A Comparison Of Elizabeth Reis And Geoffroy On Hermaphrodites

Elizabeth Reis also wrote about true hermaphrodites but she refers to them as “perfect” hermaphrodites, and she writes “Samuel Farr defined perfect hermaphrodites as those “partaking of the distinguished marks both sexes, with a power of enjoyment from each.… Hermaphrodites had to have both sets of organs and be able to use both for sexual satisfaction” (Reis, 41). Two chief sex classification systems were used in the mid- nineteenth century in order to elucidate the factors that allow a person to be labelled as a true hermaphrodite. The constructors of these two early systems were Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and Sir James Young Simpson. Geoffroy suggested that the sex of a body should be analyzed in terms of the body’s sexual organs and
Rather than dividing the hermaphrodites into “true” or “pseudo”, Geoffroy classified hermaphrodites into an alternative two divisions. These two classes consisted of a group without an excess number of body parts (Imperfect bisexual hermaphrodism) and a group with extra body parts (perfect bisexual hermaphrodism). However, Geoffroy believed that it is impossible to have two fully functional reproductive organs on one human being. He concludes that “it is anatomically physiologically impossible.” (Reis, 42) In contrast to Geoffroy, Simpson’s system was simple and it also involved the division of hermaphrodites. Simpson’s system explained True Hermaphrodites and gave it three subcategorize (a. Lateral true hermaphrodites, b. Traverse true hermaphroditism, c. Vertical, double, or complex true hermaphroditism). Under Simpson’s classification scheme, true hermaphrodites were not required to possess both types of gonads. For example, the combination of a “feminine” exterior and a “masculine” interior was enough to make a person “truly” hermaphroditic. As a result of this classification scheme many people were categorized as true