What is a shemale?

The term 'Shemale' is used as a derogatory term to refer to transwomen (male-to-female transgender) or transsexual women who are not transgender who display female secondary sex characteristics and have male primary sex characteristics). Such individuals typically have breasts of an adult female (through hormone replacement therapy and/or through breast augmentation), and usually have other female secondary sex characteristics, but have not undergone genital reassignment surgery.

The term (along with tranny, ladyboy and "chick with a dick") is frequently used in the adult entertainment industry.

Many people, especially transgendered individuals and transsexual women themselves, consider the term highly offensive for this and/or one or more of the following reasons:

• The Word has hateful connotations.
• Transgender persons are not born with transsexualism and thus don't want surgery. Mainly only those born with transsexualism would want surgery.
• Their gender identity is female, not "male," nor do they feel they are only "half-female."
• Transsexual persons didn't ask for the wrong body, and after surgery, they don't have transsexualism anymore, and they never were transgendered in the first place.