Monday, 29 October 2012
Monday, 22 October 2012
Self Made Man - Norah Vincent
Interesting read... Norah becoming Ned. very insightful perspective into a woman trying to
be a man. She is encounters a sensitive to side to masculinity that perhaps she did not expect. Did not enjoy manner in which book was written, but really enjoyed content and her candid and sometimes surprising responses to the male domain. Ultimately she looks at it through feminine eyes.
Found very interesting in relation to my own project, relating to and understanding masculinity from a feminine perspective. I try to combat the cliched idea of a how the male penis is portrayed, and present with feminine flare. I realized that my project is not about diminishing masculinity but more a celebration in a warm and colourful way...
INTRODUCTION
The true story of Norah Vincent’s audacious gender-bending experiment, Self-Made Man is a fascinating account of a year and a half spent discovering how the other half lives. Remaking herself as a man named Ned, Vincent exposes the truth by experiencing it; the men she meets, as well as the man she becomes, not only alter her perceptions of the opposite sex forever, but, in doing so, deeply affect her understanding of women and herself.
The true story of Norah Vincent’s audacious gender-bending experiment, Self-Made Man is a fascinating account of a year and a half spent discovering how the other half lives. Remaking herself as a man named Ned, Vincent exposes the truth by experiencing it; the men she meets, as well as the man she becomes, not only alter her perceptions of the opposite sex forever, but, in doing so, deeply affect her understanding of women and herself.
Vincent, fearless from the first, begins by tackling the stereotypes of male competition, aggression, and sexual swagger. To her chagrin, she discovers truth in the clichés. Within the bastions of high-pressure, low-wage sales jobs, her assumptions about male hierarchies and power displays are confirmed; in visits to strip clubs, the combined objectification and resentment of women are indeed on display. Vincent, the intrepid social scientist, does not simply observe but gets into the mud and participates. She talks the talk, she walks the walk; she competes for sales and ogles women. She doesn’t reject the rituals but instead begins to understand the form of male culture as well as the functioning behind it.
Sympathetic but never simpering, Vincent’s humor and heart strike a balance throughout Self-Made Man. Joining a bowling league, a men’s therapy group, even a monastery, she insinuates herself into the secret world of male intimacy and forms lasting friendships. She learns the codes of conduct when men are alone, not only what they speak about but how they do it—the meaning behind silence, the subtle nuance of physical gestures, the difficulty of living within the ideals of masculinity. In her disguise, Vincent delves into the pressure of social expectations and peers behind the curtain of manliness, exploring what it means to be a son, father, partner, or breadwinner. Never limiting her focus to simply being male, she also peers through the looking glass at her own gender and exposes some unpleasant truths about women’s contributions to sexual inequality. She is as unrelenting an analyst of herself as she is of society.
Candid, compassionate, and witty, Vincent has written for the Washington Post, Village Voice, and Los Angeles Times, and she brings the full force of her experience to bear on the battle between the sexes. Her sharp intellect, emotional honesty, and keen perception combine to create a book that is difficult to sum up and impossible to put down. Self-Made Man both confirms and explodes stereotypes, ultimately presenting manhood as a complicated and contradictory experience that deserves greater attention from both sexes. Whether male or female, readers will find Self-Made Man a compelling, illuminating read and one that is certain to spark conversation. This, Vincent would agree, is the first step toward better understanding between the sexes.
Norah Vincent left her job as a nationally syndicated opinion columnist for the Los Angeles Times to research this book. Her work has appeared in The New Republic, the New York Post, The Village Voice, and The Washington Post, among other journals, and she has appeared on numerous radio and television talk shows.
Can you describe the process of your readjustment to life as a woman? How long did it take? Were there any surprises involved? What, if anything, do you miss about living as a man?
Living as a man taught me a lot about the things I most enjoyed about being a woman in the world, things I consider to be the privileges of womanhood—the emotional freedom, the range of expression, the sexual and social power we can exercise over men. Returning to my life as a woman was about reclaiming those privileges and taking greater satisfaction in them. Here’s one small example, which may sound hopelessly old-fashioned and silly, but it made me smile so warmly: The other day a clerk in a store turned to me and apologized for having to refer to pornography in front of me during a discussion he was having with a male customer. I found it very thoughtful and sweet. When a man does something like this now, I connect again with all the vulnerability that I felt as a man in front of women, and I remember all the conversations I had with the men in my men’s group about their need to take care of and protect women. Not all men behave the way this clerk did, of course, but nonetheless I feel a deep sense of the respect that men like him have for women and I feel grateful for it. It’s nice to feel that someone is looking out for you, or trying to, and worries about offending or debasing you even in speech, and this is something I never felt as a man.
It took me months. Probably a good six months to really get back into being a woman. And this is partly because I had some unpacking to do. It wasn’t just a matter of returning to myself, because I am a different person now than I was before I embarked on this project. I feel more womanly now, more in touch with my femininity, than I ever did before I lived as Ned, and that has taken some getting used to, though it has been very pleasant.
I don’t miss anything about being Ned. The few social advantages I discovered in manhood—the swagger, the self-confidence, the entitlement—I’ve learned to incorporate into my life as a woman. Everything else I was happy to discard.
How has your concept of being a woman changed since your experience as Ned, in both general and personal terms?
Being able to incorporate the lessons of manhood into womanhood is, I suppose, one of the best examples of how my concept of womanhood changed because of Ned. In my view, this is the greatest liberation of feminism, a liberation that men haven’t yet experienced in their own roles. They haven’t really been allowed to express traditionally feminine qualities, and they are limited as a result. Having lived as both a man and a woman, it seems to me now that the definition of womanhood, at least as I live it and as I believe our culture defines it, is so much larger, can happily encompass so much more, than the definition of manhood. I can borrow from the boys—wardrobe, mien, temperament—and still be all woman. The reverse is not really true, or at least it wasn’t for Ned. He had to shed all my female qualities and, as a result, became much smaller. I like to say that in that respect Ned can fit in Norah’s pocket.
What influence do you think the media have on sexual roles? Do you see any trends that alarm or encourage you?
I think that the media reflect more than they influence. They show us images of ourselves, often idealized images to be sure, but I don’t think they invent out of whole cloth. They’re not that creative. Sexual roles are a very intimate business, I think. They change at the microcosmic level first. Individuals, often obscure individuals, are the creative ones, and they’re the ones who end up changing the way we think and behave, and the media in turn digest those changes and spit them back at us as trends. If there’s a trend that disturbs me it’s probably that tendency on the media’s part to homogenize originality, to dumb it down and sell it back to us as the norm.
Are there any public figures whom you admire for expanding social definitions of gender? Do you have any heroes—personal, political, or literary?
Though I disagreed with her often, I admire my friend the late Andrea Dworkin. Some heroes/heroines, in no particular order, are: Hamlet, George Orwell, Joan Didion, Graham Greene, W. H. Auden, Elizabeth Bishop, and Elizabeth I.
In Self-Made Man, you discuss the relationship between childhood experience and understanding gender roles—for example, fathers withholding affection in order to create tough young men. What advice would you give to a parent today to help him or her avoid imprinting gender expectations on children?
Having no children myself, I’m hardly in a position to judge, but if I had to say, I suppose I would suggest leniency when it comes to children’s self-discovery. Too often parenting is a kind of narcissism. Parents see their children as little more than extensions of themselves, or potential re-enactors of their lost youths and missed chances. This is toxic to any child’s self-actualization, especially when it comes to matters as intimate as sexuality and gender identity. If a child shows a proclivity for a particular style of dress or hobby or pursuit that the parent may not deem gender appropriate, or does not himself like, I think it is the parent’s duty to resist showing disapproval, or, worse, distaste, and to encourage the child to be most authentically himself or herself in every way possible. God knows, the child will find enough disapproval in the outside world. Our parents are the first and foremost people whose job it is to love us entirely for who and what we are, and that means, when it comes to the expression of our individuality, letting us be.
Short of dressing up as a member of the opposite sex for a year and a half, how can a person begin to break free of gender clichés? Is there such a thing as a beneficial stereotype?
As has often been said, stereotypes are born of truth. I found this in my research. They are useful shorthands that help us to make sense of our world. The danger lies in being slavishly devoted to them, or allowing them to cloud our judgment when it comes to seeing and treating another human being as a person and not a set of categories. Similarly, gender roles are born at least in part—perhaps in large part—of natural inclination. Women may always be the primary nurturers on this planet, perhaps because something in our hormonal drives directs us toward intimate and interpersonal life or because we give birth. Maybe instinct conditions us far more than we know or may want to believe. The same is true, I think, for men. Perhaps their hormonal drives will always make them more physically competitive and better suited to high-pressure, teleological pursuits. This may mean that no matter how we jigger it, by virtue of who we are as creatures, women will always tend to predominate in the nursery and men the boardroom. This doesn’t mean, however, that either sex should be mindlessly shackled to a prescribed or straitjacketed role, even if the vast majority of each sex tends to make a traditional choice. The key word here is choice, the cornerstone of feminism. Women should be able to choose whether to work or stay home, and so should men. Breaking free of stereotypes means being true to yourself and being flexible within your choices. You can, after all, be a stay-at-home mother and not be a shrinking violet, and you can be a type-A breadwinning dad and still join a knitting group if that’s what turns your crank, or vice versa and a thousand other permutations as well.
Self-Made Man not only exposes the truth about contemporary manhood but is quite intimate in its discussion of your personal history, sexual identity, and emotions. How do you feel having so much of yourself in the book? How did you decide what to reveal and what to keep private?
I tried to write about everything that I thought was relevant, even if it didn’t reflect particularly well on me. I had to overcome a lot of shame, for example, about mental illness in order to write honestly about my breakdown. A number of people who read the manuscript early on told me to take certain things out because they made me sound nuts. But it’s precisely the things that embarrass or discomfort you the most that are most important for you to write about. That’s the good stuff. I don’t mean that endless navel gazing is desirable or makes for good writing. Tempering the urge to overwrite the especially mucky parts is important, but I didn’t want to edit out the weird bits altogether simply because I didn’t want people to know that I’d been in the bin, or that I’m not always the most attractive person on the planet. Of course, the downside of this is that if you’re extremely sensitive, as I am, it means you need to protect yourself from people who take a malicious pleasure in sharpening their blades on your misfortunes and brandishing their cleverness at your expense.
The psychological toll of your experiences as Ned is both frightening and completely understandable. If you did the experiment again, knowing what you know today, what—if anything—would you do differently? Do feel that the knowledge was worth the pain?
Ignorance is courage. If I’d known then what I know now, I could never have embarked on the project. Yet, all the same, I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. The knowledge was absolutely worth the pain; especially because part of what I learned was how to better take care of myself psychologically in my everyday life. I listen to my emotions much more carefully now. I take care of myself. I take responsibility for my own psychic health, and that’s a daily practice. The lesson I can apply to my next project is that I can never again try to be someone else, someone that I’m not. I can and will immerse myself in situations and environments in order to write about them, but I will never again do so as another person.
Among the people you met as Ned, what range of reactions do you expect the book will receive? Do you think they will recognize themselves?
As a writer friend of mine told me when I embarked on this project, “When you write this intimately about real people, you are an assassin.” And he’s right. Almost invariably people object to something you’ve written about them. Either they say you got them wrong, or it didn’t happen that way, or that’s not how they remember it. I expect some of the Rashomon effect: The story of the same event will be told ten different ways by ten different observers. All the versions will be true and none of them will. The people in the book will recognize themselves. They’ll agree with the compliments and they’ll object to the disparagements, and that is to be expected.
This was a difficult, even dangerous experiment that consumed a year and a half of your life. What’s next?
Ned is going to be an extremely hard act to follow. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what to do next, and I haven’t hit on anything definitive yet. I’m trying very hard to resist the Hollywood temptation to find a formula that works and work it to death. I’d like to follow my imagination and have an adventure and that’s all I know right now.
Wednesday, 17 October 2012
The Tubor Cock
Dear Teresa,
Thanks. Very good.
I drew rough cartoons with the idea of doing them neatly ( but never
did ) about 40 years ago , of men using their penises as musical instruments. One was of a man with a sort of clarinet/cock with the
sound coming out his arse.
You say you retain 'felinity' . That means 'cat like, in beauty or slyness'. Or did you mean femininity , or something else ?
Love, Dad XXXX
Dear Dad
How funny, we think in similar ways...were you thinking something like this?
Love tx
Tuesday, 16 October 2012
Sunday, 14 October 2012
Powerful Art and Power - Jessica Stockholder
None of these thinkers focuses on art, although each writes in such a way that an artist might feel, one way or another, implicated.
I think I want to believe that powerful art is a critique of power.
From Said, I have the idea of the amateur, and of the necessity to find reconciliation between intractable opposition.
From Agamben, the notion of the gesture, that ideas and objects find meaning through mobile constellations that rupture boundaries.
From Emerson, the idea of the present as the practice of active thought.
From Heraclitus, the idea of mindfulness within change.
From Butler, the idea of precariousness in relation to violence and mourning.
From Foulcault, the denial of universality and the consciousness of structures.
From Arendt, the scruple of fearless skepticism.
From Deleuze: oppostion to vertical hierarchies.
http://www.jessicastockholder.info/albums/powerful-art-power
http://www.jessicastockholder.info/albums/powerful-art-power
Futanari Characters
Futanari, Japanese version of an Hermaphrodite. The sexually ambiguous. Have flourished as Manga & Anime characters in contemporary Japan
Aphroditus
I envisage myself dressed in my green 1950's dress, black shoes, stockings, black hat, black gloves, black hand bag, lizard broach, standing on the steps of the museum, with by pink penis peeping out from the hem of my dress.
Diphallic Terata
Thursday, 11 October 2012
Cherry 2000
In the future, a man travels to the ends of the earth to find that the perfect woman is always under his nose. When successful businessman Sam Treadwell finds that his android wife, Cherry model 2000 has blown a fuse, he hires sexy renegade tracker E. Johnson to find her exact duplicate. But as their journey to replace his perfect mate leads them into the treacherous and lawless region of 'The Zone', Treadwell learns the hard way that the perfect woman is made not of computer chips and diodes, but of real flesh and blood! Written by Ron Borgstedt <ronborgstedt@sbcglobal.net>
When Sam Treadwell breaks his Cherry 2000, a robot wife/sex toy, he hires E Johnson, to guide him across a dangerous apocalyptic wasteland to an abandoned manufacturing plant where he hopes to find a duplicate model Cherry 2000 to replace it with. Written byBrian W Martz <B.Martz@Genie.com>
Wednesday, 10 October 2012
Kalokagathia
From ancient greek. kalos - beautiful, agathos - good/virtuous, noble, worthy of admiration
A platonic teaching based on philosophy of bodily, moral and spiritual whole.
a perfect gentleman
in a moral sense a perfect character
of things, admirable and splendid
A platonic teaching based on philosophy of bodily, moral and spiritual whole.
a perfect gentleman
in a moral sense a perfect character
of things, admirable and splendid
My Parsnip
Email from Tony...
In one picture your shoe laces are undone,
is that deliberate?
You could run a series using all sorts of vegetables and fruits; carrots, courgettes,
parsnips, and so on. One could add
headdresses made of the same, eg carrots,
carrots growing out of one's ears, out of
armpits, necklace, skirt, anklets etc.
You could do your 'take' on the PNG
highlanders' dress including penis gourds.
' Just in case your wondering' should be:
'Just in case you're wondering'.
Builders Cock
Hazadardous cock...full risks report required
Construction cock, with hard hat and flour
Construction cock, with hard hat and flour
The Man
The man I am not
The man I am
The man I want me to be
The man I need
The man I want you to be
The man I could be
The man I can't be
T.C
The man I am
The man I want me to be
The man I need
The man I want you to be
The man I could be
The man I can't be
T.C
Monday, 8 October 2012
Hermaphroditism in Greek and Roman Antiquity
Historical note
Hermaphroditism in Greek and Roman antiquity
George Androutsos
Institute of History of Medicine, University Claude Bernard, Lyon, France
Hermaphroditism in Greek and Roman antiquity
George Androutsos
Institute of History of Medicine, University Claude Bernard, Lyon, France
ABSTRACT
Since antiquity hermaphrodites have fascinated the mind and excited the imagination. In this paper, such subjects are discussed as legends about the nativity of Hermaphroditus, son of Hermes and Aphrodite, the social status of these bisexual beings, and their fate in Greek- Roman antiquity.
Key words: Female pseudohermaphroditism, Hermaphroditism, Male pseudohermaphroditism.
Since antiquity hermaphrodites have fascinated the mind and excited the imagination. In this paper, such subjects are discussed as legends about the nativity of Hermaphroditus, son of Hermes and Aphrodite, the social status of these bisexual beings, and their fate in Greek- Roman antiquity.
Key words: Female pseudohermaphroditism, Hermaphroditism, Male pseudohermaphroditism.
INTRODUCTION
“Hermaphroditism” is a state characterized by the presence of both male and female sex organs. Recent developments in the understanding of the pathogenetic mechanisms involved in defective sex- ual differentiation and the social repercussions of the term hermaphrodite have created the need for new terminology. Hence, such disorders are today designated as genetic defects in the differentiation of the genital system.1
THE “FORERUNNERS”
Beings that are simultaneously both male and female have stirred the human imagination since ancient times. According to Christian theologists and Jewish rabbis, Adam was the first hermaphrodite, a self-sufficient being, like his creator.2 After the ori- ginal sin, Adam was divided into two imperfect sex- es, incapable of reproducing on their own.
“Hermaphroditism” is a state characterized by the presence of both male and female sex organs. Recent developments in the understanding of the pathogenetic mechanisms involved in defective sex- ual differentiation and the social repercussions of the term hermaphrodite have created the need for new terminology. Hence, such disorders are today designated as genetic defects in the differentiation of the genital system.1
THE “FORERUNNERS”
Beings that are simultaneously both male and female have stirred the human imagination since ancient times. According to Christian theologists and Jewish rabbis, Adam was the first hermaphrodite, a self-sufficient being, like his creator.2 After the ori- ginal sin, Adam was divided into two imperfect sex- es, incapable of reproducing on their own.
The cult of the dual being is also to be found
amongst the numerous arcane sciences of the mys-
tical religions of Hindu peoples, before spreading
through Syria to Cyprus, and then into Greece. Here
it degenerated and met the same fate as the hyste-
ro-phallic cults. During such times of decadence,
hermaphroditism was looked upon as the embodi-
ment of sexual excess, while for philosophers, it rep-
resented the twofold nature of the human being,
considered as the original being.3
HERMAPHRODITES IN ANCIENT GREECE
Greek mythology abounds in examples of such dual beings. Even the gods themselves were often hermaphrodites: Dyalos, the androgyne; Arse- nothelys, the man-woman; Gynnis, the effeminate; Adgistis, with two sexes; Tireasias who was succes- sively a man and a woman. To justify the existence of hermaphrodites amongst humans, the storyteller Aesop wrote that Prometheus, after producing hu- mans and spending the night drinking, came home inebriated and decided to define the gender of the human beings he had created, hermaphrodites be- ing the result.4 Hesiod5 states that Aphrodite and
HERMAPHRODITES IN ANCIENT GREECE
Greek mythology abounds in examples of such dual beings. Even the gods themselves were often hermaphrodites: Dyalos, the androgyne; Arse- nothelys, the man-woman; Gynnis, the effeminate; Adgistis, with two sexes; Tireasias who was succes- sively a man and a woman. To justify the existence of hermaphrodites amongst humans, the storyteller Aesop wrote that Prometheus, after producing hu- mans and spending the night drinking, came home inebriated and decided to define the gender of the human beings he had created, hermaphrodites be- ing the result.4 Hesiod5 states that Aphrodite and
Hermes united their efforts in order to provide a
dowry for Pandora, the first woman.
Hermaphroditus is first mentioned by Theo- phrastus.6 Hermaphroditus was the son of Aphro- dite and Hermes. According to the legend, the union of these gods led to the birth of a son of exceptional beauty. At fifteen years of age, he went to Halicar- nassus in Caria (Asia Minor). Whilst he was bath- ing in the waters of a spring, the nymph Salmacis saw him and fell madly in love [The first account of the subject was given by the Latin poet Ennius.7 The first Greek to mention it was Strabo,8 while Vitru- vius9 likewise mentioned the subject. However, Ovid, as opposed to Strabo and Vitruvius, lent full cre- dence to the tale]. After trying in vain everything in her power to seduce him, she threw herself into the water, grasping the object of her desire, dragging him down into the depths, and begging the gods to unite them for ever. Her wish was granted, but the being that resulted from their union, Hermaphro- ditus, was endowed with both sexes: he had a fe- male body and a male sexual organ.
In classical Greek times, Hermaphroditus no longer represented the embodiment of a religious symbol but rather the hero of a Homeric legend. The story begins when Hephaestus comes upon his wife Aphrodite deceiving him with Ares, the god of war. Using an invisible net, he imprisons the couple in the bed and calls upon all the gods of Olympus to bear witness to this intolerable offence. However, to his consternation, he realizes that he has caused only general hilarity amongst the gods. Apollo then asks the god Hermes whether he would feel aver- sion at being in Ares’ shoes. When Hermes avows that he would not be saddened. Aphrodite, flattered by Hermes’ words, offers herself up to her admirer for a night of love. The fruit of the divine union be- tween Hermes and Aphrodite was Hermaphrodi- tus.
The idea of transformation goes very far back in Greek literature. It was already present in the Iliad and in the Odyssey, and was perpetuated in the po- etry of the 5th and 4th centuries BC.10
In Plato’s Banquet,11 Aristophanes, discoursing on the gender issue, states that the human race was originally of three genders: male, female and an-
Hermaphroditus is first mentioned by Theo- phrastus.6 Hermaphroditus was the son of Aphro- dite and Hermes. According to the legend, the union of these gods led to the birth of a son of exceptional beauty. At fifteen years of age, he went to Halicar- nassus in Caria (Asia Minor). Whilst he was bath- ing in the waters of a spring, the nymph Salmacis saw him and fell madly in love [The first account of the subject was given by the Latin poet Ennius.7 The first Greek to mention it was Strabo,8 while Vitru- vius9 likewise mentioned the subject. However, Ovid, as opposed to Strabo and Vitruvius, lent full cre- dence to the tale]. After trying in vain everything in her power to seduce him, she threw herself into the water, grasping the object of her desire, dragging him down into the depths, and begging the gods to unite them for ever. Her wish was granted, but the being that resulted from their union, Hermaphro- ditus, was endowed with both sexes: he had a fe- male body and a male sexual organ.
In classical Greek times, Hermaphroditus no longer represented the embodiment of a religious symbol but rather the hero of a Homeric legend. The story begins when Hephaestus comes upon his wife Aphrodite deceiving him with Ares, the god of war. Using an invisible net, he imprisons the couple in the bed and calls upon all the gods of Olympus to bear witness to this intolerable offence. However, to his consternation, he realizes that he has caused only general hilarity amongst the gods. Apollo then asks the god Hermes whether he would feel aver- sion at being in Ares’ shoes. When Hermes avows that he would not be saddened. Aphrodite, flattered by Hermes’ words, offers herself up to her admirer for a night of love. The fruit of the divine union be- tween Hermes and Aphrodite was Hermaphrodi- tus.
The idea of transformation goes very far back in Greek literature. It was already present in the Iliad and in the Odyssey, and was perpetuated in the po- etry of the 5th and 4th centuries BC.10
In Plato’s Banquet,11 Aristophanes, discoursing on the gender issue, states that the human race was originally of three genders: male, female and an-
drogyn. The androgyns had both male and female
sexual organs. They also had two bodies, one male
and one female, and two converse faces on the same
head. The androgyns were aware of their physical
perfection, the total independence that they en-
joyed—since they were able to reproduce alone—
and their invulnerability. This feeling of omnipo-
tence was not to the taste of Zeus who decided to
“separate them into two equal parts”: one male and
one female. The sex thereby became the gender re-
sulting from this separation”. Since then the human
body has been pierced in places as the cleft made by
Zeus was repaired by Hermes and each half of the
primitive androgyn is looking for his or her other
half.
HERMAPHRODITES IN ROMAN TIMES
Ovid was the first to relate the story of Hermaph- roditus and the only one to establish an explicit link between bisexuality and passive male homosexuali- ty. In his Metamorphoses,12 he mentions six sex chang- es: men, Tiresias and Sithon, being turned into wom- en; Iphis, a woman, who became a man; Maestra, another woman, who became a man, as did Kainis becoming Kaineus. Hermaphroditus, or rather the being created by the fusing of Salmacis and Her- maphroditus, was the only one bestowed with the two sexes simultaneously. Ovid also described the increasingly male appearance of a young Greek girl aged 13: “You are a young man, although just re- cently you were a woman, were you not?” Accord- ing to the arguments, the masculinized Greek girl was the victim of an excessive production of male hormones.
Titus-Livy13 relates that when Italy recovered from occupation by Carthage, monsters appeared, including two androgynous children: “...all these events appeared to be due to a freak of nature which mixed genders. In particular, we were horrified by the hermaphrodites”. A list of sixteen accounts con- cerning hermaphrodites during the period between 209 and 92 B.C. was written by Titus-Livy.
Pliny the Elder14 also mentions some cases of sex changes: “The accounts of women changing into men are not just fables. ...In Casinum a girl turned into a boy. Licinus Mucianus said that he personally knew
HERMAPHRODITES IN ROMAN TIMES
Ovid was the first to relate the story of Hermaph- roditus and the only one to establish an explicit link between bisexuality and passive male homosexuali- ty. In his Metamorphoses,12 he mentions six sex chang- es: men, Tiresias and Sithon, being turned into wom- en; Iphis, a woman, who became a man; Maestra, another woman, who became a man, as did Kainis becoming Kaineus. Hermaphroditus, or rather the being created by the fusing of Salmacis and Her- maphroditus, was the only one bestowed with the two sexes simultaneously. Ovid also described the increasingly male appearance of a young Greek girl aged 13: “You are a young man, although just re- cently you were a woman, were you not?” Accord- ing to the arguments, the masculinized Greek girl was the victim of an excessive production of male hormones.
Titus-Livy13 relates that when Italy recovered from occupation by Carthage, monsters appeared, including two androgynous children: “...all these events appeared to be due to a freak of nature which mixed genders. In particular, we were horrified by the hermaphrodites”. A list of sixteen accounts con- cerning hermaphrodites during the period between 209 and 92 B.C. was written by Titus-Livy.
Pliny the Elder14 also mentions some cases of sex changes: “The accounts of women changing into men are not just fables. ...In Casinum a girl turned into a boy. Licinus Mucianus said that he personally knew
216
G. ANDROUTSOS
a man called Arecson in Argos, who changed his
name to Arescusa and even found herself a husband;
later on, he grew a beard with all the signs of virili-
ty, and took a wife. This author was witness to a
similar adventure with a boy from Smyrna. I have
seen with my own eyes, in Africa, a citizen of Thys-
drus change into a man on his wedding day”. Pliny
also asserted that hermaphrodites were a distinct
race living in a remote part of Africa.
Soranos of Ephesus,15 in his main work Women’s diseases, documented several cases of gender ambi- guity and observed that women with a masculine appearance do not have periods; he describes the possibility of a hypertrophic clitoris in such cases.
The legend concerning the Roman Emperor El- agabalus (218-222 AD), who is said to have offered half the Roman Empire to the physician who could equip him with female genitalia, represents a famous instance of “sex change”.16
SOCIAL STATUS AND THE FATE
OF HERMAPHRODITES IN ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME
Most ancient people eliminated children with doubtful gender: for Greeks this was an expression of their need to demonstrate the physical beauty of their race, while among the Romans it was an inter- pretation of this aberration as being a bad omen.17
Although the fate of bisexual beings became less cruel as time went by, the only possible status for such persons was on the borderline of society. In periods of crisis, hermaphrodites became scapegoats for fear and uncertainty. When a child was born with abnormal sexual organs, he was immediately sen- tenced to death by the community, who interpreted this as a sign of divine wrath.18 During Greek and Roman antiquity a whole series of laws ordered parents to expose their new-born children. Abnor- mal children were seen as signs of evil that had to be removed by the state by being cast out beyond the limits of the city. However, although this was regarded as a necessary ‘purification’ of the city, it was important to avoid directly killing these abnor- mal children and burying them.19 In killing them, there was a risk of turning them into “biaiothana-
Soranos of Ephesus,15 in his main work Women’s diseases, documented several cases of gender ambi- guity and observed that women with a masculine appearance do not have periods; he describes the possibility of a hypertrophic clitoris in such cases.
The legend concerning the Roman Emperor El- agabalus (218-222 AD), who is said to have offered half the Roman Empire to the physician who could equip him with female genitalia, represents a famous instance of “sex change”.16
SOCIAL STATUS AND THE FATE
OF HERMAPHRODITES IN ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME
Most ancient people eliminated children with doubtful gender: for Greeks this was an expression of their need to demonstrate the physical beauty of their race, while among the Romans it was an inter- pretation of this aberration as being a bad omen.17
Although the fate of bisexual beings became less cruel as time went by, the only possible status for such persons was on the borderline of society. In periods of crisis, hermaphrodites became scapegoats for fear and uncertainty. When a child was born with abnormal sexual organs, he was immediately sen- tenced to death by the community, who interpreted this as a sign of divine wrath.18 During Greek and Roman antiquity a whole series of laws ordered parents to expose their new-born children. Abnor- mal children were seen as signs of evil that had to be removed by the state by being cast out beyond the limits of the city. However, although this was regarded as a necessary ‘purification’ of the city, it was important to avoid directly killing these abnor- mal children and burying them.19 In killing them, there was a risk of turning them into “biaiothana-
toi” (= victims of a violent death); it was believed
at the time that they would come back to take their
revenge or “aoroi” (= struck by premature death).20
So they preferred to expose them, offering them up
to the will of the gods who could do with them as
they wished. This custom only died out during the
first centuries AD.
As far as eliminating the hermaphrodite was con- cerned, the list of the sixteen cases of hermaphro- ditism mentioned above is an extremely interesting document. On ten occasions the hermaphrodite is abandoned in the water (e.g. the sea); in another case the hermaphrodite was sentenced to death. The Romans’ pitiless attitude to sexual ambiguity, see- ing it as a threatening omen, was not limited merely to new-born babies. Diodorus of Sicily21 reports a woman who turned into a man. The senate once in- formed, the woman was burned at the stake.
Hermaphrodites in Rome, at certain periods of time, were used as objects of pleasure. Generally speaking, these human beings with two sexes were not able to find their place in any of the early soci- eties, since they represented a threatening gap with regard to the norm, implying a clear biological dif- ferentiation between men and women, and thus a differentiation in roles. Any form of uncertainty concerning a clear distinction between the sexes was perceived as a threat. And it took a very long time for the fear brought about by this uncertainty to di- minish to the extent that it was no longer necessary for these beings with two sexual organs, one male and one female, to be callously and mindlessly de- stroyed.
TRANSFORMATIONS OF THOUGHTS
IN THE GREEK-ROMAN WORLD ABOUT HERMAPHRODITES
With the passage of time, the antique world as a whole started to see hermaphrodites as simply amus- ing quirks of nature. A good example of this reac- tion is to be found in the writings of Diodorus of Sicily. Using the cases of Heraïs and Kallô,22 he showed that hermaphroditism was a natural phe- nomenon which can be surgically corrected, and that such beings, having changed gender after an opera- tion, can play a role in society, although this is not
As far as eliminating the hermaphrodite was con- cerned, the list of the sixteen cases of hermaphro- ditism mentioned above is an extremely interesting document. On ten occasions the hermaphrodite is abandoned in the water (e.g. the sea); in another case the hermaphrodite was sentenced to death. The Romans’ pitiless attitude to sexual ambiguity, see- ing it as a threatening omen, was not limited merely to new-born babies. Diodorus of Sicily21 reports a woman who turned into a man. The senate once in- formed, the woman was burned at the stake.
Hermaphrodites in Rome, at certain periods of time, were used as objects of pleasure. Generally speaking, these human beings with two sexes were not able to find their place in any of the early soci- eties, since they represented a threatening gap with regard to the norm, implying a clear biological dif- ferentiation between men and women, and thus a differentiation in roles. Any form of uncertainty concerning a clear distinction between the sexes was perceived as a threat. And it took a very long time for the fear brought about by this uncertainty to di- minish to the extent that it was no longer necessary for these beings with two sexual organs, one male and one female, to be callously and mindlessly de- stroyed.
TRANSFORMATIONS OF THOUGHTS
IN THE GREEK-ROMAN WORLD ABOUT HERMAPHRODITES
With the passage of time, the antique world as a whole started to see hermaphrodites as simply amus- ing quirks of nature. A good example of this reac- tion is to be found in the writings of Diodorus of Sicily. Using the cases of Heraïs and Kallô,22 he showed that hermaphroditism was a natural phe- nomenon which can be surgically corrected, and that such beings, having changed gender after an opera- tion, can play a role in society, although this is not
Hermaphroditism in Greek and Roman antiquity 217
an easy feat to accomplish. Another example of a
change in attitude is the story of Polycritus, as relat-
ed by Phlegon de Tralles23: “Polycritus, an Aetolian,
married a Locrian woman; he shared her bed three
nights running, and on the fourth, he died. His wife
gave birth to a child with two sexes. The upper parts
of the genitals were firm and male, whilst those be-
tween the thighs were soft and female. The family,
astonished, took the child to the public square and
convened an assembly to deliberate on the fate of
the child. Since he had two sexes, the child was a
‘monster’, according to the definition of Aristotle,24
employing the term in a biological content “Any-
one living who is not akin to his parents is to some
extent already a monster, because in this case, na-
ture has moved away from the genetic types”. Sud-
denly Polycritus reappeared and begged them to give
him back his child. He added that he forgave them
for behaving in this way, as he understood their dif-
ficulty in understanding something so extraordinary.
But, seeing that they were not paying any attention
to what he was saying, he tore it apart and gobbled
it up, except for the head, and suddenly disappeared.
Then the child’s head started to talk and announced
oracularly what was going to happen...”
Fortunately, nowadays individuals with such problems are not considered “monsters” but patients with defects in the differentiation of the genital sys- tem and most of them are successfully managed.
REFERENCES
Fortunately, nowadays individuals with such problems are not considered “monsters” but patients with defects in the differentiation of the genital sys- tem and most of them are successfully managed.
REFERENCES
-
Hughes IA, Houk C, Ahmed SF, Lee PA, LWPES
Consensus Group; ESPE Consensus Group, 2006 Con-
sensus statement on management of intersex disorders.
Arch Dis Child 91: 554-563.
-
Genese chap. I, verset 27
-
Platon 1990 Les Lois. Traduction par Anissa Castel-
Bouchouchi, Gallimard, Paris, IX, 868 d-e.
-
Monestier M 1981 Les monstres. Editions du Pont
Neuf, Paris, pp, 205-212.
5. Hesiode 1998 Les travaux et les jours. Traduit par P.
Terreaux. Arléa, Paris; pp, 116-122 & 76-77.
6. Theophraste 1965 Caractères. Les Belles Lettres, Par- is; pp, 27-38.
7. Ciceron 1965 Des dévoirs. Collection des Universités de France, Paris, I, 61.
8. Strabon 1986 La Géographie, Les Belles Lettres, Par- is, XIV 2:16:50.
9. Vitruvius 1931 On architecture. F Granger. Loeb Clas- sical Library, 2 vols, II 8, 11-12: 50-51.
10. Speert H 1973 Histoire illustrée de la gynécologie et de l’obstétrique. Dacosta, Paris, pp, 32-35.
11. Platon 1992 Le Banquet. Trad par Emile Chambry. GF- Flammarion, Paris, 189d-190c: 70, 19la-b:74, 191d-e: 73, 192c-e: 74-75, 193a-b:76.
12. Ovide 1966 Les métamorphoses. GF-Flammarion, Par- is, pp, III 316-339, IV 285-388, XI 50-55 22.
13. Tite-Live 1998 Histoire romaine. L. XXXVI à XL. Flammarion, Paris XXVII 37, 5 sq: 30-31.
14. Pline l’Ancien 1997 Histoire Naturelle. Les Belles Lettres, Paris; Livre VII, chap. IV.
15. Soranos d’Ephese 1990 Maladies des femmes. Trad. Gourevitch. Belles Lettres, Paris; pp, 72-75.
16. Green R 1966 Transexualism: Mythological, Histori- cal, and Cross-Cultural Aspects. Appendix C In: The Transexual Phenomenon by Harry Benjamin, New York Spring.
17. Gould G, Pyle W 1984 Les curiosités médicales. Sip- Monaco, Paris, pp, 249-250.
18.MartinE1880 Histoiredesmonstresdepuisl’antiquité jusqu’à nos jours. Reinwald, Paris; pp, 2-9.
19. Cumont F 1945 Virgile et les morts prématurées. Conférences de l’ENS, Publications de l’École Normale Supérieure, Section des Lettres II, Paris, Droz; pp, 132- 152.
20. Brisson L. Le sexe incertain: androgynie et hermaph- rodisme dans l’Antiquité gréco-romaine. Les Belles Lettres, Paris; 13-18.
21. Diodore de Sicile 1995, Bibliothèque (Photius). Univ- ers. de France, Paris, codex 244,378b-379a.
22. Androutsos G, et al, 2001: Les premières opérations de changement de sexe dans l’antiquité. Andrologie 2: 89-93.
23. Phlegon de Tralles 1966, De mirabilibus. A. Giannini, Milan 2: 14-17, 3, 359-364: 21-22.
24. Aristote 1961, De la Génération des animaux. Trad. P. Louis. Les Belles Lettres, Paris, IV, 2, 767b.
6. Theophraste 1965 Caractères. Les Belles Lettres, Par- is; pp, 27-38.
7. Ciceron 1965 Des dévoirs. Collection des Universités de France, Paris, I, 61.
8. Strabon 1986 La Géographie, Les Belles Lettres, Par- is, XIV 2:16:50.
9. Vitruvius 1931 On architecture. F Granger. Loeb Clas- sical Library, 2 vols, II 8, 11-12: 50-51.
10. Speert H 1973 Histoire illustrée de la gynécologie et de l’obstétrique. Dacosta, Paris, pp, 32-35.
11. Platon 1992 Le Banquet. Trad par Emile Chambry. GF- Flammarion, Paris, 189d-190c: 70, 19la-b:74, 191d-e: 73, 192c-e: 74-75, 193a-b:76.
12. Ovide 1966 Les métamorphoses. GF-Flammarion, Par- is, pp, III 316-339, IV 285-388, XI 50-55 22.
13. Tite-Live 1998 Histoire romaine. L. XXXVI à XL. Flammarion, Paris XXVII 37, 5 sq: 30-31.
14. Pline l’Ancien 1997 Histoire Naturelle. Les Belles Lettres, Paris; Livre VII, chap. IV.
15. Soranos d’Ephese 1990 Maladies des femmes. Trad. Gourevitch. Belles Lettres, Paris; pp, 72-75.
16. Green R 1966 Transexualism: Mythological, Histori- cal, and Cross-Cultural Aspects. Appendix C In: The Transexual Phenomenon by Harry Benjamin, New York Spring.
17. Gould G, Pyle W 1984 Les curiosités médicales. Sip- Monaco, Paris, pp, 249-250.
18.MartinE1880 Histoiredesmonstresdepuisl’antiquité jusqu’à nos jours. Reinwald, Paris; pp, 2-9.
19. Cumont F 1945 Virgile et les morts prématurées. Conférences de l’ENS, Publications de l’École Normale Supérieure, Section des Lettres II, Paris, Droz; pp, 132- 152.
20. Brisson L. Le sexe incertain: androgynie et hermaph- rodisme dans l’Antiquité gréco-romaine. Les Belles Lettres, Paris; 13-18.
21. Diodore de Sicile 1995, Bibliothèque (Photius). Univ- ers. de France, Paris, codex 244,378b-379a.
22. Androutsos G, et al, 2001: Les premières opérations de changement de sexe dans l’antiquité. Andrologie 2: 89-93.
23. Phlegon de Tralles 1966, De mirabilibus. A. Giannini, Milan 2: 14-17, 3, 359-364: 21-22.
24. Aristote 1961, De la Génération des animaux. Trad. P. Louis. Les Belles Lettres, Paris, IV, 2, 767b.
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A cock for seasons
Party Penis
Tuber fantasy cock
Grannies penis - the comforter
Luxury branded cock - The Carry all, carry on
The xmas cock
Diphalic Terata
My beautiful Cockette
The Grayson
The Panther
Hit me with your rhythm stick, hit me good and hit me quick
Guy Penis
The Strong Man
The Lollipop
T-Boner or The Boner
The mini
The dizzy rascale
The Culture cock
Cherry 2000 - doesn't just suck it blows
Furtive sneaky cock
Le coq sportif
Le coq massif
Lollycock
Felix, Roger or Fred
Handy cock
Hot cock
The Silk Intruder
My Big Fat Gypsy Cock
Prince Fatty
Thursday, 4 October 2012
Mikala Dwyer
Full of uncertainties and contradictions, Dwyer’s complex installations never lend themselves to definitive interpretations. Her work has been described as 'profoundly sociable'; she asks viewers to come in, participate, and find their own meanings. She sets up open-ended conversations that draw our attention to the unseen – to invisible materials such as helium, or the voids between her forms, but also to hidden histories and our own highly personal relationships with magic, memory, sexuality and ritual. While playful and exuberant on their surfaces, her works almost always have something darker beneath the surface. The question Dwyer asks us is whether we’re prepared to dig for it.
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