Tenebrous

Tenebrous (pronounced ten-uh-bruhs)

Dark; gloomy; obscure.

1375-1425: From the late Middle English tenebrose (full of darkness, gloomy), from the Anglo-Norman tenebrous (the earlier spelling was tenebrus), from the eleventh century Old French tenebros (dark, gloomy) (which endures in modern French as ténébreux), from the Latin tenebrōsus (dark), from tenebrae (darkness, shadows).  The Latin forms may have been dissimilated from the earlier temebrai, from the primitive Indo-European root temsro- (dark), an adjective from temos- (darkness).  The adjective tenebrous indicates a high degree of darkness but not an absolute absence of light, the comparative is thus more tenebrous and the superlative most tenebrous.  Tenebrous is now a literary word valued by poets because of the relative novelty of the rhyming and is used also figuratively (as early as the 1670s it was deployed to suggest someone was “morally or mentally dark”.  Tenebrous, tenebricose & tenebrific are adjectives, tenebrity, tenebrousness & tenebrosity are nouns and tenebrously is an adverb; the noun plural is tenebrosities.  The alternative spelling is tenebrious and except in literary use, the verb tenebrize is now obsolete.

Salomè con testa del Battista (Salome with the Head of John the Baptist, circa 1608), oil on canvas by Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio; 1571–1610), National Gallery, London.

Tenebrosity (darkness, gloom, obscurity) was from the early fifteenth century, tenebrious (pertaining to darkness, of a dark nature) dates from the 1590s, tenebrity (quality of being dark) was in use by at least 1792 while tenebrific (producing darkness), dating from the late 1760s, was implied in the earlier tenebrificating, recorded in 1743.  In 1818, it was reported in a London publication there was a theory darkness was not simply the absence of light, but that certain heavenly bodies (called Tenebrific Stars), emitted rays of positive darkness, which produced what commonly was called “night”.  This is how science evolves, theories existing to compete as explanations for this and that until disproved.  The early fifteenth century Tenebrer (bearer of darkness) was an epithet of Satan.  One variant which didn’t endure was recorded in the mid-seventeenth century was tenebrion (one that will not be seen by day, a lurker, a night-thief (also a “night-spirit” and “hobgoblin”)).  In Christianity, the Tenebrae is a religious service celebrated by the Western Church on the evening before or early morning of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, involving the gradual extinguishing of candles while a series of readings and psalms are chanted or recited.  In fine art, the related tenebrism describes a style of painting using very pronounced chiaroscuro, with darkness a dominating feature of the image and a tenebrist is an artist applying the method.  Works in the genre are said to be tenebristic and in the late nineteenth century those painting in this manner (described usually as “in the style of Caravaggio” were called the tenebrosi; by 1959 the preferred term among art historians was tenebrism.

Illustrating the adjectival: Lindsay Lohan tenebrous (left), more tenebrous (centre) and most tenebrous (right), from Pop Magazine photo-shoot, Fall/Winter 2007.

The MOGAI

MOGAI stands for “Marginalized Orientations, Gender Alignments and Intersex” and is something of an omnibus term, acting as an umbrella term for sexual orientations, gender identities and intersex traits not considered “mainstream” although the very notion of “mainstream” is now a morass of cross-cutting claims, some factions demanding inclusion, others insisting on their separateness.  Whatever has been the track of MOGAI since its emergence in 2015, the original intent seems to have been one of “inclusiveness” and in that sense it’s both a logical extension of the LGBTQ+ concept and a recognition that so many categories could be identified the “extended model” (ie LGBTQQIAAOP and such) was becoming unmanageable.  Even “LGBTQ+” was in a sense counter-productive because in relegating certain letters (and thereby individuals or groups) to the “+”, there was an act of marginalization which, in the modern construct could be deemed a microaggression.  What advocates emphasize is that MOGAI exists for marginalized identities and it’s also as a kind of clearing house for novel or less recognized gender labels.  

DSM-5-TR (Text revision (2022) of DSM-5 (2013)).

In the narrow technical sense, MOGAI is a classification system but its focus on non-binary and other gender identities that are not cisgender seems to have acted to encourage the growth in the creation of categories and while some have “filled a gap”, there’s also clearly been linguistic adventurism in the same way some have been beyond imaginative in the coining of long German compound nouns and others have describe phobia despite there being no evidence of the particular fear ever having been defined as a clinical condition or even reported, a phenomenon the marvellously comprehensive Phobiapedia cheerfully acknowledges.  Whereas the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) exists to codify mental health conditions including phobias, MOGAI is just one of many list of gender identities but one which commands interest simply on the basis of numbers: it has spawned literally hundreds of entries and while some are “variations on a theme”, the breadth is striking.

The DSM contains two obviously tenebricose conditions, Social Anxiety Disorder and Seasonal Affective Disorder (a mood disorder characterized by recurrent depressive episodes that occur at particular times of the year, usually in winter), tenebrous used of the former figuratively, of the latter literally.  In a decision which may have been an agenda item on one of the editorial committee's meeting, it was decided the acronym “SAD” would be applied to Seasonal Affective Disorder (presumably on the basis it described the sadness associated with dark, wintery conditions); Social Anxiety Disorder typically is abbreviated as SoAD and the differentiation makes sense because while sadness can be associated with SoAD, it's the prime dynamic of SAD.  Multiple uses of acronyms is of course common but within the one publication it could confuse for the editors made a wise choice.  First described in 1984, SAD was included in the revision to the third edition (DSM-III-R (1987)) as a “seasonal pattern”, a modifier applied to recurrent forms of mood disorders, rather than as an independent entity.  In the DSM-IV (1994), its status as a standalone condition was changed, no longer classified as a unique mood disorder but instead a specifier (called “with seasonal pattern”) for the “recurrent major depressive disorder that occurs at a specific time of the year and fully remits otherwise”.  In the DSM-5 (2013), although there were detail changes in terminology, the disorder was again identified as a type of depression (Major Depressive Disorder with Seasonal Pattern).  The symptoms of SAD often overlap with the behaviors & mood changes noted in clinical depression, the novelty being the condition manifesting usually during the fall (autumn) & winter when temperatures and lower and the hours of sunlight fewer, the symptoms tending to diminish with the onset of spring.

A gathering of high tech, robotic lawnmowers: Four Stihl iMows of the apocalypse.

Suggested collective nouns for lawnmowers have included “graze”, “scythe”, “lawn” & “swathe” but the most evocative was the (presumably Australian) “startyafuquer” (pronounced stahrt-yuh-fuhk-ah).  Most “high tech” lawnmowers are controlled using a cell phone app but some include the feature of a user being able to create their own voice-activation command set so “startyafuquer” could be recorded as the “start command”, the obvious companion phrase being “stopyafuquer”.

While notably less common, there are those who experience SAD during the summer and in either case it’s seen more frequently in women; SAD appears to be possible at any age but is most typically suffered in the age range 18-30.  In the US, the dynamic of the condition is illustrated by the diagnosis of SAD ranging from 1.4% of the population in sunny Florida to 9.9% in often gloomy Alaska and, after some initial scepticism, the condition was accepted as legitimate by most of the profession although there has been some contradictory research.  Although in a sense SAD has for centuries been documented in the works of poets and artists, it wasn’t until the mid-twentieth century that structured research began and it has been linked to a biochemical imbalance in the brain prompted by exposure to reduced hours of daylight and a reduction in sunlight.  It’s thought that as the seasons go by, some experience a shift in their internal “biological clock” (circadian rhythm) which induces the mechanism to become asynchronous with their daily schedule.  Predictably, SAD appears more prevalent among those living far from the equator where the conditions in winter are exaggerated.  Seemingly paradoxically, clinicians treating SAD do in some cases recommend “outdoor activities” on the basis (1) of “confronting the problem” as is sometimes done for fears (heights, spiders etc) and (2) its frequent effectiveness in countering depression.  One popular activity suggested is gardening and while many have reported it as therapeutic, those suffering from Sponeopapaaughprosebeeanthropopcacareophobia (the phobia describing the “fear of high tech lawn mowers”) would need to be cautious in their choice and handling of equipment.   

Gender lists are however not “peer reviewed” in the traditional sense (controversial as that model of academic publishing has become) so in a sense all the categorization systems are of equal validity with users free to determine which works best for them.  That’s democratic and how a classic marketplace of ideas operates but does mean it’s a field in which most are left to make of it what they will.  It would be interesting to compare a “comprehensive list” curated by academics in the now well-populated discipline of “gender studies” with the hundreds of entries which the MOGAI community hosts.  In the most recent edition of the DSM (DSM-5-TR, 2022), while there are five sub-types of specific phobias: (1) animals, (2) the natural environment, (3) blood, injections, medical procedures and such, (4) situational types (airplanes, elevators, enclosed spaces etc) and (5) other types, officially, terms like nomophobia, coulrophobia, globophobia, arachibutyrophobia etc) are no longer accepted clinical terms used in psychiatry and instances are grouped to be diagnosed as “Specific Phobia, other type”.  Remarkably, given the frequency of use of xxx-phobia in general use, only two explicitly are mentioned in the DSM and they are not unrelated: Agoraphobia (an extreme or irrational fear of entering open or crowded places or leaving one's home) and Social Anxiety Disorder (SoAD or Social anxiety).

The MOGAI community's lists of gender types are an invaluable resource but can be challenging for those suffering Albumistaphobia (the phobia describing the “fear of lists”).

Still, even if many of MOGAI’s entries might not survive an academic cull, there would be gender theorists or activists who might acknowledge the entire set because a syndrome need not be widespread to be defined as such: a single case can establish the diagnosis.  Word nerds too must have been impressed by the diversity and intricacy (if not always the grammar and spelling) because MOGAI definitions can also be mapped onto specific systems or sets of labels, such as the Celestial Gender System (based on celestial bodies) or the Restaurant System (based on restaurants and eateries).  What that has meant is that as well as serious contributions, the MOGAI community has seen the creation of new labels of dubious practical validity which, like some alleged phobias, clearly exist just because their creation was possible and fun.  Those schooled in labelling theory might also be interested because, once created and vested with the “validity” of appearing in a “gender list” on the internet, a label can gain some gravitational pull and convince readers they’ve just discovered their “true gender” identity or identities.  As patients can create the diagnosis, so the diagnosis can create the patient.

Xenogender

A xenogender identity is one in which a person's gender is connected to an aesthetic or sensory experience.  It is non-binary and applies concepts beyond traditional male, female or androgynous categories to describe a gender that cannot be contained by traditional human understandings of gender.  Xenogender claims to be all-encompassing and is this positioned as an umbrella term for identities related to abstract sources like animals, plants, concepts and imaginary or inanimate objects; the linkages need not in any way be literal or concrete and can be simply a device people use to best articulate how their gender “feels” (or “appears” for those who view themselves from beyond their own physical body) to them.  Some xenogenders are used by the neurodivergent community but the essence of xenogenderism is they cannot be exclusive and thus cannot be used in an exclusionary way.

Hallowgender

Hallowgender (or Halloweengender) is an aesthetigender in which one's gender is tied closely to “the silly part of Halloween and the Halloween aesthetic” (ie it focuses on the fun rather than the dark and scary).  The first known use of hallowgender was by Tumblr user asukazepplinsoryu in 2014.

Flags of the Hallowgender.

Left to right: (1) The original hallowgender flag, designed by an anonymous user; (2) the first alternate hallowgender flag designed by Tumblr user ask-pride-color-schemes; (3) the second alternate hallowgender flag designed by Tumblr user momma-mogai-sphinx, (4) the third alternate hallowgender flag designed by Tumblr user momma-mogai-sphinx and (5) the fourth alternate hallowgender flag designed by FANDOM user WriterThatArts.  In the ecosystem of gender-diversity, flags have become a thing; the gay liberation movement's Rainbow flags are the best-known but there are banners for many non-cisgender sub-sets and other divergencies including the still much-marginalized Objectum community.  

TFS: The Tenebrous Gender System

A fork of the MOGAI community, the TGS (Tenebrous Gender System) was said to have been created by Tumblr user Hallowgender who on 12 September 2020 published a codified version; under TGS, all sub-types are in some way and to some degree connected to “darkness and gloominess”.  All are related also to other things or concepts and that some of those might stand in stark contradiction to darkness and gloominess was noted without further comment.  In a sign of the times, TGS, with seven categories, is said to be “one of the smallest gender systems” and that reflects the recent proliferation from something which for millennia usually was represented as a binary.  Each TGS category has a flag:

Tenebrariarumian: A gender that is dark, enveloping, and colorful.  It is gloomy, calming and cold.  Exemplar: Billie Eilish (b 2001).

Tenebrasian: A gender that is dark, separating, and sullen.  It is gloomy, tumultuous and warm.  Exemplar: Lindsay Lohan (b 1986).

Tenebellariumian: A gender that is flamboyant, dark, cool, and wintry. It is gloomy, calming, and freezing as well but may tend also to fluidity and can be similar to Burlesgender.  Exemplar: Kim Kardashian (b 1980).

Tenebrationisian: A gender that is masculine, toasty, calming, and similar to the sea at night.  It is gloomy, calming, and connected to anchors, boats, and summer.  Exemplar: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC, b 1989).

Tenebricosumian: A gender that is cautious, wintry, dark and comforting.  It is small, fluid, and flux.  Exemplar: Bernie Sanders (b 1941).

Tenebricumian: A gender that is icy, soft, watery and comforting. It is large, fluid, and flux.  Exemplar: Sydney Sweeney (b 1997).

Tenebrosumian: A gender that is icy, soft, electric and powerful.  It is large, fluid and flux as well.  It can be connected to lights in a city at night, blankets and snowy afternoons.  Exemplar: Jessica Simpson (b 1980).

Aesthetigender

Aesthetigender was said to have been coined in 2014 by Tumblr user curiosityismysin and the original description read: “a gender experience that is derived from, or the embodiment of, an aesthetic”; from that came the mission creep which saw the term evolve from a “standalone gender” to being an entire sub-category of MOGAI genders to the point where it is one of the largest.  The nature of the beast is such that within the rubric of aesthetigender it’s an irrelevance to try to determine where one ends and another begins and the extent of proliferation anyway made overlap inevitable.  As might be imagined, a category in which the imperative is “a gender which in some ways relates to an aesthetic” is so broad that probably all MOGAI genders could be made to fit under the umbrella, including terms that aren't obviously “aesthetically linked” because just as “everything is text”, in a sense, “everything has an aesthetic”.  That has to be right because the root of aesthetigender ultimately can be traced back to a rejection of gender as a binary and the nonbinary activist movement really began as something aesthetic before a conceptual framework was built.  The MOGAI community now lists over 600 known aesthetigenders and while some (like many entries in the phobia lists) are variants, jocular coinings or exercises in novelty, such is the breadth, there must be something for just about everyone; some illustrative examples are:

Abandoe: a gender similar to that of an abandoned house; could be dead, genderless or of themes being empty and intimidating.

Adorbian: a xenic alignment to cuteness or cute things.

Aesthetigxrl: a girl or woman who is also aesthetifluid.  Your aesthetigenders act as an overlay, affecting pronouns and desired presentation.  If the aesthetic is heavily aligned with a different gender, your gender might be obscured until the aestheticgender changes. Comes under the genderfluid umbrella. (Gxrl can be substituted with your main gender (bxy, boy, girl, xen, enby ect).

Ancientus: a gender that feels like it is becoming ancient and unused, regardless of whether it is or is not.

Animecoric: a gender related to animecore.

Antiancientius: a gender that feels like it is coming back from being ancient and unused to being new and used

Arcage: a gender that feels locked up in a coffin or mausoleum, it’s desolate and unused but can be revisited and used for a small amount of time.  It can also be related to coffins, cemeteries and Halloween.

Autumnusian: a slightly neutral gender related to autumn (fall), fallen leaves, oak trees, the smell of maples, rain, and/or the sun.

Bellusgender: a gender relating to anything beautiful to the user’s eye (can be flowers, pets etc).

Burlesgender: A gender that is ineffable, extremely hard to label, but is flamboyantly and fabulously androgynous.  It was first coined as Ziggystardustgender but changed due to this referencing a fictional character.

Camogender: a gender that’s hard to see on the outside, almost invisible, but very deep and full of meaning on the inside. Can be thick or thin but is always not what it appears to be.

Cosmiccoric: a gender that feels like you’re a cosmic entity, one with the universe, especially when meditating.

Crystalforestgender: a gender associated with both crystals and forests or that is easily described by both forests and crystals.

Demi-Smoke: a transcendental, spiritual gender roughly drifting to other genders that are unable to be foreseen or understood, shrouded in darkness within your inner visual.  Elevating through mystery and caused by a lack of inner interpretation and one’s dark emotional states.

Derkazgender: where you feel like parts of your gender are hidden or concealed in darkness.

Djender: a gender that is harsh and jagged.

Elegender: a gender up to interpretation by individuals, but in essence is an ethereal gender that is unable to be understood by either the individual or others; a gender that cannot be explained; a dainty, elegant, or delicate gender.

Estetikgender: when your gender is influenced by your current aesthetic.

Fatugender: a useless gender.

Fractigender: a gender identity characterized by different genders occurring with different intensities, and yet still connected (either through expression, interpretation, or being experienced simultaneously).  This identity is based on the Latin fractus (broken), perfect passive participle of frangō (break, fragment), the idea being a pattern that repeats on smaller and smaller scales, and different locations.

Genderabyssalis: a gender that is dark, deep, and abyssal.  It may be connected to darkness, dimness, and cold nights.  It can be masculine or neuter-aligned, but need not be.

Genderamburo: a gender that feels slightly scorched or burnt.

Genderardere: a gender that feels like it has been burnt/scorched, but still remains.

Genderatrum: a gender shrouded into darkness. It feels gloomy and unwelcoming, isolating itself from other genders.

Gendercalefecere: a gender that feels like it warms, and then quickly cools again.

Gendercimiterium: a gender related to graveyards.  It feels buried underneath other genders, and trapped forever more.

Genderclock: a xenogender related with time and clocks.

Gendergothica: a gender that feels Gothic or related to Gothic architecture or literature.

Gendermortes: A gender that fades into death.

Gendermortuss: A gender that feels dead or is barely clinging to life.

Gendernoir: A gender related to the noir aesthetic.

Genderplush: A gender related to teddy bears.

Gendertextus: a gender that is woven into other genders.

Icegender: A cold gender that's disconnected from emotion

Lolitagender: A gender related to Lolita fashion.

Magikavine: A gender related to the color purple, dark circus aesthetics, and magic.

Mermaidcoric: A gender related to mermaidcore.

Multioculaec: a gender related to having or wanting multiple eyes (Based off Wingphinaec).

Naufragiumgender: a gender simply abandoned.  It is similar to a shipwreck in that it just plainly disappears for a while, later to be rediscovered by advancing into the depths of gender.

Necrogender: a gender that used to exist but is now 'dead' or nonexistent.

Nightshadegender: when your gender feels ominous and dangerous if wrongly handled.

Noirgender: an aesthetic gender based on being goth.

Noxnidorian: A gender that’s related to the night and specifically the smell of the night.

Nymphetic: genders relating to the nymphet/doelette/coquette/faunlet aesthetic & fashion, without k!nk attatched

Ophthalmogender: a gender described by your own eye and its characteristics at some point.

Opscugender: a dark, murky gender, hard to describe or see.

Pastelgothcoric: a gender related to pastel gothcore, or just pastel goth in general!

Petrichic: a xenic-alignment with rain, storms, and water.

Pictogender: a gender that can only be described through imagery. A pictogender individual might only be able to describe their gender with icons, symbols, emojis, color gradients, or some other visual.

Pinkcoric: A gender related to pinkcore.

Punque: a gender characterized by the punk aesthetic, fashion, culture, music and attitude.  Can be used as a descriptor or as a noun.

Puppetic: A xenogender related to puppets/marionettes.

Sadcoric: A gender related to sadcore

Sapphiregender: A gender that is aesthetically related to sapphires, a gender that is feminine, non-binary, and vaguely fluid.

Savmysterius: a masculine xenogender that feels shrouded in fog and is hard to define. It’s slightly fluid, golden and ancient, and draws influence from many sources, including: crystals & forests, stars & death, old gods & demons, angels and the fae.

Sexygender: a gender that is very, very sexy

Shampooium: a dermagender that feels sudsy like shampoo, and makes other genders feel healthy as well.

Shipwreckian: a gender somehow connected to shipwrecks, the deep sea, shades of blue and warm ocean waters.

Sliwarmasix: a slightly warm gender, it hovers slightly above other genders and never flares up.

Somnigender: a gender identity related to, dependent upon, or inexorably connected to a feeling of sleepiness or tiredness. Alternately, it can refer to a gender that is difficult or impossible to perceive or identify due to feelings of sleepiness or tiredness.  Not a narcolepsy/insomnia-based neurogender, just general sleepiness.

Squishyic: a xenogender related to squishies.

Starboy: A gender related to boasting, cyberpunk, and crime.

Tenebric: a gender that feels cold and dark; it smells of moss and nature.

Traumacoric: A gender related to traumacore.

Urbisgender: a gender built like a city, composed of many, many parts that all function to help one another; full of many small parts and things to discover.

Vampcoric: a coric gender related to vampirecore.

Wanderlust Gender: a labyrinthine, eerie gender that’s impossible to navigate or map, but which causes no anxiety.  This gender is fun to explore even if it’s easy to get lost in.

Windowgender: a gender feeling like the space between the glass and the screen of the window thus either a free-flowing gender or for those who feel their genders are transparent!

Wingphinaec: a gender related to wings or having wings!

Witchcoric: a xenogender related to witchcore.

Xenoirgender: A gender based in emo, scene and other offshoots of goth.

Zombiecoric: a masculine, feminine or neutral gender based around zombiecore; feels decayed & dark, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Hermaphrodite

Hermaphrodite (pronounced hur-maf-ruh-dahyt)

(1) In human physiology, an individual in which both male and female reproductive organs (and sometimes also all or some of the secondary sex characteristics) are present, or in which the chromosomal patterns do not fall under typical definitions of male and female.  It’s no longer used to describe people, except in the technical language of medicine or pathology and is now considered offensive, intersex the preferred term).

(2) In zoology, an organism (such as the earthworm) having both the male and female organs of reproduction.

(3) Of, relating to, or characteristic of a hermaphrodite.

(4) In botany, having stamens and pistils in the same flower; the alternative term is monoclinous.

(5) In figurative use, a person or thing in which two opposite forces or qualities are combined.

(6) In historic admiralty use as hermaphrodite brig, a vessel square-masted fore and schooner-rigged aft (obsolete).

1350–1400: From the Middle English hermofrodite, from the Latin hermaphrodītus, from the Greek hermaphródītos (person partaking of the attributes of both sexes).  The French, dating from the 1750s, was hermaphrodisme.  The word was derived from the proper name Hermaphroditus (or Hermaphroditos), a figure in Greek mythology, son of Hermes and Aphrodite, who, in Ovid, who the nymph Salmacis loved so ardently that she prayed for complete union with him,  The gods granted her wish and they were united bodily, combining male and female characteristics.  Hermaphrodite, hermaphroditism & hermaphrodeity are nouns, hermaphroditic & hermaphroditical are adjectives and hermaphroditically is an adverb;the noun plural is hermaphrodites.

It was used figuratively in Middle English to describe "one who improperly occupies two offices" and as a name for the medical condition, Middle English also had the late fourteenth century form hermofrodito and in the early fifteenth, hermofrodisia.  It was an adjective from circa 1600, first as hermaphroditical which must have been too difficult because by the 1620s, that had be replaced by ermaphroditic and about the same time, it came to be applied generally to things possessing two natures although this fell from favor and Janus-faced prevailed.  Although a rare condition, it must have fascinated many because an array of words followed in the wake of the tangle of variations in Middle English.  The Victorians liked to blame medieval writers making a mess of translating from Greek and Latin but the wholly wrong noun morphodite was a colloquial mangling from 1839, based on morpho- (from the Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ) (form)) though they could blame the early Georgians, an earlier mangling being mophrodite, noted in 1706.

The slang “dyke”, was used to describe a lesbian (or, more correctly, usually a subset of lesbians) and is now considered a gay slur, unless self-applied or used (with mutual or common consent) within the LGBTQQIAAOP community.  It was applied, usually pejoratively, to lesbians thought “tough, mannish, or aggressive”, unlike the "lipstick lesbians" preferred by the pornography industry and was a creation of American English although the origin is disputed.  Some claim it to be from 1931 as a truncation of morphadike (the dialectal garbling of hermaphrodite) but bulldyker (one known to engage in lesbionic activities) is attested from 1921.  One dictionary of American slang cites an 1896 source where dyke is slang for "the vulva" while another says that at least since 1893, as "hedge on the dyke", it referred to “female pubic hair".  Several texts confirm the long forms, bulldiker & bulldyking, were first part of oral use by African-Americans in the 1920s yet no African antecedents have been found, the assumption by etymologists that these are adaptations of backcountry, barnyard slang, perhaps either influenced by or an actual combination of the sounds of the words “bull” & “dick”.

The noun androgyne was picked up in the mid-twelfth century from the Medieval Latin androgyne (feminine), from the Greek androgynos (a hermaphrodite, a woman-man).  The modern-sounding adjective ambisexual began not with the psychiatrists but was used by clothing manufacturers to describe garments which could (within size-ranges) be worn by men or women without modification.  Bisexual, although it didn’t enter the jargon of psychology until 1912, had been used in its modern sense since appearing in Charles Chaddock's (1861–1936) 1892 translation of an 1886 text of psychiatric illnesses; prior to that volume, bisexual had been used only in botany to refer to hermaphroditic plants or as descriptions of institutions such as (what are now called co-educational) schools.  Bisexous (1838) and bisexuous (1856) were other coinings suggested for use in the sense of hermaphrodite; for a topic often taboo, linguistically, it was becoming a crowded field.  Ambosexual (1935) again sounds modern but ambosexous as another synonym for hermaphrodite was used as early as the 1650s.  Ambisextrous (1929) was a humorous coinage based on ambidextrous and, predictably, came from the fertile imaginations of either schoolboys or undergraduates, depending on the source cited.  The synonym gynandrous was first recorded circa 1765, and was from the Greek gunandros (of uncertain sex; of doubtful sex), the construct being gunē (woman) + anēr (man) + the suffix –ous (used to form adjectives from nouns).  The term pseudohermaphroditism was created in 1876 by German-Swiss microbiologist Edwin Klebs (1834–1913) and that described a a condition in which an individual has a matching chromosomal and gonadal tissue (ovary or testis) sex, but mismatching external genitalia and the nouns hermaphrodeity (circa 1610s) hermaphroditism (1807) are still used in the jargon of medicine and pathology.

Because of the taboo nature of hermaphrodite in some societies, it also attracted the creation of euphemisms.  One used in Old English was skratte (and there were variations) from the Old Norse skratte (goblin, wizard).  The original sense was probably “a monster" and the similar sounding “Old Scratch” (the Devil), from the earlier scrat was known from the 1740s; all hint at negative associations and it’s assumed most were generally aimed at women who didn't conform with the conventional standards of what men thought "attractive".  The familiar adjective androgynous was used from the 1620s in the sense of “a womanish man” and by the 1650s, "having two sexes, being both male and female".  It was from the Latin androgynus, from the Greek androgynos (hermaphrodite, male and female in one; womanish man) and (this time neutrally) as an adjective to describe public baths "common to men and women".  Semi was applied from the 1300s (mostly to men) to convey the sense of “only half masculine”, sem- a word-forming element (half, part, partly; partial, imperfect) from the Latin semi- (half) from the primitive Indo-European semi- (half), source also of the Sanskrit sami (half), the Greek hēmi- (half), the Old English sam- and the Gothic sami- (half).

To convey the sense of disapprobation associated with hermaphroditism, especially as it manifested in effeminate men, probably the best example is “bad”.  It was rare before 1400 and evil remained more frequently used until circa 1700 but the meanings "inadequate, unsatisfactory, worthless; unfortunate" & "wicked, evil, vicious; counterfeit" were universal by the late 1300s.  Unusually for English, it appears to have no relatives in other languages, the conclusion of many etymologists being it’s likely from the Old English derogatory term bæddel and its diminutive bædling (effeminate man, hermaphrodite, pederast), both of which are probably related to bædan (to defile).  The term hermaphrodite was once commonly applied to people, neutrally in medicine and variously otherwise but the latter is thought now offensive, "intersex" the preferred term. It can refer to a person born with both male and female reproductive organs or with a chromosomal pattern that does not align with typical male or female patterns, for instance, an individual with a mix of XX and XY chromosomes or with androgen insensitivity syndrome.

Salmacis and Hermaphroditus

Greek mythology has twists and turns, forks and dead ends.  Sometimes the tales vary in detail, sometimes they’re contradictory and often the myths can in themselves be mythological, the work even of medieval writers rather than anything from antiquity.  That’s never stopped some of the later texts entering the popular imagination becoming part of the mythological canon.  Roman lyric poets were known to pen the myths too.  Although Hermaphroditus is mentioned in Greek literature hundreds of years earlier as a figure of some sexual ambiguity and with no mention of Salmacis, nor with any reference to being the child of Hermes and Aphrodite, the best known rendition of the legend of Salmacis and Hermaphroditus is that written by the Roman poet Ovid (Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (43 BC–circa 17)).

Ovid relates that Hermaphroditus had been raised in the caves on the slopes of Mount Ida, a sacred mountain in Phrygia.  It was a happy, tranquil youth but in adolescence, he grew restive in the wilderness and like many young men he was drawn to the "corrupting coast" and the "corrosive city" and set off to travel to the large settlement Caria.  He actually took a bit of a risk in his wandering because the naiads (female water spirits who lived near fountains, springs and streams of fresh water who raised and cared for him) could be dangerous, known to be jealous types, but Ovid doesn’t dwell on this, despite rarely having much diffidence in commenting on dangerous women. 

Salmacis and Hermaphroditus (1856), oil on canvas by Giovanni Carnovali (1804–1873).

It was in a forest on the outskirts of Caria, near Halicarnassus that Hermaphroditus and the nymph Salmacis met.  She was bathing in her pool as the beautiful boy walked past and the moment she cast her eyes upon him, she fell in love.  In her lust she fell upon him, begging him to take her but young and unsure, he pushed her away, refusing her every advance.  Tearfully she ran away and hid.  Hot and tired from his long journey, Hermaphroditus, thinking she was gone, undressed and plunged into the cool, clear waters of the pool.  At this, Salmacis sprang from her shelter into the water, wrapping her arms around the struggling youth, her voice begging the gods that they would never part.  The lascivious waif’s wish was granted, their bodies blended into one to become “a creature of both sexes".  The last act of Hermaphroditus as he was transformed was his prayer to his parents Hermes and Aphrodite that all who swam in these waters would be similarly transformed.  They answered his prayer.

Lindsay Lohan as Aphrodite, emerging from the depths.

The archeological record does indicate the idea of some form of sexual dualism is ancient, statutes and surviving art predating any of the known myths of antiquity so depictions of the quality of hermaphroditism as a part of the human condition is certainly ancient.  There are some relicts from the seventh century BC, including a statue of Aphroditos (a figure explicitly both male and female) which scholars speculate may have been either a figure of worship for a cult or a symbol of fertility.  The statue was cast at least three-hundred years before the first known reference to Hermaphroditus in any Greek text and while there are many variations of the story, Ovid’s is the best remembered, certainly because it’s the most complete but probably also because it’s the best.

Androgynous

Androgynous (pronounced an-droj-uh-nuhs)

(1) Being both male and female; hermaphroditic (archaic).

(2) Having both masculine and feminine characteristics.

(3) Having an ambiguous sexual identity.

(4) Neither clearly masculine nor clearly feminine in appearance.

(5) In botany, having staminate and pistillate flowers in the same inflorescence.

1622: From the Latin androgynus (androgyne + ous), derived from Greek androgynos (hermaphrodite, male and female in one, womanish man).  Historically used as an adjective (of baths) with meaning "common to men and women," from andros, genitive of aner (male) (see anthropo) + gyne (woman).  Gyne is ultimate root of queen.  Related forms include androgyny, androgenous, androgynous. Androgyny was first used as a noun circa 1850, nominalizing the adjective androgynous.  Adjectival use dates from the early seventeenth century, derived from the older French and English terms, androgyne.  The older androgyne is still in use as a noun with overlapping meanings.  Androgynous is an adjective, androgyny is a noun, androgynously is an adverb; the noun plural is androgynies.

Marlene Dietrich (1901–1992) as Amy Jolly in Morocco (1930).

In an amusing political conjunction, it appears the Central Committee of the PRC’s (People’s Republic of China) ruling Communist Party (CCP) seems now to agree with California’s most recent Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger (b 1947; governor of California 2003-2011), that “girly men” are a bit of a problem.  The committee has been for some time concerned with the habits of the young and in addition to cracking down on ideologically unreliable actresses, introduced restrictions on the amount of time the young could spend frittering away their (ie the state’s) time playing video games instead of studying agricultural techniques, developing surveillance systems or something useful.  Around the republic, it’s suspected parents gave thanks to the committee for at least attempting to achieve what their years pleas and nagging failed to achieve although, being an inventive and clever lot, no one is expecting the caffeine-fuelled youth easily to abandon their obsession.  Work-arounds are expected soon to emerge. 

The Guangzhou Circle (the doughnut).

Fashionistas and rabid gamers weren’t the committee’s only target, an actual culture war declared on androgyny, many young men deemed too effeminate banned from the wildly popular television genre they seem to have co-invented with the TV broadcasters impressed by the ratings.  Having called in the executives to tell them to promote "revolutionary culture" instead of Western decadence, the crackdown on girly men is seemingly part of President Xi Jinping’s (b 1953; paramount leader of China since 2012) campaign to tighten control over business and society so the CCP can impose and enforce an official morality.  The president’s vision is certainly all-encompassing.  As well as “deviant” young men, Mr Xi also doesn’t like the “weird architecture” he’s noticed is part of the world’s biggest ever building boom, disapproving of intriguing structures like the doughnut-shaped Guangzhou Circle skyscraper by Italian architect Joseph di Pasquale (b 1968) and to demonstrate it’s not merely a criticism of foreign influence, he’s also condemned some of the works by Chinese designers.  The president expects buildings to be like Chinese youth: cost-conscious, structurally sound, functional and environmentally friendly.  That’s it; no deviation allowed.      

The new headquarters of the state media’s China Daily during construction.  When finished if looked less confronting but one can see why the president was concerned.

But the architects got off lightly compared with the androgynous, the state’s regulator of television content ruling that broadcasters must "resolutely put an end to sissy men and other abnormal aesthetics", telling them to ban from the screens the niang pao (derisive slang for girly men which translates literally as "girlie guns”).  Culturally, the new interest shouldn’t be surprising given a narrow definition of gender roles has long been a theme in the identity and propaganda of authoritarian administrations, the imagery, campaigns and policies of twentieth century communist & fascist regimes being well documented, those not conforming suffering much.

Lindsay Lohan is androgynous mode.

Like the West, modern China has some history with LGBTQQIAAOP issues and, certainly in the twentieth century, many in the LGBTQQIAAOP communities were treated as mentally ill undesirables and sometimes prosecuted but, reflecting changes in the West, in 1997, Beijing decriminalized homosexuality and in 2001 removed it from the official list of mental disorders.  Before long, officially recognized gay bars appeared in Shanghai and gay pride marches were held and it appeared state tolerance of such things had become, if not state policy, then certainly the practice.  However, under President Xi, things began to change, films and other material with LGBTQQIAAOP themes often censored or actually banned, universities compiling lists of students who identify as gay and the pride marches have been cancelled although this was officially a COVID-19 infection-prevention measure.  In a prelude to the committee’s statement on the suppression of androgyny, in July 2021, the government ordered the Tencent-owned messaging app WeChat to delete accounts connected to LGBTQQIAAOP groups.

Wrong: The androgynous men on Chinese TV.

Some medical experts have suggested the government is under no illusion about homosexuality and understand it’s always going to exist but they just want it to remain invisible; in the closet as it were, something done behind closed doors between consenting adults but something which dare not speak its name, must less be shown on television.  Others suspect the crackdown on degeneracy may reflect the regime’s fiscal and demographic concerns, a feeling the younger generation are suffering from the “curse of plenty”.  Having grown up knowing little but relative affluence and abundance, youth and working-age adults are starting to rebel against the heavy workload they’ll have to bear for the rest of their lives to maintain an aging population, a cultural movement called "lying flat" identified which rejects the “996” (working 9am-9pm 6 days a week, ie 72 hours) culture.  The party seems to have realised 996 may not be something helpful for regime survival and, in August 2021, arranged for the Supreme People's Court on to declare it illegal.  However, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t endure as a cultural expectation, especially in companies employing younger workers.

996: When first seen by US pilots over Korean skies in 1950, the Mikoyan-Gurevich (MiG-15  (NATO reporting name=Fagot)) made an impact like few others.  Unlike the British and Americans who had trouble keeping things secret from the Soviets, the MiG-15's existence was unknown and unexpected.  Clearly influenced by the German war-time experience and the North-American F86 Sabre, it used an (illegal) copy of a Rolls-Royce turbojet and so instantly did it transform the control of the Korean War skies that the Americans were compelled to rush squadrons of Sabres to the theatre to augment the now out-paced P51 Mustangs.  MiG-15 996 (NX996) was first assigned to the USSR Air Force but in 1955 was transferred to the People's Liberation Army Navy (the then correct term for the Chinese Navy).

Right: The manly men of the CCP’s Central Committee.

Making connections between the strands has been a rich environment for conspiracy theorists searching for hidden agendas and ulterior motives.  Blaming video games, entertainment, and androgyny for making men "too soft to work hard" is said to be just blame-shifting for the consequences of the 996 culture burning out whole generations.  State-sanctioned statistics do show extraordinary gains in productivity over the last dozen years, economic output having doubled but the gains disproportionately have been accrued by a relatively few oligarchs and those well-connected to the senior echelons of the party with even many in the upper middle-class complaining the purchasing power of their incomes are consistently falling, not keeping pace with the rising cost of housing and raising children.  Reaction to the party’s announcement that the one-child policy was finished and couples should now have two or three was thus muted; in the absence of anything actually to help parents afford to have another child, a baby-boom is not soon expected.  Still, one of the advantages of living in a communist state running a regulated capitalism as a sort of public-private partnership, is the compulsory education in Marxist theory so at least the people will understand where the alienated surplus profits from their labour went and the party does seem aware of the problem, another of their crackdowns directed against the oligarchs.  However, unlike the androgynous, they’re not expected to be banned, instead they’ll be “encouraged” to spread the wealth.  Just a little.