An alternative to 'hermaphrodite' in biology
I propose Gonosimulism, or Gonosimulistic as an antonym to Gonochorism or Gonochoristic as opposed to the current antonyms; hermaphrodite & hermaphroditic.
Many terms in the scientific community are changed if they become derogatory to a group of people, example 'retarded' used to be an officially recognized medical term but has since been changed due to its use as a slur for the mentally disabled. I propose that in a perfect world, we would do the same with the word hermaphrodite.
Gonochorism - an existing biological term referring to any species with males and females; "In biology, gonochorism is a sexual system where there are two sexes and each individual organism is either male or female. The term gonochorism is usually applied in animal species, the vast majority of which are gonochoric."
The word is derived from Greek; (gone, (gono) meaning generation) + (chorizein (chori), meaning to separate)
Gonosimulism - proposed term referring to any species where all individuals have both male and female reproductive ability. This term is intended to replace hermaphrodite, and has the exact same definition in a biological context.
The word is derived from both Greek and Latin; (gone, (gono) meaning generation) + (simul, meaning to combine, or at the same time)
This term is not to be used for intersex individuals, of any species, and is only for reference to organisms of species that would currently be considered simultaneously hermaphroditic (simultaneously gonosimulistic) or sequentially hermaphroditic (sequentially gonosimulistic). The intention of this change would be to separate intersex as a natural phenomenon occurring in gonochoristic species from hermaphroditic species; for the benefit of the intersex community.
I intend to publish this via more official means than a tumblr post at some point, just getting it out there for now.
