In Japanese society, interest in futanari dates back many hundreds of years, and may have roots in the worship of Dosojin, who was portrayed as a phallus, despite being neither male nor female.[1] Until 1644, when Japanese onnagata actors were required to adopt male hairstyles regardless of the gender they were portraying, actors playing characters such as female warriors capitalised on the interest in the futanari quality, which was common in both samurai and commoner society There is a specific futanari genre within hentai (pornographic anime or manga), which depicts hermaphrodite characters. Other common terms used to describe futanari characters are "dickgirls"[3] or "shemales", although these are often considered vulgar and incorrect.[citation needed] Futanari, along with "newhalf" (ニューハーフ), are more polite terms having come into recent use, with futanari tending to refer specifically to actual hermaphrodites and "newhalf" tending to refer specifically to characters with female bodies but only male genitals