Autogynephilia: The Depths of The Gender Iceberg

And why the public deserves to know.

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Throughout the 80s and 90s, American-Canadian sexologist Ray Blanchard proposed a typology pertaining to transsexualism and transvestic fetishism, grouping transsexual women into two different different categories: homosexual transsexuals (HSTS), describing gender dysphoric males who exclusively experience sexual attraction towards the same sex, and autogynephilic transsexuals (AGP), which describes heterosexual males who experience arousal at the idea of themselves as women.

Affecting three percent of men in Western Countries, autogynephilia is often characterized into four different types:

• Transvestic Autogynephilia: Arousal deriving from wearing feminine clothing.

• Behavioral Autogynephilia: Arousal deriving from performing “feminine” actions.

• Anatomic Autogynephilia: Arousal deriving from the thought or physical feeling of possessing female-like anatomy.

• Physiologic Autogynephilia: Arousal deriving from the thought or mimicry of female bodily functions, such as menstruation or lactation.

Blanchard proposed that this paraphilia is brought on by the phenomenon of erotic target location error, where the mind mistakes an erotic target in one’s body and wants to impersonate the target. The paraphilia, listed as a subset of transvestic disorder in the DSM-5 as a disorder (its female counterpart being autoandrophilia, a much more rare phenomenon), can go hand in hand with genuine feelings of gender dysphoria, leading to intense emotional anguish, including hypersensitivity and anger management issues. Notably having a link to Autism Spectrum Disorder, the comorbidity is often characterized by atypical sexual and cognitive patterns, as well as constant hyperfocus.

According to a 1993 study by Dr. Blanchard, the following are percentages of autogynephilic trans women who experience arousal at the idea of having the following female body parts:

• Buttocks: 70%

• Legs: 76%

• Face: 76%

• Vulva: 84%

• Breasts: 93%

It is also worth noting that autogynephilia has a similar subtype, known as autogynandromorphilia, which entails a man’s arousal towards himself appearing as a woman, yet still having his male genitalia.

A pornographic category often explored by AGPS is known as “sissy,” in which a man is around by the idea of being feminized and emasculated. Autogynephilia is mostly fueled by autoandrophobia, or the phobia of seeing oneself as a man. Another key term to remember is “meta-attraction,” or being so attracted to the other sex that you want to become said sex, and become attracted to yourself.

This paraphilia is no longer diagnosed, which can lead to AGP individuals being hastily and unnecessarily medicalized, leading to irreversible side effects from hormone replacement therapy and surgeries. I spoke with two individuals who are openly autogynephilic to obtain further insight on this condition.

I interviewed Annie, a young, transitioning AGP, and Phil Illy, author of Autoheterosexual: Attracted to Being The Other Sex.

-Do you think that openness regarding autogynephilia is eminent, or it might cause more repression for those who are autogynephilic?

Annie: I’m not sure. The concept isn’t well understood, so I think most who suffer serious autogynephilia will just not see themselves in the concept.

Phil: Superficial knowledge of autogynephilia is going to become much more widespread in the near term. It has been brought up repeatedly on Joe Rogan’s podcast, and it’s getting more discussion in conservative media. Unfortunately, when it’s discussed it tends to be in a very superficial way that portrays it as a simple matter of attaining arousal while neglecting the deeper emotional consequences of autogynephilia. I think this will initially cause many AGPs to retreat from discussing their experience of it openly, but this will be temporary. In the long term, I expect a virtuous cycle wherein more of us come out, and then more of us come out after seeing each other come out. There is safety in numbers.

-Is it possible that modern porn culture contributes to autogynephilia?

Annie: The idea that autogynephilia is a product of porn is false, but I also think it’s wrong to say it doesn’t contribute at all. Someone like me always would’ve been like this because I never felt normal sexual attraction, but some people clearly escalate to autogynephilia from porn usage. I think a lot of the shemale stuff comes from porn. I always wanted to be actually female.

Phil: The propensity to have internalized heterosexual attraction (e.g., male autogynephilia, female autoandrophilia) is likely an inborn trait. However, how that trait is expressed across one’s lifetime is influenced by one’s environment and experiences. The internalized sexual attraction (autogynephilia) and its downstream effects (gender dysphoria and cross-gender identity) are closely related yet distinct aspects of the autogynephilic phenomenon.

Overall, I think that people focus too much on porn and they mistakenly consider porn usage to be causal in the development of autogynephilia. It’s unlikely to be causal; rather, the porn reveals one’s sexual interests. Males do not become autogynephilic because they saw sissy hypno pornography. Rather, they were drawn to that pornography because of their autogynephilia.

-What are some misconceptions about autogynephilia?

Annie: Oh, jeez. There’s a lot. I think mostly the idea that all AGPs are masochistic, sissy fetishists. It really just mirrors whatever type of woman the man is attracted to. Some AGPs want to be feminists.

Phil: That autogynephilia is a simple matter of attaining sexual arousal, or that an autogynephilic male is necessarily sexually aroused the entire time they are crossdressed or doing anything that signifies femininity. Just as conventional heterosexuality is about far more than a penis sliding in and out of a vagina, internalized heterosexuality is far deeper than a matter of masturbation methods. For example, a man who moves across the world to live with the woman he fell in love with is organizing his life in a way that accommodates his sexual orientation. We don’t often think of it that way when it comes to vanilla forms of sexuality, but it nonetheless is happening.

Sexual orientations influence what we see as important. They give us meaning and direction. Sexuality is about love and connection, not just physical arousal. Autogynephilic males who pursue gender transition are unlikely doing it simply as a means of attaining sexual arousal. Rather, they are drawn to embodying femininity and their capacity to suitably embody femininity plays a large role in their emotional well-being. They feel that it is hard to value themselves or find their life meaningful if they must continue to live it as a man.

-Are there any representations in media of autogynephilic trans women that you think do more harm than good? (i.e., media’s glorification of trans pride).

Annie: I don’t think about the media much, but to be honest, I consider most trans culture to have a bad reputation. Transitioners seem more likely to be hypersexual. For someone hypersexual to transition, autogynephilia has to be our exclusive orientation. Most transition for overt eroticism.

Phil: I don’t think that transgenderism should be glorified to children. It’s one thing to say that transgender people are a kind of people that exist, but it’s another to sacralize trans identity and elevate people as special for being transgender.

-If someone comes to terms with their autogynephilia, how do they proceed? What steps can they take to treat themselves?

Annie: That depends massively on the individual. Some can resolve it with no transition, some can just take hormone replacement therapy to lower their sex drive and continue to live as a man, and some, like myself, loathe all physical maleness so much that we feel the need for surgery.

Phil: How a newly-self-aware AGP proceeds will vary depending on the individual. Among those who are pre-transition, some have a lot of shame about AGP and will probably initially try doubling down on repression or suppression strategies. On the other hand, those who have struggled with strong autogynephilic desires for years without transitioning may pursue transition more quickly because their confusion about their feelings is mostly gone and they feel confident enough to take action. Those who are already post-transition tend to have a stronger aversion to accepting that the concept of autogynephilia applies to them. However, some do face this reality when they’ve already transitioned. And although some of them detransition, I would guess that most don’t make any big changes after learning they’re autogynephilic — they already chose to do things they wanted to do, and understanding where their desires came from did not fundamentally alter those desires.

Autogynephilia does not need to be “treated”, nor can it be. It’s an aspect of one’s sexuality, and male sexuality is notoriously resistant to change through conversion therapy or other means. However, AGPs do have control over how they live with their sexuality. The classical advice given by transvestites is to aim for integration of one’s female and male sides into a unified whole. Rather than going all-in on either femaleness or maleness, have a balance of both masculine and feminine expressions which help you manage your emotions without blowing up your life.

-What changes would you like to see with this new addition being added to discourse around sexuality?

Annie: Further understanding of the variety of its presentations. That’s my goal here.

Phil: I want people who experience gender dysphoria to understand where it’s coming from (usually autoheterosexuality) as soon as possible. There’s no reason that they should be kept in the dark about knowledge that can help them make sense of their feelings and manage them.

I want to see some sanity surrounding the issue of transgenderism. For example, natal males playing in women’s sports is obviously unfair, and yet it continues because the policies advocated for by mainstream transgender activists flow downstream from the axiomatic belief that “trans women are women”.

Although I don’t want it to happen, I expect that the transgender movement will soon face intense backlash for their excesses over the past ten years — in particular, medically transitioning minors and MTFs playing in female sports. I hope the backlash is no more than needed to arrive at a reasonable compromise on trans issues. I want the best for my kind regardless of how they identify, but they need to make sure they’re not infringing on others with their demands. I trust that open discourse and liberalism will allow a reasonable consensus to emerge.

-How can somebody support a friend or loved one who is in denial of their autogynephilia?

Annie: That’s a very hard situation to be in, especially considering most AGPs can’t just be logically reasoned into understanding it, unfortunately.

Phil: You can’t force someone to believe something they have a strong emotional resistance to believing. All you can do is occasionally gently point them toward the truth and maintain a good relationship with them.

-Is it possible to live with autogynephilia without participating in any sort of behaviors that might enable the fantasy?

Annie: As aforementioned, that depends heavily on the condition severity in the given individual.

Phil: Is it possible for a gay man to live with homosexuality without ever acting on it? Yes, but it’s not likely. And in the event that such a man does successfully deny the main aspect of their sexuality for most of their life, it likely comes at a large psychological cost: shame, lack of authenticity, lies, depression, etc. As I mentioned earlier, integration should be the default goal, not total repression. In general, AGPs should bravely face the reality of their autogynephilia head-on, and then decide how to weigh what they want vs. what is possible. They should strive to have a life worth living that also minimizes negative impacts on others.

-How do we spread awareness on autogynephilia in the first place? Is spreading awareness even necessary or helpful?

Annie: It’s so hard to understand that I think the best awareness will probably only ever exist within clinical and research circles.

Phil: Talking about it! That’s how ideas spread. To spread awareness of autogynephilia, those of us who have this orientation will be especially important for conveying a nuanced perspective rather than the caricatured perspectives of autogynephilia put forth not only by people who oppose the transgender movement, but also transgender people themselves — many of whom spread simplistic portrayals of autogynephilia as a way of protecting their identities (if they portrayed autogynephilia in a nuanced, realistic way, they’d be at risk of realizing they’re autogynephilic and this would be a threat to their self-concept). People who are not autogynephilic themselves but want to spread awareness of autogynephilia in a neutral way that helps people better understand reality can also be helpful.

Knowledge of autogynephilia is important for AGPs themselves so they can better understand themselves and be more able to give “informed consent” for medical interventions. It is also important for women who are sexually incompatible with AGPs to understand the orientation and how to spot it so that they don’t marry or procreate with people who are not ultimately compatible with them. Likewise, self-aware AGPs should tell prospective romantic partners about their autogynephilia very early on in the courtship process (within the first three dates) so that their prospective romantic partners can make a meaningful decision about whether to pursue a relationship. Let’s be honest with each other, and walk forward in the light of truth.

A huge thanks to Annie and Mr. Phil Illy for making this article possible!