Felix Conrad

2a. Autogynephilia – brain scans and feminine manerisms

Autogynephilia

2. The next dimension of the dispute that has caused so much wasted time and energy on both sides is… proving or disproving the two types are different. The proponents of autogynephilia, for example, have subjected transsexuals to brain scans to check their grey matter, repeated phallometric testing – which is basically attaching sensors to their penis and having them watch pornography, and various other strange experiments. While, for their part, the transgender community have invested decades in trying to prove that these experiments are bogus. To me, this is the blind leading the blind: they are all completely wasting their time because BOTH GROUPS ARE OBVIOUSLY DIFFERENT… …One is homosexual, and the other is not. a) Differences in brain scans Last week Mister Cantor wrote on our website that we had overlooked the compelling physical evidence that proved the difference between the two groups of transsexuals… and proceeded to…

Felix Conrad

2b. Sexual differences between homosexual and nonhomosexual transsexuals

Autogynephilia

c) Sexuality Finally, the supposed importance that non-homosexual transsexuals have erotic fantasies that the homosexual transsexuals don’t have, is completely unfounded… and far from being anomalous is totally logical: one group is gay… the other not. Duh! Since when were gay and hetero fantasies the same? Now, my ear is burning of course as I hear the cries of outrage from Canada… “Yes… but they’re not just any fantasies… they’re… they’re… cross gender arousal fantasies and the fact they have them and gays don’t, means they must be different types of transsexual.” Guys, I have a very simple question… “Why?” It seems to me there’s a universal acceptance by both the Blanchardites and the transgender community that if cross gender arousal is proven in one group and not the other then yes, the two groups are different enough to merit a separate category. Thus, one side has invested years in…

Felix Conrad

3. The schoolboy error at the heart of Blanchard’s taxonomy of transsexuals

Autogynephilia

3. Faced with our revelation that there are dozens of possible taxonomies of transsexuals, Blanchard is going to take us to one side and explain the following. “Dude, I get what you’re saying… ok, there’s an infinite number of taxonomies… but mine is different. The ones you’re citing are just man-made, observations of unimportant differences. My taxonomy… – homosexual and nonhomosexual – is made by nature. This is some a priori shit… kapish?” And this my friends, is where it gets interesting… The schoolboy error the Blanchardites have made is to see transsexualism as some kind of physical entity of which there are variants. However, the word ‘transsexual’ denotes no such thing… it is a psychiatric term for a person who has, according to ICD-10… “a desire to live and be accepted as a member of the opposite sex, usually accompanied by a sense of discomfort with, or inappropriateness of,…

Felix Conrad

4a. The existential value of the autogynephilia theory for transsexuals

Autogynephilia

Point 4. The fact that Blanchard’s taxonomy does not relate to some type of intrinsic, naturally occurring categorisation, does not mean it has no value. Like any other taxonomy we must now look at how it helps us… what value it adds to the study and treatment of transsexual psychology. In other words, imagine we have various different research groups outside our office door – those who propose the taxonomy ‘green, brown, and blue eyed transsexual’ those that propose ‘late onset and early’ and those that propose ‘homosexual and non homosexual’ we are eventually going to concede they all exist, but ask the question… “And so what? How is your categorisation going to help a transgender person understand themselves, or help a doctor treating them? Why should we care?” In other words, when there are dozens of possible taxonomies available, we choose the one that most furthers our understanding and…

Felix Conrad

4b. The clinical value of autogynephilia and Blanchard’s taxonomy in treating transsexuals

Autogynephilia

  Does Blanchard’s typology have any value in a clinical context? Does it help the physician understand his patient and their condition better, and thus provide better care? If, as is commonly believed, homosexual transsexuals are better adapted to transition, then knowledge of their being a ‘homosexual transsexual’ could help the clinician advise their patient better on whether to transition or not. However, as common sense suggests, a successful transition is dependent on an enormous number of variables, including financial status, family support, personality, appearance, physical health, mental health… in fact, as our essay ‘should I transition?’ shows… there are dozens of variables. If a physician starts to work on simplified heuristics like ‘he’s a homosexual transsexual… and homosexual transsexuals transition better…therefore I will advise transition…” he risks gross simplification on all sides. Treating transsexual patients requires a clear vision of the individual personality of the patient and their individual…

Felix Conrad

4c. The social and cultural value of autogynephilia

Autogynephilia

Wider social value Throughout the history of psychology there have existed various concepts that are empirically unverifiable – but which aid our understanding of a whole range of problems from addiction to mood disorders, anxiety to phobias. Examples are – the subconscious, self esteem, and self assertion. Now we must ask ourselves: does Blanchard’s taxonomy have any wider social value? To answer this, we must look at who is using it. Which artists, writers, social groups, philosophers etc. And I think anyone who knows anything about autogynephilia know where this is heading. Please read my article Direct evidence that the autogynephilia theory fuels transphobia So, unfortunately, the only social groups who find Blanchard’s work of any use are the forces of fundamentalist religion, the far right, and transphobics. As we have all seen in numerous websites such as the one in my article… the theory of autogynephilia and Blanchard’s taxonomy…

Felix Conrad

5. Conclusion – autogynephilia and the stigmatisation of older transsexuals

Autogynephilia

Conclusion. As previously explained, it is senseless to create two types of transsexual if they have the same symptoms and treatment. So we already know Blanchard’s taxonomy is invalid. However, we also know there are undoubtable differences between these two types of transsexuals. Isn’t it helpful, even if it’s discreet, to hang on to such a distinction? Definitely not… other than in an anecdotal, talking around a bar table after work “have you ever noticed that the ones who like guys are…” In a clinical and cultural context, however, it must be absolutely eliminated. This is why… I’m quite sure that the subconscious reason this theory evolved was that some psychologists started to get a bit sick of balding middle aged men claiming they were women, while at the same time they warmed to their pretty, petite, man loving counterparts. I understand this subconscious motivation because I feel it myself.…

Felix Conrad

How to tell your girlfriend or wife that you are a crossdresser /sissy / autogynephiliac

Autogynephilia

Attention: this post is in response to an e-mail request. It is about telling your girlfriend that it turns you on to dress like a woman. It assumes you understand that ‘crossdresser’ and ‘transvestite’ are misnomers for the real force at work: crossdreaming – arousal at the idea of oneself as a woman.   Dear Felix, You repeatedly state in your books that we have a moral obligation to inform a new spouse or girlfriend that we get turned on by dressing like and having sex as a girl. Please could you tell me the best way to go about telling my new girlfriend about my crossdressing and other related desires. Anonymous. Dear Crossdreamer, This is a complex question. While you do have a moral obligation to inform her that she’s not the only one who likes to get dressed up and penetrated, you must also remember that she has…

Felix Conrad

Is there a cure for autogynephilia?

Autogynephilia

If you are looking for a cure for autogynephilia I would ask you: is there a cure for heterosexuality? Is there a cure for being gay? To the best of my knowledge all previous attempts in history to ‘cure’ sexual inclinations have failed. The one that comes to mind is electric shock therapy… used on homeosexual men in an effort to ‘cure’ them, and guess what: they were still gay afterwards. Even chemical castration – while radically lowering the libido – doesn’t remove the inclination to the type of sex an individual has always preferred. So, my friend, there is no cure for autogynephilia. And the main reason there’s no cure is because a cure can only exist for a disease… autogynephilia is not a disease, it is a type of sexuality and sexuality can not be erased or modified into something unrecognisable from what it was. However, let’s be a little…

Felix Conrad

A quick chat with Molay: autogynephilia as an unverifiable proposition

Autogynephilia

  Arguments against autogynephilia – as a cause of transsexualism – aren’t necessary because it is what we call… an unverifiable proposition. The proposition is that transsexualism is a product of sexuality. That can not, with our current scientific knowledge, be proven or disproven. Therefore, it makes no sense to even bother talking about the theory because discourse will never lead to a resoloution. The mistake is to treat the presence of crossgender arousal in a transsexual as proof that sexuality causess transsexualism. That is not a proof. Even if every single transsexual in the world admits cross gender arousal it is not a proof because the cross gender arousal could be caused by the transsexualism. There are also dozens of other possible explanations. Therefore, trying to prove some transsexuals don’t have cross gender arousal or that women also experience cross gender arousal is not only unnecesary, but also gives…