he-she

See also: heshe, and he/she

English

Alternative forms

• heshe

Etymology

From he +‎ she.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hiːʃiː/

Noun

he-she (plural he-shes)

1. (informal, derogatory, offensive) A transsexual or transgender female; a woman who was assigned male at birth.
   • 1993, Leslie Feinberg, Stone Butch Blues, Los Angeles: Alyson Books, published 2003, →ISBN, page 69:

     Everybody was staring at the jewelry department. There's this couple—a he-she and a femme.

   • 1998, Judith Halberstam, Female Masculinity, page 129:

     The year is 1973, and work is hard to come by for he-shes.

   • 2007, Katherine D. Bennett, Forever One, page 138:

     Mother was stopped in the supermarket under the guise of asking about my leg, but more often than not they asked if it was true that I was a he-she.

   • 2009, Tom Walker, Fort Apache: New York's Most Violent Precinct, page 98:

     They are the ugliest assortment of hes, shes, he-shes, and she-hes in the world.

Synonyms

• shim

Coordinate terms

• she-he, he, she

References

• Christina Richards, Meg Barker, Sexuality and Gender for Mental Health Professionals (2013, →ISBN, page 162: "It is imperative that professionals do not use [terms like 'shemale'], or other terms such as 'HeShe', etc. as they are very offensive to most people with such presentations as well as to many other people.

Anagrams

• she-he, she/he, shehe