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In Zoology , a hermaphrodite is an organism of a Species whose members possess both Male and Female Sexual Organs during their lives. In many species, hermaphroditism is a normal part of the life-cycle. Generally, hermaphroditism occurs in the Invertebrates , although it occurs in a fair number of Fish , and to a lesser degree in other Vertebrates . See below for use of the term in Plant s. ''Note:'' The term "hermaphrodite" has historically been used to describe people with ambiguous genitalia or biological sex. The broader term Intersexual is often used and is preferred by many such individuals and medical professionals. The term is still used by the pornography industry, though often as a synonym for Transsexual , as true human intersexuals are rare. IN ANIMALS
Fetal hermaphroditism in humans Sigmund Freud (based on work by his associate Wilhelm Fliess ) held fetal hermaphroditsm to be a fact of the physiological development of humans. He was so certain of this, in fact, that he based much of his theory of Innate Bisexuality on that assumption. This was later revealed to be untrue (see Sexual Differentiation ). IN PLANTS Hermaphrodite is used in Botany to describe a Flower that has both Staminate (male, pollen-producing) and Carpelate (female, seed-producing) parts that are self fertile or self Pollenizing . Hermaphrodism in plants is more complex than in animals because plants can have hermaphroditic flowers as described, or Unisexual flowers with both male and female types developing on the '''same individual'''—a closer analogy to animal hermaphrodism. However, this latter condition constitutes ''' Monoecy ''' in plants, and is especially common to the Conifers , while occurring in only about 7% of angiosperm species (Molnar, 2004). IN ELECTRICAL CONNECTORS A hermaphrodite Electrical Connector is one that can connect with an identical connector, for example the SAE Connector . For more details, see the entry on Gender Of Connectors And Fasteners . ETYMOLOGY The term "hermaphrodite" derives from Hermaphroditus , the son of Hermes and Aphrodite in Greek Mythology , who was fused with a Nymph , resulting in one possessing physical traits of both sexes. Thus Hermaphroditus was, by the modern terminology, a simultaneous hermaphrodite. The mythological figure of Tiresias , who figures in the Oedipus Cycle as well as the Odyssey , was a sequential hermaphrodite, having been changed from a man to a woman and back by the gods. REFERENCES
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