From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Blanchard, Bailey, and Lawrence theory. (Discuss)

Sexual orientation Part of sexology
Distinctions
Asexual Bisexual Heterosexual Homosexuality Pansexual Paraphiliac
Labels
Gay Lesbian Queer Questioning
Methods
Kinsey scale Klein Grid
Study
Biology Demographics Medicine
Animal
Homosexuality in animals
See also
Intersex Transgender Transsexual
This box: view • talk • edit

Autogynephilia (IPA: /ˌɔtoʊˌɡaɪnəˈfɪliə/) (from Greek αὐτό (self), γῦνή (woman) and φῖλία (love) — "love of oneself as a woman") is a paraphilia proposed in 1989 by Ray Blanchard, who defined it as "a man's paraphilic tendency to be sexually aroused by the thought or image of himself as a woman."^[1]

It is part of a controversial behavioral model for transsexual sexuality informally labeled the Blanchard, Bailey, and Lawrence theory. The model is an attempt to explain transwomen (male-to-female transsexual and transgender persons) who are not exclusively attracted to males, including lesbian (or "gynephilic"), bisexual and asexual transwomen.^[2] The model claims that transwomen (called "gender dysphoric males" by Blanchard^[3]) who are not sexually oriented toward men are instead sexually oriented toward the thought or image of themselves as women. Most of the attention paid to Blanchard's work on gender dysphoria focuses on what he calls "nonhomosexual transsexuals" or "autogynephilic transsexuals." He calls those transwomen who are exclusively attracted to males "androphilic" or "homosexual transsexuals."

Contents 1 Sexual fantasies 2 BBL controversy 3 References 4 Bibliography 5 See also 6 External links 6.1 Proponents 6.2 Critics

[edit] Sexual fantasies

It has been reported widely in clinical and lay literature that some people have sexual fantasies about being the other sex. These people may or may not also be transgendered. When viewed as a psychosexual pathology, these fantasies are considered a type of paraphilia.

Blanchard classified four subtypes:

• Transvestic autogynephilia: arousal to the act or fantasy of wearing women's clothing
• Behavioral autogynephilia: arousal to the act or fantasy of doing something regarded as feminine
• Physiologic autogynephilia: arousal to fantasies of female-specific body functions
• Anatomic autogynephilia: arousal to the fantasy of having a woman's body, or parts of one^[4]

[edit] BBL controversy

Main article: BBL controversy

The "BBL Controversy" also known as the "Autogynephilia Controversy" is an ongoing and heated line of discussion in the transgendered community. The concept had not received much attention outside of sexology until sexologist Anne Lawrence, who self-identifies as an autogynephile, published a series of web articles about the concept in the late 1990s.^[5] Lynn Conway and Andrea James responded to Lawrence's essay. Conway started an investigation into the publication of Bailey's book by the United States National Academy of Sciences. Accusations of misconduct by Bailey were leveled. Northwestern University investigated Bailey, but did not reveal the findings of that investigation and did not comment on whether or not Bailey had been punished.^[6] According to Alice Dreger, one of Bailey's supporters, two of the four transwomen who accused Bailey of misusing their stories were not mentioned anywhere in the book, and Bailey's critics' publication of obscenely titled photographs of his minor children constituted an unconscionable harassment campaign.[1]

The controversy is not just based on the emotions of transwomen but there are legitimate scientific concerns. Psychologist Madeline Wyndzen notes several possible scientific concerns with Blanchard's model, such as apparently correlational evidence being used to define causal-effect relationships.^[7] "Furthermore, the distributions of sexual orientation among transsexuals do not reveal two categorically distinct groups.

Wyndzen notes that a significant concern raised by the history of this theory may be that it begins by assuming there is something wrong with transsexual people. This may distort what is meant to be scientific account. A scientific theory might begin with the objective question, "What is transsexualism?" Instead, Wyndzen notes that Blanchard asks in his research, "What kind of defect in a male's capacity for sexual learning could produce anatomic autogynephilia, transvestitism, ..".^[7]" While on the other hand Yolanda Smith found in a follow up study conducted in the Netherlands "In this study the two subtypes were indeed found to differ on many characteristics. Replicating some of the previously observed differences, we found that compared with nonhomosexual transsexuals, homosexual transsexuals reported more cross-gendered behavior, appearance and preference in childhood, and they reported less sexual arousal while cross-dressing in adolescence, applied for SR at a younger age, and fewer were (or had been) married."^[8] Study of this theory is ongoing and it is by no means either accepted or rejected by most psychologists.

[edit] References

[edit] Bibliography

• Blanchard, Ray. "The Origins of the Concept of Autogynephilia" (HTML). www.autogynephilia.org. Retrieved on 2005-1-09. 
• Wyndzen, Madeline. "Autogynephilia & Ray Blanchard's Mis-Directed Sex-Drive Model of Transsexuality" (HTML). www.genderpsychology.org. Retrieved on 2005-1-09. 
• Smith, Yolanda L.S.; Stephanie Van Goozen, Aj Kupier, Peggy T. Cohen-Kettenis (2005-12-15). "Transsexual subtypes: Clinical and theoretical significance" (PDF). Psychiatry Research 137 (3): 151-160. Elsevier. DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2005.01.008. Retrieved on 2007-6-26. 

[edit] See also

• List of transgender-related topics
• Autosexuality
• BBL controversy

[edit] External links

[edit] Proponents

• Anderson L (2003). The Autogynephilia Resource
• Fenton JF (2004). "The Lemonade Stand of Desire", from TGForum.com A sociological analysis of the debates around autogynephilia
• Lawrence AA (2000). Sexuality and Transsexuality: A New Introduction to Autogynephilia, from Transsexual Women's Resources

[edit] Critics

• Bland J (2003). The 'Science' Behind Autogynephilia
• Conway L (2004). An investigation into the publication of J. Michael Bailey's The Man Who Would Be Queen
• James AJ (2004). "Autogynephilia": A disputed diagnosis, from Transsexual Road Map
• Orens B (2004). Autogynephilia: A Mistaken Model
• Wilson KK (2000). Autogynephilia: New Medical Thinking or Old Stereotype? from GIDreform.org
• Wyndzen MH (2004). Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Autogynephilia (But Were Afraid You Had To Ask), from Psychology of Gender Identity & Transgenderism

v • d • e Paraphilias
Abasiophilia · Amaurophilia · Andromimetophilia · Autogynephilia · Biastophilia · Bondage (BDSM) · Chronophilia · Coprophilia · Dacryphilia · Emetophilia · Erotic asphyxiation · Erotic lactation · Exhibitionism · Food play · Frotteurism · Homeovestism · Human animal roleplay · Hybristophilia · Katoptronophilia · Klismaphilia · Macrophilia · Mysophilia · Necrophilia · Nyotaimori · Olfactophilia · Omorashi · Osmolagnia · Paraphilic infantilism · Pedophilia · Pyrophilia · Sadism and masochism · Salirophila · Sexual fetishism · Somnophilia · Statuephilia · Sthenolagnia · Tamakeri · Teratophilia · Tightlacing  · Transvestic Fetishism · Trichophilia · Troilism · Urolagnia · Vorarephilia · Voyeurism · Wakamezake · Xenophily · Zoophilia
See also	Sexual fetishism · BDSM