User:Lwollert/Shemale (orig)

Old article

Shemale is a slur used against transgender women. 

The term shemale is a derogatory term that refers to transwomen (male-to-female transgender or transsexual people) who typically have breasts of an adult female (through hormone replacement therapy and/or through breast augmentation), and who usually have other female secondary sex characteristics, but who have not undergone genital reassignment surgery.

The term "shemale" (along with tranny, ladyboy) is commonly, but not exclusively, used in pornography and the sex industry; videos and magazines involving such people are a common sub-genre of pornography. It is often seen by transsexual people as a powerful term of abuse.

Many transwomen are offended by this term for one or more of the following reasons:
 * because of the word's hateful connotation
 * because of the association with the sex industry, like pornography, escorting, and sex party scenes
 * because many transwomen who have not undergone genital reassignment surgery want it
 * because their gender identity is female, not "male," nor do they feel they are only "half-female."