Hermaphrodite

A hermaphrodite or an intersexed being is a creature that has both male and female sex organs. The word is commonly abbreviated as herm or hermaph.

It is derived from the Greek myth about Hermaphroditus, the son of deities Hermes and Aphrodite, who was merged with the water nymph Salmacis into a hermaphroditic form.

"Hermaphrodite" is analogous to the Japanese term futanari used in anime fandom.

Hermaphrodite and furry
Most herms found in furry fandom are represented as overtly female figures with both male and female primary sexual characteristics. The female characteristics tend to be exaggerated, often to the point of hyper-endowment, with extremely large breasts, hips, and a feminine face.

Some hermaphrodite furs are androgynous; they don't look particularly male or female, but rather a seamless blend of the sexes throughout, possessing both male and female reproductive organs. There are also some (relatively few) masculine herms who appear mostly or entirely male, but also have female sex organs behind their male genitalia.

Many herm furs are tauric in shape, and may sometimes be hermaphroditic with differing sexual characteristics on their upper and lower bodies. The Chakat race is an example of a hermaphroditic centaur-like species. Exotic furs such as aliens, demons, shapeshifters, or even plants are sometimes hermaphroditic.

Hermaphroditic furs are often portrayed as blatantly sexualized and are frequently hyper-endowed. Indeed, a disproportionately-large number of hyper-fans also seem to play herm characters some or all of the time. However, not all herms are necessarily overtly sexual. There are those who are either sexually inactive, disinterested, or have different reasons for portraying a hermaphroditic character than simple sexual fascination.

Linguistics
The English language lacks a standard set of pronouns sufficient to cover hermaphrodites, and so the proper pronoun for a herm fur can vary considerably and often depends on that fur's personal choice. Some herms whose forms appear primarily female use female personal pronouns, as do many shemales furs, while masculine herms may be inclined to use male pronouns.

Also common are neologic pronouns such as hir, hie, sie, and ze. Examples of these pronouns are shown on the following table:

Many sets of pronouns originated as gender-neutral pronouns, although hermaphrodites are not themselves neuter; a slightly more accurate term is androgynous pronoun.


 * The pronoun sie is often replaced with shi within the fandom.
 * Users of the hie set often substitute him, or even hiem in object case.

Other terms
Hermfriend (or goyfriend) is used to describe the Third Sex variant of a "significant other" ("boyfriend" and "girlfriend”.) This term is used mainly in furry written material, with authors using it to describe either a hermaphrodite, shemale, or crossdressing furry character.

Art
Hermaphrodites are not uncommon in furry artwork, and some artists specialize in drawing herm furs. The most prominent artist of hermaphrodites is Doug Winger, whose extreme proportions have spawned terms such as Winger Girls, Wingeresque, and Wingerized.

Many other artists draw herm furs, including FoxxFire, Orena, Thumbclawz, Marc Leonhardt, AraKaraath, Kaye Darktail, and countless others who have done works that depict herms ranging from busty babes with manly bulges to the truly androgynous creatures of history and mythology.

Herms appear in many art sites such as the VCL, Fur Affinity, SheezyArt, Yiffstar and futanari.org.

Sites
Herms can be found in quite a few areas throughout the fandom, including #hermsyiff on FurNet (IRC) and yiffy.net. The Hermaphrodite Havens on FurryMUCK, Tapestries MUCK, SPR, and Second Life are social areas devoted to herms and those who enjoy their company.