Narratives by Nontranssexual Autogynephiles

Abstract

Narratives submitted by informants who were not transsexual or not demonstrably transsexual are summarized in this chapter. The narratives by nontranssexual autogynephiles closely resembled those submitted by transsexual informants. Nontranssexual informants, however, were less likely to describe severe gender dysphoria, anatomic autogynephilia, or the desire to live full-time as women. They were also less inclined to downplay the explanatory significance of autogynephilia. Like their transsexual counterparts, nontranssexual autogynephiles described the prepubertal onset of autogynephilic feelings that were in some cases explicitly erotic. They sometimes fantasized about being anatomically female during cross-dressing, attempted to prolong autogynephilic arousal, experienced autogynephilia as competitive with heterosexual attraction, or found that autogynephilic fantasies were necessary to achieve orgasm. Themes that were unique to the nontranssexual narratives included autogynephilic attraction that was ethnicity-specific, appreciation of female beauty as an element of autogynephilic desire, and the wish to eliminate or manage autogynephilic feelings instead of expressing them. Some nontranssexual autogynephiles described partial autogynephilia, involving the desire to have women’s breasts but not women’s genitals. Several nontranssexual informants described other paraphilic sexual interests that co-occurred with autogynephilia; a few described attempting to manage their autogynephilic feelings by putting greater emphasis on the expression of their coexisting paraphilic interests.