Implications of a race of hermaphrodites?

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Tsyr

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Ok, a friend of mine wanted my help with designing a few races for her world... She thinks I'm some brilliant world designer or something. I've managed to do a fairly good job, but I'm stuck right now.

What would the social, genetic, etc effects be of having a race that's entierly composed of hermaphrodites? It's not exactly my usual train of thought... :D

I've gotten a few ideas, but nothing really concrete... I'll post more later, gotta be out the door in 5 minutes for a haircut... just wanted to get this out before I forgot.
 

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Well, there certainly wouldn't be sexism in such a society. Beyond that...you really need to give us more to go on, since myriad possibilities remain for what this race would be like, as a society.
 

Well, obvioulsy there'd be no division of labor along gender lines, for one thing...

There would have to be some sort of societal norm about who gets pregnant, right? Maybe couples are assumed to alternate? Their migth be a bias against people who either refuse to do get pregnant or always want to get pregnant. (Or try to carve out something that resembles a gender role.)

Wasn't there a ST:NG episode where Riker fell in love with a hermaphrodite?
 

Tsyr said:
What would the social, genetic, etc effects be of having a race that's entierly composed of hermaphrodites? It's not exactly my usual train of thought... :D

They'd never have to leave the house? :D
 

"The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin might be worth checking out for inspiration. It tells of a human in a world whose inhabitants can change and choose their gender. Excellent book, highly recommended.
 

Alzrius said:
Well, there certainly wouldn't be sexism in such a society. Beyond that...you really need to give us more to go on, since myriad possibilities remain for what this race would be like, as a society.

What I have:

The race is basicly a sub-race of elves. There are other (non-hermaphrodite) elves living on the world, sometimes in close proximity (though rarely in the exact same society). They are an oddity on the world, being hermaphrodites that is, not the norm. They believe that they are an evolution of the elven race, but in fact they are the result of a god-given curse many thousands of years ago, long enough ago that no race remembers it. As far as anyone living knows, the race has always been there. They live about 400 years, same as the other elves on her world. They are interfertile with elves and humans, theoreticly, though the hermaphroditism doesn't carry over for humans, just elves... lending credence to their theory they are an evolutionary step for elves, I suppose. They have typical (IE, low) elven fertility rates. Physicly, they look more female than male, to the point that humans have a notion that they are a race entierly of females (Similar, I guess, to how dwarves are sometimes thought to be an all-male race).

That's all she gave me.

Some ideas I've had:

Occasionaly, mostly when near other races, a community will "adopt" gender roles... individuals will tend to gravitate more among these races towards male or female, socialy. These would probably be looked down upon by the uncorrupted elements of their society.

An odd thought, but with a race where everyone looks very similar in their birthday suit, nudity is probably not as big an issue for them... nobody has anything each other haven't already seen already.

Parents probably couldn't be very over-protective of their offspring in some ways, I suppose... In a race where anyone is a potential mate for anyone else, you can't exactly keep them overly sheltered.

Other than that, I'm stuck.
 

am181d said:
Wasn't there a ST:NG episode where Riker fell in love with a hermaphrodite?

No... that race was neuter. They basicly had no concept of gender, or sex. They reproduced in a very strange manner, not via sex.

I think I might adopt the "Whoevers taller leads" for dancing, though. That works.
 

If they believe they are an evolution of the elven race, they probably are much more advanced in the "higher" art of magic. This might mean that although they could reproduce with any other member of their race, they find it distasteful and mainly reproduce though cloning. Isaac Asimov had something like this in "Foundation and Earth."
 



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