Question regarding Gender... (sens?)

yes, i think it's totally possible. i worked behind the bar at a transgender conference once, you come to understand there are many shades of grey in the physical/mental gender fields...

Are you saying she's a hermaphrodite?

Definitely possible, but I have no idea how common it is. As for whether she is winding you up, I wouldn't like to guess!

That's the term she used, yeah. Wasn't sure if it was correct or not.

I did a unit on this at uni (a long time ago) and we were told true hermaphrodites were quite rare, but part of that may be that many had their male genital organs removed at birth (it was easier) and were brought up as females.

i heard about that too, and that quite often the poor soul was a bit miffed about having gender assigned without his/her consent, as they had chosen the wrong one...

If you fancy a fictional read on the subject, "Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides (sp?) is about one person's life with this. I think it won a Pulitzer prize, although I have to admit I didn't think it was anything that special.

Strangely enough, books and writing are what we talk about....

I thought that was a stunning book for weaving together a great plot line about immigration, genes, and gender.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersexuality has some info on people who are intersex.

Whether or not it's a wind-up, I've no idea!

I didn't dislike it as such. Its hard to put my finger on why it didn't really impress me. I think it was the style of the writing itself rather than the storyline and issues it raised if that makes any sense. Maybe I set my expectations too high becuase of its prizewinning status. I remember also feeling like it just faded out at the end. I think I was expecting more out of the last chapter.

Hard to gauge, she's odd to say the least.

I'm hopeless at critiquing books so I can only say I really enjoyed it. I liked the style but I can imagine it not suiting everyone. I'm fairly certain when we discussed it at book club I was the only person who raved about it so perhaps it just rang a bell with me more than most!

A female relative of mine has a Y chromosome in addition to her 2 X's. She would probably describe herself like that

Not sure if its the same thing but 3 of my step cousins (all sisters) are female but have male insides (no womb, ovaries ect).

Oh I thought people that were XXY were male. Isn't it called Kleinfelter's or something - must go look it up now

I can't remember the name used klinefelters is the only one i can find on google but that doesn't ring a bell. There are lots of people she knows through a specialist medical team and support groups who are female with the condition she has. her male gonads were completely internal and cancerous, externally she has always appeared female.

Oh interesting... Sorry I did genetics at Uni - am always nosey about genetics things

This is really interesting thread. My sister lost a baby v v late in pregnancy which was XXY and we had lots of discussion around this issue.