it's me
Can we please rename this trope to Everybody Wants The Androgyne so it won't be named a slur anymore? I find it very disturbing that the name has managed to stay this way for this long. People have been asking to rename it since early 2014. It's 2022, can we stop calling people slurs?
Linking to a past Trope Repair Shop thread that dealt with this page: Misused
, started by Preda on Jun 4th 2015 at 6:44:41 PM
Previous Trope Repair Shop thread: Needs Help, started by billybobfred on Aug 15th 2015 at 6:00:58 PM
Given that hermaphroditism is having both sexes, how is it a subtrope of anything transgender, which is misalignment between body and brain? Doesn't feel like they are related in a hierarchical sense at all.
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The trope also encompasses nonbinary androgynous people, who are transgender. It also plays into Transgender Fetishization in that "girl with a dick / man with a vagina is hot" way, albeit with somewhat different context.
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
TheWhiteJewel (Jewels)
Requesting title change. 'Hermaphrodite' is an outdated term, bordering on an offensive slur nowadays. Consider 'Intersexual' for future use. I also agree with Lemily33 that this whole page needs revising or a serious reboot.
Just an overimaginative kid with a taste for well-directed Character Development and mouth-watering Ship Tease. Hide / Show Replies
I've never heard of "hermaphrodite" being outdated, much less of it being a slur. You might want to propose it in the Trope Repair Shop, although it's not likely that this request will be granted.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
I absolutely second the motion for a title change, at the very least. It's more than a bit rude that the wiki still uses this word for a trope page.
And for the record, when someone tells you that a word is offensive for a group you aren't a part of, you should listen to them. Since you're not part of the group.
Do not make assumptions about the gender orientations of random people, please.
We do have When To Rename A Trope which explains when a rename will and will not be done. While we do sometimes rename tropes for being offensive, the bar is very very high and this term doesn't meet it at all.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
How high is the bar for renaming tropes? The term "hermaphrodite" is considered to be a slur against people who have characteristics of men and women. [1] When To Rename A Trope doesn't explicitly say names with slurs are not to be used—but you don't see slurs in many trope names. The use of hermaphrodite in the examples on this page isn't accurate with its definition anyway. Not all the examples on this page have multiple reproductive organs nor is that definition explicitly the point of invoking the trope. Androgyne more accurately describes this trope and is a recognizable term.
In other tropes like this one that tend to highlight the use of not-so-great stereotypes in popular culture (Race Tropes, for example), trope names use words that are not considered slurs. I don't believe the content of the page is bad at all; it's a prejudicial trope and TVT exists to catalog tropes including ones like these. But I would consider discussing changing the name.
Edited by brakelights
There is too much disagreement about whether a slur is a problem. Some have been renamed (the "lolicon" themed names) but usually we bog down with a circular debate.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
If the slur isn't a problem (which is silly, almost everybody in the community finds this word outdatedand offensive, this is the "Transsexual" debate all over again), the limitation is, since "androgyne" is just as understandable in context and is more broadly representative of the trope concept.
Edited by mightymewtron I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
This trope and its examples are bordering on transphobic. The whole article also seems to conflate gender with sexuality. Can something be done about this?
I was wondering... Aren't hermaphrodites sexy because we're almost all bisexual to a degree and since futas are both male and females, well, they can cater to both this side while giving us the ability to deny (to other or to ourselves) our attraction to the same sex?
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Short answer-no. This is a very complex topic and its not that simple. Regardless, this isn't the place for that.
I'm thinking we should rename this trope "Intersex Fetishization". Or would that break the no snowclone rule since we already have Transgender Fetishization?
1,000 years from now there will be no guys and no girls, just wankers.