Yes, I'm really at work today, but the server is getting smashed and things are moving very slowly. I have to admit that I'm not feeling motivated to keep two projects in mind at once, so I'm surfing while I wait, instead. As I mentioned earlier, Michelle sent me the link to a blog written by a friend of hers who is going for GRS the day after Michelle's. I was reading back in her blog and came across a term that new to me: autogynephilia. (Anything sounds good if you put it in Latin, heh?)
Basically, as I understand it, this is a disorder characterized by a man being primarily aroused by the thinking of himself as a woman. If you are interested, you can read a better description here. I'm not gonna get into what I think of this in terms of being a "disorder" or not, (I haven't done enough reading to have what I consider a "valid" opinion) but one can certainly see how it becomes a discussion point of some sort in the transgender world. The wiki page I linked to above refers mostly to the work of Ray Blanchard and there are quotes from men with this condition and one in particular caught my attention:
"I have also had sexual encounters with eight men.... I found I enjoyed the physical aspects of this type of sex and felt I was confirming my womanhood by being a passive partner."
This ties in with a discussion I was having with Michelle about different types of drag. She isn't too impressed with guys who do "Halloween drag", because, in essence they are parodying the very serious work that she's being doing personally. (Apologies if I'm mis-stating the case.) I pointed out that for guys who just want to have laughs while they get s**t-faced, you can learn a lot by how they do their drag. All men have some sort of template, by which they understand what it is to be female. That template will greatly inform what they choose to include or leave out of their costume and you can usually tell what kind of woman they are attracted to by what they end up looking like.
Of course, the template is greatly influenced by upbringing, society, etc. which wraps us back around to this "woman as passive partner" during sex. Bah! I say. There are always exceptions, but for the most part sex is a lot more fun if the woman is active. I mean, even if you do just look like you are laying there, do you know how many muscles there are down there to play around with? If this dude thinks that be being passive during sex that he's evincing some feminine characteristic, then he is seriously missing the point.
And I think that what gets my goat the most isn't this guy, but how many women there are in the world who miss the point. And not just about sex, but about how to be women. And a bunch of guys who miss the point about how to be men. And generally how many people miss the point of being human.
Which I suppose brings up the question: are they human then?
That would explain a lot.
3 comments:
Among transsexuals, Autogynephilia is often seen as something of a swear word.
There are quite a few reasons. First of all, Bailey/Blanchard/Lawrence tend to apply the concept far too broadly - attempting to foist its "truth" upon people who it does not describe.
This has created a lot of fear (especially with Blanchard's colleague, Zucker, being head of the working group on sexual disorders for the DSM-V, and Blanchard working on the subcommittee dealing with paraphilias) among transsexuals that new language will be added to the DSM V that will create a diagnostic category separate from the Gender Identity Disorder category that would be used by some therapists to make it harder to access treatment. (as if it isn't difficult enough already!)
Add to that, the language around the term is very similar to the language used to describe transvestic fetishism - and you have a proposal that will make a lot of transsexuals VERY upset.
I suspect that in some number of cases, AG might actually be part of someone's drive to transition but at the same time, I reflect on the fact that human beings are much, much more complex creatures and singular motivations to do something as dramatic as gender transition are likely over-simplifying things.
If you're interested, here's a fairly complete synopsis of the Autogynephilia controversy.
(one key observation from the Wikipedia article: The Wikipedia article suggests that the DSM IV TR considers the term valid. The DSM IV TR uses the term Autogynephilia precisely once, and does NOT attempt to define the term formally. At best it acknowledges the existence of the term ... but that's about it)
I don't find any of that particularly surprising. I had multiple problems with it myself, and that was without even giving it particularly great thought. It seems like the brain child of one of those folks who tries to "help" people they dislike by explaining why they need to be fixed. Ugh.
Let's just say that Blanchard is not well regarded by a lot of transfolk - nor is the gender clinic program at CAMH (formerly the "Jurassic" Clarke)
Post a Comment