January 8 2010: This page is no longer updated. For the new version of my resource collection, go to Online Resources on Autogynephilia, Transgender and Transsexual Issues.
Below find my collection of online articles and resources relevant to autogynephilia, crossdressing and men who dream about having a woman's body. If you know of resources that ought to be included, please add a comment!
On autogynephilia
Jamie Faye Fenton: The Lemonade Stand of Desire
On sex and gender issues in general
HOME PAGES
RESOURCE SITES
On autogynephilia
Opposing the term
On sex and gender issues in general
ARTICLES AND VIDEOS
Milton Diamond: Sex and Gender are Different: Sexual Identity and Gender Identity are Different (Pacific Center)
Ray Blanchard's papers at SpringerLink (free abstracts plus PDFs for a fee)
Opposing the term
Deirdre McCloskey on Bailey: The Man who would be Queen
DISCUSSION FORUMS
Rachel's Haven (explicit content!)
OTHER RELEVANT SITES
Enough Nonsense
UPDATE ON TERMINOLOGY
Since this blog post was written I have stopped using the terms "autogynephilia" and "autoandrophilia" to describe people. The reason for this is that the terms implicitly communicates an explanation for why some people get aroused by imagining themselves as the opposite sex . This explanation, that this is some kind of autoerotic paraphilia, is both wrong and stigmatizing. Instead I use the neutral term "crossdreamers".
Click here for a discussion of the dark side of the autogynephilia theory.
UPDATE ON TERMINOLOGY
Since this blog post was written I have stopped using the terms "autogynephilia" and "autoandrophilia" to describe people. The reason for this is that the terms implicitly communicates an explanation for why some people get aroused by imagining themselves as the opposite sex . This explanation, that this is some kind of autoerotic paraphilia, is both wrong and stigmatizing. Instead I use the neutral term "crossdreamers".
Click here for a discussion of the dark side of the autogynephilia theory.
In the "Opposing the term" section, the study called:
ReplyDeleteAutogynephilia in Women
Shows that 93% of women show some autogynephilic tendencies. So it seems to me that autogynephilia in M2F's is normal as should be expected. If you truly think that you are a woman shouldn't you fantasize as one?
Women also have erotic fantasies about being sexual and attractive, so you should definitely expect autogynephiliacs dreaming of being a woman to do the same.
ReplyDeleteAndrophiliac transsexuals do not to the same extent report that they get aroused by cross-dressing or fantasizing about having a woman's body, though.
Blanchard argues that some of the autogynephiliac fantasies have a fetishistic flavor that are totally unlike the fantasies you should expect from women (masturbation fantasies involving menstruation, "vaginal" douche, sissyfication etc.) (see http://bit.ly/6ha8Or )
This is a fair argument, but Blanchard forgets that this fetishism can be caused by the enormous emotional pressure an autogynephiliac lives under, instead of being the true nature of autogynephilia. His sexual energies get channeled into fetish dreams, as he is unable to to find an outlet for them in a natural way.
Women already cross-dress so it shouldn't be surprising that androphiliac transexuals aren't turned on by cross-dressing. It would be interesting to see if some are turned on by dressing in the garb of male dominated professions, like Catholic priests...
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that the fetishes you mention are just an extension to cross-dressing. Being turned on by things from the opposite gender. I'm of the same mind as most women, not having to deal with menstruation is a good thing.
Listen up sluggo..
ReplyDeleteRiding the Second Wave is a feminist blog. Listing it as a "transgender" is beyond insulting, it is my blog and I demand you remove the link to it immediately or I will file a complaint with blogger.com that you have defamed and deliberately insulted me.
Clear enough?
I am at a loss to know why my blog is listed under "transgender issues". My blog was mostly about philosophy and classical music. I would appreciate you removing the link. The Pillowbook is currently unavailable anyway at the moment - if it ever does come back it will be to attack transgender and other postmodern nonsense.
ReplyDeleteJack,
ReplyDeletePlease try to be more sensitive about whose sites you include in the future. I don't think I or anyone on Aria Blue's blog is trying to be your enemy. They just have very real objections to being included in your list. Learn from this and grow.
(Please read this with every ounce of sarcasm you can muster - and if you do not understand sarcasm, please STOP reading now and "Have a nice day.")
ReplyDeleteYeah, Jack, show some more sensitivity! These people are not your enemies - they've just been rude, threatened you and misrepresented the information found on your website! That's asking for understanding and sympathy for their plight, didn't you read between the lines? It's too bad you took their links down, the information found there was completely worth reading, very sympathic, understanding and supportive - just the type of information that people with self-esteem issues ought to be reading!
Seriously now, Jack, I hope you don't let this get to you. I'm continually amazed at the level of anger and hatred found within the TS/TG worlds - even directed at themselves! - and you just inadvertently tapped into some of that. I thought you handled yourself appropriately. You have been a great help to me and many others. Not many people can say that they've made a difference in other people's lives - and you have. Keep up the good work!
Susanne
Susanne,
ReplyDeleteWhile I will agree that the people whose blogs were posted here were wrong in threatening Jack, some of those sites should have never been here to begin with. Some of those were personal blogs that did not have anything to do with TS/TG/AGP issues. Other blogs were very political and not good support sites at all.
These blogs were incorrectly listed here and the owners were not contacted so that they could be aware that Jack would be listing their blogs. Jack's intent in posting this information was noble and well intentioned; however, he still made a mistake.
Not all people in the TS/TG camp want anything to do with AGP. However, the fact is that eventually we do have to face our issues and provide real solutions to them rather than continually slam each other with names. A large number of people in both the "TS" and "TG" community do suffer from AGP.
We attack each other because rather than trying to understand each other and we are all hell bent on trying to make people realize that we are the only group with legitimate problems (whichever particular sliver we tend to be in). The problem is that pretty soon everyone is doing the same thing. We are all declaring I have really issues and you are a nutjob. So reasonable people just wash their hands of us all.
I have my biases. We all do but there are times we have to set them to the side because we all (in this group and others) have a responsibility to help psychiatry and society clean up the problem we have caused. Jack is a move in a the right direction. Ignorance is not.
Rather than us all claiming that we are real and undermining each other, we need to be honest with ourselves and get people to understand the differences between the groups. We need to give people legitimate viewpoints and behave in such a manner that people would want to respect us.
I had a therapist once.. I found out toward the end of my time with her that she didn't even believe in the disease she was working to cure (G.I.D.). That is so comforting. But why should she? Most people come to her and they lie. They tell some story they have heard on the web that is not really their own. Most people come to her and have significant other issues they are running from. Most people come to her and they do not act in any way like who they say they are. How is she meant to help these people or believe them? The DSM and current literature is a bunch of shoddy tools for helping people and we do not make things better. We even attack research that while poor aims to enlighten people about what is going on. Then because we still have issues that we have not given the mental health community the tools to deal with, we force them to change the standards so that anyone who feels they should have been a woman can be. So we have men seeking out corrective surgeries they don't need and that cause them to live suboptimal lives and we have women who have to live with men invading their space.. We should be very proud.
I try to be an intelligent and thoughtful voice out there. I am just trying to find my way and I seek to be very open and honest with who I am.
ReplyDeleteWe all need to learn civility and respect for each other. We all need to learn to be more sensitive. Aria had legitimate concerns for coming here and calling the primary readers of this blog sexual deviants was poorly advised.
The people here are just people suffering from a biological condition that gives them desires slightly atypical from a normal male. They may be technically deviant but we can not start intelligent debate by using words that antagonize.
We need to learn to respect them and listen to them. We also need to help the medical community find the best path for everyone here.
The TS people.. we are all different. Do not judge us together or put us in one pot. Some of us are intersexed individuals.. with or without ambiguous genitalia. Some of us are AGP. Some of us are probably gay men in denial. Some of us act just like men.. One of us could be your best girlfriend or just another woman where you work. Judge us by the way we act and comport ourselves. Judge us as humans. This mess.. it will be a while before it all gets sorted out and the public relearns trust.
Jack! TFF is NOT a transgender blogI I have emailed and requested that either move the link (TFF) or delete it.
ReplyDeleteIf you do not do one or the other within 24 hours I shall formally complain to Google!
PJ.
Jack,
ReplyDeleteI think "Enough Nonsense" probably wants off too though you might want to confirm with the blog owner.
Please correct your reference to TS-Si. We are not specifically a resource on autogynephilia and transgender issues. While we wish others well, we focus on people born transsexual and related intersex conditions.
ReplyDeleteTS-Si.org provides research reports, news, opinion, and lifestyle articles that focus on correcting the misalignment of innate neurobiology and anatomical sex.
Moreover, we emphatically reject attempts to include us under the "transgender" socio-political umbrella.
Public blogs are ways of sharing your thoughts/feelings/information with the world. If someone wanted the information to be private, they should make their blog private. I know you can do that on Blogger. There is no "code of conduct" out there, I'm sure that there should be, but there is not. And "linking" is not something that Blogger's guidelines even address. I actually think that linking blogs/websites to this website IS appropriate. Especially within this post as it is aimed at persons "new" to the TS/TG/IS/AGP exploration. I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of readers of this blog are unaware of the animosity that exists between people who identify as TG and those who identify as TS. Most of us start our exploration on websites that claim that the two terms are interchangeable. (I'm not saying they are - I'm saying a lot of information out there SAYS that they are.) So, in some ways, to categorize websites as "transgender/transsexual" IS appropriate. These sites will be the places that those who are starting their exploration will learn about the differences so that they can make informed choices of their personal labels. Isn't it good for people to start off their journey by having access to ALL the information?
ReplyDeleteGenderQuestioning: I completely agree with you that everyone needs to stop attacking each other. I doubt it will happen, though. I think that when a person lives with internal conflict for so long, it changes their chemical make-up. A body gets "used to" a certain level of hormones/chemicals in it. So when those hormones/chemicals reduce, it creates a biological state of panic. "Calm" feels "wrong". So they unconsciously create more conflict in their world to restore their hormone/chemical levels to what they consider "normal." It's conditioning. It happens to cis-people in other areas of their lives, makes sense it would also happen with TS/TG/AGP/TV/IS (did I miss a label?) people. Until that is recognized, it won't change. I don't want to be pessimistic, but I do think it is realistic.
Thank you Susanne, for bringing in a voice of reason into all this.
ReplyDeleteMy linking out to these sites was meant as a sign of respect. I believe they all contribute to the wider discussion on both transgender issues and sex and gender in general. The fact that some of them also take up a lot of other topics does not change this.
I had actually linked to several of these sites already, but they had been unclassified in the blog roll.
The blog roll became too long and I decided to turn it into a resource page, for the benefit of my readers. That made it possible to sort the links into categories making it easier to navigate.
My error was apparently that I made headlines of the two miscellaneous sections contain the word "transgender". I have used the word "transgender" many times in my blog post more or less in the same way as it is understood in the Wikipedia (see below). The point was, again, not to say that these sites were transgender blogs or sites per se, but that they in some posts and articles cover the topic in different ways.
Now, the Wikipedia csn be in error, and I knew perfectly well that not all transsexual women agree with the use of the term. But that applies to all terms relevant to this discussion.
The fact that "transgender" it is used widely as a wider term -- also by transsexual women -- made me believe that I could use it for the relevant field of sex and gender topics, including transsexual issues and AGP.
No disrespect was meant. I have never (unlike Blanchard & Co) questioned the fact that M2F transsexuals are women.
However, some clearly find the terminology much more important than the spirit in which it is used. And some seem to think that a fruitful dialog requires that their conversation partner share their beliefs (and typology) to the letter.
No less than three people have threatened to contact my ISP/Google to get them to shut down this site, because I (1) included a link to their site and (2) put their site under a term they for some reason don't like.
This is totally unacceptable. That is censorship, and I am not going to be silenced in this way! Such threats do not further the open, democratic and respectful discussion these topics require and we all desperately need.
I have now removed the sites in question and relabeled the offensive sections to "On sex and gender issues in general". I have also moved a couple of links to the "other" section at the end of the list. Hopefully this will be enough.
By the way, neither International law, Blogger regulations or Internet custom require you to ask a web site owner for permission to link to their site. That would make the World Wide Web unworkable. I am not going to implement a policy where I ask sites for permission before linking to them.
I have also noted that some consider a link from my site offensive. Now, that _is_ insensitive! Maybe some of you should take a deep breath and consider my feelings as well. I find all of this very painful.
Here is the Wikipedia definition:
"Transgender (pronounced /trænzˈdʒɛndər/) is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to diverge from the normative gender roles.
Transgender is the state of one's "gender identity" (self-identification as woman, man, or neither) not matching one's "assigned sex" (identification by others as male or female based on physical/genetic sex). "Transgender" does not imply any specific form of sexual orientation; transgender people may identify as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, polysexual, or asexual; some may consider conventional sexual orientation labels inadequate or inapplicable to them."
For me this is simply a practical umbrella term that says nothing about the true nature of transexual women or the factual relationship between AGP and transsexuals. If someone can suggest a better, non-offensive term, I will use it.
I have devoted over a decade to opposing that definition of transgender since it first appeared.
ReplyDeleteIn that time I have had death threats, more computer attacks you can imagine. I have been turned in as a terrorist to Homeland Security and followed and had my phone tapped. I've been outed on my job, magazine bombed, had attempts to disrupt all my life commuications from snail mail to websites. I've had people even poke into my bank account and attempts to leave me homeless.
Do not talk to me about respect or your rights. You clearly never read my website before you linked to it nor apparently none of those you also linked to who came after you because if you had, you would not have the unmitigated gall to now claim an umbrella usage mistake.
While I acknowledge that AG is real, it is an end stage of fetishistic crossdresser, a psycho-sexual disorder. I want no understanding between us, I want nothing between us at all.
And on that note, I think we should end this conversation.
ReplyDeleteI will keep this post for future reference, but will set up a new resource page. On that page people may suggest additional resources or request the removal of existing ones. Readers may also contact me directly at jack.molay@gmail.com