Autogynephilia - Tumblr Posts
"But 93 percent of cis women experience autogynephilia, too!"
People comment this under almost every one of my posts. So let's look at the study this is drawn from.
What is autogynephilia? Autogynephilia is a term, coined by the sex researcher Ray Blanchard, describing a male's propensity to be aroused by the thought of himself as a woman. This includes being aroused by
wearing typically female clothing,
doing something typically regarded as feminine,
having bodily functions specific to women, such as periods or pregnancy and
having the fantasy of a typical female body or its parts, such as breasts and a vagina.
Blanchard developed the term when assessing biological men who wanted sex reassignment surgery and found that a sizeable portion of his clients who identified as transgender women had one or more of the above mentioned fetishes. This was especially true for the patients that had previously identified as heterosexual men and now identified as "trans lesbians".
How did Blanchard tell if someone has autogynephilia?
Blanchard developed a questionnaire, where he questioned his biologically male patients the following:
Have you ever become sexually aroused while picturing yourself have a nude female body or with certain features of the nude female form?
Which of these statements are true?
You became sexually aroused while picturing your nude female breasts.
You became sexually aroused while picturing your nude female buttocks.
You became sexually aroused while picturing your nude female legs.
You became sexually aroused while picturing your nude female genitals.
You became sexually aroused while picturing your female face.
3. Which of the following pictures of yourself has been most strongly associated with sexual arousal?
As a nude women
As a woman dressed only in underwear, sleepwear, or foundation garments (for example, a corset)
As a fully clothed woman
Have never become sexually aroused while picturing yourself as a woman
Have never pictured yourself as a woman
... and similiar questions. If you want the full list, you can find it here.
It is important to understand that Blanchard did not ask whether the arousal comes with another person, i.e. being aroused by having sex with your partner and just happening to be a woman. He specifically asked whether the sole thought of having female breasts, genitals or performing stereotypically feminine tasks such as cleaning or cooking is arousing to a biological male.
Do some biological males who want to transition to the female sex actually have autogynephilia?
In the study we are going to look at, another study is brought up. Here half of the respondents, who are biological males, have experienced autogynephilic arousal "hundreds of times or more". Only 14 percent of the respondents reported never having had experienced autogynephilic arousal.
What does the trans community say to these findings?
Many trans people, especially trans women, do not agree with the results of Blanchard's research. While some outright say that autogynephilic arousal does never happen, others claim that cisgender women get aroused as well at the sole thought of having a vagina or breasts, wearing feminine clothing or having periods. To strengthen this hypothesis, the famous "93 percent"-study was developed in 2009 by sex researcher Charles Moser. So let's look into it.
How did Charles Moser conduct the study?
Charles Moser developed a questionnaire he gave to cisgender women. In his own words, the questionnaire he developed was "analogous" to Blanchard's autogynephilia-scale. It contains the following questions:
The difference in the questionnaire Blanchard applied to his biologically male patients and the one Charles Moser applied to the biological females he questioned is apparent: Whilst Blanchard mostly speaks of the patients being aroused by the mere thought of wearing lingerie, Moser asks whether one is aroused by wearing lingerie in anticipation to a sexual encounter. Both questionnaires are not in any way comparable, and it is honestly not clear to me why Moser would not just ask all of Blanchard's questions to the biological females, and why he would feel the need to change the questions. Who knows.
Whom did Charles Moser ask for his study?
Yes, you read correctly. 29 participants, all from the same workplace. As somebody who has a degree in statistical sociology, I can honestly say that this study is not even worth the paper it is printed on. To even suggest that this could in any way, shape or form represent the average female population is laughable. When I read the number of participants, I actually asked myself whether I should read any further.
What did Charles Moser find?
The responses to the questionnaire are the following:
Now, one finds that the only three questions to which more than two respondents answered that they felt this type of arousal "frequently" are those that include other people or that happen in anticipation of sex with another person. The types of arousal that happen when a woman is all by herself, just thinking about her "femaleness", are very rare. This is not comparable to the 49 percent of biologically male respondents in the previous study that reported experiencing autogynephilic fantasies "hundreds of times or more".
"But autogynephilia goes away after hormone treatment or sex reassignment surgery! This proves that it really isn't a fetish!"
Moser brings up a study where after sex-reassignment surgery only three percent have had autogynephilic fantasies "hundreds of times or more". This, however, does not in any way, shape or form suggest that autogynephilic fantasies completely go away, just because their number is not in the hundreds anymore. Also, it is reasonable to expect the sex drive of a person to go down after they take medication that represses their sex hormones. This does still not prove that a fetish is not and never has been present. Then, people get used to fetishes. If a person has a fetish for wearing a dog collar, and starts wearing a dog collar everywhere he goes, it is reasonable to assume that after a few days, he will not be as aroused by the sole thought of wearing a dog collar anymore. This, however does not mean that the motivation for wearing a dog collar is suddenly not a fetish anymore or proof of the fact that it never has been a fetish. Also, 44 percent of respondents reported on still experiencing autogynephilic fantasies after sex reassignment surgery, just not "hundreds of times or more". This, as Moser admits, could be explained by the simple fact that respondents just hadn't had the time to indulge hundreds of times in their fantasies.
"But it literally harms nobody! Everyone can have any fantasies they want!"
Yes, everyone can have any fantasies they want. But when these fantasies include other people, especially marginalized groups, one has to tread with caution. A man who masturbates for years to porn starring asian women can be influenced to treat asian women as sex objects. The same thing can happen with a man who only watches porn starring lesbians, who afterwards feels entitled to the attention of a lesbian. But with autogynephilic men, it oftentimes does not stop there. Because their fantasy is not just to have sex with a woman, but to possess a female body, the fulfillment of the fantasy is to become female. And with modern medicine and affirming doctors, this happens more often than not (as shown above). Let me give you an example: Imagine an able-bodied person fetishizing the thought of being disabled. They masturbate hundreds of times to the thought of being disabled and watch hours of porn starring disabled actors. Then, one day, they start to identify as disabled. And when you asked them how they got that idea, they told you "After years of masturbating to imagining myself to the thought of being a disabled person and watching porn of people with disability, I came to identify myself as disabled and you should include me in your disability activism." If that scenario is appalling to you, but the scenario of an autogynephilic transwoman is not, I want to ask you why. As a disabled woman I feel the same discomfort when imagining both of these scenarios.
"But I am a trans woman and I never have had those fantasies!"
One thing I disagree with Blanchard on is that in his opinion, every single transgender woman who is not exclusively attracted to men is an autogynephile. According to his research, most autogynephiles have been heterosexual men and now identified as "trans lesbians", but surely there is also an amount of transgender women, attracted to men or not, who do not experience autogynephilic arousal. And of course not every trans woman is guilty by association. The thing that worries me more is the prevalence of openly autogynephilic behaviour I see in trans spaces, and how it is almost never called out.
"Why can't we just be nice to people with autogynephilia? They deserve compassion too!" "Be nice!" is what is drilled into every little girl's head from the moment they get put into a little pink blanket as a newborn at the hospital. "Be nice!" is what every Disney movie teaches us, is what every Lego Friends playset forces into our heads, is what every representation of women in the media tells us to do. "Being nice" won't help. "Being nice" is what got us here in the first place.
Other marginalized groups, such as gay men, have made it clear from the beginning that they do not tolerate members of another group who fetishize them in their spaces. I think it's time we did the same as well.
Being as much of a horndog as me gets rough. Sometimes i even want to bang the pre-transition version of myself, i look at him, and it's like, wow boy your dick is big, your face is pretty, i am feeling it.
And then i remember he doesn't exist anymore :v
That's life.
Autogynephilia is valid! 🗣🗣🗣
Yeah, I said it.