I'm a boy, I'm a girl, I'm a boy, I'm a girl, I'm a boy, I'm a girl, I'm a boy, I'm a girl

[sovay]

By popular demand! I just got home, after a day that started at the doctor's in Cambridge and ended with walking home from Arlington Center with derspatchel (plus an afternoon interlude in Lexington helping take care of my niece, who is nearly six months old now and can roll over like nobody's business). I am on the couch with a fan and two cats. Here's Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius with Saturnalia 3.8.2–3:

signum etiam eius est Cypri barbatum, corpore et veste muliebri, cum sceptro ac natura virili et putant eandem marem ac feminam esse. Aristophanes eam Ἀφρόδιτον appellat. Laevius etiam sic ait,

Venerem igitur almum adorans,
sive femina sive mas est,
ita uti alma Noctiluca est.

Philochorus quoque in Atthide eandem adfirmat esse lunam et ei sacrificium facere viros cum veste muliebri, mulieres cum virili, quod eadem et mas aestimatur et femina.

"And on Cyprus there is a statue of her [Venus] bearded, with the body and clothes of a woman, with the scepter and organs of a man, and they consider her both male and female. Aristophanes calls her Aphroditos (Ἀφρόδιτος). Laevius too says as follows:

worshiping then the nurturing [almus] Venus
whether [s/he] is female or male,
just as the Night-Shiner is nurturing [alma].

Philochorus too in his Atthis affirms that she is the moon and that men make sacrifice to her in women's clothing, women in men's, because she is reckoned both male and female."



So, yeah. That's a thing. In like the fourth century. BCE.

Soundtrack for these last two posts: House Blend (2013), a compilation of mostly trans musicians plus queer musicians with themes of gender. Totally and completely worth its $10. My preferred pronoun isn't "Oops! I'm sorry, I mean . . ."

Comments

[handful-ofdust.livejournal.com]

That's excellent! She doesn't look very bearded to me, though.;)

[sovay]

She doesn't look very bearded to me, though.

I know; I was limited to the fruits of image search. Glad you like anyway!

[handful-ofdust.livejournal.com]

I absolutely love you fighting idiocy with education, and that is one very cute-looking Aphroditus. It's all win/win.;))

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

This

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I think I see some designer stubble.

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

Whoo!

Nine

[sovay]

Whoo!

tl;dr everything is cooler and more complicated than we are taught in school.

[yhlee.livejournal.com]

That is seriously neat.

[sovay]

That is seriously neat.

Glad to introduce you!

[zdenka]

Interesting. I didn't know about Aphroditos statues.

[sovay]

I didn't know about Aphroditos statues.

I don't remember anymore where I first read of them, except that Aphroditos is not the same as Hermaphroditos, although I think they blurred as time went on. I just really like that the motif is not even boom! surprise cock! because anyone who is surprised by cock is going to spend their life in the ancient world in a state of permanent shock.

(Seriously, if I ever reproduce, I will consider hanging something like this above the cradle. There is nothing about a lion-tailed phallus wind chime that is not awesome.)

[spatch]

boom! surprise cock!

I both want to know and don't want to know how that would work as a motto.

[zdenka]

There is some truth in this.

[alankria.livejournal.com]

because anyone who is surprised by cock is going to spend their life in the ancient world in a state of permanent shock.

ahahahahahaha

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

It sounds like an Ogden Nash line.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

That's seriously awesome.

And, regardless of the question of whether he has had his genitals amputated, Kevin D Williamson is a dick.

[sovay]

That's seriously awesome.

I am glad to share.

And, regardless of the question of whether he has had his genitals amputated, Kevin D Williamson is a dick.

Yes, he is.

[ashlyme.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Beautiful statue (and windchime, too). It's good to see Williamson's article has been pulled.

[sovay]

Beautiful statue (and windchime, too).

I love this sort of thing! People have such tidy and limited ideas about the ancient world. I want to blame the Victorians.

It's good to see Williamson's article has been pulled.

I suspect it's too much to hope for an act of similar good judgment from the National Review, but I am hoping all the same.

[weirdquark]

My preferred pronoun isn't "Oops! I'm sorry, I mean . . ."

Ha, that's excellent. I think my preferred pronoun might actually be "Oops! I'm sorry, I mean . . ." though it would be more than a bit unwieldily in normal conversation.

Also, you should totally submit all of this to the Chicago Sun Times as a response.

[sovay]

I think my preferred pronoun might actually be "Oops! I'm sorry, I mean . . ." though it would be more than a bit unwieldily in normal conversation.

I admit it's a little polysyllabic for English, but there must be a way to register the preference nonetheless.

Also, you should totally submit all of this to the Chicago Sun Times as a response.

The Sun-Times pulled the article and issued a retraction (which the author has been mocking elsewhere on the internet), but nothing says I can't send it to the National Review.

[alankria.livejournal.com]

This is excellent. Thank you so much for translating.

[sovay]

Thank you so much for translating.

You're very welcome!

[snowy-owlet.livejournal.com]

That statue gives me Pants Feelings.

[sovay]

That statue gives me Pants Feelings.

Poem?

[snowy-owlet.livejournal.com]

HA! I like how you egg me on.

[sovay]

I like how you egg me on.

It yields good results!

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

Is it "egg me on" in this case, or "spur me on"? [g,d,rvf]

[snowy-owlet.livejournal.com]

*like button*

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

That is so awesome. You need a tumblr solely so you can post that picture.

[sovay]

That is so awesome. You need a tumblr solely so you can post that picture.

I am afraid I really can't afford another social media platform, but anyone who wants to repost this stuff (credited, please! except for the statue, which I didn't make) is welcome!

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

The ancient world: so full of cool stuff.

So, yeah. That's a thing. In like the fourth century. BCE.

And an excellent thing it is.

[sovay]

The ancient world: so full of cool stuff.

Amen!

[sairaali.livejournal.com]

This and the last post were glorious. Thank you!

[sovay]

This and the last post were glorious. Thank you!

You're very welcome! Not enough people know about this stuff (Mr. Williamson, apparently, least of all).

[kerrickadrian.livejournal.com]

I first encountered Aphroditos in college and s/he was part of the inspiration to study the Gallae for my undergraduate thesis (http://entitything.arcanology.org/gallaethesis.pdf). (Warning: terrible undergraduate writing. Some interesting bits.)

[sovay]

I first encountered Aphroditos in college and s/he was part of the inspiration to study the Gallae for my undergraduate thesis.

Fantastic! Attis, Cybele, and the gallae were the subject of the first paper I wrote on a classical topic in college. My introduction to Kallimachos, too.

[moon-custafer.livejournal.com]

Suddenly recalling the “We’re manly men” song from my college’s production of Ecclesiazusae, which contained the line “…and Tiresias (most of the time).”

[sovay]

“…and Tiresias (most of the time).”

Rock.

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

Huh. For completely unrelated reasons, today I stumbled upon both this post, and this relevant book: http://www.horntip.com/html/books_&_MSS/1950s/1950s_a_private_anthropological_cabinet_of_the_hermaphrodite_%28PB%29/index.htm

[sovay]

and this relevant book

"For Mature Subscribers Only."

Thank you; the statues are great. I love especially the one with the satyr. The preface I look at a little funny.

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

Depending on how you squint, it's either porn disguised as scholarship, or cod-scholarship funded by a porn publisher. For 1950s values of "porn" at any rate.