Hermaphrodites

I feel like the definition of “queer” in Jagose’s piece Queer Theory, was incredibly broad as it is “associated prominently with lesbian and gay subjects, but its analytic framework also includes such topics as cross-dressing, hermaphroditism, gender ambiguity and gender-corrective surgery”. I guess it pretty much encompasses everything that is not straight. However, in my opinion, I really feel like “queer” is too broad a theory and should be broken down in smaller categories. I feel like hermaphrodites is a much more complicated category and shouldn’t be grouped in the same category as lesbians and gays as it is an actual physical problem where one is born with both female and male genitalia; I feel like hermaphrodites differ from lesbians and gays as having both male and female genitalia might not necessarily affect their sexuality.

For instance, there was a lot of news sensation regarding, Semeya, one of South Africa’s champion runners, and the fact that she was a hermaphrodite. Apparently, she was born with internal testes instead of ovaries and no uterus; however these physical problems didn’t change her sexuality or the fact that she considered herself a woman and ran in the women’s sector.  I feel like it is increasingly hard to define gender, should it be based on external or internal qualities? Is one considered female because she has female genitalia or can one be considered female because she feels like she is meant to be female (such as transgenders)? I don’t know if I’m explaining myself clearly, this topic is quite complicated.

I feel as though society has adopted such a casual stance towards the idea of “queers”, and that it has now become a term that is thrown around so casually. For instance, recently there were rumors accusing Lady Gaga of being a hermaphrodite, and she was quoted that, “I have both male and female genitalia, but I consider myself female. It’s just a little bit of a penis and doesn’t interfere much with my life." I’m not sure if this is true, and really don’t think it’s true and that it was just a publicity stunt, however, I feel like queers should be taken more seriously and shouldn’t be left to the media to mock.

A pretty offensive stunt (if it is really not true):