Editorial

by Katherine Cummings

(The Gender Centre advise that this article may not be current and as such certain content, including but not limited to persons, contact details and dates may not apply. Where legal authority or medical related matters are cited, responsibility lies with the reader to obtain the most current relevant legal authority and/or medical publication.)

Having used images which could be taken as male-to-female and female-to-male on recent Polare covers, I have been looking for a cover image which might pay tribute to the intersexed segment of our community. I decided to use an image taken from one of many Hellenistic statues of Hermaphroditus (the Hellenistic period ran from 323 B.C.E. to 31 B.C.E.). Hermaphroditus, or Aphroditus, was the son of Hermes, messenger of the Greek Gods, and Aphrodite, goddess of love, beauty and fertility. The story goes that Hermaphroditus bathed in the spring where the nymph Salmacis lived, and she fell in love with him. She prayed to the gods to combine her body with his and they granted her wish. A cult of Aphroditus is recorded from the early fourth century B.C.E. and fourth century statues of Hermaphroditus show him as a beautiful youth with breasts. Later statues show a woman with a penis. There is a fine statue of a sleeping hermaphrodite housed in the Louvre, but while searching for it's image I found another statue I found even more appropriate. It shows a hermaphrodite in combat with a satyr. Satyrs for those who do not know, conformed closely to the description provided for 'men' by Jack Lemmon in "Some Like it Hot", namely, "rough hairy beasts with eight hands who only want one thing from a girl ...". Satyrs had a permanent erection and lived for sex. I like this statue because the hermaphrodite is obviously teaching the satyr a painful lesson in unarmed close combat.

Talking of which (oh, the subtle segue!), taking lessons in self-defence is an eminently sensible undertaking for members of our community. I agree with much of what Elizabeth says about transition but I also think we should be prepared for occasions when people do not respond sensibly to logic and/or compassion. If you are going to walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death and fear no evil, sometimes you have to be the Meanest Son of a Bitch (or the Meanest Bitch) in the Valley (see page 24).

Polare is published in Australia by The Gender Centre Inc. which is funded by the Department of Community Services under the S.A.A.P. Program and supported by the N.S.W. Health Department through the AIDS and Infectious Diseases Branch. Polare provides a forum for discussion and debate on gender issues. Advertisers are advised that all advertising is their responsibility under the Trade Practices Act. Unsolicited contributions are welcome, though no guarantee is made by the Editor that they will be published, nor any discussion entered into. The editor reserves the right to edit such contributions without notification. Any submission which appears in Polare may be published on our internet site. Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor, The Gender Centre Inc.I, the Department of Community Services or the N.S.W. Department of Health.