Yevamot 80b-81a
יבמות פ׳ ב-פ״א א
Yevamot 80b-81a
This sugya presents the principal rabbinic criteria for an aylonit, including the absence of pubic hair by the relevant age and a set of physical signs such as a deep or unusually rough voice and other atypical bodily development. It also discusses how these signs affect personal status and levirate marriage.
וְאֵיזוֹ הִיא אַיְלוֹנִית? כֹּל שֶׁהִיא בַּת עֶשְׂרִים וְלֹא הֵבִיאָה שְׁתֵּי שְׂעָרוֹת, וַאֲפִילּוּ הֵבִיאָה לְאַחַר מִכָּאן — הֲרֵי הִיא כְּאַיְלוֹנִית לְכׇל דְּבָרֶיהָ. וְאֵלּוּ הֵן סִימָנֶיהָ: כֹּל שֶׁאֵין לָהּ דַּדִּים, וּמִתְקַשָּׁה בִּשְׁעַת תַּשְׁמִישׁ. רַבָּן שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן גַּמְלִיאֵל אוֹמֵר: כֹּל שֶׁאֵין לָהּ שִׁיפּוּלֵי מֵעַיִם כְּנָשִׁים. רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן אֶלְעָזָר אוֹמֵר: כֹּל שֶׁקּוֹלָה עָבֶה, וְאֵינָהּ נִיכֶּרֶת בֵּין אִשָּׁה לְאִישׁ.
And who is a sexually underdeveloped woman [aylonit]? It is anyone who is twenty years old and has not yet grown two pubic hairs. And even if she grows pubic hairs afterward, she is still considered a sexually underdeveloped woman with regard to all her matters. And her signs are as follows: A sexually underdeveloped woman is anyone who does not have breasts and experiences pain during intercourse. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: It is anyone whose lower abdomen is not formed like that of other women, as she lacks the cushion of flesh that is usually situated above a woman’s genitals. Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: It is anyone whose voice is deep, so that it is not evident from it whether she is a woman or a man.