessively PC.

Apologies. I didn't mean to argue anything.
That's military mentality coming through. My intention was a combination of sincere curiosity & a slight amount of being sardonic. Though I've always had dark humor like that.
-
I follow E;R on YouTube. That's how I first learned that story.
I currently (might later get revealed otherwise) consider his behavior a schtick since... what kind of weeb is also a Neo-Nazi?
Doesn't make sense.
I think people take him too seriously.
I just like memes, ridiculousness, & dark humor.
In fact. His more recent reviews, of him continuing to sperg over TLoK 🤣, dialed back his schtick immensely.
That to me confirms my view.

It doesn't help that autistic people like me are commonly treated as dolls for people to imprint their desires on. Regardless of those desires being virtue or vice.

That's a very useful way to view it.
You have a research article for that argument?
Or did you come up with it just turning it over in your head?
Wasn't derailing at all.

Since I'm autistic. & there's a desire/inclination to cut through the BS.
Explains a lot.

11110100110101000111 said:
Apologies. I didn't mean to argue anything.

Okay. Then I believe you. Just be careful how you bring him up in relation to gender talk. He has become a tool used by anti-trans advocates and there are negative associations.

11110100110101000111 said:
what kind of weeb is also a Neo-Nazi?

I don't know if E;R specifically is a neo-nazi, but you would be surprised. A lot of neo-nazis are weebs because they respect Japan's generally conservative culture and aversion to foreigners.

11110100110101000111 said:
That's a very useful way to view it.
You have a research article for that argument?
Or did you come up with it just turning it over in your head?

My specific explanation is a bit looser than what most psychiatrists might diagnose, but that's probably because I'm not a doctor. Honestly, just the wikipedia article on body dysmorphia will give you a good idea of how the subject is applied. I don't think there's a need for research papers on a topic this broad.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_dysmorphic_disorder

Notice that trans and intersex people are not even mentioned in the article. It talks about selfie culture and dieting and the social consequences of your self-imposed body image. All of those things apply to cis people as well as trans people.
It doesn't specifically say this in the article, but it doesn't take any leap in logic to see that being tall is a valued masculine quality. Short men might therefore feel insecure about their height. Therefore, if a man goes to Thailand to get his legs lengthened, not only is he trying to treat both gender dysphoria and body dysmorphia, he is also getting gender-affirming surgery.

11110100110101000111 said:
What does T&A mean?

I'd still argue even the social development is quite randomized. The herm snails mentioned before. I've taken big notice at their reproduction method. They perform what is called "penis fencing." Essentially a fight. Where the winner gets the right to impregnate & >not< be knocked up.
-
That is uncomfortably close to idealizing rape in an evolutionary sense. If not full on doing so.

Functionally, because of how evolution works, any method that ends up with the most offspring will end up being the favored one in future generations. Is it moral?

Well, here's a sad truth. Mother nature doesn't have any use for morality. The very concept is distinctly, almost uniquely, a human trait.

Take from that what you will, but trying to apply human morality to nature is an exercise in futility. The snails themselves probably don't think much of it at all (but.. that's a guess because to my knowledge, no one speaks snail fluent enough to ask.)

In some ways, morality is actually the enemy of natural evolution. Now there's something to think about...

11110100110101000111 said:
I'd still argue even the social development is quite randomized. The herm snails mentioned before. I've taken big notice at their reproduction method. They perform what is called "penis fencing." Essentially a fight. Where the winner gets the right to impregnate & >not< be knocked up.
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That is uncomfortably close to idealizing rape in an evolutionary sense. If not full on doing so.
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Bottlenose Dolphins, Ducks, Penguins... actually, quite a few avians and delphinids based on my recollection, bedbugs, twistwings, and other "traumatic insemination" reproducers...

11110100110101000111 said:
What does T&A mean?

I'd still argue even the social development is quite randomized.

The makings of it would be, and then you reach the point of developing basic abstract thought and wind up with a creature being able to logic that if having babies gives you visible breast tissue, females with visible breast tissue must be good choices for when you'd like to pick someone to make a baby with.

whiskeyfur said:
Functionally, because of how evolution works, any method that ends up with the most offspring will end up being the favored one in future generations. Is it moral?

Well, here's a sad truth. Mother nature doesn't have any use for morality. The very concept is distinctly, almost uniquely, a human trait.

Take from that what you will, but trying to apply human morality to nature is an exercise in futility. The snails themselves probably don't think much of it at all (but.. that's a guess because to my knowledge, no one speaks snail fluent enough to ask.)

In some ways, morality is actually the enemy of natural evolution. Now there's something to think about...

Oh. I'm not trying to impose "human morality" on "snail morality."
I'm making the point that, considering I'm cassfluix or salmacian (don't know which yet), such a dynamic applied to humanity would not be sensible. It would be chaotic.
I'm using it as a reference.

If morality is opposed to natural evolution, that's an argument of moral relativity we don't want to get into.
That's like saying we should exercise anarchy to regress back to hunter gatherers because democracy doesn't exist in a vacuum.

votp said:
Bottlenose Dolphins, Ducks, Penguins... actually, quite a few avians and delphinids based on my recollection, bedbugs, twistwings, and other "traumatic insemination" reproducers...

Well. I apologize for the denigration of those creatures. I apparently ended up approaching the matter from human morality; resulting in a misunderstanding.
I was simply making a consideration that, say, we become a tri-sexual society (male, female, & herm; like that strawberry plant I mentioned) due to functional bioengineering, we would >not< want to replicate reproductive methods that would encourage rape as a valid way of procreating.

11110100110101000111 said:
I'm making the point that, considering I'm cassfluix or salmacian (don't know which yet), such a dynamic applied to humanity would not be sensible.

The method that works for me is pretty simple. Lose the labels completely.

You're you. Everything after that is just not important. If someone want to stick a label on you instead of getting to know you, then they're probably not worth your time.

whiskeyfur said:
The method that works for me is pretty simple. Lose the labels completely.

You're you. Everything after that is just not important. If someone want to stick a label on you instead of getting to know you, then they're probably not worth your time.

That's fair. I don't like the autistic label all that much. I prefer eccentric.
I don't consider the labels all that important.
Having a name for it is more self comfort than anything seeing as I want a 🌮 & (🍈🍈) to go with my 🍌 & 🍒. With some 🥚.
All while keeping 💪. No wimps allowed.
Which meshes perfectly with me being demi-bi.

11110100110101000111 said:
That's fair. I don't like the autistic label all that much. I prefer eccentric.
I don't consider the labels all that important.
Having a name for it is more self comfort than anything seeing as I want a 🌮 & (🍈🍈) to go with my 🍌 & 🍒. With some 🥚.
All while keeping 💪. No wimps allowed.
Which meshes perfectly with me being demi-bi.

Hey, you do you. It's no one else job to make you happy and you know best how to accomplish it.

By the way all.
From further soul searching.
I also found out that I'm an aspiring warrior shaman.
I'm also a polymath. But I already realized that a few years ago.

I came up with something eloquent for our culture.
Based on those strawberries I mentioned.
If someone else already made it. Let me know.
I'd like to see what else they do. :)

Hopefully I'm not too heavily playing on stereotypes.
Here you go.

Men: those who dare.
Women: those who care.
Herms: those who bear/bare [the balance].
Neuts: those who share/spare [the burden].