#monoecious

[stroopwaffelz]

oc stuff for my webseries

[stellerssong]

querc'ed up white oak

[dtacore]

it's 4am the sunday before finals week and i am on the wikipedia page for monoecy. life could be a dream

[nepja]

headache so bad i feel like I'm gonna hurl.

and for today's attempt at writing i rambled on about Mist's kind of elves in the documents.

[eradami]

Plants can evolve between monoecious and dioecious fairly quickly. I think the main application of being dioecious is that it prevents the plant from self-fertilizing, so whether mono- or dioecious is better mostly depends on whether selfing is useful in the current environment.

And sometimes it's kind of a wash, and you get strawberries experimenting with their gender.

dichotomous plants are so weird man. like they’re not even weird it’s the becoming the dichotomous that’s weird. i went to a talk once about a population of strawberries that were accidentally slowly becoming dichotomous and they didn’t even have sex chromosomes, like they had like a bunch of genes across a bunch of chromosomes that did a little bit of sex but not a lot and it added up to one whole sex kind of but not enough that they had all collectively decided to be one sex or the other, so there was still like, a sizable chunk of the population that was producing flowers of both sexes. like they were microdosing it. taking the sex genes for a spin in the strawberry patch

[clannfearrunt]

My brain loves to mix the words “monoecious” and “Miocene” together, creating the word “mioecious”. I do not know what this exciting new word is supposed to mean.

[yourfaveisintersex]

Happy Pride Month 2025!

Fun fact, I scheduled this post in advance, and this is being posted at/around the time I got my first testosterone HRT shot! Yes really, I started Pride Month 2023 lol. Now anyway, to account for the poor-pissers first and foremost: We should celebrate everyone under the queer umbrella, don't think I'm not saying that. However intersex individuals are the focus of this blog, and the content of this post by extension.

Please recognize, remember, and support your intersex siblings as we celebrate this year. Intersexist sentiment is unfortunately disturbingly common, this hellsite included. The intersex community and its members face a bucket list of problems (that I couldn't possibly list out in full in the body text here)— including but not limited to extensive medical abuses (notably intersex genital mutilation, or "IGM" for short, referring to unnecessary surgery performed on intersex people (often infants!) solely because doctors believe the individual's external genitalia don't "look right", and a majority of the time are purely aesthetic and cause functional issues; and let me remind you that this is just ONE issue under "medical abuse".), discrimination due to one's sexual characteristics or lack thereof, fetishization of (highly inaccurate and often fantasized) intersex bodies, hyper-invisibility and erasure, blatant misrepresentation of intersexuality plastered damn near everywhere... etcetera. I happily invite others, particularly other intersex individuals, to elaborate on my list with more examples and details in the notes.

We are the I in LGBTQIA+. While not every intersex individual may be or identify as queer, we are still included under the umbrella, often due to the oppression we share closely in tandem with other queer individuals. We are complex individuals that are worthy of being seen and heard. If you are perisex ("not intersex"; there's synonyms like dyadic and endosex you might hear as well), please educate yourself on what intersexuality means, correct others when misinformation is shared, and most importantly of all, LISTEN TO OUR VOICES. It is distressing how often I see our recalled experiences and opinions blatantly ignored, or claimed to be falsified, or whatever-have-you, because we do not align to perisex ideals and comfort.

Also if you're going to take ANYTHING away from this post for the love of everything stop fucking saying hermaphrodite if you aren't intersex. It's a slur, and you seriously need to start calling perisex people out for saying it (+ other intersexist slurs). Yes even in a scientific context it doesn't matter stop using a slur to refer to snails. Cosexual, monoecious, gonosimulistic— all exist and function the goddamn same WITHOUT the terrible history.

[ipso-faculty]

Was intersex ever talked about in your k-12 education?

Folks outside the USA who live somewhere that has a junior college system like CEGEP, lycée, or sixth form, do do your best to translate to your locale (k-12 is generally school from age 5 to 18).

Please note that "intersex" in nonhumans means an individual organism is different than the norm for their species, so when I say "intersex variations in nonhuman species" I mean things like bilateral gynandromophism, lionesses with manes, female deer with antlers, etc.

If you learned about nonhuman species that can reproduce as both male and female (simultaneous or sequential h-slur; cosexuality, dichogamy), like how lots of plants are "bisexual"/"monoecious"/etc, or how some species like hyaenas have clitopenises, check off "sex diversity".

Answer the first statement that is true for you. (Multiple statements may apply.)

[ichbinerica]

She is going to be SO fucked up if she ever learns about monoecious plants 🙄

In the book, originally published in 2017, the tree claims an identity that is “both” female and male and responds to diverse pronouns: “Call me she. Call me he. Anything will work.” (Trees have four primary systems of reproduction.) The school’s reading program kicked off on March 4 and was already underway when parent Jodi Farmer, whose children attend a private Christian academy in neighboring Carroll County, took to Facebook to inform Floyd County residents about the reference to gender. Farmer challenged Wishtree's nonbinary account of the oak's identity, calling the book "indoctrination at its finest."

Eye. ROLL.

[revretch]

I see people getting confused about what "male" and "female" means for non-human animals (and plants), because it is not at all the same thing as the way it's used for humans, because there are too many variations across many different animals. (I won't even touch on how weird it is for plants.) So to break this down:

Sex: The gametes an animal produces (female for the big gametes, or ova; male for the small gametes, or sperm; monoecious/hermaphrodite for both; asexual for neither). When referring to non-human animals, literally the only thing this means.

Gonads: The organs that make the gametes (ovaries for ova, testes for sperm). Sponges can make gametes without gonads, so gonads are not required for having a sex.

Genitals: A dizzying array of parts that can be used to transfer gametes between individuals. Some males have claspers for opening. Spiders have "penises" in their "hands." Female bark lice have siphons for sucking the sperm out of males. And the vast, vast majority of animals have no genitals at all, because they live in the ocean and just spray their gametes into the open water. Because this varies so much and can even be lacking entirely, it is also not the same thing as sex.

Genotype: What's genetically encoded in an animal. In some, like humans, there's an XX/XY chromosomal system to determine whether an organism makes sperm or ova. In birds, it's ZZ/ZW (that is, two of the same chromosome for males). In wasps, ants and bees, it's haplodiploid, where males have only one set of all chromosomes (the females, like almost all other animals, have two). In some animals, it's not related to genes at all--in crocodilians, sex is determined by the temperature the eggs are incubated at! So, genotype is not the same thing as sex.

Phenotype: The physical expression of an organism--the body. Up to you whether you're including gonads and genitals with that. This can vary depending on sex, to make it more likely animals producing different gametes will be able to identify each other. In some animals, there is absolutely no difference in phenotype between sexes at all. So, this is also not the same thing as sex.

Sex-Linked Behavior: Again, not even present in a lot of animals--or if it is, usually limited only to courtship and mating, because most animals aren't social. Also not the same thing as sex.

Gender: A complicated system that varies dramatically across cultures and is specific to human beings, and tied very closely to human language. Some cultures have only two genders. Some have three, four, or more. What an individual thinks of gender can vary irrespective of culture. It ties in with all the previous things in so many overlapping, intricately linked ways I could not go into them here. This can also be considered "sex," but not at all in the sense that we use it to refer to animals. Likewise, animals cannot be considered to have gender, because they lack the specific human language and culture that gender arises from.

Tl;dr: Please stop using "sex" the same way for both humans and animals. The human definition makes no sense for non-human animals because they get so weird, and it's just plain rude to refer to humans in the animal sense.

[certifiedsexed]

hey, sorry if this is an odd question, but it's regarding to a term used as a slur amongst humans.

am i, someone who as far as i know is perisex, allowed to use the word hermaphrodite to describe a plant or a snail in the sense of biology? as in, i did a research project on a species of snail (Powelliphanta) and they can reproduce with any other adult of the same species. i used the word hermaphrodite to describe them.

is this morally wrong and will i be burned at the stake for doing so?

Hi! Let's me be honest here: there's no reason you need to be using that word to describe anything. It has an extensive, violent history and even if you're not using it for humans, there's no reason for you to keep the phrase alive.

There are other words, like monoecious (a suggestion from a reblog) that can easily be used in it's place. [I originally suggested perhaps using intersex but intersex can't be used to describe an entire species!]

If you're writing research projects on snails, I'm sure you can do a little more research to figure out how to describe them without using a slur.

I'm not going to say shit about you being burned at the stake but maybe take into consideration that when you ask if it's okay for you to be using certain language, don't act like being asked not to is the same as being attacked. That's not okay.

Hope this helps.

[ode-to-arecibo]

Drakes, our first species and the most influential.

Info below the cut

Homeworld: Cradle, (or Birthplace, depending on the translation) a large, dense planet orbiting an F class star about 60000 light years from earth. Cradle is best known for being a weird planet with a whole lot going on. The atmosphere is thick and high in oxygen, to the point that humans and most other species die of oxygen poisoning. Also the atmosphere is often full of smoke and ash. Volcanism is extremely prevalent, and drake culture often takes note of ashseasons and clearseasons, in addition to summer and winter. The volcanoes erupt somewhat regularly and everything on the planet is adapted for it. The plants expect the occasional volcanic winter, and almost enjoy it, it's a nice break from the incredibly hot and full of UV light of summer. To deal with the extreme shifts in light the plants on Cradle change color from white in clearseason and summer to black when light is scarce. The tropics are white here and temperate regions black before snow appears. It's technically the Empire capital, but in practice any multi-species legislation happens at the wormhole hub since Cradle is just an awful place to live if you aren't a drake. The star is also going to start dying and making Cradle uninhabitable in a couple hundred million years. Uninhabited and not pictured, the continent with all the volcanoes. Most of them are on the other side of the planet.

Reproduction: penis fencing! kind of. No traumatic insemination here. Drakes are monoecious, everyone making sperm and eggs and having only one sex. Sex is not exactly ranked but definitely competitive. Whoever impregnates the other wins.

A couple cultures eat eggs or babies. Everyone else thinks this is a little silly and inefficient but not immoral. Accidental babies get eaten pretty frequently.

Drakes take no ill effects from smoke inhalation, having evolved lungs specifically to tolerate volcanic ash and smoke. They require sulphur supplements when living away from the homeworld. They're not That good at filtering smoke though. Cigarettes are fine, but there's a reason no one lives on the Volcano Continent.

Young drakes fulfil a very different role in the ecosystem than adults. Adults were, before civilization, something like a jaguar, a medium-large rainforest ambush predator. Infants meanwhile eat bugs, and up until around racoon size, they keep down the space rat population. Drakes never domesticated any pest control animal like cats because they just use their kids for that.

Their blood oxygen carrier is hemoglobin, but not much of it. Drake blood tends to look quite yellow like human blood plasma. Sometimes they'll take hemoglobin supplements to breathe more easily in normal oxygen levels like earth and mixed species ships, which makes it looks more red. (By hemoglobin I mean probably myoglobin or something the point is it's heme based and remarkably similar to the human one)

Lifespan: about 80 earth years. (equivalent to 100 for humans. Still impressive to live that long, but occasionally happens.) Average age of death: 12, including massive infant mortality. Infant mortality is lower than for humans in societies that actually take care of them, but the dominant culture just makes tons of babies and starts to raise them once they've proven they can survive their first year alone.

Drakes have three "genders." Gender isn't really the right word, but they kind of look the same to an uneducated human and most drakes don't mind. It's just a societal role related to prestige and age. Cultivator, orbiter and pioneer. (Direct translations. I really should rename these). Cultivators are cautious, respected, and stay in the village/castle/planetside. Pioneers are reckless, leaving the House, killing it's enemies and not being trusted to make plans. Orbiters leave and return, bringing ideas and goods from distant lands. In the space age "gender" is more vibes based, but traditionalists will still tell you you're wrong about your "gender." Traditionally everyone starts as a pioneer and you have to prove yourself to count as an orbiter or cultivator. About 50% of the population is pioneers, 40% orbiters, 10% cultivators. While living in human territory a lot of drakes will use their "gender" to determine pronouns, he/him for pioneers, they or xe for orbiters, she/her for cultivators, which is where a lot of the confusion and calling it a gender came from. Cultivators also tend to wear more feminine clothing and Pioneers more masculine, except by feminine I mean long dangly things that drakes consider pretty but are easy to grab in combat.

Drakes instinctively assemble themselves into houses. That's not a cultural thing, though the specific way they do it is. Modern houses act like countries or companies, owning land or holding economic monopolies. There are six High Houses, which currently control the military, the media, the tech industry, the biotech industry, the wormholes, and then house Aserekis who does education and banking and mental health crisis support and a lot of the other little things that a government is supposed to do and that the other houses are too busy trying to kill each other to bother with. Houses consist of a group of relatives (Marriage doesn't exist and drakes only mate outside their house), potentially tens of thousands of tangentially related drakes and their vassal houses, who aren't officially part of the house but do a lot of the dirty work. Culturally, the house is considered the highest value. Betraying your house is the worst crime.

Their eye and feather color is determined by the food they eat. Like flamingoes, many of the creatures on Cradle absorb dyes from their food. Drakes use this to determine house allegiance, feeding their kids dyes in the house's colors. Eye color is fixed in their youth, but feather color can be changed by plucking and regrowing feathers. You can always tell if someone got exiled by their eye color being different from their feather color.

[plaguedocboi]

H*rmaphradite is actually a slur against intersex people, even when used for snails (or other animals). It was a slur first, then people started use it for animals in that classic 'let's compare this minority group to animals' way. Cosexual and monoecious are more appropriate terms

It’s good to know other terms I can use, and I generally avoid it, but unfortunately that is the word most biologists still use. It’s the official terminology used in scientific literature to describe animals with both sets of reproductive organs at the moment.

[a-dragons-journal]

Ahoj Rani,

Doing some quick googling there seem to be a few instances of cosexual being used in discussions of evolution of sex chromosomes. This document from 1982 does specify that cosexual may be used for animals. https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.es.13.110182.002351

Kindly, Kala

Oh thank the gods, and it actually defines cosexual clearly - and I was right, it’s an umbrella term for “hermaphroditism, monoecy, gynomonoecy, andromonoecy, and polygamonoecy”. Thank you for finding this! This is one of the articles I found the abstract for but couldn’t hunt down a full-text for, so I’m gratified that I was at least on the right track.

All right! Hesitance on that front rescinded. We do actually have a good solid replacement then. (This even suggests that you could say “sequential cosexual” in the same way you’d say “sequential hermaphrodite.”)

[brainrotroulette]

So about that time Hermes and Aphrodite invented the ship name…

What else did you think would happen when you entrust two of the most self-confident gods to name their one night stand baby? (inspired by @attichoney4u’s post that made me giggle way too damn hard)

ANYWAY SOME HEADCANNONS ABOUT HERMAPHRODITUS:

Meeting him when he was born was the first time Hermes, god of yapping, was ever at a true loss for words because Hermaphroditus was just such a beautiful baby

His name was a vanity project, let's be so real, and they probably thought they were being soooo clever but then I think maybe they both realized they blatantly exposed Aphrodite's infidelity to Hephaestus by naming him that so they were like we gotta get rid of the evidence and sent him off

I like to think, with the exception of those children of hers who are explicitly said to have inherited HER beauty, that Hermaphroditus and his siblings are so beautiful because they embody what people see beautiful in their fathers. Hence, I imagine him as looking a little more like his dad

Being told that flowers like the roses that were so sacred to his mother were monoecious were the first thing to make him feel beautiful again after The Trauma™️

✨he’s a runner he’s a track star✨ Athletic. Need much more be said?

Absolutely jealous of all his siblings that were not sent to be raised by nymphs on Mt. Ida. He and Aneas would be TIGHT🤞🏽 tho

[rjalker]

you can still have gender in a species that's monoecious, reproduces asexually, or even is just physically incapable of the normal means of reproduction, you people are just fucking obsessed with biological essentialism and the white supremacist ideal of gender.