Hermaphrodite

Hermaphrodite is an outdated medical label that was historically used for people born with sex characteristics that do not fit typical definitions of male or female. Intersex advocates and organizations like GLAAD reject it as stigmatizing and scientifically inaccurate, since a human being cannot have a fully functional set of both male and female reproductive systems. The word was used for generations in ways that dehumanized intersex people and framed their bodies as something to be fixed. The accurate and respectful term is intersex. Hermaphrodite still appears in biology when describing certain plants and animals, but it should not be used for people.