short and sweet..its a 'chick with a dick' !!

A shemale is a form of transsexual who has only gone through breast augmintation but still retains male genitalia.

"shemale" is a derogatory, insulting term.

A man, who has taken steps to become a female through hormone pills. He has breasts via implants, his body and facial doesn't grow as much. They become to femenine. But still has there shaft.

It's a man who has to varying degrees made himself into a woman yet retains his penis and testicles. There is a lot more to it but I think that's the basic explanation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shemale This is the PG version. If you really want to see more you'll find it on the 'net where the bestiality videos are! Hahaha.

In medicine a she-male is known as a hermaphrodite. Hermaphrodite: An individual whose body contains tissue of both male and female gonads. The ovaries and testes may be present as separate organs, or ovarian and testicular tissue may be combined in the same organ (ovotestis). The ovarian and testicular tissues may be present at the same time (synchronous hermaphrodite) or sequentially (when the sex organs appear one after the other; protandrous when the testes come first, protogynous when the ovaries appear first). Hermaphroditism: is not to be confused with pseudohermaphroditism, in which an individual with only one kind of gonad possesses reproductive organs that reflect some characteristics of the opposite sex, owing to improper balance of male and female hormones or other endocrine disorder. Bilateral hermaphroditism: that in which gonadal tissue typical of both sexes occurs on each side of the body. Lateral hermaphroditism: presence of gonadal tissue typical of one sex on one side of the body and tissue typical of the other sex on the opposite side. Transverse hermaphroditism: that in which the external genital organs are typical of one sex and the gonads typical of the other sex. True hermaphroditism coexistence in the same animal of both ovarian and testicular tissue, with somatic characters typical of both sexes. Unilateral hermaphroditism presence of gonadal tissue typical of both sexes on one side and of only an ovary or a testis on the other. For further information please see the following link: http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/hermaphroditism Regards.

Usually this refers to a man who is living as a woman and has had breast augmentation and possibly hormone therapy.

If the person is a trans-person (one is actually going to be a female after corrective surgery) then she is a she. If the person is a cross dresser (one who dresses as a woman but is comfortable with his genitalia) then it varies from person to person.

Just a note ... The term "she-male," much like the terms "sissy" or "faggot," are generally intended as beng VERY derogatory. BUT, as with those terms, someone who IS transsexual and enjoys the label "she-male" can find it complimentary, from someone they trust (just as a gay man might accept or even smile at "Hey, faggot" shouted from one of his close friends).

They are which ever gender they feel in thier heart, and to me they are what ever gender they present themselvs as. if they are dressed and act like a lady then they are a woman. just with an extra treat.

Moonwalker, Your description of a hermaphrodite is absolutely correct........problem is this question asked about "shemales". Not at all the same thing!! Now, granted, uninformed folks use the terms interchangably, further being confused by porn sites that misuse the terms. A hermaphrodite is BORN with both sex attributes and organs. A SHEMALE is a male (with no genetic female sex organs)that is taking steps to become a female (particularly from the waist up, but that is still 100% male regarding sex organs). There are VERY VERY few hermaphrodites on any porn sites....and if they are found, they will have both sex organs (may be small or disformed etc, but present). What you see on most porn sites are "shemales"....Males with breasts. NOT hermaphrodites.

Semantics.......lol. Really bothers me when folks say a shemale is "chick with dick". Actually, couldnt be more opposite of the truth!! It is much more correct to say the are "a Dude with Boobs"