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Autogynephilia in Women
Abstract
Autogynephilia, an erotic interest in the thought or image of oneself as a woman, has been described as a sexual interest of some male-to-female transsexuals (MTFs); the term has not been applied to natal women. To test the possibility that natal women also experience autogynephilia, an Autogynephilia Scale for Women (ASW) was created from items used to categorize MTFs as autogynephilic in other studies. A questionnaire that included the ASW was distributed to a sample of 51 professional women employed at an urban hospital; 29 completed questionnaires were returned for analysis. By the common definition of ever having erotic arousal to the thought or image of oneself as a woman, 93% of the respondents would be classified as autogynephilic. Using a more rigorous definition of "frequent" arousal to multiple items, 28% would be classified as autogynephilic. The implications of these findings are discussed concerning the sexuality of women and the meaning of autogynephilia for MTFs.
... One aspect of the construct of autogynephilia not studied by the theory's proponents, possibly until now, was the conjecture that women assigned female at birth (AFAB) are not autogynephilic. Independently, Veale et al. (2008) and Moser (2009) tried to test whether women AFAB were autogynephilic, and if so, another tenet of Blanchard's theory would not be supported. If both women AFAB and women AMAB can be autogynephilic, their existence challenges the assumption that autogynephilia is a male trait and women AMAB are just generic men with an unusual sexual interest (Lawrence, 2013). ...
... Bailey and Hsu's (2022) article is a bit odd. It attempts to refute two studies (Moser, 2009;Veale et al., 2008) published over a decade ago. These two articles were rarely cited or even discussed, at least until this paper, so it is surprising that Bailey and Hsu decided to focus on autogynephilia in women. ...
... In general, individuals with transvestism or transvestic disorder do not meet the DSM-5-TR ( (2005) found. Veale et al. (2008) and Moser (2009) independently decided to modify Blanchard's research scales, which purportedly measure autogynephilia in women AMAB for women AFAB. Veale et al. (2008) and Moser (2009) hypothesized that women AFAB may be aroused by imagining themselves as more desirable or with more desirable bodies. ...
... Thus, neither non-dysphoric natal males nor natal females were assessed in this research. Moser (2009) suggested that Blanchard's neglect of the latter populations led him astray. Specifically, Moser argued that both men and women commonly experience sexual arousal to their own bodies. ...
... Lawrence (2010b) criticized Moser's (2009) study, arguing that the items were not good measures of autogynephilia, especially for natal women. Lawrence argued that some of Moser's items were inappropriate, because they tended to conflate sexual arousal to the idea of having a female body (or engaging in stereotypically feminine behavior) with arousal to interpersonal sexual fantasies. ...
... 768). Serano also asserted that such fantasies are relatively common, based on findings from Veale et al. (2008), Moser (2009), andLehmiller (2018). Lehmiller surveyed 4175 American adults, one-third of whom reported that they had fantasized about being the opposite sex. ...
Blanchard proposed that autogynephilia is a natal male’s paraphilic sexual arousal in response to the thought or fantasy of being a woman. Furthermore, based on evidence collected from natal males with gender dysphoria, Blanchard argued that autogynephilia is the fundamental motivation among nonhomosexual males (i.e., those not exclusively attracted to men) who pursue sex reassignment surgery or live as transgender women. These ideas have been challenged by several writers who have asserted, or offered evidence, that autogynephilia is common among women. However, their evidence was weakened by problematic measures and limited comparison groups. We compared four samples of autogynephilic natal males (N = 1549), four samples of non-autogynephilic natal males (N = 1339), and two samples of natal females (N = 500), using Blanchard’s original measure: the Core Autogynephilia Scale. The autogynephilic samples had much higher mean scores compared with non-autogynephilic natal males and natal females, who were similar. Our findings refute the contention that autogynephilia is common among natal females.
... Rather, it recognises the value of Autogynephilia as a heuristic construct which may not be particularly limited to the realm of MtF transgenderism. Very few studies have touched upon the construct outside the transgender context (Moser, 2009;Veale, 2010), and that too sufficiently in a targeted way. The current study presumptively addresses this gap by exploring the experiences of Sissy Hypno pornography consumers. ...
Autogynephilic Persuasive Pornography (AGPP) is a type of pornography that is characterised by its unique autogynephilic and persuasive traits. Autogynephilia refers to the sexual pleasure one derives by imagining themselves as women. Known in the subculture as Sissy Hypno, this type of pornography is an altered mishmash of conventional licensed studio/mainstream pornography found on the internet, designed to interact with/persuade the user (by text or audio) and aid in the process of erotic self-feminisation. AGPP is consumed by a wide range of individuals and for a wide variety of reasons. Yet, there is little to no empirical research aimed at describing this novel form of media, the motivations of its consumers and the effects of its consumption. Therefore, this research study qualitatively explores the experiences of 16 participants (N = 16, age > 19), who consumed AGPP at the time of the study, by phenomenologically interpreting self-reported behaviour and self-described inclinations regarding AGPP use. The participants were recruited from Reddit, and the participant sample is an ethnically diverse sample consisting of men and transwomen. The key findings were categorised into the following superordinate themes: (1) Influence of AGPP on personality and individual lifestyle (2) Exploring femininity and submissive sexual behaviour and (3) Influence of AGPP on gender and sexuality. The analysis of these themes (and their subordinate themes) allows for the conceptualisation of AGPP and an analysis of its reported effects, contributes to the limited evidence of cisgender men strongly relating to Autogynephilia or erotic self-feminisation, alongside Autogynephilia being a frequent motivation for consuming AGPP. Some of the positive and negative effects of consuming AGPP (primarily focusing on gender identity, sexual attitudes and sexuality) were also identified through self-report, thereby, necessitating the need for widening the scientific exploration of Autogynephilia amongst AGPP consumers (not limited to gender categories) and the clinical implications of consuming AGPP (e.g., compulsive AGPP consumption).
... and] reduce cross-gender identification to a kind of sexual fetish" (Bettcher 2014). In part, the cisnormative stigmatization of transgender sexuality explains oppressive phenomena such as accusations that trans women are sexually deceptive homosexual men as well as testimonial injustices in medical contexts involving "autogynephilic" diagnoses of gender dysphoria (see Bettcher 2007 andMoser 2009). Because members of the orientation category queer share interests with respect to sexual destigmatization (viz., involving the mitigation of the effects of cisnormativity), it's strategic for LGBTQIA+ social movements to differentiate between members and non-members of the orientation category queer. ...
... First, our empirical study (which Moser was supposed to be criticizing) did not purport to be about gender dysphoria. Rather, we tested the idea, promoted by Moser (2009), that natal females are like autogynephilic males in being sexually aroused by the idea of being and behaving like women. The results of our study showed that this idea is false. ...
... A sexualização presente na teoria de Blanchard também justifica as posições que defendem a recusa do reconhecimento da autenticidade das identidades femininas de mulheres transexuais, pois a autoginefilia, como uma parafilia, é definida como uma experiência tipicamente masculina de sexualidade. Serano também argumenta que a teoria da autoginefilia compartilha a crença socialmente disseminada de que as identidades transfemininas precisam de uma explicação (já que a transição de gênero do masculino para o feminino seria, a princípio, uma atitude irracional), formulada muitas vezes no interior de uma perspectiva masculina hegemônica segundo a qual as pessoas transicionam tendo em vista atingir um objetivo 23 O fato de uma porcentagem significante de mulheres cisgêneras que passaram pelos questionários semelhantes ou iguais propostos por Blanchard serem categorizadas como autoginefílicas (MOSER, 2009a;VEALE et al., 2008) acaba por colocar em xeque a noção de que a autoginefilia possa ser uma parafilia, tendo em vista que as parafilias geralmente são pensadas como inexistentes ou extremamente raras neste grupo (American Psychiatric Association, 2000, p. 568). 24 Em razão de serem presumidamente visivelmente extremamente femininas, as mulheres transexuais que se atraem exclusivamente por homens são imaginadas como mais frequentemente passáveis, de forma a "enganar" os seus parceiros sexuais de que sejam mulheres cisgêneras. ...
Este trabalho tem o objetivo de abordar criticamente a teoria da autoginefilia de Ray Blanchard. Segundo o autor, existem dois tipos de mulheres transexuais em função de suas sexualidades: aquelas atraídas por homens e todas as demais, que seriam autoginefílicas. A autoginefilia, compreendida como uma parafilia, designa um conjunto de fantasias sexuais a respeito da imagem de si mesmo/a enquanto mulher. Blanchard postula que a etiologia da identidade feminina em mulheres transexuais não-androfílicas seja a autoginefilia. Nos debruçamos, desta forma, sobre a literatura crítica a respeito do tema, dando especial enfoque às perspectivas das próprias mulheres transexuais. Sustentamos que a teoria proposta por Blanchard é não apenas inconsistente com as narrativas das próprias mulheres transexuais, como também responsável por reiterar visões estigmatizantes a respeito da sexualidade das mulheres transexuais, particularmente daquelas que não se atraem exclusivamente por homens.
The term ‘rapid-onset gender dysphoria’ (ROGD) was coined in 2016 to describe an alleged epidemic of youth coming out as trans ‘out of the blue’ due to social contagion and mental illness. The term reflects a deliberate attempt to weaponise scientific-sounding language to dismiss mounting empirical evidence of the benefits of transition. This article offers an introduction to the theory of ROGD and its history, presents a detailed critique of the empirical and theoretical claims associated with the theory, and highlights structural concerns with the ROGD discourse. The article argues that claims associated with ROGD, including assertions of declining mental health and degrading familial relationships following coming out, are best explained by the leading ROGD study’s recruitment of parents from transantagonistic websites against a background of growing visibility and social acceptance of trans people. ROGD theory is best understood as an attempt to circumvent existing research demonstrating the importance of gender affirmation, relying on scientific-sounding language to achieve respectability.
The DSM-IV-TR (2000) sets its own standards for inclusion of diagnoses and for changes in its text. The Paraphilia section is analyzed from the perspective of how well the DSM meets those standards. The concept of Paraphilias as psychopathology was analyzed and assessed critically to determine if it meets the definition of a mental disorder presented in the DSM; it does not. The Paraphilia diagnostic category was critiqued for logic, consistency, clarity, and whether it constitutes a distinct mental disorder. The DSM presents “facts” to substantiate various points made in the text. The veracity of these “facts” was scrutinized. Little evidence was found in their support. Problems with the tradition of equating particular sexual interests with psychopathology were highlighted. It was concluded that the Paraphilia section is so severely flawed that its removal from the DSM is advocated.
Adult male gender patients present with such diverse signs and symptoms that one cannot assume that they are all suffering from the same disorder or that they will all respond optimally to the same method of clinical management. Therefore, whether the ultimate goal is to investigate the causes of gender disorders or to establish the optimal treatment strategies for different types of patients, the researcher must first partition his or her sample of gender-disturbed males into a manageable number of descriptively homogeneous groups. Several authors have advanced typological schemes for doing this (e.g., Benjamin, 1966, 1967; Bentler, 1976; Buhrich & McConaghy, 1978, 1979; Meyer, 1974; Person & Ovesey, 1974a, 1974b; Stoller, 1971), and a taxonomy that is bound to be influential may be found in the DSM-III (American Psychiatric Association, 1980). These typologies are grossly similar (probably because there is widespread agreement on the descriptive dimensions of greatest importance), although authors differ somewhat in the labels they attach to the various discriminable syndromes and even more in their etiological hypotheses for the different types. (See Table 1, Chapter 1 and related discussion for a comparison of representative typologies.)
Autogynephilia is defined as a male's propensity to be sexually aroused by the thought or image of himself as female. Autogynephilia explains the desire for sex reassignment of some male-to-female (MTF) transsexuals. It can be conceptualized as both a paraphilia and a sexual orientation. The concept of autogynephilia provides an alternative to the traditional model of transsexualism that emphasizes gender identity. Autogynephilia helps explain mid-life MTF gender transition, progression from transvestism to transsexualism, the prevalence of other paraphilias among MTF transsexuals, and late development of sexual interest in male partners. Hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery can be effective treatments in autogynephilic transsexualism. The concept of autogynephilia can help clinicians better understand MTF transsexual clients who recognize a strong sexual component to their gender dysphoria.