On the Transgender Journey

There is a thread on the crossdreamer/transgender journey over at Crossdream Life that may be of help too many people who struggle with their gender identity. 

Gender variant people go through a process of self-discovery when interacting with others. Their understanding of themselves changes as they get new words to describe themselves, and as they start exploring the hidden side of their psyche.

Thrilledwfrills writes this about the journey:

"1. We experience existential conflict with physiology or social role associated with assigned gender. We feel a more satisfying sense of identity with some or all parameters of the other gender, We naturally seek expression of our individual gender variation in the context of our daily life.

 
2. In a non-supportive environment, we suffer from the suppression of our transgender nature with psychological pain [confusion, depression, dysphoria, and other distress]. We continue to seek expression via crossdreaming, crossdressing, seeking community, individual therapy, etc.

3. We work to increase our understanding of ourselves, and validate the legitimacy of our experience.

 
4. We seek integration of our transgender nature into daily life, conditioned by perceived risks and benefits.

5. We attempt to achieve a stable personal equilibrium by:

Millions of Dead Genders: A MOGAI Retrospective

 

Lily Alexandre has made a video about the Tumblr MOGAI generation and their exploration of a myriad of genders and gender expressions. What happened to them and their enemies, the transmedicalist separatists?

Discussion over at Crossdream Life.

All you need to know about "autogynephilia"

 "Autogynephilia" has been defined as "a male's propensity to be sexually aroused by the thought of himself as a female." 

Note the male pronouns. This is a theory that is actively used in attacks against transgender women. Trans-exclusionary "radical feminists" love the theory, for that very reason.

The AGP theory states that only straight (androphilic) "men" have such fantasies. Women do not. Gay men and straight trans women do not.

In medical circles  the theory does not have much traction as far as understanding transgender women is concerned. The American psychiatric manual, the DSM-5 argues that cross-gender erotic fantasies (also known as crossdreaming or "female/male embodiment fantasies") might simply be an expression of gender variance. The international health manual, the ICD-11, has no references to "autogynephilia", "transvestic fetishism" or any other related terms whatsoever. 

Moreover, both manuals underline that being trans is not a mental illness. The "autogynephilia" theory, however, classifies such fantasies as a "paraphilia" (sexual perversion). 

There are many scientific studies that document that the basic premises of the theory is wrong, and trans people have for the last 30 years or so argued strongly that it does not fit their experience of the world. For instance: There are gay men and androphilic trans women who have such fantasies, as well as many people assigned female at birth.

So does this mean that the theory is dead? Well, nearly. A few MTF feminization enthusiasts, often people who do think of themselves as any shade of transgender, seem to gravitate towards it. To them it may look like it is the only alternative concept that describes their reality. It isn't.

Others seem to see the existence of crossdreaming or cross-gender arousal as proof of "autogynephilia" being a real thing. In other words: They think that since some people use the term "autogynephilia" to describe feminine embodiment fantasies, that must means that the AGP explanation for such fantasies (an "erotic target location error") is true. This is what we can call "a logical target location error."

There are other and more reasonable explanations for why such fantasies appear.

We have gather some essential articles on "autogynephilia" and the "autogynephilia theory" that can help you understand what the debate is all about, and what may really explain why some people have erotic cross-gender fantasies.

• The Autogynephilia Theory Again... 
• Autogynephilia, Ad Hoc Hypotheses, and Handwaving
• What the sexual fantasies of non-transgender people tell us about the dreams of those who are trans
• New research shows that gender variance does not follow sexual orientation
• On women who have sexual fantasies about being men
• If you’re still arguing about autogynephilia … you don’t understand it!
• When women dream about being men
• Reconceptualizing “Autogynephilia” as Female/Feminine Embodiment Fantasies (FEFs)
• The Autogynephilia Theory Debunked by New German Study
• Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Autogynephilia
• What is Autogynephilia?
• "Why Are Trans Women Penalized For Body Fantasies Everyone Has?" 
• Autogynephilia: A Scientific Review, Feminist Analysis, and Alternative ‘Embodiment Fantasies’ Model.
• Spotlight on some classic anti-AGP resources.

More resources from the autogynephilia debate.

Photo: Aleksandar Georgiev

Transgender lesbian woman tears gender stereotypes apart in viral video

Sometimes posts over at the Crossdreamer tumblr site goes viral, and it is most often when it presents the creative input from some really clever gender variant people. This time it was a video by Eva AKA @ayyy_vuh over at twitter.

Eva manages to give a real life example of a lesbian trans woman who are undeniable both lesbian, butch and a woman. And with humor!

Read the post here! At the moment it has more than 54,000 likes and reblogs.

"WeArInG a DrEsS dOeSn'T mAkE yOu A wOmAn!!!" pic.twitter.com/PcP13YP8Nv

— Eva ''Tired Gay Girlfriend'' (@ayyy_vuh) January 19, 2021

Do people have night dreams about being "another" gender?

Crossdreaming refers mostly to conscious, day time, cross-gender fantasies, expressions or identities. But do some people dream about being their target gender at night?

Yes, that happens, members of the Crossdream Life forum report. 

Go to:  "Had an actual crossdreaming-themed dream last night."

Was Ernest Hemingway Transgender?

There is clear evidence that Ernest Hemingway was some shade of transgender.

The American author and Nobel prize winner Ernest Hemingway has been seen as the epitome of hyper-masculinity, with his stories about matadors, hunting and war. 

Indeed, he did play the role of the manly man, also in his private and public lives, although it turns out that he and some of his female friends explored another side of sex and gender.

His male assigned child came out as a transgender woman, but few know that Ernest himself might have been equally transgender. 

His unfinished novel, The Garden of Eden, represents a brave exploration of his own gender variance and his own crossdreaming.

More about Ernest Hemingway's transgender side over at CDL.

UPDATE: Here's a new article on Ernest Hemingway's transgender nature.