Autogynephilia: What Is It And Why Is It Controversial?

Searching for yourself or ourselves is a complicated business. Some people will go their whole lives searching for themselves and never really find anything.  Fixing labels to who we are is often a way of helping this process along; when it comes to gender and sexuality, there is a relatively new and growing vocabulary to describe who we are and what we like.

Sometimes, these labels are controversial; using them can provoke a reaction in others.  Autogynephilia is a label which has provoked a large amount of controversy among academics and in the general public. However, as crossdressers, femboys, female cosplayers or transgender women, this particular label deserves a bit of attention and discussion.

• What is Autogynephilia?

Autogynephilia, the term, was coined by a Canadian academic in the late 1980s.  Dr. Blanchard hypothesized that there was a populace of men who were sexually stimulated by the thought or image of themselves as a woman.  While this is an overly simplistic description of the term, it does capture the essence of what the idea of Autogynephilia means.

When I first came across this word, I was immediately very curious about it.  I’m a crossdresser and I do feel excited by the idea of being a woman, but I’d never thought there would be a diagnostic term to describe my interest.  As I read more about it, I found that a number of members of the transgender community find the term offensive, and a number of other academics don’t consider it a diagnosable condition.  Needless to say, there’s a lot of nuance that needs to be considered surrounding this topic.

• Why is it controversial?

As I read more about Autogynephilia, I began to understand why people have such differing attitudes to the word.  As best I can understand, the original theory proposed that transgender individuals could be divided into two subgroups; those who felt they needed to change their body to match their gender, and those who were motivated to change their body to fulfil a sexual desire.

As I said before, any label can be controversial and provoke emotions in those who use and hear them. I can certainly imagine that a transwoman whose transition was motivated by deep gender dysphoria would be offended at being lumped into the same group as someone who could be perceived as a fetishist.  An individual who has inhabited the wrong body and has had to go through years of therapy and surgeries to correct that could see such a grouping as invalidating their own struggles.

From a different perspective, Dr. Blanchard considered Autogynephilia to be a paraphilia, which refers to a deviant sexuality that is harmful to society.  And certainly, being told that your sexuality or sexual desires equate with some of the most shameful behaviors known to humans would also provoke a reaction.

There is a lot of loaded meaning behind either perspective.  I’m also sure that I don’t have a full appreciation for either perspective or reaction.  However, I would argue that any individual deserves to be respected and treated with courtesy no matter how they would choose to be labelled.

• Is Autogynephilia a gender, a sexuality, a kink, or what?

My overly simplistic of these ideas is generally this: gender relates to who you are, and sexuality relates to who you love.  A kink is neither and is just something that excites you sexually.  So where does Autogynephilia fall within these catagories?

If you do some searching on YouTube or the internet as a whole, you’re going to find massive debate on this question.  You’re not going to find much that supports autogynephilia as a mental disorder; nor will you find much that supports it being included as a subset of “trans” identity.

I don’t think it my place to comment on what the noun Autogynephilia refers to.  I’m not a medical or mental health professional.  As an adjective however, autogynephilic, might soften some feelings about the loaded nature of the noun.

• This sounds like me, what should I do now?

Don’t worry, you’re not a weirdo or anything.  The first step when discovering these things about yourself is to try and own them, not bury them away deep inside you.  Also, be aware that there are a lot of other individuals who probably have similar inclinations.

Try to be mindful of when your feelings come to light.  Mentally logging when your girly desires come out could help you when figuring out if your feelings are related to your true gender or your sexuality.  If you begin to notice a pattern, note them down in a diary to reflect upon later.

I’m not an expert, but something that a good friend of mine tried out was to get into female mode at times that wasn’t exciting for her.  She took time to gauge her comfort level as a woman in different situations. By doing this, she slowly discovered that she felt more comfortable as a woman, and then completed her transition.

If you think that your feelings are just something that excites you sexually, you should know that fantasies like this are totally normal and common.  Loads of men and women are curious about what it’s like to experience sex as the opposite gender.  Fulfilling these fantasies can be tough, but with the right partner and mindset, anything is possible.

Autogynephilia is a really loaded term in LGBTQ+ circles.  There isn’t really a consensus about what it could mean or be and the mention of it provokes some strong reactions among members of the academic and transgender community.

Anyone is free to label themselves with what they feel best fits their own identity.  Be aware that this particular label can be problematic and like a lot of labels, might not fully describe what you feel or who you are.  Tuning into the debate about Autogynephilia is a great way to learn more about issues surrounding gender and sexuality.  I’d like to wish you all the best on your journey of discovery.