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Below is some of the fun facts we've come across about hermaphrodites. Please note that "hermaphrodite" in its true sense (that is, able to produce both eggs and sperms) does not occur in humans; the so-called "hermaphrodite" people are actually intersex people--those who have been born with reproductive organs that are different from the standard "male" and "female" (for more information about intersexuality in humans, read this). Nonetheless, people continue to confuse intersex and hermaphroditism, so we've decided to collect some interesting facts about the real "hermaphrodites" here, partly in order to show how it's so completely different from intersex in humans.
If you know of any other fun hermaphrodite tidbits, please do let us know!
In Biology, "hermaphroditism" refers to an organism that has both male and female reproductive organs. Hermaphrodites are common among plants and invertebrates such as earthworms, snails, slugs, and barnacles. We at the Intersex Initiative picked snails as our mascot because it was the cutest among the rank.
There are also species that are "sequential hermaphrodites," such as some fish, that start out life as one sex and then changes into another if it is "triggered" by certain conditions. The clown fish from the animation film "Finding Nemo" are sequential hermaphrodite. (We were going to put an illustration of "Nemo" on this page, but we remembered that we don't want to get sued by Disney).
Before having sex, "snails court from 15 minutes to six hours by circling each other, touching with tentacles, and biting on the lip and genitals," according to The Why Files, the University of Wisconsin's science education website. Snails have their sexual organs around their neck, which they use to inseminate one another simulteneously. It's so cute that snails have sex by rubbing their neck together, and the best part is that they both get inseminated: if humans did that, half of the world's problems would not exist!
"Papayas come in three sexes, male, female and hermaphrodite. Hermaphrodites produce the sweetest fruit and are the most productive; females produce good fruit, but are less productive; and males are uncommon and undesirable. Unfortunately, there has been no way to determine a papaya's sex from its seed. Now, when the plants flower at six to 12 months, workers go through fields and remove all but the hermaphrodites." (The Los Angeles Times, January 25, 2004). This is so ironic--in humans, it is intersex people who are considered "undesirable" and are physically eliminated through shame, secrecy, and surgeries.
At least someone likes our least appreciated hermaphrodite creature, earthworms. "How Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms," is a new book written by gardening columnist Amy Stewart and is full of love and appreciation toward the slimy worms. Between one to eight million earthworms could be living in an acre of land, each plowing and enriching the soil they eat (up to one-third of its body weight daily) and inhabit. They are hard-working and help farmers and gardeners everywhere!