What a strange-looking word. The first time I saw it I did not know how to pronounce it. Before I had ever googled the word, I had only ever known it as AGP. It meant men wearing dresses and masturbating in women's changing rooms or toilets whilst filming it. Classy. You can find these videos online. How did I come across these videos (pun intended)? That is a story for another day.
Autogynephilia: derived from Greek for 'love of oneself as a woman'. It is a term used for a male's propensity to be sexually aroused by the thought of himself as a female. It seems to be a male-only disorder.
Ray Blanchard is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and a sexologist, surprisingly, this is a job. He conducted research into transsexualism through the 1980s and 1990s. He categorised trans-women into two groups.
- Homosexual transsexuals who are attracted exclusively to men and who seek sex reassignment surgery - they are feminine in both behaviour and appearance.
- And autogynephilic transsexuals who are sexually aroused at the idea of having a female body.
There are critics of this categorisation, including other sexologists and psychologists. The World Professional Association For Transgender Health are also critical stating it is an unproven theory. With such a complicated topic, it should come as no surprise that experts do not agree, especially when it involves the workings of the human mind.
"No one really knows why humans do what they do." - David K. Reynolds
Blanchard developed his theory by interviewing trans-women. He tested for autogynephilia by asking about erotic arousal in association with the fantasy of having female breasts or being admired as a women by others. From this work, he proposed that there were four types of autogynephilic sexual fantasy.
- transvestic autogynephilia: arousal to the act or fantasy of wearing typically feminine clothing
- behavioural autogynephilia: arousal to the act or fantasy of doing something regarded as feminine
- physiologic autogynephilia: arousal to fantasies of body functions specific to people regarded as female
- anatomic autogynephilia: arousal to the fantasy of having a normative woman's body, or parts of one
Before we go any further, let us quickly look at Gender Dysphoria for it is very different to AGP. It is the distress a person feels due to an internal mismatch between their gender identity and their sex. This is why some people use the phrase 'born into the wrong body' - it is a silly phrase but the point is made. People with gender dysphoria commonly identify as transgender, but not all transgender people have gender dysphoria, which is categorised as having 'clinically significant distress'. Dysphoria is feeling out of place, not sexual arousal.
Do we have any idea of why AGP happens? Blanchard's theory is called Erotic Target Location Error. He thinks that sexual interest may be internalised, instead of being directed outwards - the attraction to women may be redirected towards the self, instead of others. This form of erotic target location error has been observed in individuals who are attracted to children, amputees, and animals.
Why have I written this article? Was it to point and laugh at mentally ill people? No. Of course not. It was so I could understand more clearly the current discourse around the trans debate. I do not like not understanding, for this is where bigotry and injustice spring from.
We can all agree that when someone is suffering we need to help if we can. But we need to acknowledge that in many instances we will not be able to end the suffering even if we try. Life is hard and unfair.
If someone has gender dysphoria, a medically acknowledged psychiatric condition, and is suffering from gender confusion and self-disgust, then it is only humane for us to seek a remedy to help this individual. It does not matter how strange the condition sounds, if it is ruining a life then the services of the NHS are there for you. This does not necessarily mean gender reassignment surgery, for there is no evidence that this stops the suffering. But quality mental health support should be given to help overcome, or to simply learn to live with their dysphoria.
I feel my position is sensible, caring and beneficial to the individual. I will be surprised if anyone could disagree.
Now let us think about AGP. It is not connected to the self-disgust one may feel about their own body and the internal conflict it generates. But rather, it is the sexual fantasy and arousal of men who imagine they have a female body. It is not quite the same issue and unsurprisingly, does not generate the same level of compassion within me.
It is men with AGP who go into female prisons and rape other inmates. Recently in America, a trans inmate impregnated two female prisoners. The man who goes into a women's only changing room and nonchalantly flaunts his penis is AGP. The middle-aged man who suddenly starts wearing a short mini shirt, lipstick and high heels is AGP. The men online with breast implants and a rock hard penis are AGP.
As you can now see, the issue of trans acceptance is not straight forward for we do not even have a definition of ‘trans’ that everyone agrees with. Currently, 'trans' means anyone who says they are trans. Non-Binary. 2 Spirit. Non-Gender Conforming.
Let me clear this up today. Trans mean someone with a medical mental disorder that requires mental health support which should be provided by the NHS. I pay my taxes and want people in pain to be treated by the NHS.
Everyone else who claims they are trans are either sexual deviants, followers of fashion, brainwashed, attention seekers, very lonely, or damaged. I have nothing against these people, I wish them well. But conflating their wish to be different is actively damaging a small number of individuals who have a recognised mental health condition and need support.
I am pro-trans. I am just anti-bullshit.
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